ROWAN COUNTY.
Rowan county was formed in 1753 from Anson county. In 1770 Surry, and
in 1777 Burke counties were severally taken off, previous to which
separations Anson county comprehended most of the western portion of
North Carolina and Tennessee. Like a venerable mother, Rowan beholds
with parental complacency and delight her prosperous children
comfortably settled around her. Salisbury, her capital, derives its
name from a handsome town in England, situated on the banks of the
classic Avon, and near the noted Salisbury Plain, a dry, _chalky
surface_, which accounts for the origin of its Saxon name, which means
a _dry town_.
Rowan was first settled by Protestants, about 1720-25, from Moravia,
fleeing from the persecutions of Ferdinand, the Second, by the Scotch,
after the unsuccessful attempts of Charles Edward (commonly called the
"Pretender") to ascend the English throne, and by the Irish, after the
rebellion of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, who were offered
their pardon on condition of their emigrating to America and in
assisting to colonize the English possessions there. The staid
prudence of the German, the keen sagacity of the Scotch, and fiery
ardor of the Irish commingled on American soil, and were fit materials
to form the elemental foundations of an _industrious, progressive_ and
_independent_ nation.
The early history of Rowan, and of her distinguished sons, affords of
itself ample materials to fill an instructive volume. Within her
borders resided such venerable patriots as Matthew Locke, Moses
Winslow, Griffith Rutherford, John Brevard, William Sharpe, Samuel
Young, William Kennon, Adlai Osborne, Francis McCorkle, James Brandon,
James McCay, and many others, all true and constant friends of
liberty; but alas! how little of their eminent services has been
preserved. Even yet, it is believed, some one of her gifted sons might
do much in collecting from traditional sources, and from her musty
records a rich store of historical facts, hitherto unwritten,
illustrative of the fair name and fame of her Revolutionary career.
In the struggles of the Regulators against the extortions of Governor
Tryon and the crown officers, the spirit of the people of Rowan was
plainly manifested. In March, 1770, Maurice Moore, one of the Colonial
Judges, attended Salisbury to hold the Superior Court. He reported to
Governor Tryon at Newbern that "from the opposition of the people to
the taxes, no process of the law could be executed among them."
Upon this information Governor Tryon repaired in person to Salisbury.
In his original journal, procured from the archives of the State Paper
office in London by the Honorable George Bancroft, late our envoy at
that Court, we can see his actions, and admire the spirit of a Captain
Knox, who refused to join him with his troops. Violent as were the
acts of the Regulators, the subsequent oppressive measures of the
crown officers justified their conduct. The Clerk of Rowan county
(Thomas Frohock) was allowed to charge _fifteen dollars_ for a
marriage license. The effect of this official extortion was such as to
constrain some of the inhabitants on the head-waters of the Yadkin
river to "_take a short cut_," as it was termed in uniting their
conjugal ties for "better or for worse," as man and wife.
The indignation of the people of Rowan, Guilford, Orange, and other
counties, was aroused against such official misconduct. On the 7th of
March, 1771, a public meeting was held in Salisbury, when a large and
influential committee was appointed, who, armed with the authority of
the people, met the clerk, sheriff, and other officers of the crown,
and compelled them to disgorge their unlawful extortions. By a writing
signed by these officers, they agreed to settle and pay back all
moneys received over and above, their lawful fees.
This was indemnity for the past. The security for the future was, that
when any doubt should arise as to fees, they should not be paid to the
officers themselves, but to such other persons as were appointed by
the people.
Matthew Locke and Herman Husbands were among those selected to receive
these lawful fees. An instance, says Wheeler, "of more determined
resistance, or of purer democracy, is not to be found in the annals of
any people."
