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[Illustration: OLD FLOAT BRIDGE ACROSS THE PERQUIMANS RIVER]
IN ANCIENT ALBEMARLE
_By Catherine Albertson_
PUBLISHED BY THE
NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
ILLUSTRATED FROM DRAWINGS BY
MABEL PUGH
RALEIGH
COMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANY
1914
COPYRIGHT, 1914
BY
CATHERINE ALBERTSON
DEDICATION
TO
MARY HILLIARD HINTON
STATE REGENT DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
WITHOUT WHOSE AID AND ENCOURAGEMENT
THESE CHAPTERS WOULD NEVER
HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
--_C.A._
THE PERQUIMANS RIVER
From the Great Swamp's mysterious depths,
Where wild beasts lurk and strange winds sough;
From ancient forests dense and dark,
Where gray moss wreathes the cypress bough;
'Mid marshes green with flowers starred,
Through fens where reeds and rushes sway,
Past fertile fields of waving grain,
Down to the sea I take my way.
The wild swan floats upon my breast;
The sea-gulls to my waters sink;
And stealing to my low green shores,
The timid deer oft stoops to drink.
The yellow jessamine's golden bells
Ring on my banks their fairy chime;
And tall flag lilies bow and bend,
To the low music keeping time.
Between my narrow, winding banks,
For many a mile I dream along
'Mid silence deep, unbroken save
By rustling reed, or wild bird's song;
Or murmuring of my shadowed waves
Beneath the feathery cypress trees,
Or pines, responsive to the breath
Of winds that breathe sea memories.
So far removed seem shore and stream,
From sound and sight of mart or mill,
That Kilcokonen's painted braves
Might roam my woods and marshes still.
And still, as in the days of yore,
Ere yet the white man's sail I knew,
Upon my amber waves might skim
The Indian maiden's light canoe.
Thus, half asleep, I dream along,
Till low at first, and far away,
Then louder, more insistent, calls
A voice my heart would fain obey.
And by a force resistless drawn,
The narrow banks that fetter me
I thrust apart, and onward sweep
In quiet strength toward the sea.
I leave my marshes and my fens;
I dream no more upon my way;
But forward press, a river grown,
In the great world my part to play.
Upon my wide and ample breast,
The white-winged boats go hurrying by;
And on my banks the whirring wheels
Of busy mills hum ceaselessly.
And sharing man's incessant toil,
I journey ever onward down,
With many a lovely sister stream,
With all the waters of the Sound,
To join the sea, whose billows break,
In silver spray, in wild uproar,
Upon the golden bars that guard
The lonely Carolina shore.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Wikacome in Weapomeiok, the Home of George Durant 1
II. The First Albemarle Assembly--Hall's Creek, near Nixonton 13
III. Enfield Farm--Where the Culpeper Rebellion Began 19
IV. The Hecklefield Farm 31
V. Colonial Days in Church and School on Little River,
Pasquotank County 46
VI. The Haunts of Blackbeard 54
VII. The Old Brick House--a True History of the Historic Dwelling
Reputed to be the Home of the Famous Pirate 62
VIII. "Elmwood," the Old Swann Homestead In Pasquotank County 66
IX. Pasquotank in Colonial Wars 72
X. Pasquotank in Colonial Wars--"The War of Jenkins' Ear" 78
XI. A Soldier of the Revolution--The Story of a Pasquotank Boy
Who Followed Washington 84
XII. General Isaac Gregory, a Revolutionary Officer of
Pasquotank-Camden 93
XIII. Perquimans County--"Land of Beautiful Women," and the
Colonial Town of Hertford 114
XIV. Currituck, the Haunt of the Wild Fowl 134
XV. Edenton in the Revolution 153
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
Old Float Bridge Across the Perquimans River _Frontispiece_
"The Old Brick House," on Pasquotank River 62
Fairfax, the Home of General Isaac Gregory 112
The Eagle Tavern, Hertford 130
The Cupola House, Edenton 154
IN ANCIENT ALBEMARLE
CHAPTER I
WIKACOME IN WEAPOMEIOK, THE HOME OF GEORGE DURANT
In Perquimans County, North Carolina, there lies between the beautiful
Perquimans River on the west, and her fair and placid sister, the
Katoline or Little River, on the east, a lovely strip of land to which
the red man in days long gone, gave the name of Wikacome. The broad
sound whose tawny waters wash the southern shores of this peninsula, as
well as all that tract of land lying between the Chowan River and the
Atlantic Ocean, were known to the primitive dwellers in that region as
Weapomeiok.
