j x * a : = . ~ a * ' ae. ; : r ee 4 4 A 2 eee i + rg a ~ = - J Ps J , i : op j ~ + + * bi + a” ¥ Z “ : 3 Bs 2 - ’ - ¥ ¥ x > . . . q - x . ’ ~ z x ( , i . . > . u = 3 : ¥ ay : + v Me * - < ‘ N ‘ ss = : s #, 5 “* ‘ a Pi I 5 ‘ i > See ag 3 = Pod Ss 5 . x a fe - - 7m naa i ‘ . + ' co : % 7 al x ’ . 3 = ; x iS i fa Py EF \ a a 3 x Sens - - ~~ > ” a T - * ine : ea : nae ~ - t 2, * \ : yo >. ? 3 ae : . pos - ?. é ¢ cos - + - Vas iter Z if - m1 bad ij bs 2 4 7 are : ™ pe 1 = oo 4 ‘* T e 3 = . 3 ; ; » - < * i f 5 % > - ap 7 ~ oh x + ’ a ~ “ 4 3 : as fae ‘ ( i ¥ ‘ , ) Kes a ‘ - > . r 4 » Lath . pa - £ >. « * : ‘ > . 5 * + 7 * 4 A i + a ros = ae , s 5 , Bo , § A ae Z.) ¢ a > N a A ~ > PP hg . Z A hy * z ign, MOE WET tat Se = _ x - “5 23 ON ; a “ ha yA tS a=. 6 es tee P . a cd Cate 8 AR eg > x ee | ‘O'N ‘NHYaa MAN 4 vEees ; b Piet 2a 3 * a ' ee ? ntl el oe nbs it * a : ; be Soa | eae ct ca see eae Rr on 7 . : ne | HISTORY . ; i 6 OF THE Ns : PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN rag is NEW BERN, N. CG, Ca : WITH 2 Ae A RESUME OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS IN : a 3 EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA, ¥ ¢ AND A SKETCH OF THE EARLY DAYS OF NEW BERN, N. C. 4 . = oa ' ) BY 7 * i 4 “a REV. L. 0. VASS, A. M, \, AUTHOR OF “AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE,” | : i RICHMOND, VA.: Warrrer & Sueprerson, Prinrers, 1001 Marx Straeer, 1886. PLDC SPE hs EM YT DL NA OY ott Pe Se Ure weve cner (AUD NO Se 3 tl a p ar CONTENTS, 4 ‘aes 4 P Pretmonary STATEMENT, ; ‘ 3 , ; ; 3 Y i maa bi? a . Norrs Caro ina, . ji z i . y 9 RS ‘ae fay, | Warad - Settlement of Eastern North Garena: mE Reet 9 elt BS vo aa Testimony of John Lawson, 1708, . : eer : 12 ye: ij ts ae The Proprietary Government, . ; ; . ‘ ; 15 fi b t2 4 . Religious Aspect ofthe Colony, =... .. >...) 1B be ages | ue Col. Byrd, ‘ : ‘ ; : F ; 3 : 17 Be. = Quakers; Foxand Edmundson, .°. . .: . #48 Bi MMB ee < General Character, . j : ; ; : P ; 21 b” Ciotexcrg ' zi Religious Liberty, . : ; } ; ; rs ; 23 tg Ei ee BY ™.: An Established Church, . : ; : : ; eee a | Br Rev. L. C. Vass, a |, Presbyterian Influence, . : ‘ sf f ‘ 30 % i BE - 1886. ae Mecklenburg Declaration, 1775, ; ; ‘ ; ‘ 32 : By \ € Hugh Williamson and others, . ; , : : : ap ne Be ' Presbyterian Settlements, : ! i : Bit ase 85 a z eile " a, Highlanders, . 5 : : ; : 36 o J a Ministers Scarce, . i 2 5 ji 88 : x . a The First Call: James Campbell, ‘ 3 : ; f 89 yi Bes, e 3 Mush Maditen,! 83 ee Te Ny a s ae . 3 Duplin, . , ; ; ; R , s , ; 42 he Ses hk ‘ of Robinson and Stanford, . ‘ ; ; ; : F 42 ee ; . a Classical Schools, . z : ; : ‘ : ; 43 ad “Te gine feo Old Princeton College, . 2 ‘ 2 3 : 47 ay { ¥ ‘ New Bery, . ‘ ‘ : : : ‘ ‘ : 2 48 ‘a t Huguenots, . : ; ; , 5 48 Ms : : Claude Plilippe De PisieeVceice 2, 5 , ji é 50 ‘ q Christopher Emanuel De Graffenriedt, . i ‘“ : 53 aa re The Palatines, . ‘ ‘ ; , : : : : 55 va | Se The Swiss, . : : : 2 ; 58 ha | 2 ewe Their Ecclesiastical ‘ncacks wet Reasons ra Emigrat- | ae. ing to Carolina, ; 2 ; : : : 4 59 peer PF aS eS ——— i] <7 eo ; zy , BE PA URE 4 CONTENTS. 5 4 CONTENTS. ‘ Incidents, : ; ; - : : F , iia 538 De Graffenried’s Letter, . : . . 64 Completion, . p : B ; : : ; RY De Graffenried’s Capture, and his ‘Misouidtiel.. : : a Dedication, . : , : { : : . 164 a Methodists, . ; ; ; F : : , : 79 Dt 1837 and 1838, ‘ d : i ; f ; 159 “q Baptists, . 7 s A ‘ ; j 7 5 ‘ 81 -_ Daniel Stratton, : k 3 : ; : -) ee a Other Churches, . ‘ , : . : . : 85 Se Roanoke Presbytery, ; , : , , y i! 26S ar New Bern 1x 1798, : j ; . , . . 86 Thomas Fraser, ‘ ‘ ; : : j es) G4 a. Two Old Accounts, . ; ‘ : : : 87 Thomas George Wall, : ‘ 3 ; ; : oe 1 Watson’s Journey, in 1777-78, . . ° 3 ‘ 88 ® Moses T. Harris, . , ? d ‘ { . 65 4 ‘Tryon’s Panacr, . ; : ‘ . : 90 4 1861-1866, . : 4 ; . : : £7866 a New Bern ry 1818 anp 1819, * . - . ‘ 97 a os ‘ Lacatan Cummine Vass, A. Mo : fi : ; a FGF : 4 New Street, . ; ; k . : . : 98 ‘a : Repairs, . - ; . ; : ‘ : ? oi 167 hf ‘ Washington’s Esatinie ; ; ; ; i 99 z Financial Work, ; : 3 : ‘ : ‘ 68 of PreEspyrertanism In New Bern IN 1800-1817, “ , e 4L00 s . Membership, . 7 ; . ‘ “ ‘ 3 = bBo “ Potijanain Sh Tring 466 es a ta pe ee OnNAE Mba = oS I OT eG NN SO lay 24 W. L. Turner, . 3 3 ‘ , j i ‘i 5 3700} ome Systematic Benevolence, . ‘ : : 3 ; oe SETI 4 James K. Burch, . j : ‘ ; ; ; | Jonathan Otis Freeman, M.D., =. . >. + + Ws | memnomal Bhetahy 3.60 800 nes Saeki eS a Organization, . 3 : ' : : ; : a L06 Property Data, ‘ ; : ; . . ; ore Y;') ” soem Whrirheage a2 che git ots ae ROUT gee mS CAS Po sin SEAN a Re NS NED Ra Sy yee Odermballe: oases SR. hay eGR eels oieht a aes Session House, Re a Eee eC NERC Cg Sea a4 Polmy Daya, (8 fp Qe a a coy: og EY OIE ES nee Opie TCR Ne Oa: y Churches, ‘ p ¥ 5 : 4 < gx PbO Deacons, . : 3 . 3 ; i { jar ei 180 Pinwh Mastitig 0 GE AP ig ORO oe 4 Pia meen Banovation, 0. OE ogee rine Lot Bought, . , ‘ : ; : : : + eS ¥ Sunpry Memoranpa, . ; : ; : f s {4 368 is Foundation Laid, . ‘ ; tte ee Sabbath School, ; ‘ : . 182 ‘ ee Address, by Rev. J. Heist Campbell, ; : tee © by . . Ministers from the New pies Church: , ‘ . oS fee Exhuming the Corner Stone, . “ : : ; eS ae CONTENTS. A a Ruling Elders and Deacons, 183 Organ, . ; ; ‘ : 183 Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, 183 an : Ministers from Hanover Presbytery, 185 ; Rack Bet Growth of Presbyterianism in Eastern Carolina, 185 Ga Concruston, 186 as ADDENDA, 189 ioe ILLUSTRATIONS. i A Pagr. i 1. New Bery, Frontispiece a 2. Marriage License py Governor Tryon, 1769, 30 ‘a 3. Oxp Princeton Contzas, . 