Most of the histories of the day have done the Regulators great
injustice, and denounced this whole body of men as composed of a
factious and turbulent mob, who, without proper cause, disturbed the
public tranquility. Nothing could be more untrue or unjust. Their
assemblages were orderly, and some evidence of the temper and
characters of the principal actors may be gathered from the fact that
from these meetings, by a law of their own, they vigorously excluded
all intoxicating drinks. But they had been oppressed and exasperated
by the impositions of corrupt officers until forbearance, with them,
had ceased to be a a virtue. On their side was the spirit of liberty,
animating the discordant multitude, but, unfortunately, without
trained leaders, or a sufficiency of arms, going forth to make its
first essay at battle on American soil. Redress of grievances was
sought at first by the Regulators in a quiet way, by resorting to the
courts of law. The officers were indicted and found guilty, but the
punishment was the mere nominal one of "a penny and costs." In short,
all resorts to the tribunals of justice ended in a perfect mockery,
and hastened the "War of the Regulation" in North Carolina.
The public press of that day was used by the Regulators in a peaceable
way to set forth their grievances. Their productions, circulated in
manuscript, or in print, display no proofs of high scholarship, or of
polished writing, but there is a truthful earnestness in some of them,
and cogency of reasoning more effective than the skill of the mere
rhetorician. Sometimes they appeared in ballad form, and sometimes as
simple narrative. The rough poet of the period (the American
Revolution can boast of many) was Rednap Howell, who taught the very
children to sing, in doggerel verse, the infamy of the proud officials
who were trampling on their rights. A short selection from the many
similar ones will be here presented for the amusement of the reader.
"Says Frohock to Fanning, to tell the plain truth,
When I came to this country, I was but a youth;
My father sent for me; I wasn't worth a cross,
And then my first study was stealing a horse,
I quickly got credit, and then ran away,
And haven't paid for him to this very day.
Says Fanning to Frohock, 'tis folly to lie,
I rode an old mare that was blind of one eye;
Five shillings in money I had in my purse,
My coat was all patched, but not much the worse;
But _now_ we've got rich, and its very well known.
That we'll do very well, _if they'll let us alone_."
The truthful sentiment conveyed in the last line will find many fit
illustrations in our own times.
The power of the Royal government was called into requisition to put
down this "Regulation" movement. The military spirit of Tryon resolved
to appeal to the sword. On the 24th of April, 1771, he left Newbern at
the head of three hundred men, a small train of artillery, and with a
considerable number of his adherents. General Waddell was sent forward
to Salisbury to raise troops, munitions of war having been previously
ordered from Charleston. While he was in Salisbury waiting for the
arrival of this supply of warlike munitions, the "Black Boys" of what
is now Cabarrus county, under the lead of "Black Bill Alexander,"
seized the convoy of wagons, and completely destroyed the "King's
powder," well knowing it was intended to obey the behest of a
tyrannical Governor. When Waddell advanced his troops from Salisbury
to join Tryon, the bold sons of Rowan rose in arms and ordered him
back. On the 10th of May, 1771, at Potts' Creek, he held a council of
his officers, and they, believing "prudence to be the better part of
valor," fell back, and recrossed the Yadkin. Waddell soon found that
many of his own men sympathised with the cause of the Regulators. He
promptly sent a message to Tryon, then encamped on Eno, informing him
of his critical situation. Tryon hastened on with his forces, crossed
Haw river on the 13th of May, and, on the next evening, pitched his
camp on the bank of the Alamance. On the 16th of May, 1771, the
unfortunate battle of Alamance was fought in which was shed the _first
blood_ of the American Revolution. After that disastrous event, in
which, for want of skilful leaders, and concert among their men, the
Regulators were subdued, the bloody "Wolf of North Carolina," as Tryon
was called by the Cherokee Indians, advanced in all "the pomp and
circumstance" of official station, and joined Waddell on the 4th of
June, near Salisbury, about eight miles east of the Yadkin river. He
then marched by a circuitous route to Hillsboro, where he had court
held to try the Regulators, by his pliant tool, Judge Howard. On the
20th he left Hillsboro, and reached Newbern on the 24th; and on the
30th left North Carolina for the colony of New York, over which he had
just been appointed Governor. Thus was our State rid of one who had
acted the part of an oppressive ruler and a blood-thirsty tyrant.
