OLD TIME STORIES

Or THE

OLD NORTH STATE

L.A.MS CORKLE

 
 

 

 

 

 

NORTH CAROLINIANA
COLLECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COLLECTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

OLD: TIME STORIES

for

NORTH CAROLINA

Jae OE NORTH STATE

BY

LUTIE ANDREWS McCORKLE

“Carolina! Carolina! Heaven’s blessings attend her!

While we live we will cherish, protect, and defend her,”

Waxhawst*

BOSTON, U.S.A.
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
1903

 
COPYRIGHT, 1903,

By D. C. HeatH & Co.

PRINTED IN
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA,

PREFACE

In sending out this little book, I deem it proper
to state that it is in no way an imitation of any
other. My manuscript was in the hands of the
publishers before any work of similar character had
appeared.

My purpose has been, not to give a history of
the State, but to relate such stories as will impress
upon the children of North Carolina those points
in particular in which our colony took the lead of
all the others. Thus we. have the story of the first
colony established in the New World, another of the
first child born of English parents on American
soil, and others telling of the first armed resistance
to British tyranny, the first declaration of indepen-
dence, etc. I have made the facts of the principal
periods of the State’s history the background for
stories of persons, — children, as far as possible,
seeking thus to fix important events in the child’s
memory by investing them with something of per-
sonal interest.

These stories have all been culled from authorita-
tive sources. No liberties have been taken with the

facts in any case, save in the way of imaginative
description and dialogue, for the purpose of placing

=

i

 
 

IV Preface

the incidents of history before the minds of the
children in a more vivid light.

To Dr. Dillard’s charming description of the
Edenton tea party I owe the groundwork of my
story of that incident; while Colonel A. M. Wad-
dell’s little book, “ A Colonial Officer,” furnished the
material for the chapter describing the reception of
the Difigence. The other stories were all gathered
from the standard works on the history of North
Carolina, — Wheeler, . Caruthers, Hawkes, and
Foote.

I-am constrained to make grateful acknowledg-
ment of the kind help afforded by many friends
while I was engaged in the work of preparation.
To Hon. Kemp P. Battle, LL.D., of the University
of North Carolina, I am indebted for unwearied
kindness and many valuable suggestions. To Mrs.
Robert S. Cotten, of Pitt County, I am under obli-
gations for the loan of books containing very impor-
tant information. To my beloved and lamented
friend, the late Mrs. Bessie L. Dewey, of Charlotte,
I am not only indebted for the use of many valuable
books, but also for much helpful advice and for an

enthusiastic and most cheering interest in the work

from its inception.
LUTIE ANDREWS McCORKLE.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA,
January, 1903.

CONTENTS

THE First VIEW

GRANGANIMEO’S WELCOME

LADY GRANGANIMEO’S FEAST

THE First ENGLISH BABy .

THE LitTLeE Lost GIRL

THE LORD OF ROANOKE

THE INDIAN MASSACRE

THE First CHURCH BELL

A WARM RECEPTION .

A YounG HERO .

ALAMANCE

THE FATAL PALACE

THE EDENTON TEA PARTY

A GREAT Day IN NORTH CAROLINA.
A Tory BEAUTY

A LEAP FOR LIFE

A DARING RIDE .

THE HORNET’s NEST .

THE Boy, THE BEES, AND THE BRITISH
IN THE SHADOW OF KING’S MOUNTAIN

CORNWALLIS’ COUNTRY DANCE

V

 
Contents

- AND THE CYPRESS FORT
OLp BEss AND THE CyPRE

A BRAVE LITTLE REBEL .
A LITTLE ScotTcH LASSIE
THE OLD TOWN CLOCK

THE LITTLE CooK’s REWARD
OLp HICKORY

Tue Boy WHO HAD A REASON

Tue OLD NoRTH STATE.

OLD TIME STORIES

OF

THE OLD NORTH. STATE

THE FIRST VIEW

WE have all learned that Christopher Columbus
discovered America in 1492. Yet, do you know,
he never set foot on the mainland of this country?
The land that Columbus reached first was one of
the West India islands.

The mainland of North America was first visited
by John Cabot, another Italian, who was sent out
by King Henry VII of England. The great news
that Columbus had sailed “by the West into the
East” spread very quickly from Spain into Eng-

land. Hearing this, John Cabot felt in his heart

”

“a great flame of desire to do some notable thing.
He found it an easy matter to persuade the king
to furnish men and ships for a trip across “the Sea
of Darkness,” as the unknown Atlantic was then
called. This was five years after the first voyage
of Columbus.

 
Old Time Stories

Cabot sailed farther north than Columbus, and
landed at Cape Breton Island. There he planted
a cross and the flag of England, and then went
home to tell of the wonderful new country.

King Henry soon fitted him out for a second
voyage. This time he took with him his son Se-
bastian, and sailed the northerly route, as before.
Then they came down along the coast as far south
- as what is now the state of North Carolina. So it
came about that the shore of our own fair state
was one of the first points in the new world
visited by the English,

As Cabot brought back neither gold nor spices,
the English lost interest in this new country. For
nearly a hundred years they made little effort to
learn more about it.

In the days of Queen Elizabeth lived a great
and wise man named Sir Walter Raleigh, —the
gallant knight who spread his velvet cloak on the
ground to keep his queen from stepping in
the mud with her dainty slippers.

We learn that “Good Queen Bess,” as the peo-
ple called her, gave letters patent to her “trusty
and well-beloved servant, Walter Raleigh, to search,
find out, and view remote, heathen, and barbarous
lands.” Raleigh did not waste much time in get-
ting ready two barks to “search and find out” the

The First View

Captain Philip Amidas had charge of one vessel
and Captain Arthur Barlow of the other.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH

In 1584 Raleigh sent out an expedition which explored a part

of what is now the coast of North Carolina. In 1585 and again
in 1587 he sent colonists who settled on Roanoke Island

[hese brave seamen left England the last of
April, 1584. Smooth seas and favoring winds soon
brought them across the Atlantic. The second of
July found them in shoal water, where the breeze
blowing from the land brought them “so sweet

and strong a smell as if they had been in the midst

3

strange land of which the whole world was talking
g.

’

 
Old Time Stories

of a delicate garden, filled with all kinds of odorous
flowers.” By this the sailors knew that they were
not far from land.

How happy they must have been when two days
later they came upon the coast! How gladly must

SHORES OF THE SOUND, ROANOKE ISLAND

The first colony settled by the English within the present bounds of the
United States was on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina,

have fallen upon their eager ears the cry, “ Land

ahoy!” But their voyage was not yet ended, for

/

they sailed along this coast one hundred and
twenty miles to the north, before they could find
a harbor for their ships. Then, coming to what
seemed to be a river entering the sea, they sailed
into a quiet haven and cast anchor.

The First View

The first thing the sailors did was to fall on
their knees and thank God for bringing them
safely all the way. Then they went in their boats
to the land, and took possession of it in the name
of Elizabeth, Queen of England.

From the sandy shore on which they landed
the men went to the low hills near at hand, “to
spy out this goodly island,” for such it proved to
be. And what a paradise they found it! “The
highest and reddest cedars in the world” grew
there, the odorous pine, the feathery cypress, the
spicy sassafras, and “many other goodly woods.”
In these fair forests were found all sorts of game,
From tree to tree flitted many strange and beau-
tiful birds.. But the greatest of wonders was the
quantity of grapes. Everywhere they grew, climb-

ing to the tops of the highest trees, running over

every bush and shrub, “dipping their fragrant
clusters in the very surge of the sea,” so great was
their abundance.

This fair land was none other than the coast

£

ot our good old North State as first seen by the

English.

 
 

 

II. GRANGANIMEO’S WELCOME
1584

Our brave sailors were very thankful for this
pleasant haven of rest after two months of weary
sailing and eager watching for land.

Keeping by the island for two days, they saw
no human being. On the third day the cry, “A
boat! a boat!” rings through both vessels, and all
the men rush on deck.

How eagerly the sailors watch the boat as it
moves toward them! They well know that its
coming means to them either peace or war.

A small boat with three men in it rows up to
the land nearest the vessels. One man jumps out
of the boat, and walks up and down the beach.
Taking this as an invitation to come ashore, the
two captains with a few men lower a boat and
row to the land.

The friendly native greets them with a long
speech, not one word of which they understand.
By signs they invite him to visit their ships. He
goes with them gladly, “ making no show of doubt
or fear.” On shipboard he is received with every
courtesy. After showing him over both vessels the
captains offer him meat and wine, and make him

6

 

Granganimeo’s Welcome 7

presents of clothing. This kindness he repays by
catching a load of fish, which he leaves on the
shore, dividing them into two piles, making signs
that one pile is for each vessel.

These Indians lose no time in spreading the
news of the wonderful strangers on their coast.
The next day the water near the two vessels is

 

ee
P|

Hatteras.

N
&
= i
N
&

>

 

 

 

Cape Fear

 

 

alive with boats. One—two—three—a dozen
flash into sight. Now the sailors are on the alert.
How eagerly their eyes are fixed on the boats!
Have the natives come to drive them from their
shores? As the boats come nearer the fears of the
strangers are entirely relieved, for they see no sign
of war. The Indians are all unarmed — they have
not a bow or an arrow among them. The sailors

crowd to the sides of the vessels, and watch in-

tently every movement of the Indians.

 
 

Old Time Stories

The largest of the boats, carrying forty or more
men, pulls up to the shore, and they all land.
This must be the chief and his body-guard. The
men wear around their waists aprons of dressed
deerskin, prettily fringed, and from their shoulders
hang mantles of deerskin.

They spread a large mat on the ground. The
chief takes his seat at one end of the mat, while
four men sit at the other end. A short distance
off stands the body-guard. The captains, feeling
sure that the Indians have prepared to-give them
a welcome, take seven or eight men, and go ashore.
Granganimeo (Gran ga nim’eo), for such is the
chief’s name, beckons the white men to sit beside
him, and tries in every way to express his joy in
welcoming them, “striking on his own head and
breast and then on theirs, to show they were all
one, smiling and making show the best he could
of all love and familiarity.”

He then extends his royal welcome in a long
speech, to which the English respond by making

”

him “divers presents.” No doubt this friendly greet-
ing cheered the hearts of the Englishmen, who mar-
velled much at the behavior of these kindly and

simple natives, finding them, as they said, “very

handsome and goodly people, and in their behavior

as mannerly and civil as any in all Europe.”

Granganimeo’s Welcome 9

After a few days, Granganimeo honors them by
visiting their vessels, coming in state, as he did
before, with his forty or fifty unarmed warriors.

The English make him welcome by showing him

A VIRGINIA INDIAN

From the “ Briefe and True Report of the New-Found Land of Virginia,” by
Thomas Hariot, who came to the colony in 1585 and remained two years.
over their ships, and setting before him the best
they have of wine and bread and meat. So well
does he enjoy the good cheer that he comes again
ina day or two to visit them. This time he brings
with him his wife, the Lady Granganimeo, his two

 
 

Old Time Stories

daughters, and several little children. My Lady
Granganimeo is not tall like her husband, but
rather short. Captain Barlow tells us that the little
lady “was very wwell-favored, though bashful.” Like
her lord, she wears a long mantle and apron of
fringed deerskin. On her forehead is a band of
white coral. From her ears hang long strings of
pearls. Her daughters are dressed as she is, except
that in their ears they wear pendants of copper.

On shipboard the royal party is most kindly
received. This is a day ever to be remembered
by the bashful little mother and these shy children
of the forest. They are shown many strange
sights by the pale-faces. The jet-black eyes of
the Indian children grow large with awe as they
gaze on the wonders shown them by the English —
the boats which have wings, the coats of shining
mail, and the guns which, they are told, spit fire
and belch thunder.

By their kind attentions the strangers fully win
the good graces of the Lady Granganimeo. She
comes often to see them, and sometimes she brings
along her baby and nurse. When she visits the
English she is always attended, as becomes her sta-
tion, by a company of women who wait patiently on
the shore while she and a few of her friends make
their visit to the vessels.

III. LADY GRANGANIMEO’S FEAST

1584

For some time the English kept up a_ brisk
trade with these friendly Indians, giving tin kettles
and trinkets for dyestuffs, skins, and coral. They

would not, however, part with their swords, hatch-

ets, and knives, nor with a suit of armor, though
the chief offered a box of pearls for it. He had to
content himself with a bright tin dish, in the rim of
which he made a hole, and then hung it around his
neck, to protect him from the arrows of his enemies.

In all their dealings with Granganimeo, the Eng-
lish found him a man who could be trusted. He
never failed to keep his promises. When he came
to visit them, he was attended by forty or fifty war-
riors, who were always unarmed. On every visit,
to assure the English of his good faith, he would
light along the shore the same number of fires
that he had boats in his company. Every day he
sent presents of royal bounty to the strangers: all
sorts of game, “of fish the best in the world,” and
an abundance of vegetables and luscious fruits such
as they had never seen before.

 
 

 

 

Old Time Stories

After several visits from the chief, his bashful
little wife and bright-eyed daughters, Captain Bar-
low thought that the time had come to pay a visit
in return. One bright morning he rowed merrily
away to Roanoke Island, which was Granganimeo’s

home. It was a long trip —twenty miles. But the

PALISADED INDIAN VILLAGE

The Indian village of Pomeiock, on Albemarle Sound, North
Carolina, in 1585. After John White, copied in Morgan,

Englishmen would gladly have rowed twice as far
to have received such a welcome as awaited them.
Granganimeo was not at home, but before the
white men reached the shore his wife came run-
ning out to give them a most joyous greeting.
Some of her people were sent to draw the boat

Lady Granganimeo’s Feast

up to the shore, as it was beaten back by the surf,
some to carry the strangers on their backs to the
dry ground, and others to bear their oars into the
house.

The Indians were a wonder to the Englishmen,
but their houses were a still greater surprise. Here
at the north end of the island was a village of
“nine houses built of cedar, and fortified about
with sharp trees driven into the ground to keep
out their enemies.” Leading to the entrance of
this fort was a well-made road. In Granganimeo’s
house there were five rooms, opening one into
the other. The outer room was the hall where
the guests were received: the next was used as a
dining room. In the next two the family slept on
mats spread upon the floor. The fifth and inner
room was used only for worship, and here was kept
the household god.

Captain Barlow and _ his men, in spite of the
help given by the natives in landing, were wet
and bespattered, and reached the house jn sad
plight. Their kind little hostess at once set to
work to do everything possible for their relief and
comfort. “She herself took great pains to see all
things ordered in the best manner she could.” In

the outer room she had the men sit down by a
great fire to dry their ‘wet clothes, and while some

 
 

 

 

Old Time Stories

of the women washed and dried their stockings
for them, others bathed their feet in warm water.
Thus with every kind attention the visitors were
made comfortable for the rest of their visit.
Having seen to the comfort of her guests, Lady
Granganimeo busied herself in preparing a dinner
for the hungry men. You may be sure that
all was now stir and bustle. The servants must
bring fish from the weirs and vegetables from the
fields. The daughters must help dress the meats
and set the table. The children are hurrying here
and there, for they know where to find the largest
clusters of grapes and the most luscious melons.
A famous housekeeper was the Lady Granga-
nimeo, and it was a right royal feast to which she
invited Captain Barlow and his men in the inner
room. The meal was served on a broad shelf
placed along the wall. “The dishes were wooden
plates made of sweet timber, and the pots were
very large, white, and sweet earthen vessels.”
For the first course there was “ wheat-like fur-
metti,” which no doubt was cornmeal gruel. Then
roasted and boiled fish were brought on, with
roasted and boiled venison. The vegetables were
potatoes, now eaten by the English for the first
time, and other sorts of boiled roots of which they
did not know the names. For dessert, melons were

Lady Granganimeo’s Feast 15

served both raw and cooked, with other kinds of
fruit, and there was wine to crown the feast.
While they were in the midst of the meal two
or three Indians came in from a hunt, carrying
their bows and arrows. The English, now for the
first time seeing weapons in the hands of the red
men, were greatly alarmed. Fearing that they

THE BROWYLLINGE OF THEIR FISHE OVER THE FLAME"

After a drawing made in V irginia in 1585 by John White.

might be attacked they reached at once for their
Own weapons. Their gentle little hostess was
greatly moved by their want of confidence in her,
and distressed that they could think that she would
allow them to be harmed in her home. She had
the hunters disarmed, and their bows and arrows

broken and thrown upon the ground. She then

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

ordered the poor fellows to be beaten and driven
out of the gate.

We can but feel sorry that by their lack of faith
in her the visitors were, for the second time that
day, to wound the kind heart of the Lady Granga-
nimeo. When night came, although it was rain-
ing, Captain Barlow insisted on returning to the
boat. Their hostess was much grieved, and “en-
treated them with many words to tarry for the

”

night and rest in her house.” This the English-
men would not consent to do, but entering their
boat, they pushed off a safe distance from the
shore, and spent the night on board. Still the
good woman’s kindness did not cease. She sent
their supper to them in the pots in which it had
been cooked, and also sent five mats to protect
them from the rain. Then, in token of her good
faith, she sent a guard of many men and thirty
women to keep watch upon the shore all night.
No wonder Captain Barlow afterward wrote, “A

more kind and loving people cannot be found in

‘
all the world.”

When the English went back across the sea,
as they very soon did, I doubt if they carried with
them to their home land a sweeter memory, or one
of which they loved more to tell, than that of Lady

Granganimeo’s feast.

IV. THE FIRST ENGLISH BABY
1587
THERE was great rejoicing in old England when
the two vessels came back, bringing news from
the New World. They also brought along two
Indian boys, who were named Wanchese and Man-
teo. Queen Elizabeth showed her pleasure in the
discovery of the new country by naming it Vir-
ginia, in honor of herself.

Many people were eager to try their fortunes

in the new land. They had heard from the Span-

iards stories of its vast treasures of gold and pearls
and of precious stones. Expeditions were sent
out by Sir Walter Raleigh, all going to Roanoke
Island, but no permanent colony settled there.

In 1587, more than thirty years before the Pil-
grims landed in New England, a colony of about
one hundred men, with their wives and children,
came to Roanoke Island. This colony was led by
John White as governor. He had visited the coun-
try two years before with Captain Amidas, on his
second voyage.

On Roanoke Island they found a few houses left

17

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Time Stories

by the men who had attempted a settlement at this
place two years before, and who had called it Fort
Raleigh. White and his men at once set to work
repairing these houses and building new ones.

The women and children needed to be protected

THE EARLY COLONISTS OFTEN BUILT HOUSES LIKE THESE

from the weather. The men could camp out, as
it was now midsummer, the latter part of July.
The people fell to work with good-will, and there
was work enough for all to do,—forests to clear,
logs. to hew, houses to build, and food to provide
for more than one hundred people. Some of the
men hunted and fished, while some worked on the
houses, and others visited the friendly Croatan

The First English Baby

Indians. A few kept guard, as some of the Indians
had become unfriendly to the white people.

The women, too, were not idle, but must brew
and bake and wash and mend. Very thankful they
were that they could do this work, after having
been shut up on shipboard for so many weeks.
The children also had their share of the work, and
ran about, bringing chips and fagots for the fire.
water from the spring, and — what they liked far
better — hunting in the forest for fruit, and climb-
ing the high trees, seeking the first ripe grapes.

Although these people were far away from the
churches in which they had been wont to worship,
they had not left behind the fear of God, in which
they had been reared. Every morning at drum-
beat they met together under the pines and cypress
trees, and were led in prayer by the good clergy-
man who had come with them to their new home.

