Part 9 (2/2)

THOMAS CAREY AND THE TUSCARORA WAR

A. D. 1704 TO 1712.

Thomas Carey, who had already reached the positions of Speaker of the House of a.s.sembly and Lieutenant-Governor, was promoted to be Governor in 1705. He had been a leader in opposition to Governor Daniel's church scheme, and for that reason John Archdale and the Quakers had procured his elevation to the latter position. It may be imagined what was their disgust and surprise when it was found that Carey had changed sides and become the willing tool of Lord Carteret.

1705.

2. In 1705 the town of Bath, in Beaufort county, was settled, and this was the first incorporated town in North Carolina. One of the oldest churches in the State is at Bath. The bricks used in the building were brought from England. The edifice is still in a good condition, and is regularly used for public wors.h.i.+p.

3. When the General a.s.sembly met, Governor Carey announced that, under English laws, none but members of the English or Episcopal Church could be allowed to take the oaths necessary to qualification for a seat in either House. John Porter was thereupon sent to London to make known this fresh outrage and betrayal of the people.

4. He was soon back with orders for Carey's removal; and the General a.s.sembly elected William Glover by the votes of John Porter and the men he influenced. It is sickening to add that Glover also immediately deceived the men who were his supporters, and was found acting and talking exactly as Carey had done. The next thing seen was the pacification of Carey and the Quakers, and their re-election of him as Governor.

5. Two rival governments were thus at open rupture, each claiming to be the local government in Albemarle. They both took up arms, and it seemed that bloodshed must ensue. A General a.s.sembly was called to decide the question of authority.

Members were present with certificates of election signed by Glover, and another set whose certificates were issued by Carey.

Glover and Carey, with their adherents, occupied separate rooms in the same building, and great confusion and bitterness prevailed. Finally the members of Glover's council were compelled to seek refuge in Virginia.

6. In such a state of affairs, Edward Hyde arrived from England with papers directing Edward Tynte, the Governor of both South and North Carolina, to commission him as Governor of North Carolina. In the meantime Carey, having heard of Governor Tynte's death, refused to acknowledge Hyde's claims, and proceeded to arm and equip his followers.

1711.

7. The cruel and crafty Tuscaroras now resolved to avail themselves of the divisions among the white people. They procured the Meherrins, Corees, Mattarnuskeets and other tribes to unite with them in an effort to murder all they could of the settlers. They kept the secret so well that on the night of the 11th of September, 1711, according to the calendar of that day, more than two hundred whites were butchered. The Tuscaroras mustered in their ranks a strong force, which was increased by their allies to sixteen hundred warriors. The Indians continued this terrible slaughter for three days, and only ceased when fatigue and drunkenness rendered them incapable of further continuance.

8. The Baron de Graffenreid, a n.o.bleman from Bern, had just established (in 1710) a flouris.h.i.+ng colony, comprising about six hundred persons, Germans and Swedes, at New Bern, at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers. De Graffenreid and John Lawson, the surveyor-general, while on an exploring voyage up the Neuse River, a few days before the ma.s.sacre of September 11th, were seized by the Indians. The war council decided that both the men should be put to death. De Graffenreid made claim that he was king of the Swiss settlement just established, and escaped death by promising that no more land should he taken from the Indians without their consent. The unfortunate Lawson and a negro servant were put to death by the most horrible cruelties.

9. Baron de Graffenreid was held a captive for several weeks, and was set at liberty upon application of Governor Spottswood.

On his return to his settlement he found it in a condition of almost desolation. He became so disheartened at the prospect that he soon sold his interest in Carolina and returned to Switzerland.

1712.

10. The South Carolina militia and near a thousand Yema.s.see Indians, under Colonel John Barnwell, came as swiftly as they could to the rescue, and inflicted a stunning blow upon the savages. They were attacked in a fort near New Bern, and more than three hundred of the Indians were killed and a hundred made prisoners. Thinking the league crushed, Colonel Barnwell went home with his forces, after making a treaty with the Indians, which was quickly broken.

11. In this terrible emergency, which threatened the destruction of so many settlers, Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, did nothing to aid the colony except keep the Five Nations and Tom Blount's Tuscaroras neutral in the war. The great danger was in the possible adhesion of the New York Iroquois to the savage league. With Albemarle divided, and consequently in a measure helpless, it was seen that it would be impossible to meet the Five Nations in battle.

12. When the next spring had opened, some hundreds of men in North Carolina were joined by Colonel James Moore, from South Carolina, with another force of a hundred and fifty of his white neighbors and the Yema.s.sees, who again were willing to make war upon their hated enemies, the Tuscaroras.

13. Another b.l.o.o.d.y attack upon a fort made of earthworks and palisades resulted in such slaughter of the Indians that Handc.o.c.k, their chief, who had boldly led them before, was so disheartened at the loss of his braves that, with his tribe, he abandoned Carolina and rejoined his brethren in the lake country of New York, who were from that time known as the Six Nations. They ventured no more among the men who had so fearfully broken their strength and power as belligerents. The fort occupied by Handc.o.c.k and his force was situated where the village of Snow Hill, Greene county, now stands, and was called by the Indians ”Nahucke.” The siege began March 20th, and in a few days the fort, with eight hundred prisoners, was taken by storm. Colonel Moore's loss was twenty white men and thirty-six Indians killed and about one hundred wounded.

14. In the midst of the danger, in this second year of the war, yellow fever was seen for the first time in Albemarle. Governor Hyde fell a victim to its virulence. He died September 8, 1712, and was succeeded by Thomas Pollock, who had long been known as one of the richest and most influential of the settlers.

Pollock and Edward Moseley, who was the leading lawyer and ablest man in Albemarle, were in deadly enmity concerning the quarrels between the contending Governors.

15. During this turbulent period among their rulers the people of Albemarle were giving their princ.i.p.al attention to growing corn and other farm products. They were improving their settlements and reaping the full reward of industry and perseverance. In 1704 the manufacture of tar began, and it was soon discovered that this native article was destined to become a very valuable commodity, both at home and in foreign countries.

16. During the years just considered North Carolina received large accessions to her population. As early as 1690 French Protestant refugees purchased lands and began to form settlements in Pamlico. In 1707 another body of French emigrants, under the guidance of their clergymen, Phillipe de Richebourg, located in the same section. A good number of French Huguenots, also, had formed thrifty settlements in the Pamlico region and along the banks of the Neuse and Trent Rivers.

QUESTIONS.

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