The efforts of Tryon had been too successful in enlisting under his
banners, before the designs of the British government were openly
discovered, many of the bravest and best officers of his day. Caswell,
Ashe, Waddell, Rutherford, and other distinguished persons who gave in
their adhesion to Governor Tryon in 1771, only three years later, at
the first Provincial Congress, directly from the people, held at
Newbern on the 25th of August, 1774, were found to be true patriots,
when it became apparent the entire subjugation of the country was the
object of the British crown. To the first assemblage of patriots,
adverse to the oppressions of the British government, held at Newbern
in August, 1774, the delegates from Rowan were William Kennon, Moses
Winslow and Samuel Young.
To the same place, in April, 1775, the delegates were Griffith
Rutherford, William Sharpe and William Kennon.
To Hillsboro, on the 21st of August, 1775, the delegates were Matthew
Locke, William Sharpe, Moses Winslow, William Kennon, Samuel Young and
James Smith. This Provincial Congress appointed as Field Officers and
Minute Men, for Salisbury District, Thomas Wade, of Anson, Colonel;
Adlai Osborne, of Rowan, Lieutenant Colonel; Joseph Harben, Major.
To Halifax, on the 22d of April, 1776, Rowan sent Rutherford Griffith
and Matthew Locke as delegates.
At this assembly Griffith Rutherford was appointed Brigadier General
of the Salisbury District; Francis Locke, Colonel of Rowan; Alexander
Dobbins, Lieutenant Colonel; James Brandon, 1st Major; James Smith, 2d
Major.
To the Congress at Halifax, November 12th, 1776, which formed the
first Constitution, the delegates were Griffith Rutherford, Matthew
Locke, William Sharpe, James Smith and John Brevard.
In 1775 the Royal government ceased in North Carolina by the retreat
of Governor Martin.
The Civil Government, vested in: 1. A Provincial Council for the whole
State, composed of two members from each Judicial District, and one
for the State at large, who was chairman and _de facto_ Governor. 2.
Committees of Safety for the towns; and 3. County Committees of
Safety, a part of whose duty it was to arrest suspicious persons, and
take especial care that the public interest suffered no detriment.
The journal of the Committee of Safety for Rowan county, from the 8th
of August, 1774, to the 17th of May, 1776, has been preserved, and
throws much light on the patriotic transactions of that exciting
period in our Revolutionary history. The journal in full may be seen
in Wheeler's "Historical Sketches."
ROUTE OF THE BRITISH ARMY THROUGH MECKLENBURG AND ROWAN COUNTIES.
After Cornwallis effected his passage over the Catawba river, at
Cowan's Ford, on the 1st of February, 1781, he only remained about
three hours in attending to the burial of his dead. Tarleton was
dispatched in advance to pursue the Whigs retreating in the direction
of Torrence's Tavern. Early in the morning of the same day a
simultaneous movement was made by Colonel Webster, with his own
brigade, the artillery, and a small supporting detachment to Beattie's
Ford, six miles above Cowan's Ford, where a small guard had been
placed on the eastern bank. Colonel Webster, with a view of dispersing
the guard, fired several shots (six pounders) across the river, which
had its intended effect, and thus enabled him to pass over without
meeting with serious opposition. This was a mere feint, intended to
create the impression that the whole British army would cross there.
The two British forces pressing forward with as little delay as
possible, united at Torrence's, ten miles from Cowan's Ford, where a
considerable body of the Whig militia had hastily assembled; but
having no one to assume command, and greatly discouraged by the death
of General Davidson on the approach of Tarleton's cavalry, poured in
one effective fire, killed seven of the British horsemen, wounded
others, and then dispersed in all directions with a small loss. This
skirmish, occurring soon after Tarleton's defeat at the Cowpens, led
him to boast of it in his journal as a brilliant victory!
Lord Cornwallis, in his general orders on the 2d of February, returns
his "thanks to the Brigade of Guards for their cool and determined
bravery in the passage of the Catawba, while rushing through that long
and difficult ford under a galling fire."