Not until George Durant came into Carolina, and following him a thin
stream of settlers that finally overflowed the surrounding country, did
the beautiful Indian names give place to those by which they are now
known. Then Wikacome became the familiar Durant's Neck, and the waters
of Weapomeiok and the territory known to the aborigines by the same
name, changed to the historic cognomen of Albemarle.
George Durant and Samuel Pricklove were the first of the Anglo-Saxon
race to establish a permanent settlement in Wikacome, though they were
not the first Englishmen whose eyes had rested upon its virgin forests
and fair green meadows, for in the early spring of 1586 Ralph Lane, who
had been sent with Sir Richard Grenville by Sir Walter Raleigh to
colonize Roanoke Island, set out with fourteen comrades from that place
on an exploring expedition, hoping to find the golden "Will-o'-the-Wisp,"
which led so many English adventurers of the day to seek their fortunes in
the New World.
As far as the Roanoke River sailed the bold explorer and his comrades,
among whom were Philip Amadas and the historian Hakluyt. To the south as
far as Craven County they pushed their little boat, and northward to the
shores of Chesapeake Bay. In the course of their journey they touched at
Chepanock, an Indian village lying at the extremity of Durant's Neck.
And Lane relates that on his return trip he stopped again at that point
to secure a supply of provisions, and to fish in the sound.
It was Easter morning, 1586, when Lane and his hardy sailors, worn out
from their rough voyage down the Chowan and up the tawny waters of the
sound, sailed into the quiet harbor of the Katoline River. Half starved,
for the hostile tribes of the Mangoaks on the Chowan River, after being
repulsed in an attack upon the strangers, had refused to sell them
food, Lane and his men, for two days without means of staying their
hunger, hoped to buy from the Indians of Weapomeiok the provisions so
sorely needed.
But when the little band of explorers rowed their small craft to the
shore, and set out in search of corn and meat, they found the wigwams of
Chepanock deserted, and no sign of the red men. The Indians doubtless
had been alarmed at the sight of the strangers when they first stopped
at the village, and had fled from their homes to the interior of the
country.
No corn nor meal could Lane procure, but the weirs were full of fish,
and the men were able to satisfy their hunger, and having rested at
Chepanock that night they returned to Roanoke Island next morning. When
the plash of their oars died away in the distance, the waters of the
Katoline and the northern shores of Weapomeiok knew the white man's
sails no more until over half a century had passed away.
Lane and his colony, discouraged in their hopes of finding gold, and
disheartened by the many misfortunes that had befallen them, sailed back
to England with Sir Francis Drake. Raleigh's second attempt a year later
to establish a colony on Roanoke Island ended in the pathetic story of
little Virginia Dare and the "Lost Colony." Queen Elizabeth died, and
the tyrannical reign of James I came to an end. Charles I and Cromwell
waged their bitter war; the Commonwealth and Protectorate ran their
brief course, and the Restoration of 1660 brought back the third of the
Stuarts to the throne of England.
During all these changes in the ownership of Carolina and her sister
colonies, the red man roamed unmolested through the forests of Wikacome
and fished the weirs in the silver streams flowing into the broad waters
of Weapomeiok, unafraid of the great, white-winged boats of the pale
face. These brief visits to his shores were now remembered only when the
tribes gathered around the great camp fires at night, and listened to
the tales told by ancient braves and squaws, to whom the appearance of
the swift ships of the strangers now seemed only a dim, half-remembered
dream.
But as the years rolled by, venturesome hunters and trappers from
Virginia began to thread their way through the tangled woods of the
region lying to the south of the Chesapeake. Returning to their homes
they carried with them glowing accounts of the mild climate, the placid
streams teeming with fish, the wild game and rich furs to be found in
the country through which they had wandered.