At sunset on the 22d of July they had landed on
Roanoke Island. On the 18th of August great
news spread through the colony. To Eleanor, the
wife of Ananias Dare, and daughter of the gov-
ernor, John White, had come a dear little baby
girl. Do you know that there has never been so

much written and so little known about any baby

in all the world —save one —as of this first baby

born of English parents on American soil?

 
 

 

 

 

Old Time Stories

We may be sure that this baby had a warm wel-
come, though she first opened her blue eyes ina
rude log hut in the forest, and there was no downy
cradle for her to rest in. There were no pretty
little things in that bare home, but there was loving
care, for good Dame Powell and the other kind
neighbors, Margery Harvie and Joyce Archard,
were ready to help care for the little one.

Then there was Mistress Dare’s merry-hearted
maid, Agnes Wood, young girl though she was,
ready to trot the baby on her knees, and quiet
it with snatches of gay ditties. Little Tommie
Archard would slip in with his mother, and beg
to hold the baby just for a minute. Poor George
Howe, whose father had been cruelly killed by
unfriendly Indians only six days after they landed,
would stop and ask for a sight of the baby, while
Ambrose Vickers and his widowed mother made
daily visits to the blue-eyed little stranger.

Eveh the men at their work felt glad that a baby
had come to their midst. We can hear them as
they go to their tasks.

“Hast heard the news?”

“Nay. Prithee, tell it.”

* Yea, that I will; right gladly. To Ananias and
Eleanor Dare is born a daughter.”

“Truly, that is good news for-our little colony.”

The First English Baby 21

And now the good Dame Powell is saying,
sa Bayt baby must have a name; for on the next
Sunday she must be christened.”

“

By what name shall we call her?” asks the

proud mother.

“Why not Elizabeth, for our good queen?”
says merry Agnes Wood.

“Nay, child, I like not the name,” speaks out
Joyce Archard. “Call her not after so vain and
worldly a woman.”

“Tut! tut! It will not do; for I hear tell that,
Queen though she be, Elizabeth is the veriest

’

shrew. Name her not for such an one,” exclaimed
Margery Harvie.

“What is it, my good woman?” says Governor
White, coming in. “ You would not call the babe
Elizabeth? Nor would I. Rather let us name her
for this fair land to which she has come, our new
home, Virginia.”

“Yes! Call her Virginia,” the women all agree.

“If so be her father wills it, we will call her
name Virginia,” says the fond mother.

It was a strange company that’ gathered for wor-
ship in the forest shades of Roanoke Island on
the next Sunday afternoon. There were Governor
White and his chief men in their soldier’s garb.

Near them was a group of sailors from the vessels

 
 

 

22 Old Time Stories

in the harbor, so soon to return to England. There
was the workman in his plouse, the Indian in
fringed buckskin and feather head-dress, and the
gentlewoman in silken gown and lace cap. There
were the little dark-skinned children of the forest,
and the fairer children of the colonists.

All had come to witness the baptism of the
baby. Eagerly they watched as the young father
came forward, with Governor White as godfather,
and placed the little one in the arms of the clergy-
man. Thus was the first child born of English

parents in the new world christened Virginia Dare.

4 Hone
‘ COLON
NEM
By,

5 Pale ra Foti os im DUCs|See> |
t in CH |

panes

CEINAMERICAL” 3 |
DRAKE Sass.

ae TH PACE aa BOPH .

Or Si) ERAN prone Sisk Heo

BAVC VIRGINIA. DARE. "00%

; FREESE Mab OF ENGL SH ERRENTS BORN!

1 SINAMPRICASDAGEATER FANANIAS DARE.

is sah OA WHITE, BIS WIEE MEMBERS OF >

is Rane est ONES NT PAT

ALTER RAPHIGHIN ISO) be

Seon TU Ar Aust Dela vita

JAS*BAPHIZCO. 4) +

HEI OE Pog rhe Har emas WOUNS

+ AWA DERN BARTIZED-ON THE SUNDAY, PRES

3 - EeepINGS THESE BAPTISMS ARE THE FIRST :

5 BROWN CELRERATIONS/IOF A CHRISTIAN SACS

TRCAMENT DLTHETERRITORY OF THE THIRS* 5,
TEENIOR ay AMAT D STATES:

Ratio Or aes Aas

 

Viet te ete Done LOO. GERAD
1590

Ir was not long before trouble came into the
home of Virginia Dare — in fact, it came to all the
colony. The Indians, fearing that the white men
had come to rob them of their lands, had turned
against them. Only the Croatan Indians remained
friendly to the whites. The others would no longer
bring them food in trade, so the colonists found the
supplies that they had brought from England would
soon fail them.

Some one must go to England and bring back

many things which they needed. But who should
>

go? They all decided that Governor White was
the man. He did not want to leave his daughter,
Eleanor, and the dear baby, Virginia; ,but the peo-
ple would have him go. So at last he consented.
The ships were to sail at once. The people had
been busy for several days, getting ready their
letters and tokens to send back to their loved ones
in England. Governor White had only half a day
to prepare for the trip, but the needs of the colony
pressed upon him. He could not refuse to go,
though no doubt it wrung his heart to leave his

daughter and _his little grandchild, who was only-

22

oe

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

ten days old. Sad as was the parting, it would

g,
have been still more sad if he had known that’ he
would never again press a kiss on their dear lips,
or look into their loving eyes.

The planters, as the people of the colony were
now called, decided before Governor White left that
this small island would not yield a support for so
many people, and had planned to move to the main-
land. It was agreed that if they left Roanoke
Island before the governor’s return, they would
carve on the trunk of a tree the name of the place
to which they had gone. If they should leave in
distress, driven away by unfriendly Indians, they
would cut a cross above the name.

When Governor White reached England, he
found the whole country in a stir over a war with
Spain. All the vessels that could be had were
being used in this war. Sir Walter Raleigh could
do nothing to help the little colony. So for three
long, weary years John White made a vain effort
to get a ship in which to carry back supplies to
the planters on Roanoke Island.

How very long the years must have seemed to
these poor planters as they watched and waited in
vain for the ships that were to bring them food
from over the seas! Day after day, week after
week, they strained their eyes for the sight of white

The Little Lost Girl

sails on the distant waters, but they saw only the
white-caps curling on the foaming waves. No ship
ever came to gladden their hearts. No help ever
came to them over those cruel waters.

In 1590, after. many efforts, Governor White at
last procured a vessel to take him across the ocean.
He met with many misfortunes by sea, had many
narrow escapes, and finally reached the shores of
North Carolina at a very stormy season. When at
last, late one evening, the boat bearing him and
his party reached*Roanoke Island, it was too dark
for them to land. Seeing a light in the woods at
the north of the island the sailors rowed near that
point, fired off the cannon, and sounded a trumpet
call. But no answer came to them from the silent
forest. Then Governor White had a trumpeter
sound “many familiar English tunes of songs,” but
only the echoes of the forest answered back.

At daybreak the anxious father went ashore, only

to find the place deserted. The houses were falling

down, the people gone; and there was only silence

and ruin to greet him. Where were the loved
daughter and her little one? Where were the
people who had trusted in Governor White's help?
Where were the good friends, tried and true?
Gone! all gone! The only clew to the fate of
the colony was the word C ROATOAN cut in fair

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

Roman letters on the trunk of a white-oak tree.
There was one ray of light to cheer Governor
White’s sad heart, and that was the fact that there
was no cross above the word Croatan. The cross
would have meant danger to his loved ones — pos-
sibly death —from the Indians.

The ship’s captain promised to take Governor
White to the home of the Croatans, where the
poor man felt sure that he would find his friends
and his family. But a storm drove the vessel out
to sea, and it barely escaped shipwreck. No en-
treaties could make the captain turn back when
once his face was set toward England.

Poor John White, broken-hearted, and with for-
tunes ruined, could never make another voyage
across the Atlantic. He soon died, grieving for his
lost children whom the new world had swallowed up.

“ But Virginia Dare?” you will say. “We want
to know about Virginia Dare. Where did she go?
What had become of her?”

Ah! I wish I could tell you. But we do not
know. We like to think how her cunning ways
and sweet smiles cheered her sad-hearted mother
when she pined for the green fields and blooming
hedgerows and cheerful firesides of the loved home-
land. We like to think that the grim faces of the

men who were ‘fighting with starvation and the

The Little Lost Girl 27

Indians grew less grim, and softened into smiles,
as their eyes fell on the golden-haired baby who
played by her mother's doorstep.

We like to think that even the rough boys*grew
more gentle, as they stopped in their play to guide
the tottering steps of the winsome little one, or to
fill her lap with such playthings as they could find —
pine cones from the forest and shells from the sea-
shore. We like to think that when homesickness
crept into the heart of Agnes Wood, she often
drove it away by a merry romp with her pet.

The Indians called Eleanor Dare “the White
Doe”; and her little Virginia, the first white baby
they had ever seen, they called “the White Fawn.”

When Captain John Smith brought out an Eng-
lish colony in 1606, and settled at Jamestown, Vir-
ginia, we know that he tried to find Sir Walter
Raleigh’s lost colony. He heard of white people,
clothed like the English, and living with the Indians
farther south. But none of Smith’s colony ever saw
these white people. It was reported that with this
party there was one young maid, who, it is thought,

may have been Virginia Dare. But we do not know.

“ No answer comes from the ceaseless whirl
Of the hurrying ages tossed,
And the new world’s first little English girl

Is still a little girl lost.”

 
 

 

 

VI. THE LORD OF ROANOKE

1606-1653

AFTER so much bad fortune in trying to settle

Py

colonies in the new world, the English gave it up for

atime. But vast wealth was flowing into Spain from
the mines of South America, and England hoped
to find rich treasure in her province of Virginia.

Twenty years after the failure of the colony un-
der Governor White, another party set sail in 1606,
but this time not for Roanoke Island. That coast
had proved so stormy and dangerous that it was
thought best not to risk the vessels there. So they
were sent farther north to Chesapeake Bay, of which
the English had heard through the Indians. There
they settled near the coast, calling the place James-
town, in honor of King James. This was in what
is now the state of Virginia. The colony, after
many trials and hardships, flourished, and in a few
years it sent out the first settlers into the north-
eastern corner of what is now our own state of
North Carolina.

You all know the story about William Penn and
how he bought his land from the Indians. But do
you know that we also have a story of how a large
part of eastern Carolina was bought by the English

28

The Lord of Roanoke

from the Lord of Roanoke? Here is this story of
ours, as it is given to us in 1654, by Francis
Yardley, “a Virginian born.”

In September, 1653, a young fur trader came in
great distress to the home of Francis Yardley at
Lynn Haven. He asked help in finding his sloop,
which had drifted away, and which he thought had

JAMESTOWN IN 1622

From an early Dutch account of Virginia

been carried toward Roanoke Island. The town
of Lynn Haven stood about where Ocean View
now stands, and not far from Currituck Inlet.
Francis Yardley gave the needed help, and the
young man with three others set out in search of
the lost boat, and soon reached Roanoke Island.

We are not told whether they found the boat,
but there they met the “ great Commander of the

Country, the Lord of Roanoke,’ with a hunting

party. The white men were greatly frightened,

 
 

3 Old Time Stories

no doubt, at thus coming upon a body of armed
Indians, but their fears were soon quieted. The

Lord of Roanoke not only received them very

kindly, but taking them to the northern end of the

island showed them the ruins of Fort Raleigh.
The young men spent several days exploring the
country, and then persuaded the Lord of Roanoke
and some of his chief captains to go home with
them and make a treaty of peace with the English.

They went to the house of Francis Yardley.
Here the Indians were kindly received and enter-
tained for a whole week. The Lord of Roanoke
was greatly surprised by much that he saw in this
Christian home. He was touched by the gather-
ing of the household for family worship morning
and evening. But the thing at which he wondered
most was that the children could “speak out of a
book and talk on paper.”

One day as he and Yardley were sitting together,
the Indian, after a long silence, said: ‘“‘ Me one pap-
poose. Me bring him. Will pale-face take him?”

Yardley listened in wonder. What could it mean?

“ Me want him learn speak out of the book and
make a writing. Will pale-face teach pappoose? ”

Without giving his host time to answer, he con-
tinued: “ Me want him worship pale-face God. Will
pale-face take Roanoke pappoose in his home?”

The Lord of Roanoke 21

P|

“ Most gladly will I do all you ask,” answered Yard-
ley, filled with surprise and delight; for he well knew
that this would mean safety for his own little ones.

”

“In four moons me bring pappoose,” said the
chief. That was his way of saying four months.

Then, with many expressions of love, the chief
went back to his forest home, loaded with presents
from his kind host.

True to his word, the Lord of Roanoke came at
the appointed time to see if they were ready to take
the boy. A stirring time he caused in the little town
of Lynn Haven. Francis Yardley had gone on a
business trip up the bay, but brave Lady Yardley
took the Lord of Roanoke into her home, and treated
him kindly, as she knew her husband would do.

When Sunday morning came, the Lord of Roan-
oke went with her to church. As the fair Eng-
lish woman and her little ones showed the dusky
Indian into their pew, and took their seats, many
black looks and ugly scowls were cast in their
direction. The men grasped their guns tighter,
the women drew nearer their husbands, little chil-
dren shrunk closer to their mothers, and hid their
eyes with fear. Lady Yardley’s brave bearing soon
calmed them, and they settled down into quiet dur-
ing the service.

No sooner was the service over than some wicked

 
 

Old Time Stories

men, pretending that they feared harm from the
Indian, rushed up to him, crying out: * Whip him
out, the Indian dog! Ont with him! He means
only mischief! He would work us harm! What
business has he among us?”

The poor Indian, not understanding their threats,
but seeing their ugly looks, trembled with fear.

Then Lady Yardley, taking him by the hand,
kept him at her side, and turning to the angry
crowd, gently said: “Nay, men, ye shall not touch
him. I protest he means ye no harm, I am ready

pledge all my husband’s property that no ill
comes to you from him. He is my guest — ye
dare not touch him.”

Still holding the frightened Indian by the hand,

the brave woman walked proudly out with her

children, and returned to her home with her guest
unhurt. The Lord of Roanoke ever after proved
himself worthy of her trust.

On Francis Yardley’s return, he made a bargain
with the great commander of the Roanoke for a
tract of land, agreeing to give him for it “such a
house as the English live in, furnished with Eng-
lish chattels and utensils,” and two hundred pounds
in money. For this Yardley received “ three great
rivers, the Roanoke, the Tar, and the Neuse, and
all such others as they should like, Southerly.”

The Lord of Roanoke 33

When in May the six men sent by Yardley to
build the house for the great commander came

back to Lynn Haven, thé Lord of Roanoke and
some of his chief men came with them. The Ind-
lans brought as a sign of their purpose to keep
their bargain in the sale of -the land “a turf of
earth with an arrow shot into it.” This they sol-
emnly presented to Francis Yardley, who received
it in behalf of the commonw ealth of E ngland.

So you see that a very large section of the state
became ours by right of purchase. The Indians
kept the bargain made for them by their chief, and
moved with him farther west.

At the same time that “the Great Commander
brought the arrow and turf of earth to the E nglish,
he also brought with him to L ynn Haven his wife
and little son. Here, on the third of May, in the
very church from which they had threatened to
whip him, in the presence of the congregation and
the Indians who had come with him, the Lord of
Roanoke had his only son, then six years old, bap-
tized a Christian.

The father and mother then returned to their
home in the forest, leaving their little boy, the future
Lord of Roanoke, to be brought up as a Christian
child, under the gentle training of Lady Yardley.

 
 

VII.. THE INDIAN MASSACRE

I7II

I wisn that I could tell you only such peaceful
stories of the Indians as that of the Lord of Roan-
oke. But they were often so cruel and _blood-
thirsty that many of the stories about them are
stories of treachery, torture, and death.

While slow to forgive a wrong, and quick to
punish one, the Indians were easily touched by
kindness, and had a keen sense of justice. The
first settlers in North Carolina paid them for their
land, and treated them with due regard to their
rights. This is the reason why our colony was
more free from Indian troubles than any other
except Pennsylvania.

So rich was the soil, and so great the abundance
of good things to be found within its borders, that
the colony grew rapidly. Settlers came hither from
various parts of Europe, attracted by the wonderful
accounts which they had heard of this land of
plenty. Here all sorts of delicious fruits grew
wild. The fields were filled with strawberries,
blackberries, and plums. In the forest grew the

34

The Indian Massacre 35

re “ iz a- ~ ” e Mad eyer Pi

d Indian peach,” and wild grapevines held out

their Juicy clusters from many a bush and tree
[he waters teemed with fish. The woods were

full of game. The rich lands along the rivers

yielded abundant harvests of corn. Wheat also

was grown, and rice, lately brought from the colony
. Sy a b " “ 4 7 i
of South Carolina, together with cro}

s of tobacco,
cotton, and flax.

Herds of cattle grazed in the
savannahs the year round, and there was, as we
are told, “of butter and cheese a plenty”; while in
the woods great droves of hogs fattened on acorns
and roots.

In 1711 every settlement was a scene of busy
life. On the rivers were many boats, carrying
to England, the West Indies, and to the colons
of New England, the varied products of this fa-
vored country. Already the Old North State was
making a name for its tar, pitch, and turpentine.
Beef, pork, butter, tallow, and tobacco were shipped
to other countries, return cargoes of sugar, molasses,

and suc icles as c rrOW
d such articles as could not be grown or made

in the colony, being brought from distant ports.

Many planters had built their homes on the
northern shore of Albemarle Sound, and on the
banks of the Roanoke, the Pamlico, and Neuse
rivers, ‘for the only way of reaching the outside
world at that time was by boat.

 
 

 

 

Old Time Stories

Though very peaceful and quiet, life in these
early settlements was busy. The axe rang out on
the air, as the planters with their negroes cleared
new ground for the next year’s crop, or boxed the
trunks of the tall pines for the flow of turpentine;
while in the fields the busy ploughman turned the
mellow soil.

Not the least busy person about the planta-
tion was the woman. Her family must be clothed
with home-made linens and woollens, so_ there
was much carding, spinning, and weaving to be

done. The knitting, too, was the work of her

g,
busy fingers. The unpainted chairs and _ tables,
all home-made, must be scoured white and clean;
the pewter dishes also must be kept bright and
shining. All this, if not done with her own hands
by the mistress of the house, was done under her
eyes. Not many idle moments did she spend, this
colonial dame of North Carolina.

The Indians also took part in this busy life, bring-
ing in game and furs from the chase, and fish from
their traps. Many of them lived among the white
people, as members of their households. These
friendly relations between the whites and the Ind-
ians in North Carolina had continued for more
than fifty years. But a day came when over this

peaceful scene there burst a deluge of fire and blood.

The Indian Massacre 37

As time went by, more and more people had
come over from England to take up the land
bought by Francis Yardley from the Lord of
Roanoke. The Indians found themselves pushed
farther and farther west. The lands that had once
been their own, were now in the hands of others.
They began to hate the whites, and to plan for the
recovery of their hunting-grounds. It is believed
that they were encouraged to do this by some
wicked white men: but neither by word nor look
did the Indians show any change in their feelings
toward the whites. Things moved on peacefully
and quietly.

On Friday, the 21st of September, 1711, every
house along the Roanoke, the Pamlico, and the
Neuse rivers was visited by one or two Indians.
They came, as usual, with smiles on their faces.
The settlers, little dreaming of their hidden pur-
pose, received them as friends. As night drew
near, bands of Indians came, all smiling and

friendly. The whites, thinking they had come to

bargain for provisions, received them into their
houses, as they had often done before. When night
settled down on those happy homes, the people,
though they knew it not, had given shelter to their
bitterest enemies.