Another order, issued from his camp on the evening of the preceding
day, does credit to his head as well as his heart, and shows that he
was sometimes governed by the noble principles of moral rectitude. The
order is in the following words:
"HEADQUARTERS, CROSS ROADS TO SALISBURY, February 1st, 1781.
"Lord Cornwallis is highly displeased that several houses
were set on fire during the march this day--a disgrace to
the army. He will punish, with the utmost severity, any
person or persons who shall be found guilty of committing so
disgraceful an outrage. His Lordship requests the commanding
officers of corps to find out the persons who set fire to
the houses this day."
It is presumable his Lordship never received the desired information.
The order, no doubt, has reference to the burning of the houses of
John Brevard, who had "seven sons at one time in the rebel army," and
of Adam Torrence, a staunch Whig, where the skirmish had taken place.
General Greene, having been apprised of the battle of the Cowpens, and
the result, on the same day when Cornwallis commenced his pursuit of
General Morgan, ordered General Stevens to march with his Virginia
militia (whose term of service was almost expired) by way of
Charlotte, N.C., to take charge of Morgan's prisoners, and conduct
them to Charlottesville, in Virginia.
General Greene being anxious to confer with Morgan, personally, left
his camp on the Pee Dee, under the command of General Huger and
Colonel O.H. Williams, and started with one aid, and two or three
mounted militia, for the Catawba. On the route, he was informed of
Cornwallis' pursuit. General Morgan had previously crossed the Catawba
at the Island Ford. On the 31st of January, General Greene reached
Sherrill's Ford, a few miles below the Island Ford, where he had an
interview with Morgan, and directed his future movements.
The British army readied Salisbury on that night, and on the next
morning started in pursuit of Green and Morgan. These officers did not
await the dawn, but crossed the Yadkin river at the Trading Ford, six
miles beyond Salisbury, while his Lordship was quietly slumbering, and
dreaming, perhaps, of future conquest and glory! When Cornwallis awoke
on the morning of the third, he hastened to strike a fatal blow on the
banks of the Yadkin, but the Americans were beyond his reach, and
Providence had again placed an impassable barrier of water between
them. Copious rains in the mountains had swollen the Yadkin to a
mighty river. The horses of Morgan had forded the stream at midnight,
and the infantry passed over in boats at dawn. These vessels were
fastened on the eastern shore of the Yadkin, and Cornwallis was
obliged to wait for the waters to subside before he could attempt to
cross. Again he had the Americans _almost within his grasp_. A corps
of riflemen were yet on the Western side when O'Hara, with the
vanguard of the British army, approached, but these escaped across the
river, after a slight skirmish. Nothing was lost but a few wagons
belonging to Whig families, who, with their effects, were fleeing with
the American army.
Lord Cornwallis, after an ineffectual cannonade over the river,
returned to Salisbury, and, on the 7th, marched up the western bank of
the Yadkin, and crossed at the Shallow Ford, near the village of
Huntsville.
Dr. Read, the surgeon of the American army, has left this record of
the cannonading scene:
"At a little distance from the river was a small cabin, in
which General Greene had taken up his quarters. At this
building the enemy directed their fire, and the balls
rebounded from the rocks in the rear of it. But little of
the roof was visible to the enemy. The General was preparing
his orders for the army, and his dispatches to the Congress.
In a short time the balls began to strike the roof, and
clapboards were flying in all directions. But the General's
pen never stopped, only when a new visitor arrived, or some
officer for orders; and then the answer was given with
calmness and precision, and Greene resumed his pen."
It is related as a truthful tradition that, after the British army
reached Salisbury, Lord Cornwallis, Tarleton, and other royal
officers, were hospitably entertained by Dr. Anthony Newman, although
he was a true Whig. There, in presence of Tarleton, and other
spectators, Dr. Newman's two little sons were engaged in playing the
game of the "battle of the Cowpens," with grains of corn; red grains
representing the British officers, and white grains the Americans.
