School History of North Carolina Part 12

1749.

3. The year 1749 is memorable because then, for the first time, a printing press was erected in North Carolina. James Davis brought this press to New Bern from Virginia, and began, years later, the publication of a weekly newspaper, called The North Carolina Magazine or Universal Intelligencer. This occurred in 1765, and the press was used until that time in printing the laws and proceedings of the General a.s.sembly.

4. The first movements toward peopling the western sections of the province were seen this year in the purchase, by the Moravians, of a large tract of land from Earl Granville. They called it Wachovia, in compliment to Count Zinzendorf's estate in Germany. The same region was peopled rapidly by other German Settlers, with a large addition of Scotch-Irish emigrants. Their town was named Salem, and is now the county seat of Forsyth.

1752-53.

5. Upon the death of Governor Johnston, President Rice was in charge until the next year, when, upon his death, Colonel Matthew Rowan succeeded to the place thus made vacant. Colonel Rowan lived in Bladen, and was a planter of large means. He was greatly valued, and his name is perpetrated in a county which has long been important in North Carolina.

1754.

6. At this time there was great rivalry between France and England for supremacy in America. Large as was the area of unoccupied territory for division between them, they were fast maturing schemes for each other's expulsion from the Western Continent.

7. All around the English settlements, from New England along the great lakes, and down the Mississippi River, a chain of forts was being constructed by the French, and the aid of all the Indian tribes had already been secured except in the instance of the Iroquois or Six Nations in New York. Lord Dinwiddie, then Governor of Virginia, sent a messenger to say that these enemies were even encroaching upon the Old Dominion and erecting a fort at the junction of the two streams which form the Ohio River.

8. Pittsburg stands upon the spot where this famous Fort Du Quesne was constructed. His lords.h.i.+p applied for aid from North Carolina in an expedition which he proposed to send against these intruders. Governor Rowan and the General a.s.sembly responded n.o.bly and promptly to the call.

9. Colonel James Innes, who had served gallantly under Lord Vernon at Carthagena, in South America, was put in command of a regiment mustering more than nine hundred men. Two hundred thousand dollars was voted for their equipment and supplies, and with high hopes, the long march for the Ohio River was begun.

10. When the army reached Winchester, in Virginia, Colonel Joshua Fry, who was in command of all the forces, died, and Governor Dinwiddie appointed Colonel Innes his successor. But this appointment gave offence to the Virginians, who wished Colonel George Was.h.i.+ngton, already a favorite of the people, to take command. The Virginia Legislature, under the circ.u.mstances, would make no provision for the support of Colonel Innes'

regiment, and it was forced to return home. In this way the generous purpose of North Carolina was completely thwarted.

11. Colonel Innes died at Winchester soon after. The French occupied their fort and perfected those arrangements which resulted, shortly afterwards, in the terrible defeat of the army commanded by General Braddock.

12. Another army of Virginians and North Carolinians, about thirty years after these occurrences, was a.s.sembled to attack Colonel Patrick Ferguson's British and Tories at King's Mountain.

A very different spirit prevailed there. The North Carolina officers, who greatly outnumbered those of the Old Dominion, insisted that as they were at home, Colonel Campbell, of the latter State, should a.s.sume command, and their knightly courtesy was followed by a glorious victory.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who infested the coast during Governor Johnston's term?

2. How was a fleet of pirates received by the Cape Fear men in 1748? What was done with the spoils? Point out Brunswick and Wilmington on the map.

3. What memorable event occurred in 1749?

4. Give an account of the settlement of Wachovia. In what part of the State is this settlement?

5. Who became Governor after the death of Governor Rice? What kind of man was Governor Rowan?

6. What were the English and French trying to accomplish in America at this period?

7. How were the French preparing for hostilities? What was stated by Governor Dinwiddie's messenger?

8. Of whom did Governor Dinwiddie ask aid? How did North Carolina respond to the call?

9. To what extent did the province prepare resistance?

10. What occurred at Winchester? How did this appointment affect the Virginians, and why? How did the effort of North Carolina to aid the Virginians terminate?

11. What was the result of the expedition against Fort Du Quesne?

12. What other occurrence is mentioned?

CHAPTER XIX.