On Saturday morning, just as the first rays of

 
 

 

 

38 Old Time Stories

the rising sun rested upon those peaceful homes,
a terrible whoop rang out on the still air from
every house, and was followed by answering yells
from the woods. In a moment the Indians swarmed
from the houses, and joined by those who had been
hiding in the forest, with axe and knife and whirl-
ing tomahawk struck down every man, woman, and
child within reach. The settlers had not time to
seize their arms. No one was spared by these cruel
savages. The gray-haired old man, the mother with
her babe at her breast, the sick and the feeble, all
perished together in this savage onslaught.

After murdering all the people they could find,
the Indians set fire to the houses, so as to drive
from cover any who had been left alive. Then,
forming themselves into bands, they rushed with
horrid yells into the woods, and searched for those
who had found shelter there. In two hours one
hundred and thirty whites perished in this dreadful
massacre.

For three days and nights this work of fire and
blood went on in every settlement, until the savages
were so worn out by their own fury and joy that
they could keep it up no longer. The few white
men who had escaped in each settlement brought
together into one place the women and children
who had heen rescued, and stood guard over them

The Indian Massacre 39

day and night. They dared not leave them exposed
to the fury of the Indians, and so there were none
to bury the dead, whose bodies, swollen, bruised,
and hacked, were left where they fell, to be de-
voured by dogs, wolves, and vultures.

Thus in a single day our fair colony was almost
swept from the earth, so many had been murdered
and their homes burned. The few whites left out-
side the towns were now threatened by hostile Ind-
ians, who sought every opportunity to slay them.

At this time our sister colony of South Carolina
sent a band of soldiers with a body of friendly
Indians to help drive out our bloodthirsty enemies.
It took two years to do this, and many more to
restore to the colony the peace and security in
which the people had lived before that awful mas-
sacre of the 22d of September, 1711.

 
 

 

 

VIII: THE FIRST CHURCH BELL
1752

THE good old town of Salem was settled by a
very religious people called Moravians, who came
from over the seas. They left their homes in Ger-
many and came to this country, that they might
enjoy their religion without being troubled by those
who did not think as they did. In 1752 they
bought a large tract of land in the heart of the
forests of North Carolina, and called it after their
old home, Wachovia.

Here they founded their first settlement, calling
it Bethabara (Bethab‘ara). They felled trees, cleared
the ground of undergrowth, and built themselves
rude log houses. One of the first things they
did was to build a house for the worship of
sod. True, it was built of logs, but on this little
church they placed a small bell, which they had
brought with them from their far-away home. This,
it is said, was the first church bell brought to North
Carolina. As its tones rang out on the still air,

they made glad music to the ears of the sturdy
settlers, sweetly reminding them of their loved home

across the ocean.
40

The First Church Bell 4!

The Moravian settlers were a peaceful people,
and tried to live on friendly terms with the red
men, but the Indians did not wish to be friendly
with them. They hated the pale-faces who were
coming in, taking up their land, and driving them
from their hunting-grounds. At last they made a
cruel plan to kill all the white people at one time.

The Moravians had much faith in prayer, and
trusted that God would take care of them in their
new home, and deliver them from all danger, and
so they were freed from fear. When the little
church was finished, and the bell hung in the small
steeple, the people were called together daily for
morning prayer.

The home of the minister, Parson Peterson, was
in a part of the church building; and under the
same roof the village school was taught by the
minister’s wife. It was their son Hans, whose duty
it was to ring the bell at five o'clock every morning.

Like most little boys, Hans thought that he would
like to do some brave deed. His father told him
that it was a great thing for a little boy to get out
of his bed at five o’clock every morning to ring the
church bell, and that if he learned to be always at
the post of duty, he would make a good soldier.

After that Hans was always ready to jump out
of bed, and go cheerfully to his task. One dreary

 
 

 

42 Old Time Stories

morning it was so dark and cold, Hans felt that
he would like very much to stay in his warm bed.
But then he thought that he would not be a good
soldier if he did that; so he rose quickly when his
father called him, and ran to the little belfry, and
began to ring the bell with all his might.

”

“ Ding-dong, ding-dong, rang out the bell, and
the people, young and old, came flocking from their
homes at the sound of its sweet, clear call.

”

“Ding-dong, ding-dong,” it pealed forth again,
and again; and the little throng of happy worship-
pers hurried on to the church. All were filled with
thankfulness, but little did they think that the
sound of their bell-ringing had fallen on other ears
than theirs.

Not far from the church, in the shadow of the
forest, a company of Indians were hidden. Quite
frightful they were, with their head-dresses of
feathers, and their faces smeared with war-paint.

Over their shoulders were slung quivers of arrows.

In their hands they carried the bow and deadly

tomahawk. Flat on the ground they were lying,
shut out from sight by the thick growth of trees
and bushes. It was their plan to wait until the
people went into the church, and then murder
them all, men, women, and children. Not one was
to be spared.

The First Church Bell 43

While the settlers were going to church, the red
men watched in silence to see the last one pass in.

At the first stroke of the bell the Indians sprang
to their feet, trembling with terror. It was to
them an awful sound. They had never heard
such a noise before. What could it be? Was it
some strange voice from the skies, telling the
white men of their plan to attack them?

“ Ding-dong,” again rang out the bell. The
terror-stricken Indians fled through the woods, wild
with fright, the sound of the bell driving them
farther and farther away into the depths of the
forest, until at last it reached them no more.

The Moravians went peacefully and gladly
through their morning service, and not until long
afterward did they learn how near they had come
that day to losing their lives at the hands of the
Indians, and how they had been saved through
the ringing of their church bell by faithful little

Hans.

 
 

 

IX. A WARM RECEPTION
1765

For more than a hundred years the people of
North Carolina were under English rule. Their
laws were made in England. Their governors, of
whom some were good and some were bad, were
appointed by England. The crops raised on their
plantations were sent to England, and the prices
were fixed there. After a time England said that
the American colonists must pay taxes to help the
English government protect and defend them.

Then the people of the colony said, “We must
also have a voice in the making of our laws.”

“No,” said King George III, “you shall not.”

“Then we will not pay taxes, nor obey your un-
just laws,’

)

said this brave people.

So, with all the other colonies, North Carolina
raised the cry, “No taxation without representa-
tion.”

“But you shall pay taxes,” said King George.
“All your deeds and law papers must bear the
stamp of the crown, and you must pay extra for
this stamped paper.”

44

A Warm Reception

Then all over the land the wrath of the people
blazed out. With one voice they declared, “We
will not use your stamped paper.”

So strong was the feeling against the Stamp
Act in the colony of North Carolina, that when
Governor Tryon asked John Ashe, the speaker of
the Provincial Assembly, if he thought the people
would submit, he replied, “No; the Stamp Act will

be resisted to blood and death.”

Sy
{1 SHILLING

STAMPS USED IN 1765

These were not like our modern stamps with gum on the back,

but were impressions on the paper, like a magistrate’s seal.

Tryon, who was then the newly appointed gov-

ernor of the colony, soon learned that Ashe well
knew the temper of the Carolinians. They had
made up their minds that not one sheet of stamped
paper should be used in the colony, and they soon
proved to Tryon that they were in earnest.
Fifteen miles below Wilmington stood the town

of Brunswick. This town had been for some years

 
 

 

46 Old Time Stories

used as the capital of the colony. Here Governor
Johnston took the oath of office, here George II]
was proclaimed king, and here Governor Tryon had
at this time his official residence.

The people heard that William Houston, the
man appointed to sell the stamped paper, and called

 

GOVERNOR TRYON’S MANSION AT BRUNSWICK

The ruins of the foundation have been laid bare by Mr, J. Sprunt.
The house is modelled from pictures of residences of that day.

the stamp master, was at the home of Governor
Tryon. On the 16th of November, 1765, an armed
body of men, led by John Ashe, boldly marched to
Tryon’s house, and asked to speak to the stamp
master. This, Governor Tryon refused to allow.
The governor's refusal roused the people, who went

A Warm Reception

to work to set fire to Tryon’s house. On seeing
this, Tryon asked John Ashe into the house. Ashe
soon came out, bringing William Houston the
stamp master with him.

The whole crowd then went to the courthouse in
Wilmington, where before the mayor and several
aldermen Houston took oath never to sell the
Stamped paper within the borders of the colony.
When he had done this, the delighted people gave
three hearty cheers, and then took him back to the
Sovernor's house, after which they quietly returned
to their own homes.

But the quiet lasted only a few days. News had
come that his Majesty's sloop-of-war, the Dédigence,
Carrying twenty-one guns, had sailed for Wilming-
ton, bringing with it the hated stamped paper. The
People of North Carolina felt that they must be
ready to receive it, and they were.

In a few days the town was again astir. The
military company of New Hanover County was

gathering under the command of Colonel John
Ashe, and that of Brunswick County under Colo-
nel Hugh Waddell, both of them brave and tried
soldiers.

On the 26th of November, 1765, the Dzdigence
appeared off Fort Johnston, eight miles below

Brunswick. Right merrily she sped before the

 
 

 

 

Old Time Stories

breeze, with all her sails set. As she passed Fort
Johnston, she fired a thundering salute from her
twenty-one guns, to which the guns of the fort
answered back.

No doubt the captain was in high good humor as
he paced the deck and gave orders for bringing the
vessel safely into port. He smiled to think of the
welcome awaiting him in the good town of Bruns-
wick. What jolly company he would find at the
governors home! What good cheer he would en-
joy at the groaning tables of the Cape Fear planters!

Ha! There is Brunswick now! « Heave-ho,
men, with your anchor!” he cries. His eyes turn
eagerly toward the shore to see— what? The
shore lined with men. Two companies of armed
men at that! He wonders what it can mean.

Here were the militia under Waddell and Ashe,
ready to give him a very different reception from
the one of which he had been dreaming. He soon
learned the meaning of this gathering. A boat
came out, and he was told that he could not send
ashore one sheet of the stamped paper. He readily
promised that he would not, and also promised to
keep his vessel there at Brunswick for several days.

Leaving a small party to keep watch over the
Diligence, the troops returned to Wilmington, tak-
ing with them one of the boats from the sloop.

A Warm Reception

Then such a time as they had! The boat, with a

flag hoisted over it, was mounted on a cart, and
was driven through the streets of Wilmington,
followed by a long procession. The mayor, Moses
John De Rossett, the militia, and all the best people
of the town, joined this grand parade.

That night there was an illumination of the town,
and the people made merry over their success in
Preventing the captain of the Dédégence from send-
ing the stamped paper ashore. This defiance of a
sloop-of-war by two companies of North Carolina
militia was the first armed resistance to a British
force in the colonies.

The brave Carolinians had given King George
to understand that they were free men, and would
not yield their liberties to any king. This recep-
tion of the Diligence at Brunswick by the liberty-
loving people of North Carolina took place eight
years before the Boston Tea Party, when the brave
men of Massachusetts threw overboard the tea
brought by English vessels, rather than pay the tax
upon it.

 
X. A YOUNG HERO
1771

Tue people of North Carolina had been sorely
tried by ten long years of weary struggle against
the unjust rule of England. Their money was
wrung from them by a horde of greedy officers of
the law. When at length they could no longer
endure this great wrong they rose up against it,
though the struggle cost them tears and_ blood.
Even the children caught the spirit of their fathers,
and in this stormy time both girls and boys proved
themselves of good courage.

One brave boy showed himself a true hero at the
time when the first battle of the Revolution was
fought.

We should feel proud that the soil of North
Carolina is hallowed by the blood that was shed in
the first battle fought for the cause of freedom in the
colonies, and we are all glad that this young hero,
whose story I shall give you, was a North Carolinian.

It seems strange that the trouble at Brunswick
had not taught Governor Tryon the true spirit of
the colony. He allowed his officials to heap taxes
upon the. people when money was very scarce in

50

the country. As one instance of this oppression,
we find that they were made to pay fifteen dollars
for a marriage license although the law allowed only
one dollar for it. When the people complained to
the governor, he treated their complaints with scorn.

At last the men of Orange declared they would
no longer submit to this robbery. They resolved
to find out whether their taxes were legal, and to
pay only such as the law required. They met at
Maddock’s Mill, near Hillsborough, on the 4th

of April, 1767, and formed themselves into a body

called the Regulators. From this time on there
was trouble between Governor Tryon’s officials and
the Regulators. With little excuse or none, Tryon
threw their leaders into prison, while the Regula-
tors in turn lost no chance of annoying his hated
officers. The cause of the Regulators was popular
through all the central counties, and numbered
among its followers some of the best people in the
colony. Of course there were some lawless men
among them, as there always are in such bodies.

At length, hearing that Tryon had secured the
arrest of their leader, Herman Husbands, the Reg-
ulators gathered two thousand strong to go down
to Newbern to release him. But soon after starting
they learned that he had been set free, so they
quietly returned to their homes.

 

 
 

 

 

52 Old Time Stories

“ Now,” said Tryon, when he heard of this gath-
ering, “I must teach these Regulators a lesson. We
must have no more such gatherings.” So with
force of three hundred men, six cannon, and a bade
gage train, he left Newbern to terrify the despised
Regulators. He was joined at several points along
the road by companies of militia brought up from
other sections by his trusted officers. With eleven
hundred men, on the 14th day of May, 1771, he en-
camped on the banks of Alamance Creek, in what
was then Orange, but is now a part of Alamance
County.

The news had flown quic kly that Tryon was com-
ing with this army to compel the Regulators to
obey him. The alarm had_ been spread far and
wide. It was the call of duty to all patriots. The
whole country had been aroused. From far and
near came crowds of brave men to whom freedom
was dearer than life. So it came about that on the
evening of the 14th of May, only five or six miles
west of Tryon’s camp, about two thousand Regu-
lators were gathered.

Few of these men had come expecting to fight.
They had no commander. Not more than half of
them had guns. Tryon had again and again made
them promises to right their wrongs, but had not
kept his word. Still they hoped that he had come

grievances,

 

 

A Young Hero

now to hear their complaints and to settle their
They wished to make one more appeal
to him for justice, and if he refused to hear them,
then they would defend their liberties with their lives,

On the morning of the 15th of May they sent a

message to Tryon, once more asking him to regard
their rights. He promised them an answer by
noon the next day.

Early the next morning Tryon marched his ar my
within half a mile of where the Regulators were en-
camped, and drew his men up in line of battle. He
then sent a paper, which was twice read to the
Regulators, declaring that they must lay down their
arms, go home, and obey their king.

This they refused to do.

Both parties advanced. As they drew near to
each other, Robert Thompson, who had been sent
ee the Regulators to treat with the governor, turned

) join the ranks of the patriots. With his own

ney Tryon shot him down, and then, turning to

his soldiers, who were now within twenty-five yards

of the Regulators, cried : —

° Fire |”

This order was not obeyed, and Tryon called to
his men: —

“Fire! Fire on them, or on me!”

His second order was obeyed by a volley directed

 
54 Old Time Stories

against the Regulators, who returned the fire; and
so the battle began, and lasted for two hours. Hav-
ing no leader, the Regulators did not keep in line
of battle, but scattered and fought from behind
trees and rocks as long as their ammunition held
out. Then they fled, having lost about thirty-six
men killed, and many were made prisoners, while
Tryon lost, in killed and wounded, not less than sixty.

And so, before noon that day, the Regulators
had received Tryon’s answer to their petition —an
answer written in their own blood.

“ Now, I will show these rebels that they can’t
trifle with me,” said Governor Tryon. And _ that
very afternoon at Hillsborough he had some of his
prisoners hung.

“This man, Captain Messer, shall hang to-mor-
row,” said Tryon, speaking of one of his prisoners ;
“for he is a leader among them.”

The sad news was carried to Captain Messer’s
poor wife. Early in the morning she came to
Tryon’s camp, bringing with her the eldest of their
four children, a bright and beautiful boy ten years old.

When the time came for Captain Messer to be
hung, his unhappy wife threw herself on the ground
before Tryon in an agony of grief. By her side was
her beautiful boy, his body shaken with sobs, his
poor heart well-nigh bursting.

A Young Hero 55

Did the sight of this sorrow touch the heart of
Tryon? No! He was not to be moved by such
ascene. Just at the fatal moment when Captain

Messer was to give up his life, the boy sprung to

OLD CHURCH AT HILLSBOROUGH

This church was built with brick from England. On

this hill the Regulators were hanged by Governor Tryon.

his feet, and stepping up to the governor, said,
”

“Sir! hang me, and let my father live !

With angry surprise Tryon turned on him, and

demanded, “ Who told you to say that?”

 
 

ERE

WAS FOUGHT THE
BATT\E OF

7, ALAMANCE
May 16.1791
BETWEEN TH

BRUTISH ANG THE B
REGULATORS

MONUMENT ON ALAMANCE BATTLE-GROUND

Here was fought the first battle against Eng-
lish oppression in the colonies, May 16, 1771.

“ Nobody,” replied the brave boy.
“ And why do you ask that?” said the governor.
“ Becausé,” answered the boy, “if you hang my

A Young Hero 57

father, my mother will die and the children will
perish.”

Even Tryon’s stony heart was touched, and he
said, much moved, “ My boy, your father shall not
hang to-day.”

I wish that I could tell you that the brave little
boy’s failigr thas day went back to his happy home
with his wife and children. But, alas! Tryon’s
heart was Schtened only for a moment. He marched
Captain Messer with the other prisoners from Hills-

borough to Salisbury and back again, showing them

1n chains at every village along the way.

When at last they returned to Hillsborough, Gov-
‘tnor Tryon had Captain Messer and five other
Regulators sentenced to be hung. In vain had
been the pleading of his brave boy. In vain were
the Prayers and tears of his devoted wife. Just a
month after the battle of Alamance, these six men,
Martyrs to liberty, gave up their lives on the
lows, Before the execution there was a grand
parade through the town, the soldiers being led
by the cruel governor himself.

I hope you will never forget the little hero who
wanted to die in his father’s stead. Nor must you
forget that the first battle for American freedom
was the battle of Alamance, which was fought on

the 16th day of May, 1771.

 

 
 

 

XI. ALAMANCE
1771

THE following poem by Seymour Whiting should be memorized
by every child in North Carolina. When this poem was written,
no monument had been placed on the old battle-ground. The

monument which now marks the spot was erected in 1880.

No stately column marks the hallowed place
Where silent sleeps, unurned, their sacred dust —
The first free martyrs of a glorious race,

Their fame a people’s wealth, a nation’s trust.

Above their rest the golden harvest waves,
The glorious stars stand sentinel on high,
While in sad requiem near their turfless graves

The winding river murmurs moaning by.

But holier watchers here their vigils keep
Than storied urn or monumental stone 4
For Law and Justice guard their dreamless sleep,

And Plenty smiles above their bloody home.

Immortal youth shall crown their deathless fame,
And as their country’s glories still advance,
Shall brighter glow, o’er all the earth thy name,

Our first-fought field of freedom — Alamance !

58

XII. THE FATAL PALACE

1764-1798

 

GOVERNOR TRYON’S PALACE AT NEWBERN,

The palace was at the foot of George Street, and occupied the

enure Width. ‘ofthe ‘street: Tt was bined in 1798. The

foundation walls and the building on the right are still standing.

I HIS pict ure does not look like a very fine house.
€ should hard

Was the wond
at “New
We

W

ly call such a house a palace; yet it
erful palace built by Governor Tryon
Berntown,” as Newbern was then called.
May well call it the fatal palace, for it not only
goer. The People of North Carolina a large sum of
Money, but also tears and bloodshed, and it cost

Try : :
yon his place as governor of the province.