Washington and Tarleton were particularly represented, and as one
pursued the other, as in a real battle, the little fellows shouted,
"Hurrah for Washington, Tarleton runs! Hurrah for Washington." Colonel
William A. Washington, it will be recollected, commanded the American
cavalry. Tarleton looked on for a while, but soon becoming irritated
at the playful but truthful scene, he exclaimed: "See these cursed
little rebels!"
The pursuit of Morgan by Cornwallis was the most exciting and
prolonged military chase of the American Revolution. Under various
tangible interpositions of Providence, the retreat, as we have seen,
proved finally successful, and Morgan's forces saved for the future
service of his country.
GENERAL GRIFFITH RUTHERFORD.
General Griffith Rutherford was an Irishman by birth, brave and
patriotic, but uncultivated in mind and manners. He resided west of
Salisbury, in the Locke settlement, and actively participated in the
internal government of the county, associated with such early and
distinguished patriots as Moses Winslow, Alexander Osborn, Samuel
Young, John Brevard, James Brandon, William Sharpe, Francis McCorkle,
and others. He represented Rowan county in the Provincial Congress
which met at Halifax on the 4th of April, 1776, and during this
session he received the appointment of Brigadier General of the
"Salisbury District." Near the close of the summer of 1776, he raised
and commanded an army of two thousand four hundred men against the
Cherokee Indians. After being reinforced by the Guilford Regiment,
under Colonel James Martin, and by the Surry Regiment under Colonel
Martin Armstrong, at Fort McGahey, General Rutherford crossed the
"Blue Ridge," or Alleghany mountains, at Swannanoa Gap, near the
western base of which the beautiful Swannanoa river ("nymph of
beauty") takes its rise. After reaching the French Broad he passed
down and over that stream at a crossing-place which to this day bears
the name of the "War Ford." He then passed up the valley of "Hominy
Creek," leaving Pisgah Mountain on the left, and crossed Pigeon River
a little below the mouth of East Fork. He then passed through the
mountains to Richland Creek, above the present town of Waynesville;
ascended the creek and crossed the Tuckasege River at an Indian town.
Pursuing his course, he crossed the Cowee Mountain, where he had a
small engagement with the enemy, in which one of his men was wounded.
As the Indians carried off their dead and wounded, their loss could
not be ascertained. Thence he marched to the "Middle Towns," on the
Tennessee river, where, on the 14th of September, he met General
Williamson with troops from South Carolina on the same mission of
subduing the Indians.
In skirmishes at Valley Town, Ellajay, and near Franklin, General
Rutherford lost three men, but he completely subdued the Indians. He
then returned home by the same route, since known as "Rutherford's
Trace." The Rev. James Hall, of Iredell county, accompanied this
expedition as chaplain.
The uniforms of the officers and men was a hunting-shirt of domestic,
trimmed with cotton: their arms were rifles, and _none knew better how
to use them_. Many of the hardy sons of the west there experienced
their first essay in arms, and their bravery was nobly maintained
afterwards at King's Mountain, the Cowpens, and elsewhere in the
South.
General Rutherford commanded a brigade in the battle of Camden, (16th
of August, 1780), and was there made a prisoner. After he was
exchanged he again took the field, and commanded the expedition which
marched by way of Cross Creek (now Fayetteville) to Wilmington, when
that place, on his approach, was evacuated by the British, near the
close of the war.
He frequently represented Rowan county in the Senate during and
subsequent to the war, showing the high appreciation in which his
services were held by the people. Shortly after his last service in
1786, he joined the strong tide of emigration to Tennessee, where his
well-earned fame and experience in governmental matters had preceded
him. The Knoxville _Gazette_ of the 6th of September, 1794, contains
the following announcement:
"On Monday last the General Assembly of this territory
commenced their session in this town. General Rutherford
long distinguished for his services in the Legislature of
North Carolina, is appointed President of the Legislative
Council."
General Rutherford died in Tennessee near the beginning of the present
century, at a good old age, and it is to be regretted more has not
been preserved of his life and services.