47 ? * %) 4. Communion GATHERING IN OtpEN TEs, 80 Se Pe TRON A Pacaey i ea as 90 ne 6. Seat anp Auroarapus, 92 2 { _ 7. First Prespyrertan Cuurcn, 116 8. Pan or THe Pews, wira Namzs or THE Orictnat Horprrs, 126 9. Rev. Drury Lacy, D. D., 148 10. Rey. Danrer Srrarron, 160 i Bae K ‘ 11. Rev. Lacuzan C. Vass, . ‘ Sra . ment tet ee 12. Oven Brntz, 181 ts 13. Exsenezrer Prespyrertan Cxurce, 183 q PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. — ree | o. PRESBYTERY laid on me the preparation of a the history of the Presbyterian Church in New Bern, a N.C. All the Records of the Church were unfortunately lost ie in the evacuation of the city, 14th March, 1862. On 1st Jan- 3 be _ vary, 1827, all the Records of Orange Presbytery were consumed st in the burning of the residence of Rev. John Witherspoon, % the Stated Clerk, in Hillsboro, except one volume, containing ee its proceedings from 18th November, 1795, to 26th September, Re 1812. A committee, consisting of Rev. Messrs. Witherspoon, ¥ pe McPheeters, Jos. Caldwell, E. B. Currie, and Wm. Paisley, was Ae appointed to recover, as far as possible, the history embraced ? 4 in those burnt Minutes. They prepared a book of statistics, ae necessarily brief and unsatisfactory. My work has thus been 4 very difficult. My search has been wide and laborious to gain aS any accurate data, and sometimes has utterly failed. te So it seems best to begin with a succinct resumé of the ec- a clesiastical and religious status of Eastern North Carolina, and > ; especially of Craven Precinct, from the earliest colonial set- iy tlement; and a brief history of New Bern itself, with the a special design to discover any elements of Presbyterianism that of may have existed hereabout in the past century, or in the open- 4 ing of this century; and to understand the surroundings of the « birth of the First Presbyterian Church in this ancient City of ; 4 Elms by the sea. No minute or exhaustive investigation is 4 i i ; i 4 ae oe | a ee eae ~Nabics a as a Sai ce 8S Lb eh aa gad LO nan CR J = ai oie x ag tS noel 5 ; id ma SE gS o re mya, ee R= Ae et ee a) eg ‘ lam es: ‘ : ‘ eae = Bates -é dpe sumer aioe te ae Be ae TF ead - fe a | ® Fe ee ae) 8 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. proposed, nor would it be appropriate here. an it is hoped that the review will be comprehensive and luminous. Iam greatly indebted for kind and sometimes erent 4 sistance given me by Rev. B. M. Smith, D. D., of Union. 5 ological Seminary, Va.; to the loved and lamented a Stated Clerk of Orange Presbytery, and of the Synod of North Carolina, Rev. Jacob Doll, and to his worthy successors, Rev. F. H. Johnston D. D., and Rev. W. S. Lacy; to the Rev. bi E. Schenck, D. D., the veteran Secretary of the rhpn Dhaene s Board of Publication, Philadelphia; to the accomplished an- tiquarian of New Bern, Hon. J. D. Whitford; to Rev. E. . Rockwell, D. D., Col. R. M. Saunders, Secretary of State z North Carolina, and many other kind friends. apres t : authorities upon which my statements are based are ae 0 North Carolina, by Lawson, Martin, 6s ppg ne ne ler, Caruthers, Sewell (or “Shocco”) Jones, acd an : : : ; Burnet’s “History of His Own Time” ease ia of e Hume’s Engtand ; Gillies’ Historical Collections ot i : Byrd’s Westover Manuscripts of 1728 to 1736 ; oe ‘ a Book of the Revolution ; Bancroft’s History of Unite fi a ; Foote’s Huguenots; Weiss’s Huguenot panies 4 be Memories of a Iuguenot Family; Bernheim’s ar eran Church of North and South Carolina ; Rape ek County ; Miller’s Bench and Bar of Georgia; ee oie clopedia of American Literature ; Oraighents cual " Irish. Seeds ; McTyeire’s Methodism ; Histories of phe by Chas. Campbell and by J. W. Campbell, in phi bie many fugitive articles in newspapers and pasipitets abou * Bern. All this, old traditions, unpublished diaries, and ot sal | material I have used as best served my aim to get and give in- formation. ‘ ip ; NORTH CAROLINA. its Settlers. ORTH CAROLINA was settled by tempers, of serene minds, enemies shed.” These noble pioneers w of them doubtless escaping men “of gentle to violence and blood- ere the freest of the free, some severe restraints and unholy bra- talities; and in their new homes of balmy airs and virgin beauty, they diffused gentle charities as richly as the flower on their smiling savannahs, while they in the manly vigor of a muscular and be Many unjust slurs have been freely the notorious refuge of the criminal, of the fugitive debtor, a verit ing “ Arcadia” of universal this is gratuitous slander. 3: grew strong and sang nevolent independence. cast upon this province as and the congenial asylum able “ Botany Bay,” the welcom- and blooming wickedness. AJ Doubtless evil characters did some- times escape just vengeance for their law-breaking, by passing over the Carolina border. But some of these early colonists fled from ungodly assaults in Massachusetts and Virginia on he inajority were enterprising ‘es and larger fortunes, or ani- mated by the varied practical or romantic motives that sway the same class of persons to-day. In the “Westover Manuscripts” of 1728, the fun-loving, free-spoken, sometimes unjust, but not malicious author, Col. Wm. Byrd, talks about « the distemper of laziness” on the men who relied on the bount reaped the “Carolina felicity of having nothin men, for their parts, just like the Indians, im upon the poor women. They make their wives rise out of their beds early in the morning, at the same time that they lie and snore, till the sun has risen one-third of his course, and gtodo.” “The pose all the work 10 NORTH CAROLINA. dispersed all the unwholesome damps. Then, AR eo and yawning for half an hour, they light aap ee . et under the protection of a cloud of smoke, hers ae open air; though, if it happens to be never s0 li oie: ha quickly return shivering to the chimney begers a weather is mild, they stand leaning with both t ‘8 vei te the corn-field fence, and gravely consider whether a best go and take a small heat at the 9” Rinbagene ee s to put it off until another time. aug their dives, ike Solomon’s sluggard, with their oko phe a at the winding up of the year scarcely have Kee Ao xn To speak the truth, it is a thorough aversion . : od people file off to North Carolina, where P en : aon toetahey sun confirm them in their disposition to laziness ‘ps apart lives.” ‘Every one does what seems best in ms Seat He charges the government of North re FR mie e ing the unneighborly policy of sheltering oe ee over debtors and criminals,’ and makes merry at th een religion in these borderers. He forgets aby . 