In 1630 Sir Robert Heath, to whom Charles I granted a large portion of
Carolina, attempted to establish a settlement in the territory. Later
Roger Green, an English clergyman, made a similar attempt near the
present town of Edenton, but both these efforts failed. However, the
spirit of discovery and adventure was now fully aroused, and by 1656 a
number of settlements had been established along the shores of the
streams that flow into Albemarle Sound. Of none of these, however, can
any accurate account be given, their date and location having long been
forgotten; and not until 1661 is there any authenticated record of a
permanent settlement in North Carolina.
A year or two previous to that date, George Durant, a planter from
Virginia, attracted by the enthusiastic accounts he had heard of the
desirable lands to be found lying to the south, started out on an
exploring expedition to see for himself if all he had heard of the
Indian land of Weapomeiok were true, intending, if the country came up
to his expectations, there to establish his home.
For nearly two years Durant journeyed through the country, and finally
satisfied that the glowing accounts he had heard were not exaggerated,
he determined to bring his wife and family, his goods and chattels, into
this new "Land of Promise," and there build for himself a house to
dwell in, and to clear away the forest for a plantation. The first spot
selected by him for his future home was very near the ancient Indian
village of Chepanock, on the peninsula of Wikacome, which juts out into
the wide waters of Weapomeiok, and whose shores are watered by the
Katoline and the Perquimans rivers.
With the coming of George Durant to Carolina, the old Indian name
Wikacome vanishes from history, and "Durant's Neck" becomes the name by
which that section is henceforth known. The sound and the region north
of it, first known as Weapomeiok, change to Albemarle; and the Katoline
River soon loses its Indian designation, and is known to the settlers
who made their homes on its banks as the "Little River."
With the establishment of George Durant on the peninsula now called by
his name, the connected history of North Carolina begins. And it is a
matter of pride to the citizens of the Old North State that our first
settler, with a sturdy honesty and a sense of justice shown but seldom
to the red man by the pioneers in the colonies, bought from the Indian
chief, Kilcokonen "for a valuable consideration" the land on which he
established his home. The deed for this tract of land is now in the old
court-house in Hertford, North Carolina, and is the earliest recorded
in the history of our State. The following is an exact copy of this
ancient document:
"George Durant's Deed
from
Kilcokonen:
"Know all men these Presents that I, Kilcokonen King of the Yeopems
have for a valuable consideration of satisfaction received with ye
consent of my People sold and made over and delivered to George
Durant, a Parcel of land lying and being on a river called by ye name
of Perquimans, which issueth out of the North side of the aforesaid
Sound, and which land at present bears ye name of Wecameke. Beginning
at a marked oak tree which divideth this land from ye land I formerly
sold Samuel Precklove and extending easterly up ye said Sound at a
point or turning of ye aforesaid Perquimans River and so up ye east
side of ye said river to a creek called Awoseake to wit, all ye land
between ye aforesaid bounds of Samuel Precklove and the said creek
whence to ye head thereof. And thence through ye woods to ye first
bounds. To have and to hold ye quiet possession of ye same to him,
his heirs forever, with all rights and privileges thereto forever
from me or any person or persons whatsoever, as witness my hand this
first day of March 1661.
"KILCOKONEN.
"Test: Thos Weamouth, Caleb Callaway."
Having thus fairly and justly bought his lands, as this and other deeds
from Kilcokonen testify, Durant proceeded to establish his belongings on
his estate, and to take up the strenuous life of a pioneer in a new
country.
And a fairer region never gladdened the eyes of men making a new home in
a strange land. In the virgin forests surrounding the settlers' homes,
the crimson berried holly tree against the dark background of lofty
pines brightened the winter landscape. The opulent Southern spring flung
wide the white banners of dogwood, enriched the forest aisles with
fretted gold of jessamine and scarlet of coral honeysuckle, and spread
the ground with carpet of velvet moss, of rosy azaleas and blue-eyed
innocents. The wide rivers that flow in placid beauty by the wooded
banks of ancient Wikacome, formed a highway for the commerce of the
settlers and a connecting link with the outer sea. And however fierce
and bold the wild creatures of those dark forests might be, the teeming
fish and game of the surrounding woods and waters kept far from the
settlers' doors the wolf of want and hunger.