LOCKE FAMILY.
Matthew Locke, one of the first settlers of Rowan county, and the
patriarchal head of a large family, was born in 1730. He was an early
and devoted friend of liberty and the rights of the people. His
stability of character and maturity of judgment caused him to be held
in high esteem in all controversial matters among his fellow citizens.
In 1771, during the "Regulation" troubles, he was selected by the
people, with Herman Husbands, to receive the lawful fees of the
sheriffs, and other crown officers, whose exorbitant exactions and
oppressive conduct were then everywhere disturbing the peace and
welfare of society. In 1775, he was a member of the Colonial Assembly,
and in 1776 member of the Provincial Congress, which met on the 12th
of November of that year, and formed the first Constitution. From 1793
to 1799 he was a member of Congress, and was succeeded by the Hon.
Archibald Henderson. He married a daughter of Richard Brandon, an
early patriot of the same county. He died in 1801, aged seventy-one
years.
Matthew Locke had at one time four sons in the Revolutionary war.
Francis Locke, his eldest son, was appointed by the Provincial
Congress which met at Halifax on the 4th of April, 1776, Colonel of
the 1st Rowan Regiment, with Alexander Dobbins as Lieutenant Colonel;
James Brandon, 1st Major, and James Smith, 2d Major. He was attached
to General Lincoln's army when General Ashe was defeated at Brier
Creek, and composed one of the members of the court-martial to inquire
into that unfortunate affair. Colonel Locke commanded the forces which
attacked and signally defeated a large body of Tories assembled at
Ramsour's Mill, under Col. John Moore. (For particulars, see "Lincoln
county"). Another son, Lieutenant George Locke, a brave young officer,
was killed by the British in the skirmish near Charlotte, in
September, 1780.
Hon. Francis Locke, son of Francis Locke, the "hero of Ramsour's
Mill," was born on the 31st of October, 1766. He was elected Judge of
the Superior Court in 1803, and resigned in 1814, at which time he was
elected a Senator in Congress in 1814-'15. He never married, and died
in January, 1823, in the forty-fourth year of his age. His mortal
remains, with those of his father, Colonel Francis Locke, repose in
the graveyard of Thyatira Church, Rowan county, N.C.
HON. ARCHIBALD HENDERSON.
(Condensed from Wheeler's "Historical Sketches.")
Hon. Archibald Henderson was born in Granville county, N.C., on the
7th of August, 1768; studied law with Judge Williams, his relative,
and was pronounced by the late Judge Murphy, who knew him long and
well, to be "the most perfect model of a lawyer that our bar has
produced." ... No man could look upon him without pronouncing him one
of the great men of the age. The impress of greatness was upon his
countenance; not that greatness which is the offspring of any single
talent or moral quality, but a greatness which is made up by blending
the faculties of a fine intellect with exalted moral feelings.
Although he was at all times accessible and entirely free from
austerity, he seemed to live and move in an atmosphere of dignity. He
exacted nothing by his manner, yet all approached him with reverence
and left him with respect. His was the region of high sentiment; and
here he occupied a standing that was pre-eminent in North Carolina. He
contributed more than any man, since the time of General Davie and
Alfred Moore, to give character to the bar of the State. His career at
the bar has become identified with the history of North Carolina: and
his life and his example furnish themes for instruction to gentlemen
of the bench and to his brethren of the bar. May they study his life
and profit by his example!
He represented his district in Congress from 1799 to 1803, and the
town of Salisbury frequently in the State Legislature. He married
Sarah, daughter of William Alexander, and sister of William Alexander
and Nathaniel Alexander, afterward Governor of the State. He left two
children, the late Archibald Henderson, Esq., of Salisbury, and Mrs.
Boyden, wife of the late Hon. Nathaniel Boyden.
He died on the 21st of October, 1822, in the fifty-fourth year of his
age.
RICHMOND PEARSON.
(Condensed from Wheeler's "Historical Sketches.")