1S ee, them, his survey is to determine whether 1% al Araby the blest, or in unsanctified gee sia cn ett But the planters of Albemarle were neit wi es sae nor fanatics, notwithstanding the rough 2g calby canned” Spottswood, Colonel Byrd, and others. They be drs for freedom of conscience, as well as quiet living dilaity ae meled political privileges; a home, where asaya mite Sime no dishonor, and a “ meeting-house” as sacred a - p Aare as the lordliest cathedral of the lordliest ecclesiastic. says, Are there any W ho doubt man’s capacit y for self go vern ment, let them study the history of North Dye stgie bed Bp habitants were restless and turbulent in their mp peo mission to a government imposed on them from rere: a administration of the colony was firm, humane - eat when they were left to take care of themselves. ny : ae ment but one of their own institution was eigpete ae Fox, the distinguished father of the Quakers, ec mi ns found the people “generally tender and open,” an a ioe Aan cae eee | Albemarle Sound, between Little R It is still known as “Durant’s Neck.” landholder in Albemarle. Scotch Presbyterian elder Like a Scotchman, ITS SETTLERS, 11 burg declaration. In March, 1643, the Virgini or preaching not “conform of the Church of England, and the laws therein established.” Governor Berkley, in entire sympathy with the act, enforced it by proclamation. In his answer to inquiries of the commit- tee for the colonies, in June, 1671, he said, “We have forty- eight parishes, and our ministers are well paid, and by my consent would be better, if they would pray oftener and preach less; but as of all other commodities, sent us, and we have few that we can boast of, since the per- secution in Cromwell’s tyranny drove divers worthy men hither, Yet I thank God there are no free schools, nor printing, and J hope we shall not have these hundred years ; for learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world, and t the best govern- printing has divulg ; Where were many ed them, and Libels agains ment.” Doubtless from Nansemond, Va. and squads as refugees and verse legislation.* But the dissenters, there came individuals settlers, under the impulsion of ad earliest authentic date of any settlement is 1662, George Durant, who had probably been banished mond, in 1648, by Governor Berkley, Yeopim Indians of the tongue of | so of this, the worst are In this year, from Nanse- secured a grant from the and on the north side of iver and the Perquimons. He stands the oldest Mr. Durant is said to have been a » & godly man in his cong ‘egation.t+ he brought his Geneva Bible with him; and * J. W. Campbell’s Hist. of Va., p. 256-7, + Chas. Campbell’s Hist. of Va. ; Scotch and Irish Seeds, 267 ; Bancroft’s U. 8. a oe 12 NORTH CAROLINA. it is the first known to have been in Carolina, and . sani as a precious relic in the Historical Society of North Ca . Hill. . Ras, George Cathmaid came with his plese ie ~ growth began. Very soon the Cape Fear rape Coa fete securely established» The country between ° eae Clarendon, on the Cape Fear River, was more 8 sie o . the first settlers being the French Protestant 2 -_ : were Calvinists from the colony on James River, . - aN located in Pamlico, near Bath, in 1690. In 1707, , rent rivers, in colony of Huguenots settled on the Neuse and Trent r ’ Craven County. Lawson’s Testimony. John Lawson wrote his history in 1708. patties bir sr General of North Carolina, and travelled extensively oY pipe Carolinas. He describes the country with x ames world delicious country, being placed in that girdle . piece which affords wine, oil, fruit, grain and reat a and fertile commodities, besides a sweet air, ppg c = e dat ae soil—these are blessings (under heaven’s bed sat axdlaee out the thread of life to its utmost extent, ane Nea mee with with the sweets of health and plenty, whinh k arouse yr on content, renders the Sapien me a oa, Raleigh’s rth.” After speaking of the failure : aot pele he me “ A second settlement of this grees tier made about fifty years ago, in that part we now i Ser nen County, and chiefly in Chuwon precinct, by ce aie willl farmers from Virginia and other plantations, eee m . hee wae PS Tipo Poach eS A hd le BPs ee Da: 7M SIS Sn Wen bate 18 NORTH CAROLINA. Dr. Hawks, himself a New Bernian and an Episcopalian, says,. that in the Proprietary times the Episcopal Church was a “helpless victim, dragged into an unnatural association with the dirty strifes of still dirtier parties, mixed up with the law- less deeds of clamorous and drunken partizans.” Undoubtedly religion in Eastern Carolina was at alow ebb from lack of stated ministers, regular church services, and secular schools. Judge Martin says that, at the opening of the eighteenth century, the population of the colony was composed of differ- ent nationalities and various sects—Scotch Presbyterians, Dutch Lutherans, French Calvinists, Irish Catholics, English Church- men, Quakers and Dissenters, emigrants from Bermuda and the West Indies. And while the first settlers preserved some sense of religion, the next generation, reared in the wilderness, where divine service was hardly ever performed, was lament- ably degenerate in religious principle and practice. At this juncture, Governor Johnston arrived, and under the influence of Lord Granville, now Palatine of Carolina, made the de- termined and partially successful effort—hereafter referred to— for establishing and sustaining by law the Church of England. Quakers. To the honest Quakers belongs the high honor of holding the first formal religious service in this colony, and organizing the first religious government. Churchmen in Virginia and Puritans in Massachusetts had caused them to fly the pillory, the cart-tail and the bloody knout. Historians have generally affirmed that thus many Quakers early fled for a quiet retreat to Eastern Carolina. In 1709, they themselves claimed that they were the jirst settlers. It is altogether probable that some Quakers were among the very first to enter Albemarle from Nansemond, Virginia. There is nothing, however, to show that large numbers came. Most information yet accessible is from the brief journals of Edmundson and Fox.