Governor Tryon was very fond of show, and did

59

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

not think that a plain framed house, like those in
which country gentlemen lived at that day, was
suited to the dignity of his high office. He wanted
a more stately mansion of brick or stone.

When he told the Assembly that the hated Stamp

Act had been repealed, it put them into such good

humor that they at once voted the 445,000 which he
asked of them for the purpose of building a palace
“suitable as a residence for a royal Governor.”
This palace was built at Newbern, one of the old-
est towns in the province. On account of the learn-

ing of its leading men, it was called at that time

“the Athens of America.” Here the first printing-
press ever brought to the colony was set up in 1749,
and here the first newspaper, called the North Caro-
lina Gazette, was printed. Here, too, in 1764, the
first schoolhouse in the colony built with public
funds, was erected by order of the Assembly.

No doubt Governor Tryon was pleased to have

his lordly palace built under the spreading elms of
Newbern, in sight of the sparkling waters of the
Neuse and Trent rivers. He must have been glad
to leave the unfriendly towns of Wilmington and
Brunswick. He could not forget how the people
of those towns had made him give up the stamp
master, and had not allowed the Diligence to land
its stamped paper. Nor had he forgotten that when

The Fatal Palace

he tried to quiet their angry feelings by giving
them a feast, they had shown their contempt for
him by throwing his roasted ox into the Cape Fear
River, and emptying his barrels of beer into the
Streets,
So it re

Joiced his heart to see the brick walls of
his

roodly town of

hew home rising slowly in the g

Newbern, But soon more money was needed for

the building

, and the people were very poor. Lady
I ryon

and her beautiful sister, Esther Wake, came to
the rescue. By giving fine dinners and grand balls,
and using all theit arts of pleasing, they persuaded
the Assembly to give the money needed for the
Completion

had to
POor,”

last (

of the palace. This the tax-collectors
“squeeze and extort from the wretched
But the building went bravely on, and at
: rOVernor Tryon had the pleasure of seeing it
finished, « The finest thing of the kind in America,”
it was said, ;

From the street door the visitor was ushered into

a hall in which ‘there were {eur niches for statues.
In the council
room,

white
door Oo

-chamber, dining-hall, and drawing-
the Mantelpieces and the cornices were of
marble, beautifully carved. Over the inner
f the entrance hall were inscribed some Latin

Words, which, wl

nen turned into English verse, were
as fol]

OWS 22

 
 

62 Old Time Stories

“In the reign of a monarch who goodness disclosed,
A free, happy people, to dread tyrants opposed,
Have to virtue and merit erected this dome.

May the owner and household make this their loved home,

Where religion, the arts, and the laws may invite

Future ages to live in sweet peace and delight.”
Here the proud governor, with his charming wife
with great
pomp. The palace
became the centre

and beautiful sister-in-law, entertained

of social life in
Newbern. Here
gathered the beauty
and wit of the col-
ony for the splendid
balls and “ drawing-
rooms ” in which the
governor and Lady
Tryon delighted.
At these receptions

Lord and Lady
Tryon sat on a raised platform at one end of the

room and received their guests in almost as much

MUSIC AND DANCING AT THE PALACE

state as did the king and queen in London.
But they were not long left to gratify their vanity
and enjoy their splendor in peace. While there

was feasting and music and dancing in the palace,

The Fatal Palace 63

the people of the colony were growing more aes
more restless because they were compelled to give
up so much of their scanty living to keep up the
Show in Newbern. This was a wrong not easy to
bear; nor did the rumors of the merry-makings
and social splendors of Newbern do much to soothe
their ruffled spirits. From their plain homes went
up a murmur of discontent, which finally reached
the ears of the haughty governor. But when asked
ee lightenatheir burdens: his only reply was, “ Curse
your burdens!”

At last the spirit of the people, who for years had
been robbed of both their liberty and their money,
blazed out, as we have seen, in the battle of Alamance.
So it was that the bricks and the marble of tlte palace
Cost the lives of many good men, and Tryon saw
that he could not treat as slaves the free men a
North Carolina. A few months after the battle of
Aliviaton yc sie ead palace in Newbern, and
Went to be governor of New York.

He was’ féllowed by Josiah Martin, who was the
last royal governor of the colony. ea ied
Martin occupied the palace, and entered upon his
official duties with great parade. Newbern still

enjoyed its heyday of social life, and the palace was

the scene of many festive gatherings.

But clouds were gathering over this fair scene of

 

 

 
 

 

64 Old ‘Time Stories

social gayety. The people had made up their minds
to elect their own rulers. Governor Martin said
that they should not do this, but they did not listen
to him. When the Assembly met in the Legisla-
tive Hall of the palace, it chose John Harvey, of
Perquimans, to preside over its sessions. This the
governor did not like. Finding that they were
all against him and bent on ruling themselves,
the governor tried to protect himself and frighten
them by having a number of cannon placed in front
of the palace. This was too much for the people
of Newbern, who were now growing bold, so they
seized and carried off six of the cannon.

Soon the governor found the people everywhere
making* ready for war against King George. He
took refuge at Fort Johnston, and when the storm
of war broke, he fled to a British vessel.

Many years after the Revolution, Tryon’s palace
was used as a school-building. In the cellar hay
and wood were stored. One day a negro woman
took a torch and went down into the cellar to hunt
for eggs. . The hay took fire from her torch, the
building caught, and the greater part of the beauti-
ful palace which had cost North Carolina so much,
went up in flame and smoke. One wing still
stands, and is shown to visitors in the old town,
as “ Governor Tryon’s palace.”

XIII. THE EDENTON TEA PARTY
1774

Epenron, on the northeastern shore of Albemarle
Sound, was the first capital of North Carolina. It
was named for Charles Eden, one of our royal gov-
€rnors. Having a fine harbor and a direct outlet
to the sea, this place, early in the history of the
Colony, became the market town and shipping port
for wealthy planters.

L ying on a bay famed for its beauty, its white
houses looked out from under spreading elms, over
the Sparkling waters, and its sloping lawns were
kissed by the lapping tides. In its yards evergreen

y

hedges enclosed bowers of jessamine and clematis,
With thickets of roses and japonicas. In the centre
of the town stood the buff brick courthouse, sur-

Founded by a wide green.

Here in the colonial capital was to be found so-
Clety such as might be the boast of any town. Here
“there were a greater number of men eminent for

tee virtue, and lear ning, than in any other part
America,” says a writer of that day, “while the
women were models of virtue, refinement, and high-

20rn coy rage,”

65

 

 

 
66 Old Time Stories

Since 1708 the town had enjoyed the use of a
library of valuable books, ordered from London
and given to it by Edward Moseley, our first Chief
Justice. We may well take pride in the fact that
North Carolina had two public libraries before the
Revolution, one at Bath and one at Edenton.

 

THE DINING ROOM OF A WEALTHY PLANTER IN COLONIAL TIMES

In the homes of the people there was a quaint
blending of English elegance and colonial thrift.
Beside the heavy mahogany table, and the side-
board with its tankard of silver, and the slender-
legged spinet, stood the flax-wheel and the. reel.
These colonial dames of Edenton did not think

 

The Edenton Tea Party 67

their hands too white and delicate to set the spin-
ning-wheel and reel going merrily. From the cards,
too, handled by their deft fingers, the “carded wool
fell like a snowdrift.”

There was much merry-making in the colonial
Capital in those early days. There were quilting-
Parties, cotillon parties, and afternoon tea parties.
To the latter the men came in their long square
Coats, satin waistcoats, knee-breeches, long blue or
Scarlet silk stockings, and square-toed shoes with
Silver buckles. The ladies came in their short-
waisted, low-necked gowns, their throats covered
with snowy kerchiefs or lace tippets, and with head-
dresses of lace and ribbon. Then, while the favorite

tea, the fragrant Bohea, was sipped from cups of

d

ainty china, there was much pleasant exchange of
Merry j

SP1n, reel, and talk of the fashions, while the men

talked over

tations.
On the >

ests and social gossip. The women would
news from London or from their plan-

25th of October, 1774, the idlers on the
CoO
urthouse green of E ae were much interested

in

ae stir about the door of Mrs. Elizabeth Green,
Whose

10se house fronted on the green.

warrant Mrs. Betsy is giving a tea party
“Gay, from the crowd that is flockin 1g there,” said
fe)
ne of the bystanders,

 

 
 

 

68 Old Time Stories

“Yes,” said another; “it seems to me a’most
every woman in the neighborhood must be there,
for many’s the coach and saddle-horse I’ve seen
stop at that door this last hour.”

“Dame Betsy is always giving tea parties. A

pretty penny Thomas Green must make of his
merchandise, to keep up with her fine ways.”

 

 

 

OLD TEA PARTY HOousE, EDENTON

The residence of Mrs. Elizabeth Green,

“Tut, man! Let the women have their dish of
tea and their bit of gossip. We all know they are
modest and thrifty, as becomes women.”

“There'll be no lack of talk, I'll wager, for there
goes Dame Penelope Barker, and her tongue never
fails to wag, and that right merrily. See what state
she takes on! No countess could carry a head so
high, or hold herself more proudly.”

The Edenton Tea Party 69

“And that gentle little lady just stepping from the
Coach — who can she be?”

“What, don’t know the sister of Samuel John-
Ston, the beautiful Mistress Isabel? A more gentle
and lovely lady never lived. The gossips have it
Sete age ae be wed to Joseph Hewes— him
we sent to the Continental Congress but now in
session in Philadelphia. She has come in the coach
from Hayes, her brother’s place, about a mile off.
A fine house it is, with its walls covered with books
and pictures.”

“There is Mistress Sarah Valentine, walking up
from her home at the end of the street. I'll warrant
it is her

= . = . ° ”
Dame Sarah never can sit with idle hands.

knitting that the maid carries in her bag.

“ T

) . . - —_ »”
No, nor with idle tongue either, for that matter.
“ Upon my word, there is the coach from Paradise.

Friend Hoskins has well called his home by such a
"ame, with such a woman to adorn it. No woman
In Edenton doth wear such caps and gowns as Dame

Hoskins, and they say her wedding-dress was spun

and woven from flax grown on her father’s farm in

Halifax County. So fine and delicate was the warp
that when pre
Whole c¢]

”

paring it for the loom she passed the

lain of the web through her engagement
ring,

© AL i ° :
Ay! and she is no mean horsewoman, either.

 

 
 

 

 

70 Old Time Stories

She sits her horse like a very queen. ’Tis said her
bridal trip was made on horseback from her father’s
home in Halifax to the home at Paradise.”

With many like remarks the idlers watched the
ladies swarm into the house of Mrs. Green, until
it seemed as if the house could hold no more.
True enough it was a tea party, but such a tea
party as was never held on American soil before
or since.

Times in the colony were growing stormy. In
spite of the protest of the royal governor, the Pro-
vincial Congress had met at Newbern, and declared
that the colonists would not send their goods to
goods to North Caro-

=

England, nor bring English
lina. And now came word that the tax on tea
would not be removed, though the English govern-
ment had repealed the hated Stamp Act.

Now these women had met to talk matters over,
and to see what could be done to prove that they,
too, were true and loyal patriots. They had not
met to drink tea together. No, indeed! but to
declare to all the world that they could live with-
out tea.

After the crowd had gathered, the busy hum
of voices was hushed, and _ the meeting was
called to order. Mrs. Penelope Barker was made
president. A long paper was drawn up, in which

 

 

The Edenton Tea Party 71

these brave women declared themselves in po
fect Sympathy with their husbands and_ brothers.

A Society OF PATRIOTIC LADYES AT EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA”

From an oil painting from the original fragments of a painting on glass,
Presented to the Virginia Dare Memorial Association, and now in the
State Library at Raleigh,

They then drew up and signed the following “re-
Solves dee sem

 

 
 

Old Time Stories

“We, the ladyes of Edenton, do hereby
solemnly engage not to conform to ye pernt-
cious Custom of Drinking Tea, or that we,
the aforesaid Ladyes, will not promote ye
wear of any manufacture from England,
untill such time that all Acts which tend
to enslave this our Native Country shall be

repealed,”

This paper was signed by fifty-one ladies. Think
of it! No more gossip over their tea, for the dames
and daughters of Edenton; and instead of the fra-
grant Bohea, they must drink a brew from the dried
leaves of sage, raspberry, or yopon.

All honor to the brave women of Edenton, who,
on the 25th of October, 1774, proved to the world
not only that they were not slaves to the teacup,

but also that they were unwilling to be slaves to
England!

XIV. A GREAT DAY IN NORTH CAROLINA

* 1775

Nor quite ten years before the battle of Alamance

4 new county had been set off from a part of Anson
County in western North Carolina. Where two
Stage roads crossed, one going east and west, the
Other north and south, a little town was founded.
It was called Charlottetown, after the wife of King
George III. The county was called Mecklenburg,
as that was the home of the Princess Charlotte.

This part of the country had been settled by
a very stanch people called Scotch-Irish. They
Served God faithfully, planted schools, and were
law-abiding, but they loved liberty better than life.

In the town of Charlotte, under huge oaks and
Spreading elms, they opened the first college in
North Carolina. They called it Queen’s Museum,
also in honor of Queen Charlotte, hoping thus to
Please their king. Afterward, when they had
determined to stand for their rights against King
George, they changed the name of their college
'o Liberty Hall.

In 775 Charlotte was a village of about twenty

73

 
 

Old Time Stories

houses. In the middle of the square, where the two
stage roads crossed, stood the courthouse. It was
a frame building, raised high above the ground on
brick pillars. Two flights of steps led up from the
outside, one on either side of the building.

In this courthouse, on the roth of May, 1775,
the General Committee chosen by the people of
Mecklenburg to look after their rights was called
together by Colonel Thomas Polk to talk over the
sad state of the colony.

Many of the men of Mecklenburg had been with
the Regulators at the battle of Alamance. Since
that time, for four long, weary years, matters had
been growing steadily worse in the colony. There
was no law in North Carolina. All her courts
were closed. The Assembly which made the laws
vas forbidden to meet by the governor. The brave
men of Mecklenburg felt that they could no longer
suffer their rights to be thus trampled on.

Something must be done, and done at once.
So on this 19th of May not only was the little
courthouse filled to overflowing, but a vast crowd
filled the open Square around it. Here were gath-
ered people from all parts of the county. Old and
young were there, and men of every calling. Here
were the colonial magistrate, in broadcloth coat and
knee-breeches; the farmer in homespun made by

A Great Day in North Carolina 7S

his thrifty wife or mother; the hunter in buckskin
leggins and moccasins; the minister in sober black.

Even the women were here, some of them with
their babies in their arms. Never before had the
People of Mecklenburg been so roused. Papers
Were read, telling of the wrongs that were being
done to the people of the colony, and speeches were
Made by several of the Presbyterian preachers
Present.

As if to add fuel to the flames, a man on horse-
back dashed up, and read in a loud voice from a
handbill which he carried. It was a story of blood-
Shed and death from the distant colony of Massa-
chusetts, telling how the farmers of Lexington, just
©ne month before, had been cruelly shot down by
British soldiers, and how eighty-eight of them were
killed in the fight which followed. The story flew
from lip to lip. The fire in their hearts leaped
higher and higher. Indignation ran riot.

The

be Independent! Let us declare our independence,
and

nN with one voice the people shouted, “ Let us

defend it with our lives and fortunes !

But the rule of England was not to be lightly
thrown off.

Every point must be talked over. So
these e

arnest men, without food or sleep, sat in the

Courthouse all] night long, and discussed the matter.

lheir excitement grew greater as the night wore

 

 
 

76 Old Time Stories

on. The next morning the people gathered again
in the square — men, women, and children. They
could not wait quietly at home for news from the
Convention. This was to them a matter of life and
death.

At noon five resolutions, drawn up by Dr. Ephraim
Brevard, were read to the Convention and adopted.
These resolves declared the people of Mecklenburg
to be free and independent, ‘no longer ruled by the
British crown. To the cause of independence they
pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their most
sacred honor.”

Colonel Thomas Polk then read the “ resolves”
from the courthouse steps to the excited crowd.

“ Three cheers!” shouted some one in the crowd.
Three rousing cheers rang out from the vast throng.
Hats were thrown up. The people were wild with
delight at having thrown off the yoke of subjection
to Great Britain.

Thus on the 2oth of May, 1775, was the Meck-
lenburg Declaration of Independence made.

Never was there such a great day in North
Carolina, and never did the people of any of the
American colonies do a braver deed.

Mont MENT TO THE SIGNERS OF THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
AT CHARLOTTE, N.C,

 

 
 

 

XV. A TORY BEAUTY

1776

THE good people of Wilmington were all astir on
a certain fair day in June, 1774; for the latest ves-
sel from Scotland had brought to their town that
beautiful Scotchwoman — Flora MacDonald.

After the fatal battle of Culloden, a great number
of Scots had found refuge among the pines of
eastern Carolina. All knew and loved the name
of the brave lassie who, when the defeat of his army
at Culloden had forced the bonnie Prince Charlie to
flee for his life, had risked death to enable him to
escape.’ Now there was great rejoicing at the
news that she had come with her husband, Allan
MacDonald, to make her home among them.

They at once made ready to give a grand ball
honor of their brave countrywoman. All true Scots
wanted the pleasure of being permitted to pay her
their respects. Such a brushing up of tartans as
there was among the gallants of the town, and such
an overlooking of silks and ribbons and laces among
the fair dames and fairer maidens of Wilmington,

' For this story, see pp. 345, 346, of Warren’s “ Stories from English
History,” published by D. C. Heath & Co., Boston.

78

 

A Tory Beauty 79

there had never been before. All must make ready

to look their best on such an important occasion.
For many years afterward the good dames of

W ilmington liked to tell about that ball: how the

fair F iéra’s beauty and gracious manners won every

Beart how her bright eyes sparkled, and how the

soft golden ringlets fell on her snowy brow; how

the roses of her

Cheek rivalled the

Tose on her breast.

One told how the

MacDonalds had

€ver been a dark

People, with black

hair and eyes , but

Flora was as fair

aS any maid of

English blood.

Another remem- FLORA MACDONALD

91 ed that Gov- The original portrait was painted while she was

awaiting her trial.

stnor Martin had. te sweet ot bedy Primrose,
Claimed her hand for the first dance, and with her
had himself opened the ball. All were agreed that
no heart could resist her charms, and every man
among them was ready to do her bidding.

Flora and her husband did not tarry long with

her kind friends at Wilmington. They went higher

 
 

Old Time Stories

up the Cape Fear River, and made their home at
Cross Creek, where a large colony of Highlanders
had settled. There, as at Wilmington, Flora won the
love of all, and it was not long before the loyalty of
the Scots to this beautiful woman was put to the test.

When Governor Martin, who was the last colo-
nial governor of North Carolina, found that the
people of the province were ready to stand for their
country rather than for King George, he made a
last effort to hold them to his royal master.

Hearing that the patriots had gathered an army
under Colonel James Moore, Governor Martin knew
that he must have a loyal army to meet them. So
Donald MacDonald, chief of the Highland clan of
that name, was instructed to form an army of all
those who were true to the king, and put down the
rebellion in North Carolina.

Now was the time for Flora MacDonald to work,
and now came the time when the love of the Scotch
people of the Cape Fear region for their brave and
beautiful.countrywoman was to be tested. She had
been in the colony hardly two years, and so knew
little of the wrongs which the people of North Caro-
lina had suffered. She only knew that King George
was their lawful sovereign, and with all her heart
she believed that it was wrong for them*to rebel
against him.