Richmond Pearson, late of Davie county when a part of Rowan, was born
in Dinwiddie county, Va., in 1770, and at the age of nineteen years
came to North Carolina and settled in the forks of the Yadkin river.
When the war of the Revolution broke out he was a Lieutenant in
Captain Bryan's company (afterward the celebrated Colonel Bryan, of
Tory memory). After the Declaration of Independence, at the first
muster which occurred, he requested some on whom he could rely to load
their guns. When Captain Bryan came on the ground he ordered all the
men into ranks. Pearson refused, and tendered his commission to Bryan,
whereupon he ordered him under arrest. This was resisted, and he was
told that the men had their guns loaded. They then came to a parley,
and it was agreed by the crowd, as matters stood, that Bryan and
Pearson, on a fixed day, should settle this national affair by a fair
_fist fight_, and whichever whipped, the company should belong to the
side of the conqueror, whether Whig or Tory. At the appointed time and
place the parties met, and the Lieutenant proved to be the victor.
From this time the Fork company was for liberty, and Bryan's crowd, on
Dutchman's creek, were Loyalists. The anecdote illustrates by what
slight circumstances events of this period were affected. When
Cornwallis came south, Pearson, with his company, endeavored to harass
his advance. He was present at Cowan's Ford on the 1st of February,
1781, where General Davidson fell in attempting to resist the passage
of the British. Captain Pearson was a successful merchant and an
enterprising planter. He died in 1819, leaving three sons and one
daughter: 1st, Jesse A.; 2d, Joseph; 3d, Richmond; and 4th, Elizabeth
Pearson. Jesse A. Pearson was frequently a member of the General
Assembly from Rowan county. In 1814 he marched as Colonel of a
Regiment to the Creek Nation, under General Joseph Graham, and was
afterward elected Major General of the State Militia. He died in 1823,
without issue.
Hon. Joseph Pearson was a member of the General Assembly in the House
of Commons from Rowan county in 1804 and 1805, and a member of
Congress from 1809 to 1815. He died at Salisbury on the 27th of
October, 1834. He was thrice married. By his first wife, Miss McLinn,
he had no issue; by the second, Miss Ellen Brent, he had two
daughters--one, the wife of Robert Walsh, Esqr., of Philadelphia--the
other, the wife of Lieutenant Farley, of the U.S. Navy; and by the
third wife (Miss Worthington, of Georgetown), he left four children.
Richmond Pearson married Miss McLinn. He was never in public life, but
was an active, enterprising man. He left the following children: 1st,
Sarah, who married Isaac Croom, of Alabama; 2d. Eliza, who married
W.G. Bently, of Bladen county, N.C.; 3d. Charles, who died without
issue; 4th. Hon. Richmond M. Pearson was born in June, 1805, educated
at Statesville by John Mushat, and graduated at Chapel Hill in 1823.
He studied law under Judge Henderson, and was licensed in 1826. He
entered public life in 1829 as a member to the State Legislature from
Rowan county, and continued as such until 1832. In 1836 he was elected
one of the Judges of the Superior Court, and in 1848 was transferred
to the Supreme Court, which elevated position he now occupies; 5th.
Giles N. Pearson married Miss Ellis, and was a lawyer by profession.
He died in 1847, leaving a wife and five children; 6th. John Stokes
Pearson married Miss Beattie, of Bladen county. He died in 1848,
leaving four children.
The reader may be curious to know something of the fate of Colonel
Samuel Bryan, who commanded the Tory regiment in the forks of the
Yadkin, which was so roughly handled and cut to pieces by Colonel
Davie and his brave associates, at the battle of the hanging Rock.
About the time Major Craig evacuated Wilmington in 1781, Colonel
Bryan, Lieutenant Colonel John Hampton and Captain Nicholas White, of
the same regiment, returned to the forks of the Yadkin, were arrested
and tried for high treason, under the act of 1777, entitled "An Act
for declaring what Crimes and Practices against the State shall be
Treason," &c.