* In 1672, William Edmundson, an eminent English Quaker, was sent by George Fox from Maryland, where they had recently arrived, * Colonial Records, i., 215, 216, 226, 250, 571, 686, &ec. QUAKERS. 19 to North Carolina. Accompanied by two friends, after a dis- tressing journey of two days through a wilderness, with no English inhabitants, and no path-ways, he reached “the place where we intended, viz., Henry Phillip’s house, by Albemarle River” (Perquimon’s River, says Martin). “He and his wife had been convinced of the truth in New England, and came here to live; and not having seen a Friend for seven years be- fore, they wept for joy to see us.” Phillips and his wife were the only two Friends he mentions meeting in this brief visit of three days. Warmly welcomed, he here celebrated the Jirst public rites of Christian worsh ip in Carolina. Others now re- ceived the truth, and were enrolled at this meeting on the Lord’s day, and another held on the morrow at Justice Tems. Many attended the services. They had little or no religion, or sense of the proprieties of divine worship, for they sat smoking their Pipes; but the Word of God was with power on their hearts. In the Fall of the same year, the distinguished George Fox made a preaching tour of eighteen days in the Albemarle re- gion; but Edmundson was not with him, as Dr. Hawks states. Fox, the envoy of humanity, with the charming simplicity of Solon and Thales, travelled with Governor Stevens on foot through the ancient woods—the trees being blazed to mark the roads between the sparse settlements,—or was guided by others In Canoes towards “the north part of Carolina,” and making a little entrance for the truth there and among the Indians, returned to Bonner’s (Bennet’s) Creek, where the horses had been left. The people were “tender and much desired after meetings,” “and they were taken with the truth.” As he “opened many things concerning the light and Spirit of God that is in every one,” his eloquence reached the hearts of these hermits of the woods, and impressed them anew with the value of their heritage of freedom of conscience, and of the truth of God with benevolent reason to guide them in the happy paths of hospitality, virtue and piety, that are still trodden by their children in the old North State. As this venerable apostle of humanity and equality was closing his exile on earth to go home, his vivid memory recalled such episodes of the forest j am ie’ o eee thee T oF hte Stee eR < Pate ae vr ek were eee aad ee 20 NORTH CAROLINA. glades, and his last words were, “Mind poor Friends in Amer- wca.” How beautiful his brief epitaph by his peer, William Penn, “Many sons have done virtuously in this day, but, dear George, thou excellest them all!” In 1676, Edmundson “was moved of the Lord to go to Car- olina” on a second visit. His short journal of the trip ends thus: “I had several precious meetings in that colony, and several turned to the Lord. People were tender and loving, and there was no room for the priests, for Friends were finely settled, and I left things well among them.” While in 1672, neither of these preachers met all the Quakers in the province, it seems certain they were not numerous. Considerable growth had occurred before Edmundson’s return. In the Shaftesbury papers, in the British Public Record Office, is a remonstrance, sent to the Lords Proprietors, and signed by twenty-one Quakers, some of whom were prominent men, members of the Assembly. Most of them had been living in Carolina since 1663 and 1664, and they were vindicating themselves as “a separated people, who are in scorn called Quakers,” but had “stood single from all seditious actions in Albemarle,” in 1677. They and others may have entered Carolina as Friends. In later years, Thomas Story, an English Quaker, and Gover- nor Archdale, also one, increased greatly the influence of the body. Henderson Walker, who was at different times member, clerk and President of council, Attorney-General and acting Governor, says, in a letter to the Bishop of London in 1708, “We have been settled near fifty years in this place” (Caro- lina), “and, I may justly say, most. part of twenty-one years, on my own knowledge, without priest or altar, and before that time, according to all that appears to me, much worse. George Fox, some years ago, came into these parts, and, by strange in- fatuations, did infuse the Quaker principles into some small number of people, which did and hath continued to grow ever since very numerous, by reason of their yearly sending in men to encourage and to exhort them to their wicked principles.” They fortunately continued to grow, and formed the nucleus around which gathered mainly friends of liberty and foes to a Sateen eee) GENERAL CHARAOTER. 21 Church establishment. In these early days Dissenters outnum- bered Episcopalians. There are not many Churchmen recorded a8 coming to the communion of the Lord’s Supper—even Colonel Pollock was sluggish about it. In 1708, Rev. James Adams an- grily wrote that the Quakers, “though not the seventh part of the inhabitants,” in conjunction with the Presbyterians, controlled the government, and absolutely turned out patriots, because they were Churchmen, that “shoemakers and other mechanics should be appointed in their room, merely because they are Quaker preachers and notorious blasphemers of the Church!” Dr. Hawks estimates that, in 1710, the Quakers composed about one-half of the Albemarle settlement, and that the whole popu- lation of the province was not seven thousand. From these Quakers has come valuable Presbyterian stock. Martin (I., p. 155) says that before Edmundson left, he es- tablished a quarterly meeting in Berkley for proper govern- ment and discipline. Of the eight Quarterly Meetings, which constitute the present North Carolina Yearly Meeting, four were established, as follows: in 1689, 1759, 1780 and 1790. The others arose in this century. At present the Quakers in this State number about 5,000, and are most valuable citizens. In colonial days they were not as quiet as their principles re- quired, and doubtless troublous times brought insincere acces- sions to their ranks. They were not perfect, neither were the Churchmen or others who roundly abused them. At first their strength lay chiefly in Perquimons and Pasquotank; but they multiplied and spread. When Judge Iredell, as a young man, came from England to North Carolina, in 1768, he was com- mended by his relative, Henry E. McCulloch, to a prominent and substantial Quaker merchant, named Williams, in New Bern, “ who will supply you with what money you want, and show you every civility.”