A Tory Beauty 81

She wrote many letters, pleading with them not
to turn against their king, and sent stirring mes-
Sages all over the colony. Wherever a Scotchman
Could be found, there came to him from Flora some
word to fill his heart with ardor for the king’s cause.

Her pleas were not in vain. Here was a brave
woman, they said, who, when only a girl, had risked
her life to save her prince. Should they, strong men
as they were, stand back when their king needed
their help?

So the Highlanders of the Cape Fear country
flocked to the camp of General MacDonald at Cross.
Creek, and enlisted under the standard of the king.
It was General MacDonald’s purpose to lead his
atmy to Wilmington, there to join the British army.

The day before their departure Flora went with
her husband to the camp at Cross Creek, to bid her
friends farewell. Mounted on a milk-white horse,
She rode along the lines, urging the soldiers to be
faithful to the king. She looked a very queen, the
men thought, and they cheered her wildly as she
Passed their ranks.

On their way to Wilmington the Tories were met
at a bridge over Moore’s Creek by a patriot army
Commanded by Colonels Caswell and Lillington.

The two armies camped for the night on opposite
banks of the creek. Each could see the camp-fires

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

of the other. At daybreak the wild notes of the
Scotch bagpipes smote the air, and the blast of
their bugles summoned the Tories to the conflict.

The patriots had not slept, but had worked all
night in throwing up breastworks, and had taken the
precaution to remove the planks from the bridge,
leaving only the stringers. This greatly hindered
the Highlanders in their attack.

Both forces fought bravely, but the patriots finally
won, driving off the Tories, and taking a large num-
ber of prisoners, among them Allan MacDonald, the
husband of Flora.

The battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, fought on
the 27th of February, 1776, was the first victory
gained by American troops in the Southern colo-
nies in the war of the Revolution. After this battle
the loyalists were so disheartened that they did not
make another stand until near the close of the war.

Flora MacDonald had so many trials in her
Carolina home, that at last, with her husband and
four sons, she returned to her old home in Scotland.
Her name is still held in reverence by the people of
North Carolina, and especially by those who are
descended from the Scotch settlers of the Cape Fear
region. The memory of the Tory beauty, so brave-
hearted, and yet always so gentle and kind, is
fragrant as the pines among which she lived.

XVI. “A LEAP: FOR “LIFE
1776

WHILE the French and English were fighting
about the boundaries of their lands in this country,
the Indians became very troublesome along the
western border of North Carolina. Bands of them
would swoop down upon the people, murder men
and women, scalp them, and burn even little babies.
Chose who were kept as prisoners were tortured in
the most inhuman manner. The fields of the set-
tlers were laid waste and their houses were burned.

A number of forts were built along the border for
the Safety of the settlers; and when the people found
that the Indians were prowling around, they would

take refuge in the forts. Each of these was a group

of log huts built around a square. Around all a

Stockade was often made, by driving stakes into the
Sround, and throwing earth up against them. The
Stockade gate was carefully guarded day and night.

Many sturdy settlers had come to the beautiful
valley of the Watauga, in the heart of the mountain
Sata of western Carolina, attracted by its fertile
soil,

felled

“They opened paths across the mountains,
the forest, cleared fields, and built houses.”
Here : : ee

lere a fort was built by John Sevier.

83

 
 

 

 

 

84 Old Time Stories

You must know that John Sevier was one of the
bravest men who figured in the early history of our
state. Handsome, gay, and generous, he was much
beloved. He was called by his friends and neigh-
bors, “ Nollichucky Jack.” They gave him this
name because his home was on the Nollichucka
River. He led many a band of soldiers against the
Indians, and never failed to punish them after one
of their raids upon the settlers. And yet, such was
his kindness of heart, that when, after one of their
fights, he brought back a number of Indian women
and children as prisoners, he supported ten of them
at his own home for three years.

After General Rutherford had at last subdued the
Indians, it was John Sevier who was sent to make a
treaty of peace with them. In later years he received
the rank of colonel, and afterward that of general,
for his gallant defence of his state against the Brit-
ish in the Revolutionary War. Being one of the
first settlers in the region embraced in the state of
Tennessee, he became the first governor of that state.

But what has all this to do with a leap for life?
I must tell you.

In June, 1776, old Abraham, the chief of the
Cherokee Indians, came down with his braves
and attacked Fort Watauga. Creeping stealthily
through the shades of the forest, the Indians

A Leap for Life

suddenly appeared before the little log fort with
Whoops and yells. Women and children were
hurried into the houses for safety, while every man
“prang to his gun. The deadly fire which the set-
tlers poured from the loopholes of the log houses
S00n drove the
Savages back into
the woods.
The women
found that
One of their num-

ber was missing.

At once there
was great anxiety.
‘Where is Cath-
€rine = Sherrill pe A FoRT SUCH AS THE PIONEERS BUILT
both mothers and The log houses were sometimes built close

together and surrounded by a high stockade.

children began to
ask. “Does any one know where Catherine is?”
Catherine Sherrill was a light-hearted girl of fifteen,
and a great favorite,

Some one remembered hearing her say that she
Was tired of being shut up in that old fort, and she
was going out to gather flowers. Nobody had
seen her since. “Then she will fall into the hands
of the Indians, and be killed! Poor girl! Poor

oir ” tian 1
girl!” was heard on every side.

 

 

 
 

 

86 Old Time Stories

Outside the huts John Sevier and Captain James
Robertson went here and there, directing the men in
their defence of the fort, and keeping a close watch
upon the Indians. Suddenly their blood turned
cold, for running toward the fort was the young
girl. Tall, slender, fleet as a deer, she sped toward
the gate. On she came, followed closely by a num-
ber of savages. She found that she could not reach
the gate, for between her and it there were Indians.
So sure were they of their prey that they lifted
neither bow nor gun against her.

On she fled like the wind, her pursuers close
behind. The two men breathed hard as they beheld
this race for life. But, look! She had turned away
from the gate, and was speeding toward another
part of the stockade. Instantly John Sevier rushed
to that point. With one leap she cleared the stock-
ade, and fell, panting and breathless, into the out:
stretched arms of the gallant Sevier.

And now this story ends in true story-book
fashion. John Sevier could not forget the winsome
face of the young girl to whom he had received so
romantic an introduction, nor could Catherine Sher-
rill banish from her mind the memory of the brave
soldier whose strong arms had received her in the
moment of her escape from the Indians. They
were married about three years after, and Catherine

A Leap for Life 87

was often heard to say that she was “ ready to have
another such race, and to leap over the pickets, to
€njoy another such introduction.”

We can well believe what was written of her —
that she «

could outrun, outjump, walk more erect,
ride

more gracefully and skilfully than any other

female in the mountains round about, or in the

Continent at large.”
In her old age both children and grandchildren
loved to listen as she told them again and again this

“Feally true” story of her wonderful leap for life.

 

 

@ Frede rick? Rute

we, Guilfora

\ * Court Hottse ¥
7 oy H CA\R OL z
Rings loon XC harlptte or) oRalcig zh

i, *Meck lenburg
Court.House

CER,
———,-— Cowper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES IN 1776

 
 

 

 

 

 

XVII. A DARING RIDE
1780

THE battle of Camden, South Carolina, which w as
lost to the American cause, brought great suffer-
ing to the people in the upper part of that colony.
The country was overrun with British soldiers, the
homes of the patriots were robbed and burned,
and that dread disease, smallpox, was spread by
the soldiers far and wide.

The prisoners taken by the British were penned
like cattle at Camden, and stripped of most of the
few clothes they wore, their wounds went undressed,
and they were nearly starved.

This stormy time brought dark days to the home
of the Lenoirs. While the father slowly starved in
the foul prison at Camden, the mother sickened and
died of smallpox, leaving a family of four helpless
children to the care of the negro slaves. The eld-
est of these four was Martha, just twelve years old.
She was a brave, good girl, and a true and loving
daughter.

Hearing how her dear father was starving in the
prison at Camden, Martha’s heart was wrung by the

88

LE

A Daring Ride 89

thought. She made up her mind that he should
have something to eat. Going to their old negro
cook one day, she said : —

“Maum Dinah, I want you to fill me a basket
With victuals, for I am going to take it to my
father.”

ye Why, missy,” replied the old woman, “ you can't
do dat; you're jist a little gal. It’s thirty-five miles
fom here to Camden, and de country is full of red-
Coats who'd sho’ kill you. No, honey, ole Dinah
can’t let you do dat.”

“ But, Maum Dinah, you must. My father shall
Not starve if I can get to him with food. I must go
to him.”

“O little missy! Howcan I let you go? Didn't
I promise my po’ mistis ’fo’ she died, to take good
Care o’ you? How'd you go, and who'd go wid
your”

“W hy, Uncle Czesar can go with me. He's been
S0 good to us since mother died. I know he’d take
80ed c Care of me and not let any harm come to me.”

pe honey! honey! I can’t let you go! Dem
Britishers will sho’ kill you. Dey'd never let you
gib de vittals to yo’ father, nohow. I know my ole

”

man’d do his bes’, but he couldn’t stan’ out g’inst
dem Britishers.”

“But Tl go right straight to General Cornwallis,

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

go Old Time Stories

Maum Dinah. I know he will let me take my poor

father something to eat.”

“Good sakes, honey ! Marse Giner’l Cornwallis!
You'd never set eyes on him. Dey’d never pester

a big man like him ’bout jist a little gal, No, no,

honey; if you'd happen to see him | spect he’d
e’en a’most snap yo’ head off. Don’t you go foolin’
long o’ Marse Giner’l Cornwallis.”

“Mammy, you need not say another word, for I
am going. And when I get there I will go right
straight to General Cornwallis. Do you think I

can eat and know that my dear father is starving?

Boil a ham, cook several] chickens and plenty of

biscuits, just as much ‘as a big basket will hold. I
am going to-morrow morning, and Uncle Cesar is
going with me.”

“ Well, missy, you’s tuck de bit in yo teeth. If
harm comes to you, ole Dinah’ll not be faulted.”

“ Don’t you worry, mammy, Uncle Cesar will
take good care of me.”

The next morning all were early astir on the
Lenoir plantation. Before sunrise the brave Mar-

tha, mounting her gentle saddle-horse, was ready

for her long journey. Old gray-headed Czesar led
the way, riding a plough-horse, and carefully hold-
ing a large basket of food in front of him.

It was a long ride of thirty-five miles, but by sun-

A Daring Ride

Set Martha and her faithful old servant have Coane
in sight of Cornwallis’s camp. Slowly they picked
their way to the general’s headquarters through
Sroups of wondering soldiers. “ What can that
little girl be doing here with only that old darky?
they said,

When in the presence of the guard pacing up
and down before headquarters, Martha’s courage
almost failed her. But taking
heart, she rode up to him and
Said, “ Please, sir, may I speak
with General Cornwallis ?”

TQ,” gruffly answered the

Suard. “What business can

you have with him ? My Lord

has no time to waste on a chit

of a girl like you.”
re please, sir, I should
see him for just a

n . ES NA
1oment. I have comea long

Journey to see him. I must
Speak with his Lordship. It is

< ” A BRITISH SOLDIER
4 Matter of great importance.

“Hal hat

burly o

YeSuarnd, =“ His Lordship will never whip these
Cursed re}
lass

Very likely, miss,” laughed the

els if he stops to speak to every strip of a

who comes along. Move on, my little lady;

 

 
 

 

 

 

g2 Old Time Stories

move on there, you gray-head. Do you hear?
Move on!”

“What is that guard blustering about?” asked
the general within. “ Please say to him that I
desire quiet.”

“Your Lordship,” said his aide, coming in, “it is

girl

a young miss with an old negro man; and the g

wishes to speak with you.”

“ Show her in,” said Lord Cornwallis.

Martha, blushing and trembling, was shown into
the presence of the great general. There he stood
in his scarlet uniform, seeming so tall and grand,
that when she looked up at his keen eyes and stern
mouth, her courage failed her. Not a word could
she speak, but falling on her knees before him, she
burst into tears. The general kindly patted her on
the head, and taking her by the hand, lifted her
from the floor. “Do not weep, my little maid,” he
said gently. “ You need not fear me. What can I
do for you?”

“ My father! my poor father!” sobbed Martha.

“ What is it about your father? Tell me all about
it, my child.”

Thus encouraged little Martha poured into his
ear the whole sad story of the father held in prison,
the dead mother and the helpless children.

Lord Cornwallis listened patiently. Then plac-

A Daring Ride

ing his hand kindly on her head, he said, “ My
little miss, your father-shall not only have this food
Which you bring, but he shall accompany you
home.” Y

Think what joy must have filled the heart of
Martha Lenoir as she heard those gracious words !
She was more than repaid for all the perils of her
daring ride, and for all the terrors of the meeting
with General Cornwallis.

Of course there was the happy journey home
with her father on the next day, and a joyous
Sreeting when home
Was reached. To
Show how much he
thought of his little
daughter’s brave deed,
Martha’s father had
a pair of gold earrings
Made for her zx the blacksmith’s shop ; for in that day

MARTHA LENOIR’S EARRINGS

there were no jeweller’s shops in the country.
Do you wonder that in all her life Martha Lenoir

never had anything which she prized so much as
those

gold hoop-earrings ? When she grew to be an
old woman she loved to show her home-made ear-
"ings, and tell of her daring ride, and of her talk

with Lord Cornwallis.

 
* XVIII. THE HORNETS’ NEST
1780

Tuis was the name given by Lord Cornwallis,
commander-in-chief of the British army, to the little
town of Charlotte—a name which still clings to it.
It was in this town that the “heady and high-minded
people of Mecklenburg county” made the first Dec-
laration of Independence on the 20th of May, 1775.
Even the young ladies of the town were full of the
love of liberty. No young man could win their
smiles, or be favored with their company, who was
not loyal to his country. So they said, in a paper
which they drew up after their fathers had signed
the famous Declaration of Independence.

It is not strange that five years later, when Corn-
wallis came with his British troops to subdue the
country, he found it no very easy task. When he
tried to occupy the village of Charlotte he found the
spirit and fighting qualities of the people such that
he ever afterward spoke of that little town as the
“hornets’ nest of the rebellion.”

On this September day in 1780, these hornets
were buzzing. The whole nest was stirred up.
Word had been brought that Cornwallis with his

94

The Hornets’ Nest 95

army was on his way to the town. The battle of
Camden, which had been won by the British, had
made them feel sure of success in North Carolina.
So Cornwallis turned his face toward that colony,
deciding to make his first stop in Charlotte.

CORNWALLIS'S HEADQUARTERS, CHARLOTTE, N.C,

Now removed,

General G reene was hurrying to Vi irginia with
what was left of the American army in the South.

Cornwallis would move on, and soon conquer the

rebels in } North Carolina — so his Lordship thought ;
but he did not know the mettle of the liberty-

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Time Stories

loving Scotch-Irish people of Mecklenburg, and he
did not find it such an easy matter to whip the
rebels as he had fancied.

True, General Greene had left in the country a
handful of troops under the command of the fearless
Colonel William Davie, while Major Joseph Graham,
then only twenty-one years of age, had charge of
the few men of Mecklenburg who were not already
in the field. These men were now gathered to defend
their homes, their wives, and their helpless children.

Word came one evening that Cornwallis’s army
was only a few miles from the town. “Let the red-

'»”

coats come on!” said these brave men; “we'll have
a welcome for them.”

“Yes! and a warm one,” shouted a ragged patriot.
“We can’t forget how the British murdered our
poor men at Waxhaws, giving them no quarter.”

“ No, nor how they starved the poor fellows at
Camden,” said another. “ Waxhaws and Camden
are not very far away.”

“No, no! Death to his Lordship and all his red-
coats!” shouted the crowd.

While they shouted thus to each other they were
busy filling powder-horns and _ bullet-pouches, and
looking to their rifles, and taking orders from young
Joe Graham.

At ten-o’clock the news came that the British

The Hornets’ Nest 97

army was in motion. There was no sleep for Char-
lotte that night. Women were hurrying to and fro
with scared faces, seeking places of safety for them-
Selves and their little ones. Soldiers were lining up
by the road on which the British must come. The
hornets were e preparing to give Cornwallis a warm
welcome,

At midnight the steady tramp of a column was
heard, as the British troops filed up the silent street.
Suddenly from behind trees, and bushes, and fences
a deadly fire flashed out. Bang / bang / went the
rifles, while the bullets whizzed through the air.
The British halted for a moment, then pushed on
toward the heart of the town. The firing along the

line kept up, but the troopers moved on 1n unbroken

ranks to the courthouse in the centre of the public
Square,

There they were met by a blinding fire from
Davie’s men, who had been concealed behind a
brick wall at the back of the courthouse. This so
Surprised Tarleton’s men that in a panic they turned
and dashed back down the street. Their trumpet
Sounded a charge, and they rallied and returned,
Only to be driven down the street again. <A third
time they charged, cheered by Cornwallis himself.
Again the withering fire leaped from the rebel guns,
and again the British took to flight.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

98 Old Time Stories

But Davie and Graham, knowing that with their
handful of men they could not hold out against the
British forces, ordered their buglers to sound a re-
treat. The British then took heart, and rushed
down the street in hot pursuit. When they came
within a few feet of the retreating patriots, the flee-
ing column turned and poured a deadly fire into

them and then scattered in the woods.

That night a mere handful of patriot soldiers had
kept at bay, and three times driven back, the ad-
vance guard of the whole army under Cornwallis.

The British gained the town, it is true, but not

until they were badly stung by the hornets of

Mecklenburg.

RIG Cy BOY, bi EB Bi BS, AND: THE
BRITISH

1780

Tue hornets made it so hot for Cornwallis and
his army that they stayed only nineteen days in the
“ Hornets’ Nest.”

Five years before, these people had declared
themselves free from the rule of King George, and
they weres Noe, yet. pre-
pared to submit to his
yoke. Nor did the pres-
ence of Cornwallis and his
army make them any more
ready to surrender the
freedom which they had
claimed as their right.

The British sent soldiers
out into the country to
obtain supplies for their Be RN
army, drove the patriots
from their homes, robbed them, and burned their
houses. This made the people of Mecklenburg

more determined than ever not to go to Charlotte

99

 

 
 

100 Old Time Stories

and take the oath of allegiance to King George.
Cornwallis promised to protect their property, and
to pay money for their provisions if they would do
this; but they had pledged their “lives, their for-
tunes, and their sacred honor” to the cause of free-
dom, and they would not break that solemn oath.
So they saw their live-stock killed, their barns
emptied, their homes sacked and burned, and their
families driven into the forest.

But they did not stand by and see all this done
without resisting. There were no soldiers to
depend upon, for Colonel Davie and his men had
gone back to the army. Young Joe Graham had
fallen in a skirmish the day after the battle at Char-
lotte, bearing in his body nine sabre wounds and
three bullet holes. At the home of Mrs. Susan
Alexander he was kept in hiding for a few days, but
was soon carried to his mother’s home, and there,
after weeks and months of tender nursing, he strug-
gled back to life and health. Without a leader, his
men had disbanded.

But the men and boys of the neighborhood had
joined together and made things so lively for the
redcoats, that the British soldiers feared to be sent
into the surrounding country on any kind of errand.
No matter how large their company, they were sure
to lose some of their number before they got back

The Boy, the Bees, and the British 1o1

to the village. From behind trees, and_ bushes, and
fences the deadly rifle-fire of the patriots poured
into them, almost every shot taking a man. The
drivers were picked off, and the horses in the wagons
killed. Whenever the British tried to punish these
daring rebels, they would leap on their horses and
soon be lost to sight in the forest.