Judges Spencer and Williams presided. The prosecution was ably
conducted by the Attorney General, Alfred Moore, and the defence by
Richard Henderson, John Penn, John Kinchen and William R. Davie, truly
a fine array of legal talent.
Public indignation was so greatly excited that Governor Burke found it
necessary, after the trial, to protect the prisoners from violence by
a military guard.
Colonel Davie's defence of Colonel Bryan, in the argument made to the
jury upon the occasion, was said to have been a brilliant exhibition
of his forensic ability. For many years afterwards his services were
required in all capital cases, and as a criminal lawyer he had no
rival in the State. They were all convicted, had sentence of death
passed upon them, were pardoned, and subsequently exchanged for
officers of equal rank, who were at the time, confined within the
British lines.
MRS. ELIZABETH STEELE.
The long, arduous and eventful retreat of General Morgan through the
Carolinas, after the battle of the Cowpens, and the eager pursuit of
Cornwallis to overtake him, encumbered with more than five hundred
prisoners, on his way to a place of safety in Virginia, affords many
interesting incidents. General Greene having met Morgan on the eastern
banks of the Catawba river, at Sherrill's Ford, and directed his
forward movements, proceeded to Salisbury, a little in advance of his
forces. It had been slightly raining during the day, and his wet
garments, appearance of exhaustion and dejection of spirits at the
loss of General Davidson at Cowan's Ford, as he dismounted at the door
of the principal hotel in Salisbury, indicated too clearly that he was
suffering under harassing anxiety of mind. Dr. Reed, who had charge of
the sick and wounded prisoners, while he waited for the General's
arrival, was engaged in writing the necessary paroles for such
officers as could not go on. General Greene's aids having been
dispatched to different parts of the retreating army, he was alone
when he rode up to the hotel. Dr. Reed, noticing his dispirited looks,
remarked that he appeared to be fatigued; to which the wearied officer
replied: "Yes, fatigued, hungry, alone, and penniless!" General Greene
had hardly taken his seat at the well-spread table, when Mrs. Steele,
the landlady of the hotel, entered the room and carefully shut the
door behind her. Approaching her distinguished guest, she reminded him
of the despondent words he had uttered in her hearing, implying, as
she thought, a distrust of the devotion of his friends to the cause of
freedom. She declared money he should have, and immediately drew from
under her apron two small bags full of specie, probably the earnings
of several years, "Take these, General," said she, "you need them and
I can do without them." This offering of a benevolent heart,
accompanied with words of kindness and encouragement, General Greene
accepted with thankfulness. "Never," says his biographer, "did relief
come at a more propitious moment; nor would it be straining conjecture
to suppose that he resumed his journey with his spirits cheered and
lightened by this touching proof of woman's devotion to the cause of
her country."
General Greene did not remain long in Salisbury; but before his
departure from the house of Mrs. Steele, he left a memorial of his
visit. Seeing a picture of George III. hanging against the wall, sent
as a present to a connection of Mrs. Steele from England, he took it
down and wrote with chalk on the back, "O George, hide thy face, and
mourn," and replaced it with the face to the wall. The picture, with
the writing uneffaced, is still in possession of a grand daughter.
Mrs. Steele was twice married; her first husband was a Gillespie, by
whom she had a daughter, Margaret, who married the Rev. Samuel E.
McCorkle, a distinguished Presbyterian minister; and Richard
Gillespie, who was a Captain in the Revolution, and died unmarried. By
her second husband, William Steele, she had only one child, the Hon.
John Steele, who died in Salisbury on the 14th of August, 1815. He was
a conspicuous actor in the councils of the State and Nation, and one
whose services offer materials for an interesting and instructive
biography.
Mrs. Steele died in Salisbury on the 22d of November, 1790. She was
distinguished not only for her strong attachment to the cause of
freedom, but for the piety which shone forth brightly in her
pilgrimage upon earth. Among her papers was found, after her death, a
written dedication of herself to her Creator, and a prayer for support
in the practice of christian duty; with a letter, left as a legacy to
her children, enjoining it upon them to make religion the great work
of life.