* General Character. Of the settlers for the first hundred years, it may be said, there were many highly educated citizens scattered throughout en EET: A SM: CCR RANI ae * Life of Iredell, Vel. I., 21. ate Wels aces, Ste that re aaPhcal ceteris Bt oe 22 NORTH CAROLINA, the province, who lived with considerable style and refinement. Sturdy, honest and hospitable agriculturalists gathered around themselves elements of large future development, and their premises showed industry and care. Yet there was a vast amount of ignorance, and perhaps even prejudice, against learn- ing. Many were very lazy and shiftless, and there were some transported criminals, and some fugitives from justice. But so scattered was the population that it was extremely difficult to organize either churches or schools, and there were few of either.* Ignorance and lack of religious culture and social in- tercourse ensure narrow views and dangerous degeneration. It is not surprising that we read such contemporary statements as this, written by Rev. Peter Fontaine in a private letter, 17th April, 1754, about North Carolina: “They have no established laws, and very little of the Gospel, in that whole colony.” He had two married nephews living then in New Bern, with whom he was in communication, and whom he was begging to move “where they may be under the protection of the laws as to property, and have their children educated in the fear of God.” The nephews did not emigrate, but bought considerable pro- perty in New Bern, which I have traced out and identified, as that in part, upon which now stand the residences of Messrs. James Bryan and C. E. Foy, and the Roman Catholic Church. Middle and Western North Carolina were filling up, and the stock, though neglected, was good, and improvement was be- ginning. “Sombre enthusiasm and iron-hearted ambition,” royal looseness and luxury, and too large a measure of religious narrowness, had characterized the past age, and yielded a strange medley in public and private history. Yet in these secluded plains and sylvan retreats, a subtle transformation was going on, and a light kindling, whose result was a people cau- tious, but not stolid, with simple tastes, but clear and inflexible opinions, with no fabulous wealth, but comforts and self-re- * In 1736, Governor Johnston deplored before the Legislature in Edenton the sad lack of schools and churches. Some of the wealthy citizens sent their sons to be educated in England, or at William and Mary in Virginia, or Princeton in New Jersey. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 23 liance, with unquenchable love of liberty, unflinching bravery, and tender hearts freely opened to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, whenever brought to them in public by the godly, though in- frequent herald of the cross. Keligious Libertn. Some misunderstanding has existed, through a spirit of con- nt or otherwise, about the posture of ecclesiastical af- tans In colonial times. With a great blare of trumpets, the act Proprietors professed, in settling North Carolina, to spite Plous zeal for Christ’s cause in the conversion of the en natives. But Oldinixon, a distinguished English au- thor, who died in 1742, says that the only instruction which the Indians received, previous to 1701, was from a French dancing master, who settled in Craven County, and taught the natives to dance and play upon the lute. Certainly very little attention was given to the conversion of the Indians. A few Were taught in Chowan parish. This illustrates the complexion of the charter piety. Religious liberty, or rather ¢oleration as to conscience and worship, was guaranteed to all comers, even heathen, but under restrictions—not expressed in the charters— but to be regulated by the Lords Proprietors, with the Parlia- ment and Crown, however, still holding supervisory power. So it may be denied that the Episcopal Church ever was fully es- tablished here in exactly the same manner asin England, or that it was pecuniarily supported by the English Parliament. Yet English funds, through the “Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,” and from private sources in England, were en- listed in its maintenance. Further, it seems to be certain, from the best authorities, that, unless for a short time in the early Proprietary period, the Episcopal Church was never in the nu- merical majority in the colony as a whole, but it had prominent re zealous adherents and leaders, like Mosely, Gales, the Pol- i — generally the deputies of the Lords Proprietors, and ‘. overnors, and this naturally gave many advantages and creased influence and power to the weaker party. Pa et dR ie oe aot phe iG. te hatte PT od : ee a i 24 NORTH CAROLINA. Aun €¥stablished Church. The Church of England was the established Church of the colony. It is folly to fence against this fact by alleging that the only effective act establishing the Church was that of 1765, under Governor Tryon. That act would probably have fared worse than its predecessors in a few years. - Now, unquestion- ably both charters of Charles II., and Locke’s Constitutions, in section 96, added by the Lords Proprietors, regarded the Church of England as the establishment in the Carolinas.