One morning, while Cornwallis was yet in the
town, a twelve-year-old boy was ploughing in a field
not far from his father’s house at MclIntyre’s farm,
about seven miles from Charlotte. Hearing a’great
clatter down the road, he looked up and saw what
seemed to him to be the whole British army com-
ing. He dropped the lines, left the horse and
plough in the field, and fled to the house.

“Run!” he cried; “run! the British are coming!
Here they come, right down the road, the whole of
them!” Tie frightened women needed no second
but without stopping to save anything, fled

warning,

to the woods.

The alarm was given, and twelve men and boys,
all that were left in the neighborhood, gathered in
the woods near the house, every man bearing his
rifle. Young George Graham was chosen as their
leader.

nd re ~ = >» 2 -} 1 .

From their hiding-place they wat hed the British

swarm over the place. They saw the wagons driven

 

 

 
 

102 Old Time Stories

into the yard, and the soldiers load them with furni-
ture, provisions, and bedding from the house, and
with corn ahd forage from the barn. They saw the
bellowing cattle driven up and killed. Squealing
pigs taken from their pens, and men chasing chick-
ens about the yard, added to the uproar. Reckless
soldiers laughed and jested, but hurried at their
task, not knowing what moment the sneaking rebels
might swoop down upon them.

In the hurry and confusion some one upset a bee-
hive. Then, such a scene! The enraged bees at
once attacked men and horses. Their angry hum
soon emptied every hive in the yard, and the bees
swarmed everywhere.. The horses, maddened by
their stings, plunged, kicked, and reared: the men
with oaths and yells ran hither and thither, trying
to escape their winged foes. Upon hearing the
hubbub, the captain came to the door of the house,
and stood there, laughing at the funny sight that
met his eyes. The rebels could stand it no longer.
“Take good aim!” cried George Graham. “ Pick
out officers, if possible. I shall shoot the captain.
Fire!”

Down went the laughing Captain, pierced by
Graham’s bullet. By that one volley nine other
men and two horses were killed. A panic seized
the British. Leaving much of their plunder behind,

The Boy, the Bees, and the British 103

they hurriedly got together what wagons they could,
and left the place to the rebels and to the bees.
Helter-skelter they fled down the road, the little
band of rebels following them nearly all the way to
Charlotte. From behind fences and bushes they
poured such a deadly fire into their fleeing enemy,

shooting down men and horses, until the panic

stricken redcoats thought that a whole company
was pursuing them.

This was one of the most remarkable events of
the Revolution in our state. For on this day, at
MclIntyre’s farm, twelve Americans with the help of
the bees put to flight four hundred British soldiers.

 

 
 

 

XX. IN THE SHADOW OF KING’S MOUNTAIN

1780

’

In the shadow of King
girl named Susan Twitty. Only seventeen years
old, she was yet brave to a fault, and took delight in
saying that she “feared neither redcoat nor Tory.”

During that “dark and doleful time to the South,’
just after the battle of Camden, Lord Cornwallis

”

had sent the ‘fierce Ferguson” to ravage upper
South Carolina and western North Carolina.

Susan and her brother William, who was two
years older, lived in daily fear of seeing their
house robbed and burned, and their cattle driven
away, by the lawless mob of British soldiers,
or by their still more cruel Tory neighbors. Sad
tales had come to them of the sufferings of friends
and kinsfolk, and they could scarcely expect to be
spared when the houses of patriots were being
plundered and burned in every direction.

But for all that, Susan Twitty was fearless. Her
brother had taught her to ride the swiftest horse

without a saddle, and to shoot his Deckard rifle
with true aim.

s Mountain lived a young

In the Shadow of King’s Mountain 105

“No cowardly Tory or bold Britisher shall be
rude of speech to her,” William had declared.

She well knew that she must take care of herself
in any time of danger, for only a few old men and
boys were left to protect the homes of the patriots.
The Tories were becoming every day more cruel and

ring the » patriots and
rapacious, plundering the homes of the pat

shooting down many in cold blood.
Already the home of Colonel William Graham, on

Buffalo Creek, about seven miles from the present
town of Shelby, in Cleveland County, had been
turned into a fort. It was understood that at the
first threat of a raid by British or Tories, all the
women and children in that part of the country
were to flee to Fort Graham for safety.

One bright September day Susan Twitty found
herself hurrying to Fort Graham with a company
of helpless women and children. Word had been
brought that a party of Tories was coming to raid
that section.

Hardly were they safe within the walls of Fort
Graham and the door securely barred, when up rode
a band of twenty-three Tories, yelling and shout-
ing, and shooting into the house. After each volley
they would shout with oaths, “ Won't you surrender

now?”

The women crouched low in the room with

 
 

 

 

Old Time Stories

the frightened children, seeking to keep them-
selves and the little ones out of the way of the bul-
lets which were coming through the cracks between
the logs of the wall. Only three men were there to
defend them, Colonel Graham and his stepson, and
young William Twitty.

But the stout-hearted Susan was not daunted by

7

the shrieks of women and children, nor by the
cracking rifles of the foe. She was on the alert,
keeping an eye on the enemy, while she helped the
men to load their guns.

While thus engaged, she saw one of the Tories
run up to the house, stick his gun through a crack,
and aim at her brother.

“ Look out! He’ll shoot you !

'”

she cried, and sud-
denly seizing him by the arm she snatched him out
of danger, as the Tory’s rifle flashed, and the bul-
let whizzed past William’s head and buried itself in
the wall beyond.

“Oh, brother! but for me he would have killed
you !” cried Susan.

“Wait a minute, and I'll make him pay for that,”
said William.

Looking out just at that moment, Susan saw the
man kneeling as he reloaded his rifle.

“Now, brother William, now’s your chance!
Shoot the rascal!” she called. Bang / went Will-

In the Shadow of King’s Mountain 107

iam’ Torv fell over, shot through
iam’s gun, and the bold Tory fell over, shot g

the head.
Before any one could think what she was about,
Susan had unbarred the door, darted into the yard,

picked up the young Tory’s rifle and ammunition,

and with a shower of Tory bullets
her, rushed back into the house. .

These three men, with the help of this young girl,
lefence of Fort Graham, that

raining around

made such a brave ¢
soon the Tories rode away and left them.
Susan Twitty returned to her home, where she

could look across the hills upon the wooded slopes

of King’s Mountain, on whose summit within a
month took place t the battle which destroyed forevel!

the hope of the Tories in the success of the royal

arms.
Often did she hear her father tell of the battle o
King’s Mountain. She heard of Colonel Ferguson

> “ over- jen ” that
haughty message to the “over-mountain me

he would “march hi :

hang their leaders, and lay waste their country with

fire, unless they would submit to the
’ # 7

ys men across the mountains,

sword and
king.”

She heard how tl
them afraid, was like a bugle blast, calling to arms
ly soldiers of the mountains, to fight under

lis message, instead of making

those sturc
the command of Shelby, Sevier, and Cleveland.

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

She heard how, when these brave men were ready
to march against Ferguson, Parson Doak had led
them in ptayer, calling on the God of battles to
bless their arms; and how, when he cried out, with
great fervor, “The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon!” tears stole down the weather-beaten
cheeks of those hardy mountaineers, and they went
forth strong for the battle.

Her cheeks flushed with pride as she heard how
nobly these brave men kept Cleveland’s charge,
“Go in, resolved to fight till you win or die!”
and how they surrounded Ferguson and his com-
mand, who were encamped on the summit of the
mountain, and climbed the slopes, determined to
kill or capture every British soldier there.

She shuddered as she heard how Ferguson had
wickedly boasted, “I am on the King’s Mountain,
and God Almighty himself can’t drive me from it!”
Nor could she fail to think soberly about the fate
of this profane boaster who, though brave as the
bravest, and fighting with the skill for which he
was so well known, fell before the battle was over,
pierced by seven bullets.

She heard how his troops were utterly routed,
many killed and wounded, and the greater part
taken prisoners.

As often as she heard this story, Susan Twitty’s

In the Shadow of King’s Mountain 109

heart rejoiced that Parson Doak’s prayer had been
answered, and that the blessing of God upon the
arms of the patriots had delivered them at last from
all fear of British or Tory.

As she watched in the evening light the shadow

’

of King’s Mountain creep over the hills, she felt
thankful that even so from the bloody battle on its
heights the blessing of peace had fallen on the

land.

A REVOLUTIONARY POWDER-HORN

Used in the battle of King’s Mountain.

 
 

 

 

XXI. GORNWALLIS’S COUNTRY DANCE
1781

“ Cornwallis led a country dance —
The like was never known, sir ;

Much retrograde and much advance,
And all with General Greene, sir !
They rambled up and rambled down,
Joined hands, and off they ran, sir !
Our General Greene to old Charlestown,

And the Earl to Wilmington, sir ! ”

CoRNWALLIS’S country dance, the battle of Guilford
Courthouse, was one of ‘the battles that helped to
decide the Revolutionary War.

It is true that it could be said justly of the
American and British armies in that battle that —

“They both did fight, they both did beat,
They both did run away,”
as the old ballad puts it. Yet the battle of Guilford
Courthouse, which lasted only two hours, was one
of the most fierce and bloody of all that were fought
in North Carolina during the Revolution. The
British claimed the victory, but Cornwallis was
driven across the state to Wilmington, leaving his
dead and wounded behind him. After spending
some weeks in Wilmington, he once more marched

110

Cornwallis’s Country Dance r11

his army across North Carolina to meet his fate
at Yorktown.

Not many miles from the battlefield of Guilford

Courthouse lived that good patriot, the Rev. Dr.
David Caldwell. He was physician, teacher, and
preacher. For sixty years he was pastor of Ala-
mance church and lived to
be ninety-nine years old.
He was with the Regula-
tors at the battle of Ala-
mance, and tried in vain
to make terms for them
with Governor Tryon.

So well was he known
as a leader among the
patriots that Lord Corn-
wallis offered a thousand

GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE
pounds to any one who
would bring him into his camp. You may be sure
that many efforts were made by the Tories to do
this, but all in vain.

Not long before the battle of Guilford Court-
house he hid for about two weeks in the dense
undergrowth on the banks of North Buffalo Creek.
One escape of his is so wonderful that I must tell
you about it.

One afternoon, near sunset, a half-dozen men

 
112 Old Time Stories

rode up to Dr. Caldwell’s door, and begged to
speak with his wife. When she came out, they
asked, “ Where is your husband, Mrs. Caldwell? ”

“I suppose he is in General Greene’s camp,” she
replied.

“ That can’t be,” they said; “for we have come
directly from there.”

“When I saw him last,” she answered, “he said
he thought*he’d go to join General Greene.”

“ But he is not there,’ said the men. “ General
Greene has many sick men in his camp, and having
heard that your husband is a good doctor, he sent us
to ask him to come and help in the care of the sick.”

“Tam very sorry that he is not here,” she replied ;
“but you might find him in a certain thicket on
North Buffalo Creek,” and she described the place.

“Thank you! thank you, madame!” said the
men, and with many bows they rode away.

These men were not out of sight before Mrs.
Caldwell felt that they were only pretended friends,
and that she had betrayed her husband to his ene-
mies. She was so distressed that she could not
sleep, and spent the night in praying for the safety
of her husband.

During the night, while she prayed, Dr. Caldwell
dreamed that he was not safe in that place, and must
leave. Three times he had this same dream. So

Cornwallis’s Country Dance

sure did he feel that his life was in danger that as
soon as daylight came he left the spot and went to
General Greene’s camp. After leaving his home the
evening before, it had been too late for the men to
find his hiding-place. When they reached it the next
morning, they found that the thicket was deserted
and their expected prisoner had escaped. So they
failed to gain Lord Cornwallis’s thousand pounds.

Few women in those dark days suffered more
than Dr. Caldwell’s devoted wife. On the Sunday
afternoon before the battle a company of British
soldiers rode up to the gate. Asking for Mrs,
Caldwell, they told her they must have the use of
her house for a day or two, and took possession
of it at once.

Mrs. Caldwell, with her three small children, one
a young infant, and her housekeeper, Margaret, was
turned into the smoke-house. Here for two whole
days they were kept without a bed, a chair, or food.
A few dried peaches, which the poor mother carried
in her pocket, was all they had to eat.

One morning a young officer went to the smoke-
house door to taunt them in their distress.

“You are rebels and cowards,” he said, “and dare
not fight his Majesty’s army.”

“Wait and see what the Lord will do for us,” said
Mrs. Caldwell.

 
Old 'Time Stories

And before Thursday night the British had found

€
<
”

the “rebels and cowards” a pretty good match for
“his Majesty’s army,” in the Battle of Guildford
Courthouse.

At last Mrs, Caldwell, worn out by hunger and
the want of rest, distracted by the famished cries of
her little ones, and distressed by the rudeness of the
soldiers, went to a man who seemed to be an officer,
and asked him for protection from the soldiers and
food for her children. With an oath the man said:
“What right have you to expect favors? You
women are as cursed rebels as the men.”

But she was not to be daunted. Her children
must have food. She could not stand their wails,
and she could no longer endure the rudeness of the
soldiers. So she turned to another officer, who
she thought looked like a gentleman. When she
told him of her sad condition, he at once sent a
bed to the smoke-house, with cooking-vessels and
food. Then he set a guard there to protect her
from the rough speeches of the soldiers.

So much did the British hate Dr. Caldwell for
his work as a good patriot that his house was the
only building standing when they left the place.
Every panel of fence on his plantation was de-
stroyed. They burned his books and his sermons,
and carried off all his movable property.

XXIT;*’OLD’ BESS: AND THE CYPRESS. FORT
1781

THERE was in the city of Wilmington a point of
land which separates the northeast from the north-
west branch of the Cape Fear River, and known as
Negro Head Point. During the Revolution this

little tongue of land was a cypress swamp. Here

grew a very tall cypress tree, which looked sound

from the outside, but was in fact only a shell, and
so large at the ground that a small family could
have lodged comfortably in it. The fact that the
tree was hollow was discovered by Colonel Thomas
Bludworth, a good patriot then living in Wilmington.

Near the close of the war this huge cypress tree
became a fort, and one whose garrison never surren-
dered to the enemy.

After the battle of Guilford Courthouse, the
British, who did not want another taste of North
Carolina fighting, made their way in a hurry to
Wilmington, which was then in their hands. Now,
it made Colonel Thomas Bludworth’s patriot blood
boil to see the redcoats marching about the streets
of Wilmington. He made up his mind that if he
could not drive out the whole British army, he would
at any rate rid the earth of a few of the enemy.

115

 
116 Old Time Stories

Colonel Bludworth was a skilful gunsmith. He
could make the very best pistols, rifles, and sword-
blades.

“Tf I could only make a rifle long enough to send
a ball from the big cypress to the Market Street
dock, I'd have them,” said Colonel Bludworth to
himself. “I'll try it anyway.”

So he set to work, and soon had a very long rifle,
with which he could shoot a ball into a tree which
he thought was about as far from his door as the
cypress tree was from Market Street dock. This
rifle he lovingly named “ Old Bess.”

One July morning Colonel Bludworth called to
his young son, Tim, and Jim Padgett, a small lad
who worked with him, “Come, boys, let’s see if we
can’t start a fox or tree a raccoon this morning.
But, as it may be a long hunt, we must take some
prog [food] along. Here, Jim, you take this sack,
and, Tim, you take this one. I'll shoulder Old Bess,
the auger, and a jug of water.”

“ This is jolly,” said the boys, as they trudged off
to the canoe, and then headed the boat for Negro
Head Point.

“ Not so jolly as you might think,” said the col-
onel. “See that big cypress tree yonder, boys?
That tree isto be our home for three weeks, and
mayhap our everlasting home. That tree is hollow,

Old Bess and the Cypress Fort 117

and big enough to lodge us all. Let’s make a fort
of it. We can build a scaffold inside, and make an
opening in the tree fronting on Market Dock.
There the pesky redcoats strut up and down and
take their grog every day. We'll introduce Old
Bess to them, and when she speaks, somebody’s head
may ache, but not ours. Now, if you think you can
stand it, say so; and if not, say so, and Old Tom
will try his luck alone.”

“ No, sir!” cried the boys. “No! We'll not go
home. We'll stand by you to the last, and help
all we can in bringing down the proud Britishers.
Hip, hip, hurrah! Three cheers for Old Bess and
the Cypress Fort!”

“Good for you, boys!” said the colonel. “I
thought you’d stand by Old Bess and me.”

Reaching the Point, they soon fell to work on
their fort. They bored a hole into the trunk of the
tree, in which Old Bess’s muzzle could rest, and
others to let in light and air. Then they brought
in branches and leaves of the cypress to make their

bed, and soon got things ready for their housekeep-

ing in the hollow tree. To-morrow would be the

4th of July. They must be ready to celebrate.
Bright and early Jim and Tim were awake to see

what Old Bess would do. But Colonel Bludworth

said they must wait till ten o’clock. At that hour

 
Old Time Stories

the wind would set up the river, and would blow
away the smoke so that their hiding-place was not
so likely to be found out. . At last the hour had
come, and everything was ready for the introduction
of Old Bess to his Majesty’s loyal subjects.

“ Boys,” said the colonel, “ you see that group of
Britishers with their red coats, standing before Nel-
son’s liquor store on Market Wharf? Now, I'll just
send a ball to ask what they are doing there this
morning, and to ask after the health of that old
Tory, Captain Gordon.”

Crack / went the rifle. “See!” said Tim. “ There
is a man down, and four others are lifting him into
the shop.”

“Very good!” said the colonel, wiping out the
gun, and putting in another load. “Fix my seat,
Tim, and I'll see if I cannot send another man into
the shop to look after the first.”

Another flash of the rifle. “There!” said Jim
Padgett, “if another ain’t down! See! They are
taking the redcoat into the shop!”

On the wharf men were hurrying here and there
in the greatest confusion, some pointing one way,
some another. The soldiers had been struck down
by an unseen and unknown hand. A column of
soldiers came down to the wharf, with drums beating

>)
fifes playing, and colors flying.

Old Bess and the Cypress Fort 119

“ Now, Colonel, suppose you let me try my hand

this time,” said Jim.
“But, Jim,” said the colonel, “do you think you

”

can hold the gun steady:
“To be sure I can. Tis true my legs and arms

are none of the biggest; but I think I can do that

THE CYPRESS FORT

Jim took steady aim and pulled the trigger. Ina
moment there was a flutter among the soldiers on
the wharf, and they scattered in every direction. Jim
was delighted.

“Colonel,” he said, “Old Bess must have been

rude to them folks! They do not seem to be at all

: é ee
fond of her company! I've always heard them Brit

 

 
120 Old Time Stories

ishers are mighty well-bred, clever folks, and don’t
like to have rough-shod rebels coming among them.”

“ But see} Jim,” said the colonel; “they are tak-
ing to their boats, and we may have to leave here in
double-quick time. But wait and see.”

Boats were sent across the river to scour the
swamp, but in vain. Fortunately none came toward
Negro Head Point.

The next morning on waking they found the
town deathly still. Even after the usual hum and
bustle began in the streets, every one seemed to
shun the fatal wharf.

“What! Ye have got shy, have ye?” said Jim.
“Wait till grog time, about ten o'clock, and if you
don’t see Nelson’s liquor shop crowded with red-
coats, then I’m mistaken.”