The fame of this fertile spot spread, and ere long George Durant was
greeting many newcomers into the country. Samuel Pricklove had preceded
him into Wikacome, and later came George Catchmaid, Captain John
Hecklefield and Richard Sanderson, while later still the Blounts, the
Whedbees, the Newbys, Harveys and Skinners, names still prominent in
Albemarle, came into the neighborhood and settled throughout Perquimans
County.
At the homes of the planters on Durant's Neck the public business of the
Albemarle Colony was for many years transacted. Courts were held,
councils convened, and assemblies called, while from the wharves of the
planters on Little River and the Perquimans, white-sailed vessels
carried the produce of the rich fields and dense forests to New England,
to the West Indies and to the mother country.
Many of the most interesting events in the early history of Albemarle
occurred on Durant's Neck. The Culpeper Rebellion, of which George
Durant and John Culpeper were among the leaders, began in Pasquotank,
but reached its culmination in Durant's home on Little River. There,
also, Thomas Miller was imprisoned for a time, and there the leaders of
the rebellion organized a new people's government, the first in the New
World absolutely independent of Proprietors, Parliament and King. At
Hecklefield's home on Little River, the plantation adjoining Durant's,
the Assembly of 1708 met to investigate the Cary-Glover question and to
decide which of those two claimants to the gubernatorial chair had
rightful authority to occupy that exalted seat. There also George Eden
was sworn in as ruler of North Carolina under the Proprietors; and there
the death of Queen Anne was announced to the Governor's Council, and
George I was formally proclaimed true and lawful sovereign of Carolina.
A prominent meeting place for the courts, councils and assemblies in
Colonial Albemarle was the home of Captain Richard Sanderson in the
Little River settlement on Durant's Neck. Of the many notable events
that occurred at the home of this wealthy and influential planter,
probably the Assembly of 1715 leads in interest and importance. The acts
passed by this Assembly were directed to be printed, but the order was
evidently never carried out, as none but manuscript copies are now
extant.
Among the most important measures taken by this Assembly was one making
the Church of England the established Church of the Colony; though
freedom of worship was granted to all, and the Quakers were allowed to
substitute a solemn affirmation in lieu of an oath. Other acts,
necessary to the welfare of the Colony, were passed, and a revision of
all former acts was made. Edward Moseley, Speaker of the House, was of
course present on this occasion, as were Governor Eden, Thomas Byrd, of
Pasquotank, Tobias Knight, of Currituck, Christopher Gale, of Chowan,
and Maurice Moore, of Perquimans.
Of all these old homes on Durant's Neck where so much of the early
history of our State was made, none are now standing; though the sites
of several of these historic places are well known to the dwellers on
the peninsula. When the tide is low on Little River, the bricks of what
was once the home of Governor Drummond can be seen. And an old tombstone
found in the sound, which is now used as the lower step of the side
porch in a beautiful old home, on Durant's Neck, once the property of
Mr. Edward Leigh, but now owned by Mr. C.W. Grandy, of Norfolk, is said
to have once marked the grave of Seth Sothel. The inscription on the
stone is now obliterated, but the original owners of the home declared
that the old inhabitants of Durant's Neck claimed that the slab at one
time bore the name of this, the most infamous of all the unworthy
Governors whom the Proprietors placed over the people of Albemarle.
The site of Durant's home is well known, and until a few years ago a
tombstone bearing his name, it is said, was standing under an old
sweet-gum tree on the bank of a great ditch near the sound. But the
field hands in clearing the ditch undermined the stone and covered it
with earth, so it now lies hidden from view.
But though no monument now marks the resting place of our first settler,
George Durant, there is no need of "storied urn or animated bust" to
keep alive in the hearts of his countrymen the memory of his name, and
of the brave, fearless spirit which made him a tower of strength to the
Old North State in the struggles of her early days.