* Indeed, there was apparently a common sentiment among Christians, that there ought to be some legal establishment of the Christian religion in any State, as to its fundamental prin- ciples, and as against the Papal claims; and the Thirty-nine Articles of the English Church, with a few excluded, were generally considered as a satisfactory exposition. But outside of Episcopalians and Papists, there was just as unanimous op- position to establishing any special church with any peculiar privileges. This is clear from the instructions given to the Mecklenburg delegates to the Provincial Convention in 1775, that they were to “consent to the establishment of the Chris- tian religion, as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and more briefly comprised in the Thirty- nine Articles of the Church of England” (with specified ex- clusions), “and clearly held forth in the Confession of Faith compiled by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster,” ete. They were further “instructed to oppose to the utmost any particular church, or set of clergymen, being invested with power to decree rites and ceremonies,” etc.; . . . “to oppose the establishment of any mode of worship to be supported,” ete.; . . . . “to oppose the toleration of Popish idolatrous worship.” By this time Episcopalians themselves were uniting with their fellow Christians of other churches in determination to secure both civil and religious liberty. So it is said that Churchmen joined with Dissenters in the Halifax Convention * Hawks, Vol. II., pp. 166, 190, 357, 506, &c,; Bancroft, I., 150; Colonial Records, Vol. I., 202, &e. AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH. 25 of 1776, which established the State of North Carolina, in throttling a proposition, introduced by an Episcopalian, to re- cognize in some form Episcopal doctrines. Now, though in a large minority, the Episcopal faction sue- ceeded, by astute management, as early as 1701, in passing an act, regarded as oppressive and tyrannical, establishing by ex- plicit colonial legislation their church. This act was in force only two years, having been repealed on an appeal to England. In 1704, the famous, or rather, the infamous, act establishing the Church of England in South Carolina, was obtained by Governor. Johnston, according to Dr. Hawks, by “political trickery” and “dexterous management of the rulers,” against the wishes of the people. Governor Johnston’s deputy, Daniel, following his instructions, “by his address and skilful political manipulation,” secured the paesage of a similar law by the Al- bemarle Legislature for North Carolina. It is only necessary to examine, in a revisal of the laws of North Carolina by Davis or Martin, the Acts in 1715, 1741, 1754, 1759, 17645, to learn the unquestionable fact, that a fixed and persistent effort was never relaxed to fasten on an unwilling people, by effective legislation, an Episcopal establishment with an adequate sup- port by taxation. How often was the endeavor made by va- rious legislation to estop the divers evasions of the Vestry Acts! Taxes were imposed for purchasing ample glebes, building comfortable churches, and paying stipends to ministers, all of the establishment. By a bare majority—obiained with dif- Jiculty—dissenters were disfranchised by requiring members of the Legislature to conform to the worship of the Church of England, and to receive the communion after its rules.* In the “Collections of the Historical Society of South Carolina,” is this illustrative statement, from an address by James Lewis Pettigru: “The elective franchise was liberally diffused; but the test and corporation acts guarded with jealousy the steps of the provincial assembly, as they did those of the imperial par- i * Some, however, think this provision prevailed in South Carolina only ; but in Daniel’s time all holding any place of trust or profit were required to take certain purging oaths. Bancroft, iii. 21; Martin, i, 217-223 ; Hawks, ii. 166 190, 358, 506-512 ; Williamson, i, 158, 167, ete. ; Moore, 51. ‘ 2 via, : oH | ne i i Ne gn a | ie | Me iB) a im * oo 5 Bil = oe ee en a Ca, Weegee os WN Saeco aa P82 7 ne cai 26 NORTH CAROLINA. liament; and the avenues to office were closed to all but the dominant sect. This state of things existed until 1778,—a le- gislative fact strangely ignored in the voluminous collection of Cooper.” A similar spirit was abroad in this province. Through the kindness of Col. W. L. Saunders, Secretary of State of North Carolina, I have carefully examined the advance (proof) sheets of the invaluable “Colonial Records,” now in press under his care, as far as November, 1718. The records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, addresses and memorials to Parliament and to others, the minutes of the Chowan Vestries from 1701, Col. Pollock’s letter-book, records of courts, and a vast variety of other heretofore hidden docu- ments, all confirm these statements. Here we get the exact date of the early and, perhaps, first act of Assembly for estab- lishing religious worship, vestries, churches, and glebes, by public taxation, viz.: November 12, 1701.* An insight is ob- tained into the spirit and character of the colonists, and the working of the early Proprietary legislation before we have public official records. The support for the clergy was both meagre and reluctant; often withheld. Their complaints were Joud, lacking in grace, frequently bitter and unreasonable be- cause of their.own conduct. One writes: “I never received the value of a Bushel of Corn since I was concerned here, but what I got by weddings. . . . The difficulties I have gone through are almost inexpressible, and one distemper or another, like the Thunder and Lightning, continually disturbing me.” Another says: “I did once hope to have Pork and Bacon of my own, but shall not have a morsel save wheat I feed with In- dian Corn, which is very scarce with me. I have not enough to keep me with Bread six months—no Beef, Butter or Cheese, no fat to butter one nor make soap, no Tallow to make me a few candles, so that we shall have a tedious winter long and Dark nights, hungry bellies, and dirty linen. I have nothing to buy with, let one’s wants be what they will; swamp water goes down worse in Winter than in Summer. . . . ’Tis strange living when a man is continually cracking his Brains how to get a Belly full of meat.” Again, “I have had no *Vol. i, 543. AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH. 27 Beef in my house these six months nor anything else save fat pork and that almost gone. I got by chance a barrel which has been in salt 18 months; it is profitable victuals, a little goes a great way: I have no other eatables; Peas and Beans I am like to have some but neither Bacon or Butter to eat with them—Jovial living Tf I must linger out my days here I must have a couple of Negroes and a woman all born among the English, the woman used to house-work. -... I went this winter 7 times to the Church in the neighborhood (é e that is four miles distance) and met not a congregation; so indifferent are our Gentry in their Religion they had rather never come to church than be obliged to pay me anything, they cannot endure the thoughts of it.”