Sure enough, it was as Jim said. Just at ten
o'clock several soldiers were seen to slip quickly
into the shop, as if fearful of being shot down.
Toward twelve o’clock, they grew more bold, and
gathered in groups before the door.”

“ Now, colonel,” said Jim, “suppose you introduce
Old Bess to ’em again.”

Crack / went the rifle, and another British soldier
fell. The gun was reloaded, and a second soldier
dropped, and in a few seconds a third. Again, as
on the day before, the drums beat to arms, the

Old Bess and the Cypress Fort 121

swamps were searched, but the hidden foe could

not be found.

For more than a week Colonel Bludworth and
the two boys kept up this work of striking terror
into the hearts of the British soldiers, and many a
redcoat bit the dust, thanks to Old Bess. Then
a Tory neighbor reported that Colonel Bludworth
and the boys were away from home, and he thought
they were hiding at Negro Head Point.

The British sent a party to hunt them. They
cut down the undergrowth, and some of the cypress
trees. All this time the brave garrison of three
were keeping very quiet in their cypress fort. So
near did they come to being caught that just at
sunset one evening a soldier struck his axe into

the tree in which they were hiding. Then they

thought their doom had come; but with joy they
heard the soldier say: —

“Well, as it is sundown, we will let this big
fellow stand until morning. Then it must come
down. It is so large that one cannot see beyond
it into the swamp.”

When the soldiers cut into the big cypress tree
next morning, great was their surprise to find it
an abandoned fort. Much to their sorrow, the
brave garrison had escaped during the night.

Note. —In our day such shooting by a citizen would be punished
by death if the citizen were caught.

 

 
XXITI. A BRAVE LITTLE REBEL
1781

You would almost have known she was a patriot,
when you looked into the frank eyes and open face
of fourteen-year-old Maggie McBride. The love
of liberty was her native air, for she belonged to
the congregation of Dr. David Caldwell, one of the
truest patriot settlements in the colony of North
Carolina.

Her young friends had often heard her say, as
she shook her pretty head with determination ; —

“ would never drink a drop of tea while the
world stands, if it would make the British think
they had a right to tax us. I would gladly live
on bread and water all the time, that the men
who are fighting for our country might be fed and
clothed, till these hated redcoats are driven from
our shores.”

It was easy to see that there was no love in her
heart for King George and his red-coated soldiers.

To this frank avowal her young friends all de-
clared their approval. Like Maggie McBride, they
were Whigs, and hated the very name of Tory. She

122

A Brave Little Rebel 123

was a great favorite among them, too, this fair
young rebel; they liked her sprightly ways, her
friendly manner, her outspoken patriotism.

Where the city of Greensboro now stands, and
for miles around, the country at that time was like
a Western prairie. From the fact that thickets of
pines grew here and there, the section was known

as the “Pine Barrens,” or “The Barrens. The
earth was covered with a growth of grass and

pea-vines, so here the farmers of the neighboring

country gathered their crops of hay and here their

cattle grazed the year round. No highway ran
through these Barrens, and there was not a house
on. them. At intervals in damp hollows grew
dense clumps of small oaks, with a thick under-
growth, all festooned with grapevines, making
thickets in which a company of men might hide
for weeks.

In the early autumn of 1781 it began to be whis-
pered around in Guilford that a band of Tories had
come in from another section and had pitched their
camp in one of these glades in the Barrens. At
night they made raids on the neighboring farms,
stealing horses, cattle, forage, provisions, pigs,
and poultry. They visited some of the weak
Whig families, and used bribes to bring them over

to the king’s side. These things were known to

 
Old Time Stories

the people of the neighborhood, and they felt that

the country should be rid of their evil presence.

The patriots were agreed that something must be
done, but so well had the Tories kept the secret of
their hiding-place that no one knew exactly where
to find them.

One night it was rumored that they were in the

’

southeast part of “The Barrens,” and a troop of
horsemen started out, bent on hunting them down.
Hantz McBride’s house being the nearest to that
section, they went there, thinking that McBride
would be likely to know something about the
Tories. It was after dark when they reached the
house. The captain rode up to the gate and
halloed. McBride was away from home, but his
wife came to the door, followed by Maggie and the
younger children.

“ What is wanted?” asked Mrs. McBride.

“ Are you not good and true Whigs? ” asked the
captain, “and am I not talking to friends?”

“Certainly,” she said; “ if you are a Whig, you
have nothing to fear from us.”

“Have you anybody in the house who favors the
Tories ?”
“ Not one that I know of.”
“Do you know if there is a camp of Tories near

by in the pine woods?”

A Brave Little Rebel 125

“T have heard there is, but have not seen them.
They know us too well to show their faces here, the
rascals.”

“ How far is it to their camp? Can you direct
me so that I can find the place? We'll teach them
better than to take up their quarters in a Whig set-
tlement.”

“Tt will be hard to give you directions, as only a
path leads there, crossed by so many other paths
that I fear you will miss the way.”

During this talk bright-eyed Maggie stood by, all
eager interest and excitement, now and then putting
in a word to make her mother’s directions plainer.
The captain, seeing the interest she took in the
matter, turned to her, and said : —

“ Well, now, my little miss, couldn’t you go along
to show us the way?”

“ How could I?” said Maggie. “Suppose you
should find the Tories and get to fighting, what
should I do? How could I get home? What
would the people in the neighborhood say when
they heard that I had led a company of men to
the Tory camp at night.”

“Tut! tut! miss, they would say that you

were a brave girl to help rid the country of these
pesky Tories. I'll warrant your father would be

proud of you.”

 
 

Old Time Stories

“But if the Tories find out I led you to their
camp, they'll kill me,” objected Maggie.

oD

“Never you fear, my good

/

gitl; I promise you
no harm shall come to you. If once we get a
good look at those cowardly Tories, they'll not soon
trouble you or any one else in this country again.”

“ Well, I reckon I can go,” said Maggie.
e

“That’s my brave girl!” cried the captain ;
“we've come a long way to drive out these thiev-
ing Tories, and now by your help we'll do it.”

Throwing on her bonnet, Maggie climbed the
low fence in front of the door, jumped on the
horse behind the captain, and off they all dashed
down the road. A brisk ride of two miles brought
them so near the Tory encampment that the horses
must be reined up, and they went slowly and as
silently as possible, lest the Tories should take
alarm. Maggie looked eagerly over the captain’s
shoulder, and as they drew near the dark clump
of trees, whispered, “ Yonder they are!” and slipped
from the horse.

Hardly had she touched the ground when daxg /
bang! bang! rang out the twenty or thirty mus-
kets, and whizzz/ whizz/ went the bullets. The
air was filled with shots and shouts, and cries,
and clashing of swords. Off darted Maggie toward
home, as fast as her feet could fly. On, on! she

 

 

A Brave Little Rebel 127

sped as if followed by Tory bullets. Nor did she
stop till she reached her home, and rushed in, pant-
ing for breath,

“Well, mother,” she said, as soon as she could
speak, “those miserable Tories have got a lesson

to-night which they will not soon forget, and I hope

they will no longer be a pest. and a reproach to this

country.”

“Why, my daughter, you didn't stay to see what
was done.”

“Why, no, mother, as soon as we came in sight
of them, I jumped down and started back as fast
as I could, but I had come a very little distance
it didn’t seem to be a minute —when I heard ever
so many guns, and then such slashing and halloing,
— you never heard the like. I just know the ugly
things are used up, and now we shall be clear of
them. Well, I do feel sorry for them, after all —
really sorry. Just think how they will be cut up
and run off. But then, they had no business to be
Tories. If they are so mean and low that they
want to be slaves to King George, let them not stay
here and try to make us as degraded as themselves,
but go to his country and serve him there. We
have no use for them here, and I am glad they

’

are gone.’

“Yes, my dear, we are all glad they are gone.

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

And I am truly glad to have had you help in driv-
ing them out, and yet return unhurt to your mother’s
arms.”

Maggie was right. The Tories were indeed
“used up” that night, and the people in that section
were not again troubled by them.

Both Whig and Tory are long since gone. The

’

“Pine Barrens” have given place to flourishing

towns and noisy mills. The hunting

g, the hay-

making, the flower-clad glades, and the singing birds
have all passed away like a dream of the night, but
the name and the deed of Maggie McBride are still
remembered. As long as we cherish the fame of
those who loved the cause of freedom, we will
remember this brave little rebel, Maggie McBride.

Nore. — Much of the dialogue in this chapter, and that on “Old
Bess and the Cypress Fort,” is adapted from Caruthers. —L. A. McC.

 

XXIV. A LITTLE SCOTCH LASSIE

>

1782

Over in bonnie Scotland, in Edinboro’ town, a
baby girl opened her blue eyes on the world in the
early part of 1772. She came to gladden the hearts
and brighten the home of Andrew Balfour and his
young wife, Janet. They gave her the name of
Matilda, but as that seemed too stately for a roly-
poly baby, they called her by the pet name, Tibbie.

“But what has a little Scotch baby to do with
the story of North Carolina?” you will ask. That
is just what I am going to tell you.

Little Tibbie did no heroic deed, but she suffered
much during the last year of the Revolutionary
War, from the fight which was waged in North
Carolina between the patriots and the Tories.

Young Balfour was not allowed to rejoice for

many months, in his happy home, and dear wife,
and sweet baby Tibbie. Business troubles beset
him; so one fair May day he kissed the young
mother and the blue-eyed baby good-by. Then he
sailed away to America, hoping to mend his for-
tunes in that new land of promise.

After a year spent in New England the sad news

129

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

came to him of the death of his young wife left in
Scotland. His sister Margaret then took charge of
the little Tibbie.

The Revolutionary War broke out. New Eng-
land was laid waste. Provisions there became
scarce and high, corn selling at thirty dollars a
bushel in current money.

Andrew Balfour had married again, and now felt
that he must go where he could make better pro-
vision for his family. The South was at that time
free from war, and so he concluded to go and take
charge of a plantation of nineteen hundred acres
which his father had bought for him in the colony
of North Carolina. There .he hoped to make a
comfortable home for his wife and little ones.

In those days travel was slow, and mails were
very uncertain. Letters were months, sometimes a
year, in going from New England to the far-away
colonies of the South.

A long journey, made partly on horseback, partly
by stage-coach, and partly by slow-sailing vessels,
finally brought Andrew Balfour to Charleston, in
South Carolina. Here his brother John was living,
and here also he found his sister Margaret and _ his
darling little five-year-old Tibbie. With great joy

he clasped to his heart again the dear child whom
he had left a tiny babe in Scotland.

A Little Scotch Lassie 131

One thought now filled his heart — to make a
home for his united family. He took charge of
the plantation in North Carolina. He built a com-
fortable log house on the banks of Betty McGee’s
Creek, in Randolph County. Here he brought his
sister and little Tibbie, gathered a company of

negro servants, and wrote to his wife, whom he

had left in New England, that he was coming soon
to bring her to his Southern home.

But the dreadful war now moved south. Charles-
ton was taken by the British, who marched across
that province into North Carolina.

Mr. Balfour was a true patriot. He entered the
service of his adopted country and was made a
colonel. Everywhere known as active in the pa-
triot cause, he was cordially disliked by the Tories.

In the year 1782 the state was scourged by a
band of Tories, led by one of the most infamous
men ever known within its borders, Colonel David
Fanning. A native of North Carolina, he was yet
a colonel in the British army. He hated bitterly
every one who bore the name of patriot, and none
more than Colonel Balfour.

The men Fanning had gathered around him were
as lawless and cruel as himself. Idle and reckless,
delighting in murder and plunder, they scoured the

country, murdering or making prisoners of the

 

 
132 Old Time Stories

patriots, burning their houses, sometimes killing
even women and children.

Our little Scotch lassie had now grown to be a
bonnie ten-year-old girl, and was the light and joy
of that home in the wilds of Carolina.

The peaceful stillness of a Sunday morning in
the early spring rested upon the happy home of
the Balfours. The negro servants had gone to a
neighboring church for the day. Colonel Balfour,
just recovering from a fever, was with his sister
Margaret and little Tibbie, enjoying the peace of
the holy day. Suddenly the silence was broken
by the steady beat of horses’ hoofs. Nearer they
drew, and still nearer. Some one was coming =
great haste. Colonel Balfour rushed to the door
to see one of his neighbors dash up.

“Run, Colonel! Run!” cried the man; “ Fan-
ning is upon you!”

At the same instant Fanning with twenty-five of
his men galloped up to the gate. One man fired,
and Colonel Balfour was shot through the arm.
He stepped back into the house to protect his
sister and little daughter. They threw their arms
about him, as if they would shield him from the
ruffans who surrounded them, clinging to him in
an agony of fear and despair. The brutal fol-
lowers of Fanning dragged Colonel Balfour from

 

A Little Scotch Lassie 133

the sheltering arms of his sister and daughter
threw them on the floor, and held them down with
their feet until they could shoot him. After Colonel
Balfour, pierced by many bullets, had fallen, Fanning
pulled out his pistol, and put a ball through his
brain. The unhappy sister and little Tibbie were
beaten, trampled upon, hacked with swords, and at
last driven from the house, penniless and without

food. The Tories then robbed the house of every-

thing that could be carried away.
Afraid for their lives, Tibbie and her Aunt Mar-

garet made their way to the house of a neighbor,

who lived some miles from the Balfour home. The
poor aunt was thrown into a long fever by the
shock of her brothers death and by the brutal
treatment that she herself had suffered at the
hands of the Tories. Little Tibbie proved a faith-
ful nurse, and after many weeks was made happy
by seeing her aunt well once more.

After the war Tibbie and her Aunt Margaret
were gladdened by the coming of Mrs. Balfour, with
her little son and daughter, from their distant home
in New England. Tibbie was delighted with the
brother and sister, whom she had never seen, and
the reunited family ever after made its home in

North Carolina.

 

 
 

 

XXV. ‘THE OLD TOWN CLOCK

1766-1903

“You say that I look old and shabby? Well,
that is not to be wondered at, for I have been keep-
ing time for this good old town of Hillsborough for
nearly one hundred and fifty years.

“ My face, you think, looks scarred and ugly ?

“Yes, it can hardly be called a beauty, for it has
stood the scorching heats of summer and the storms
of winter for almost a century and a half.

“ How did I come here, you wonder?

“Why, that is quite a story. They say that I
was given to the town by King George III in the
year 1766. So you see that I am a travelled clock.
I came all the way from Birmingham in England,
where I was made, to this little town in the heart of
North Carolina. A long journey it was, but I have
had a good rest.

“ Have I always looked down on the town from
the courthouse cupola?

“Oh, no! When I first came, they put me in
the church tower. But as I had been given to the
town, and not to*the church, I was not allowed to
stay there very long.

The Old Town Clock 135

“Just across the street from where this court-
house now stands the old Market-house was built

r* 1767 as then taken from the
about the year 1767. I was then taken

church tower, and placed over the Market-house,

THE OLD TOWN CLOCK AT HILLSBOROUGH

4) ze > c j e,
Given to the town by King George IT] and still in us

where I kept time for the people of Hillsborough

during the stormy days of the Revolution.

« And did I work all that time?
“Well, most of it. Once for a little while my

tongue was silent, and my hands stood still.

 

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

“When was that?

“ Why, about the close of the Revolutionary War,
when the fight was waging hotly in North Caro-
lina between the Whigs and the Tories. The story
goes that my leaden weights were taken off and
melted and moulded into bullets for use in good
Whig muskets. And when that infamous David
Fanning, with his Tories, raided the town in 1781,
they threw my bell into the Eno River. But as
soon as peace came, the people fished my bell out
of the river, gave me new weights, and set me
going again.

“You would like to know when I was moved to
the courthouse cupola? How many things you
do want to know!

“That was in the year 1820, and I have been
keeping time for this steady-going little town ever
since; and very good time, too, they say, with just
a little coaxing.

“You think that I must have seen many wonder-
ful things from my high perch? Why, so I have;
a great many more than my tongue can tell.

“ My tongue seems to wag right steadily, you say,
and ought to be able to tell many a tale of this old
town! That it could, but I hardly know which you
would like best.

“Tell you any story I can think of?

The Old Town Clock 137

“ Now, if you will keep still and listen, I will try
to tell vou some of the things I have seen.

“No other town played such a part in the Revo-
lution as this village, nestling in its valley on the
banks of the Eno River, and shut in by the Oconee-
chee hills. It was surrounded by what was, for that
day, a thickly settled country, and stood midway
between the eastern and western settlements of the
colony. For that reason it was made the seat of a
pitty: and a court was held here. This drew to
the ions from a distance a number of men of ability,
who came with the hope of bettering their fortunes.

“Among them was Edmund Fanning, a lawyer
from Long Island, who did more than any other
man to bring on the trouble with the Regulators.
He was a great favorite with Governor Tryon, was
made clerk of the court, and grew rich on unjust
fees wrung from the people.

“Money was scarce, and fifteen dollars at that

day was a sum equal in value to forty or fifty dollars

now. The people were willing to pay such fees and
taxes as were just and legal ; but they said, ‘We are
not willing to have our living torn from us by those
monsters whose study is to plunder us.’ So they
sent a petition to Governor Tryon, asking him to
correct these evils. As you have learned, these men

had organized themselves into a band called the

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

Regulators, being determined to resist unjust taxa-

tion, by force if necessary.
“Once Governor Tryon sent his officers to talk
with them and settle their troubles. While the

Regulators, in good faith, were preparing to meet

Tryon’s_ officers, Fanning with a party of thirty
horsemen went to their houses and arrested Herman
Husbands and William Hunter, the leaders of the
Regulators, and threw them into jail. The people
were so roused by this treatment that a large body
of them marched toward Hillsborough, determined
to release Husbands and Hunter. They had for
their leader Ninian Bell Hamilton, a brave Scotch-
man, who was then seventy-three years old. When
Fanning heard of their approach, he was frightened,
and released his prisoners just when the Regulators
reached the banks of the Eno opposite the town.
Taking a bottle of rum in one hand and a bottle of
wine in the other, he walked down to the river, and
begged Hamilton not to lead his men into the town.
“*Send me over a horse,’ said Fanning, ‘that I
may come and talk matters over with you.’
“«Ve're nane too gude to wade, and wade ye
shall if ye come over!’ shouted the old Scotchman.
Fanning did wade across, but Hamilton’s men were

too angry to talk with him, nor would they touch a
drop of his liquor.

The Old Town Clock 139

i} > S E S y ywn despet ate,
> ) > “ | ‘ fi m
i ve the uage Oo

* > cour ise.
the bench and the lawyers from the courthous
y his heels from the

i -agged Fanning b
»n they dragged Fanning ;
He: ie him up

i i rods shut
courthouse, beat him with rods, and sl . ns
‘ning, lear o P
in jail all night. The next morning, learning ;
c ¢ oO . x i ’ ‘
the judge had fled the town during the se y
> itur re down
‘annine’s costly furniture, and tore do
broke up Fanning’s costly furnit

i ; turning to the courthouse,
his house, and then, returning t

they held a mock court, compelling Seria = aS
as judge. All this was very wrong, but aa . : fe : |
often seen injustice made a farce in the po eae
that they were goaded on to such lawless deec S. =

“On a hill near where the Presbyterian church
now stands is a spot where in the following year
Tryon, with great parade and show, oa we 2
the Regulators who were captured at the battle
Alamance. (See picture, page 55-)

“] wish that I had time to tell you of the gay
scenes I have witnessed when the gallant beaux and
fair belles of the colony were gathered for feast and
dance at’ Governor Tryon’s. Then as now ra
young men and maidens managed to find sai =
merry-making. There were gay times the —
following the battle of Alamance, when the ere
ernor, Josiah Martin, brought his family and spent
three months in Hillsborough. Then all the gentle-

 
140 Old Time Stories

men from the country round about came to welcome
the governor. There were dinner parties and tea
parties, horseback rides and drives. The town was
filled with famous beauties and their brave gallants.
So often were young couples of that time seen walk-
ing under the overhanging trees along the river’s
bank opposite the town, that to this day the old path
there is called Lovers’ Walk.