GOVERNOR ARTHUR DOBBS.

A. D. 1754 TO 1765.

King George selected Major Arthur Dobbs, as Governor of North Carolina; and at New Bern, on November 1, 1754, he entered upon the discharge of his duties. He was a man of high temper, and very obstinate in support of his views, but devoted to whatever he believed his duty demanded. His greatest fault was filling public offices with members of his own family and a disposition to make jobs for his own benefit.

2. Governor Dobbs soon visited the new county of Rowan, which was established in 1753, and included in its area most of the western portion of North Carolina and a part of Tennessee. He found Presbyterians under Rev. Hugh McAden, and Baptists under Rev.

Shubal Stearns, establis.h.i.+ng churches and laying the foundations of towns in a region where, but a few years before, no white people were to be seen.

1757.

3. Colonel Hugh Waddell, of Brunswick, was put in command of troops raised in North Carolina for the French and Indian war.

He had started to join General Braddock's column, but just previous to the fatal battle on Monongahela River was recalled by Governor Dobbs to repel the attack of the Cherokees on Old Fort.

This stronghold was built amid the western mountains to overawe the Indians and as a refuge for the settlers.

4. Governor Littleton, of South Carolina, by his bad management, had most wantonly provoked the Over-hill Indians into this condition of hostility. His foolish and unnecessary interference and cruelty had converted these usually peaceful neighbors into sufficient hostility to make it easy for French emissaries to obtain their active aid against the English settlers.

5. Captain Dennie, with his company, was also besieged at Fort Tellico. Colonel Waddell made haste with his battalion and drove off the Cherokees, burning their lodges and destroying all the corn he could find. Another battalion remained with General Forbes, as North Carolina's contingent in the expedition against Fort Du Quesne. These things occurred in 1757.

6. In England the administration of the Duke of Newcastle over American and foreign affairs terminated, and the first William Pitt succeeded to his place. In every portion of the world mighty consequences resulted from this arrangement. The fleets and armies of Great Britain were animated with the zeal and patriotism of that great statesman.

1759.

7. Of all the victories of the year, none was so important to America as that of General Wolfe over the French at Quebec. It broke the power of France in the Western Continent, and stopped, in a great measure, the war waged by Indians upon the frontier settlements.

8. At no period has the population of North Carolina increased relatively so fast as during these years now under consideration.

Up to the death of Governor Johnston it had amounted to no more than thirty thousand souls, but since that time had more than doubled. In 1754 the exports amounted to sixty-one thousand five hundred and twenty-eight barrels of tar, twelve thousand and fifty-five barrels of turpentine, seven hundred and sixty-two thousand staves, sixty-one thousand five hundred and eighty bushels of corn, besides much tobacco, pork, beef and other commodities.

9. The most discreditable thing in Governor Dobbs' administration was his effort to procure the General a.s.sembly to locate the provincial capital on his farm, called "Tower Hill." This was the place where the Indians had been defeated by Colonel James Moore in 1712. He failed in his scheme, and Snow Hill, as the place is now called, never became the capital of North Carolina.

10. He was often at variance with the Legislature, or more properly, the House of a.s.sembly, concerning the courts and judges. He wished things arranged to suit certain men in London, and the House resolved that this should not be done, and North Carolina was left, in the end, with no judges but the justices of the peace.

11. Even before this there was much complaint concerning the extortions of public officers. Although the people were very poor, the agents of the King and Earl Granville made them pay enormous license and poll taxes. Francis Corbin, one of the King's agents, was dragged from his home in Chowan to Enfield, then in Edgecombe county, to compel him to repay the sums which he had unlawfully exacted. He gave bail and promised to return the illegal tribute, but instead of complying he brought suit against the men who had seized him. The matter terminated in a riot, in which some of the chief friends of Governor Dobbs were concerned.

1765.

12. The Governor, being old, and weary of contests with the House of a.s.sembly, at length asked for leave of absence; but died at his place on Town Creek, in Brunswick county, before sailing for England. He was devoted to his sense of duty to the King, and was in many ways deserving of public respect.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who tools the oath of office of Governor in 1754? Can you give some traits of his character?