* Yet the Rev. William Gordon says himself, in 1709, that troubles arose from the “ill example and imprudent behaviour of the ministers.” The Church of England was claimed emphatically and com- monly as established by law, and entitled to support by the general public. While some of these preachers of Proprietary days were good men, and did, or meant to do, a fair work in a hard field; yet the general impression about their labors from extant documents, is not very favorable. They were td pelled by a burning agony to baptize the children, that the people might be kept from becoming heathens and infidels, One would almost infer that infant baptism was the prime ob- ject of Christ’s mission on earth. Sharpest comment is made on the people’s “obstinate aversion to god-fathers and god- mothers; neither sense nor reason could prevail with them.” What reprobates! What reason could they give? “There- fore, in anywise will not have their children baptized others think nobody more fit than their parents; to tell them of the orders of the Church avails not they’ll not hearken to the or- dinances of man but will have express scripture for all they are to do or observe.” This looks like the people were sensible, and that the preacher thought of something else more than of God’s Word. Governor Eden, in 1716~17, testified that the people “are not so black as they have been painted,” but would be * Vol. ii., 54, 248, 279, ete. Bi LOTS a in aE ROD a eB Ae, (in ace OS i Re Te 28 NORTH CAROLINA. found well enough inclined if the ministers “are gentlemen of good lives and affable behaviour and conversation.” Here was another proof that the majority of the population was opposed to the Established Church, as is positively declared in a formal address to the Parliament in England in 1705.* In Rowan County, about 17645 probably, a petition was sent to the Governor, Council and Burgesses, in which “the pe- titioners complain, that his majesty’s most dutiful and loyal sub- jects in this county, who adhere to the liturgy and profess the doctrines of the Church of England, as by law established, have not the privileges which the rabrick and canons of the Church allow and enjoin on all its members.” They recite the fact that the inhabitants hold a “medlay of most of the religious tenets” in the world, and “from dread of submitting to the na- tional Church,” refuse to elect a lawful vestry, who will take the oaths; “whence we can never expect the regular enlivening beams of the Holy Gospel to shine upon us.” So they pray for compulsion of this unwilling multitude, that the godly seed may get an Episcopal Church, under the provision of what William- son terms a “shameful law,” (Vol. ii., 118,) and a system which Hawks characterizes as “infatuated folly,” and kindling “the torch of discord” (ii., 506). Now, Williamson says, “There were thirty-four subscribers to this petition; sé of them made their marks, and some of the other signatures are hardly legi- ble. When thirty-four such persons could propose that six or seven hundred should be taxed for their accommodation, they certainly had need of the Gospel that teaches humility.” The largest supposition made by a recent historiant of Rowan County is, that the adherents of the Established Church may have been one-third of the whole population. Evidently Dr. Williamson, writing within a few years of the time when the petition was presented, did not estimate them as so many. Continual resistance was made to these acts. Appeals were sent to England, and time and again, after long delays, they were pronounced illegal, and quashed; but the attempts were * Colonial Records, Vol. i., pp. 548, 559, 571, 601, 686-"9, 714, 767, ete. + Rumple’s Rowan, p. 383 ; Williamson, ii., 258. AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH, 29 regularly renewed, and were even partially submitted to. How many churches, glebes and stipends were obtained in whole or in part, under this legislation, will, perhaps, never be known. Old records will disprove assertions that little was collected. Accidentally, I found the following record in the written min- utes of Craven County Court, June 20th, 1740: ‘it was ordered that John Bryan Esq". receive the remaining part of the Levys laid for the church by the former vestry, and he gives Se- curetys, Col. Wilson and John Fonveille Jun’, in the sum of 500£ Procl money.” A similar entry is made at September court following. The amount received is not given; nor can it be ascertained how long the levy was continued here; but probably for years, as the Episcopal Church was not completed until near 1750, and there was no rector until about 1754. Sometimes there was no Episcopal preacher in the whole colony. In 1725, there was only one for eleven parishes; there were only from seven to ten here altogether during the Proprietary period, and three of these did great harm to morals and religion; in 1764, there were only six to supply twenty-nine parishes, each embracing a whole county. From 1662 to 1775, only about fifty-two Epis- copal clergymen had ever been in North Carolina. Hardships and injustice, and in a few cases, perhaps, bodily sufferings, were thus inflicted on dissenters. This was not done by ecclesiastical courts, but by civil, under the laws of England, or of the Colonial Legislature; illegal laws sometimes, but the fruit of churchly plans, desires and efforts. No spirit of perse- cution prevailed, but wrong ideas about the relation of Church and State, and true religious liberty. So, doubtless, the