“I must tell you how Lord Cornwallis came, after
he had chased General Greene for a time out of the
colony, and made his headquarters here.  Hills-
borough was then the capital of North Carolina.
Cornwallis marched into the town with banners fly-
ing and bugles blowing. He hoped by offers of
money and lands to induce many of the men of this
section to fight under his banner, but failed in this.
Pickens and Lee with a few American troops
made frequent attacks upon his men, so he tarried
only six days. During his short stay here, how-
ever, he had one of the streets paved with cobble-
stones, and the people of the town would now almost
as soon part with me as with this pavement.

“Tell you another story ?

“Really, I cannot to-day. I can only tell you that
after the Revolution the state capital was moved
east, and we had peace and quiet for many, many

years in good old Hillsborough town.”

 

XXVI THE LITTLE COOK'S REWARD
1791

i » Rev ion was
ht years of fighting, the Revolutic

AFTER elgl
1 Cornwallis’s surrender to General

ended by Lorc sass Dae
Washington, at Yorktown, in Virginia. Our c

‘3 SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS AT YORKTOWN, OCTOBER 19, 1781
HE SURRENDER )

From the painting by Trumbull, in the Capitol at Washington.
onies became states, and after a time joined them

gs
7 > gover snt as the United
selves together under one governme

States of America. -
was made the first President, for it was he who lec
You can hardly real-

Of course George Washington

the American army to victory.
141

 
 

 

Old Time Stories

ize how the people at that time admired and loved
that great hero.

When he had ,been President two years, Wash-
ington made up his mind to take a journey through
the Southern States. He wanted to see the people
who had been so loyal to the American cause. He
well remembered that the first Declaration of Inde-
pendence was made in Charlotte. He also remem-
bered how two companies of North Carolina troops
had come to his aid just after that terrible winter at
Valley Forge, in which so many of his poor men
had perished with cold and hunger. So on this trip
he passed through our state, visiting Halifax, Tar-
boro, Newbern, and W ilmington, on his way south,
and stopping at Charlotte, ‘ Salisbury, Salem, and
other towns on his return.

The people were wild with delight at having
with them their beloved President. Everywhere he
went they delighted to honor him. In every town
great crowds gathered to greet him, and he was
received with cheers, patriotic songs, and speeches
of welcome. The officers of the State, with the
militia and great processions of little children, and
vast crowds of people, came out to meet him. At
some places immense arches of flowers spanned the
road for him to pass under, and little girls strewed
flowers before him as he rode along.

 

 

The Litile Cook’s Reward 143

arty was a sight worth seeing, as 1t

This gay pz
There were

made its way through our southland.

n
no railroads then; so General Washington rode i

; > s gilt

his great cream-colored chariot of state, with its g
i leather curtains, and soft
This coach was drawn by
Should the general tire

Idle-horse

trimmings, green blinds,
black-leather cushions.

four large white horses.
of his coach, there was his milk-white sadc
led along for his use. An escort of four ee
accompanied the chariot, and five servants, a
ing white livery with yellow trimmings. A light

's, followed the
baggage wagon, drawn by two horses, fc

escort. o)
In order to get a good view of the -country,
Washington sometimes took thé driver's seat, and

he tells us that once, when the driver fell sick while

i ‘ough western North Carolina, he
passing up through western No ‘

himself took the reins for a distance of twenty

miles or more. ie
We do not wonder that men, women, and cnhil-

dren gathered in crowds at every town through
oO

which he passed, and lined the roads and streets
before the expected arrival of this great man. Not

do we wonder that the heart of pretty little Betsy

Brandon was heavy and that her steps were slow,

r tasks at brig onday
as she went about her tasks that bright M :

S eetia rr
i in | 7 rhe ssident was
morning in May, 1791, W hen the Preside

 
 

 

144 Old Time Stories

expected at Salisbury. Had she not reason to be
heavy-hearted?. For all the family had gone to
Salisbury, six miles away, to see General Washing-
ton pass by on his way north, while to Betsy had
fallen the sad lot of staying alone to look after the
house.

And such a grand time they were to have at
Salisbury! The military would be drawn up in
line to receive him. There would be a speech
of welcome. Forty little boys, dressed like men,
in long coats and high hats, her own brother Robert
among them, would march with the soldiers, and
one of them would also make an address of wel-
come to the President.

We may be sure it was a sad trial to a bright
young girl of fourteen not to be allowed to see all
this. How she longed to look on the tall figure
and fine face of the great general! How she
longed to have just one glance from his fine blue
eyes! How she would like to see that beautiful
chariot, with its four milk-white steeds, and the
servants in livery of white and gold! But here
she must stay, and she would never have another
chance to see the first President of the United
States. Such thoughts filled Betsy’s heart, as she
sat on the bench on the shaded porch under the

great oak.

The Little Cook’s Reward 145

How still it was! How could she endure this

quiet all day long, for it was not yet nine o'clock !
But what sound was that? Surely it was some

one coming. Yes, there, galloping up the Char-

lotte road, were horsemen. After them came a
chariot, and then more horsemen. The cavalcade
stopped at the gate. Betsy’s heart stood still. A
tall, handsome man stepped from the carriage, and
came up the walk. Betsy blushed and made a
curtsy as he reached the steps.

“Good morning, my little maid!” said the tall
man. “I know it is late, but could you not give
an old man some breakfast ?”

Poor Betsy blushed more than ever, and curtsied
again as she replied : —

“T don’t know, sir. All the grown folks have
gone to Salisbury to see General Washington, and
I am the only one left on the place.”

“Never mind, my pretty maid, if you are alone,
I am sure you are quite as brisk as you are pretty.
Just give me a breakfast, and I will promise that
you shall see General Washington before any of
your people.”

“Well, sir,” said Betsy, her heart beating wildly,
“T will try to do for you the very best I can, though
our fare is quite plain.”

With swift hands and nimble feet she set to

 
 

 

146 Old Time Stories

work, and it did not take her long to spread the
table with snowy cloth of homespun linen, and
put out the best of her mother’s china and silver.
Then she ran to the spring-house for golden butter
and foamy milk. Fresh honey, savory ham, and
new-laid eggs, with the wholesome loaf, and the

milk and butter, made an ample breakfast for the
hungry stranger.

When he left the table, her unknown guest

thanked her for her hospitality, and stooping over,
kissed her, saying, “ Now, my dear, you may tell
your people when they get home that you not only

/

saw General Washington before they did, but that
he kissed you.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON

XXVII. OLD HICKORY
1767-1845

Aprout the time the county of Mecklenburg was
set off, a baby boy was born in the southern part
‘a Os y 5 . ~ .
of that county, near the border of South Carolina.

Thi cks rew > one of
This boy, Andrew Jackson, grew up to be

THE HousE IN WHICH ANDREW JACKSON WAS BORN

-als » best Presidents
the greatest generals and one of the be

our country has ever known. He was a North

Carolinian of whom we may all feel proud. | could
tell you many stories of him, for he lived through a
stormy period of our country’s history, and passed
through many sad as well as many glorious scenes.

Andrew Jackson’s father died a few days before
Andrew was born, leaving a widow with two sons,

147

 
Hickory 149
148 Old Time Stories Old Hickory}

: a youth of seventeen years,
Hugh and Robert. As the widow with her little eldest brother, ices i ss dikie of battle. At this
x 5; : e, oa > heat and fe 4 :
boys could not be left alone in the little log house died from the he ‘ble massacre of Buford’s men
‘ . . . > srriple ee
which the father had built, after the birth of Andrew time, too, the te

they made their home with relatives in the Waxhaw

 

 

settlement in South Carolina.

There never was a boy who loved fun and frolic
better than “little Andy,” as his friends call
He was fond of all such active S}

ed him.
0rts as foot-races,
leaping the bar, and jumping. He liked mimic bat-
tles and; above all, wrestling. One of his school-
mates used to say, “I could always throw Andy
three out of four times in wrestling, but he would
not stayed throwed.” He found much time for such
sports with the boys who weht with him to the old
log schoolhouse which he attended as a child.
Andrew was certainly not a handsome boy. He
was tall and slender, with a freckled face, bushy,
sandy hair, and bright blue eyes. He was of a quick,
fiery temper, and woe to the boy that he found
trying to ill-treat or bully a younger boy. Although
full of fun when in school, Andy learned well. His
last schooling, when a youth, was at Liberty Hall in
Charlotte, and he was so poor at the time that his
clothing was almost in tatters. But the chief les-
sons which prepared him for his great career were
learned amid the sad scenes of a bloody war.

When Andrew was only thirteen years old his

/ me rning the
happened in the Waxhaw settlement, furning
id 1 all the other houses of

seting-house anc
old log me g ree

i spitals Here
the neighborhood into hospitals. : —
: > - =r ¢
and his brother Robert helped their mothe
c ~
on the sick and dying soldiers. ; eee
Not long after this they were driven fre ;
h he British army, and too
Here
One of

home by the coming of t tia:
‘ | ivl ar ariotte.
refuge with relatives living neat Charl
i i 7 ways.
Andrew made himself useful in many way

4 : : m
i i -e the grist to mill, and anothe
his duties was to take the grist

7 me ae : h
“ming snsils to the blacksmit
was to take the farming utens!

, > back from the
shop to be mended. He never came back fr«

j i > new weapon

i -Inging w him some new wea}

shop without bringing with a : :
it the British. Some

he had made with which to fig]

imes a spear or

times it was a club, sometimes a spear ¢

: scythe ‘gan cut-
hawk. One day he took the scythe and begat

a toma-

i re ry, crying out
ting down the weeds with great fury, es g : :
, rc swee m the
“ Oh, if I were a man, how I would sweep dow
:

e ‘ SRE SPRY rs Os
British with my grass blade! ee
- ( re w )K c :
At the age of fourteen Andrew took uj

is ft or R rt
defence of his home. He and his brother Robe

T bd -
joined a party of Whigs g hh ge
soldiers who had been sent to subdue the rebel:

athered to meet the British

j The tw rs were
this troublesome neighborhood. The two boys

 

 
 

150 Old Time Stories

captured by the British after having been chased by
them into a thicket, where they spent a day anda
night without food.

The offiger in charge of the prisoners ordered
Andrew to clean the mud from his boots. This
the boy refused to do, saying, “Sir, lam a prisoner
of war, and claim to be treated as such.” The offi-
cer turned on him and struck a blow at his head
with his sword. Andrew threw up his hand to ward
off the blow, and thus got a gash on both his head
and his hand. The officer then ordered Robert to
clean his boots. He, too, refused, and received a
sword-cut on the head, which felled him to the earth,

These two wounded boys, with other prisoners,
were placed on horses and marched forty miles to
Camden, in South Carolina. Not one mouthful
of food nor one drop of water were they allowed
through the whole of this weary march. When; in
crossing a stream, they would try to dip up a few
drops of water in their hands to quench their raging
thirst, the guard would order them not to do so,

After staying in prison for months, half starved,
robbed of their scant clothing, surrounded by many
who were sick and dying of smallpox, the poor boys
were reduced to mere skeletons, Their mother
then came and secured their release,

A pitiful sight they were as they returned home,

Old Hickory

ts . / e R 4 too W eak
the mother riding one hor se, W hile Robert,
I ’ ae . Ss y fe elg bor.

. alk, trudged
Behind them, almost too feeble to walk, g

i » was barefooted,

Andrew, a sad figure, indeed. He “, a ee
le 4 7o garments whic
bareheaded, and the only two -iiligi LENE
a c oe on

> were both ragged and dirty. Ko ase
ene ] Andrew struggle
soon after reaching home, but Andrew ge
: illness recovered.
through a long illness and

c e o ef

f a y S rr icl to the
i t z J - cine and food

ANDREW JACKSON

After the po yalnte: “ as Presider Dy
trai é 1 whi 1e was | t
he portrait pain 3
R. W. Earl, in the United States National Museum,
ari,

rar b. e
ishi er and fever in th
perishing of hunger a

nia a On the way home she

prison ships at Charleston. ng pare
was herself stricken with fever, died, a as
as » .

- re ourteen,
by the wayside. And so, at the age of f

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

152 Old Time Stories

Andrew Jackson was left alone
out father, mother, or brother.

All his life long he honored the memory and
remembered the’ teachings of his her
One of her

in the world, with-

oic mother.
quoted, “ Never

nor suffer your own

precepts he often
wound the feelings of others,
to be outraged.”

Is it any wonder that “ Little And
learned to fight the battle of life,
have become a great general ?

y,” who so early
should at last

During the war with England in 1812,

bringing his Tennessee troops back from
South, he gave

while

the
up his horses to the sick soldiers,
and marched on foot with his men day after day.
steady marching, some

as hickory,” and after
this the soldiers began to call

“Old Hickory.”

long as he lived.

Because he could endure the
one said that he was “ tough

him affectionately

By this name he was known as

He was twice made governor
of Tennessee and twice President of the United
States.

 

ZASON
XXVIII THE BOY WHO HAD A REA

i - State like to sing : —
Aut the children in our State like t g
4 wi,
; ssings < her!”
Carolina! Carolina! Heaven’s blessings attend he
“Carolina! Ca a!

chorus —

Jorth State forever !”
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Old North State forev
“ Hurrah ! ah !

ee thing about
Perl ou would like to know something 4 se
epatty rote this beautitu
» or 1 good man who wrote thi:
He Seka ill live as long as the
for us, —a song that will live as g
song S, ‘
42 ~ . aes
good Old North State lives. a eae
; His name was William Gaston. e was eon
sat is life i > service O e
Newbern, and spent his life in the se
’
gees i j rery sad way. Huis
Life began for him in a very § y:
idee 7as was a native oO
father, Dr. Alexander Gaston, was wii
: TS > came ove
Ireland, 4nd a man of letters. He oe
tei 1 Jewbern some ars
this country, and settled in Newbet n ie
7 < > Rev nary ar:
before the beginning of the ag | : eos
ave 2 i0
orm y 1s of the Revolu
i » stormy times
During all the : i
proved himself a true pa riot. Sere
It is now hard to realize how high g
.

153

 
154 Old Time Stories

ran between Whigs and Tories during the last
years of the war. Many dark deeds and cruel
murders were committed all over the country by
both Whigs and Tories. Old Newbern, which had
witnessed so many stirring scenes in the days of
Governors Tryon and Martin, endured also the
worst horrors of the strife that was waged between
the two parties duri ng the Revolution.

In August, 1781, the Tories gathered to attack
the town. Of course a man who had been so active
in the American cause as Dr. Gaston could not
hope to escape their fury. Well knowing that he
would lose his life if he should fal] into their hands,
he took his wife and two little ones, and tried to
get away from the town. It was his purpose to go
down the river to a place of safety. But, alas! he
was too late. Just as he stepped intg the boat a
party of Tories came up. He pushed his boat out
from the wharf, where his wife and little children
were standing, and a heartless Tory, levelling his
rifle over the poor woman’s shoulder, shot down her
husband before her eyes.

In this cruel way, William, when only three years
old, was robbed of his father. To his widowed
mother fell the sole care of her son and daughter.
Most faithfully did she perform that trust.

As a boy William Gaston was very bright and

quick.
schoolmate said to
it that you are al 3
I am always at the foot?

. -pe it
y rou must keep } nena
When er I take up a book to study I first pray

Whenev

155

Id, a little

The Boy who had a Reason

> seven years O

/ . was only seven ye<
»n he was onl) rs es
Bes him one day, “ W illiam, how 1s

> class, and
ways at the head of the class, a

ere: ss eas S j nd if I tell
~
a secret, and do as I d .

 

ICE LEIGH
JUDGE GASTON’S OFFICE AT RALI

“The Old North

In which he wrote

State,” and where he died.

nother taught me, that I may be

Still standing.

little prayer my n

»”
we lesson.
able to learn my les oe aie

Y yt a Pt taught him the
c V sdk m et ym as ’ c
k N ) ’ ( T
ah = ss ) ~O it was that tl =
litt] | y W ho had a reasol for knowing his less nS
e DOY : c

ie ao casi
Sa a, ee oe

 
 

 

156 Old Time Stories

and standing at the head of his cl

reason for all the success of his after life.’ He
remembered the teachings of his devoted mother,
and looked to God for help in doing his duty.

At school he studied so well th

at when he left
Princeton College it w

as to come home and kneel
before his mother, and tell her th

at he had gradu-
ated with first honor.

This, he afterward said, was
the proudest moment of his life.

He studied law, and rose to the he

ad of his pro-
fession.

of trust in the
he was elected a judge of the Supreme
Court of North Carolina. Of him, Judge Ruffin,
the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, s
“He was a great judge and a good man.”
Judge Gaston’s end was fitting. He

After filling many positions
state,

aid,

was at

Raleigh, engaged in performing the duties of his
position as one of the judges of the Supre
In the morning in the

me Court.
courtroom he had suffered
He had been carried to his own
room, where he soon rallied but kept his bed.
That evening a few friends gathe
bedside to talk with him, and
cheerful than usual.

from faintness.

red around his

found him more

In the course of the conversa-

tion, the question whether there was any God came

up, and raising himself from his bed, so

as to speak
with greater force, he said, “We must

believe and

ass, had also a

The Boy who had a Reason 157

feel that there is a God, All-wise and Almighty.
ee zi ‘

> fe *k dead.
As he uttered the last word he fell — de a8
: > county
: re Gaston that the j
was for Judge : : a
: named. North Carolina will evel
lents and his virtues;

Gaston was
cherish the memory of his ta een
1 perhaps more than for anything else
Seen aca hor of our state song.
he be remembered as the autho :
we state s ast, may a
And while the Old North State shall last, .

i » hear > yolce—
her children, with one heart and one v

“ R I ] I .
alse ¢ ( Tals € h veart-thrilll chorus :
is the | ag
AlSe lou ’ aise tog tl er,

 
 

 

XXIX. THE OLD NORTH STATE

Carotina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her !
While we live we will cherish, protect, and defend her.
Though the scorner may sneer at, and witlings defame her,

Yet our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her.

Chorus :
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Old North State forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The good Old North State,

Though she envies not others their merited glory,
Say, whose name stands the foremost in Liberty’s story ?
Though too true to herself e’er to crouch to oppression,

Who can yield to just rule a more loyal submission ?

Chorus: Hurrah! etc.

Plain and artless her sons, but whose doors open faster
To the knock of the stranger or the tale of disaster ?

How like the rudeness of their dear native mountains,
With rich ore in their bosoms, and with life in their

fountains !
Chorus: Hurrah! etc.
158

The Old North State 159

f the forest resembling,

5 e queen oO

sr daughters, the q ane

And her § ventlest breath trembling,
fo]

sagt 0 constant, to -
So graceful, so c let the match be applied

And true light-wood at heart,
y c ut w 10’ve

he kindle and flame, oh | none kn V
I low J oJ ) Ow b *

tried them ! “e
Chorus: Hurrah! ete.

= at we live in,
love us love the land tha

Then let all who
As happy a region

] reedom
Where plenty and freedom, 7
r, the heart-thril

as on this side of heaven, |

love and peace smile before us,
i : ling chorus !

Raise aloud, raise togethe

Chorus: Hurrah! ete.