Colo- nial Establishment was always a mongrel affair, unsatisfactory to both churchmen and dissenters, and never complete. Governors were instructed to maintain the ecclesiastical au- thority of the Bishop of London. Even a school-master was required to have his license from the Bishop of London to teach geography, arithmetic and writing; and only in 1769 or 1770 was the law repealed which forbade Presbyterian minisster to i! ] i} i! I i | | BIS aE Ss AES Sey Leb cel | cee ne j . | i 5 30 NORTH CAROLINA. perform marriage ceremonies for members of their own flocks, though civil magistrates had been authorized so to do. I have found an original marriage license, issued by Governor Tryon, and illustrating the change in the law; and give a copy of it on the opposite page. In England, Americans were told that, in spite of all the Pres- byterian opposition, bishops would be settled in America. No wonder the people actually rejected the word “church” as odious, and substituted for it—as we shall see—the term “meeting- house,” which is the consecrated name given by God himself to his tabernacle, where he promised ¢o meet with his people. Of course, resistance was made to many of these regulations, and with success, by the dissenting majority. After the Revolu- tion, a portion of the property thus unjustly wrung out of the pockets of reluctant dissenters was, by appropriate legislation, rightly converted to public uses. This seems to be an accurate general summary of facts about the “Colonial Established Church.” It is not intended to cast any reproach whatever upon the Episcopal Church of this day by a recital of the sad story of so much trouble, but merely to body forth the color and temper of those early formative days. Episcopalians stand now on the same platform with Presbyte- rians, Methodists, Baptists, and other churches, in repudiating church establishments in the United States, condemning these colonial schemes, and defending the doctrine of religious liberty and equality. Presbuterian Iniluence. Nevertheless, Presbyterian influence increased steadily, and became powerful, if not dominant, in North Carolina. This was, indeed, chiefly through that section of the State with which we are not at present particularly concerned. In the East, Presbyterianism has had but few strong centres until recent times. But Sir Wm. Berkley, one of the proprietors, and the Governor of Virginia, in 1663, appointed William Drummond, an old-fashioned Scotch Presbyterian,* “a man of prudence and *Craighead’s Scotch and Irish Seeds in America, pp. 267, 319 ; Maclean’s ‘History of Princeton College. B Mis Excellency s Command, a ee ee Ser ee HIS EXCELLENCY oa WILLIAM TRYON, Efq. We Captain-General,GovernorandCom- _ ig mander in Chief, in and over his Ma)- efty’s Province of North-Carolina. To any Orthodox MINISTER of the Church of England, or for Want thereof, to any regular licenced Minifter of the diffent- ing Presbyterian Clergy, or lawful Magiftrate within the fame. Greeting. . Y Virtue of the Power and Authority to Me Given, as Governor and Commander in Chief, in and over this Province, (Certificate having been made to Me, by Francis Naoh, Clerk of Orange County | Court, that the Bond as by Law required, hath been taken and filed by hini in his Office) I DO hereby Allow, Admit, and Licence you, or any of you, __ ee to Celebrate and Solemnize the Rites of Matrimony between Aoodé. Maret ay Ft Martha Monay , and to join them together, as Man and Wife,in Holy Matrimony. GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at Hillsborough this QAth Day of Jy in the Year of our Lord 1769 and in the Vointh Year of his Maj- W r efty’s Reign. SS: Edwards, P- See: Nore.—The name of “John Hawks” should not appear on this document, with the Seal of Tryon above. i ROTEE OI A iss = eyes ct State ae Soe elon PRESBYTERIAN INFLUENCE. 31 popularity, deeply imbued with the passion for popular lib- erty,” to be the first Governor of Albemarle. Dr. Brickell, whose history was published in Dublin in 1737, and includes his observations on the province from 1730 to 1787, refers to the Presbyterians as an important element then. Dr. Hawks testi- fies that the Presbyterians in Albemarle, though not numerous, “had real religion amid those without God in the world.” Their influence for good in every direction was most marked, and was combined with that of the Quakers in moulding the character of the infant State. Looking down on the other side of New Bern, along and East of the Cape Fear, we admire the uplift given to Carolina’s fame by a healthy, robust, truth-loy- ing and liberty-loving Calvinistic faith. Passing over some years, a few notable facts will signalize the sweep, dignity, and worth of this influence. The Eastern Shore of Maryland was the cradle of American Presbyterianism. Rev. Francis Makemie, from the Presbytery of Laggan, near Londonderry, Ireland, was the apostolic Bishop who presided over and guided its young life, about 1683, at Snow Hill, Maryland. He was a hero fresh from the dragon- ades of the loyal churchman and incarnate fiend, Claverhouse. When the first Presbytery, that of Philadelphia, was organized, in 1705, four of its ministers were from this Eastern Shore, Mr. Makemie being one. In 1743, Rev. William Robinson, who was of Quaker stock, though himself a Presbyterian and a man of distinguished ability, was preaching in North Carolina. A supplication was made to the Synod of Philadelphia, in 1744, from Carolina, showing their desolate condition, and petitioning for help. Rev. Samuel Davies, the future President of Prince- ton College, speaks, in 1751, of the fewness and savage igno- rance of the inhabitants as causing Mr. Robinson much hard- ship, and robbing his visit of much success. But, in 1755, several ministers having spent some time among them in mis- sionary labors, whereas there had been hardly any appearance of public worship, the tide was changing; congregations were growing, and eager zeal was manifested to be supplied with Gospel ministers. Continual appointments were made by the DRT ee ET TS a a I a er ~~ + cae y y aura De eae Re hee a aoa Ea Se