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IN studying the social and
political history of North Carolina one is constantly impressed with the
close connection that existed between South Carolina and the Cape Fear
section of North Carolina, and with the frequent intermarriages that
took place among the members of a large group of intimately associated
families. The widely spreading branches of one genealogical tree include
names from the families of Wright, Rhett, Trott, Izard, Hasell, Smith,
Moore, Quince, Dry, Eagles, Allen, Grainger, Howe, and others, many of
whom came originally from the southern colony. Representative men from
these families formed a strongly united provincial group, that stood at
times in outspoken opposition to those in the colony who were of English
or Scottish birth—Johnston, Murray, Corbin, Innes, Rutherfurd, and Schaw,
newcomers and "foreigners." Though no fixed lines of cleavage can be
drawn, and though the antagonisms were manifest only at Certain times
and in connection with certain troublesome provincial problems,
nevertheless the feeling was always latent, notably between the
Brunswick group led by Moore and Dry and those who were the friends and
followers of Governor Johnston. The quarrels over the blank patents and
the town of Wilmington are well known (N. C. R. IV, v-vi) and Murray
facetiously referred to the situation when he spoke of "a Dryness"
subsisting "between some certain gentlemen and me until the unhappy
differences of the province are reconciled" (Letters of James Murray,
Loyalist, p. 42).
Miss Schaw mentions only
a few of the leaders of the provincial party, but they play a
sufficiently important part in the narrative to call for brief mention
here.
Richard Quince.
Richard Quince, the
elder, the father of Parker and Richard, Jr., was one of the leading
merchants and traders of the colony, doing business at Brunswick under
the firm name of Richard Quince & Sons; which later became Parker Quince
& Co., doing a considerable up-river business. He was at one time or
another a commissioner of the town of Brunswick, chairman of the
inferior court of pleas and quarter sessions of Brunswick county, a
church warden of St. Philip's, a judge of vice-admiralty, a justice of
the peace, a member of the Wilmington Committee of Public Safety, and,
with his son Richard, a member of the general committee of the Sons of
Liberty. He was an active participant in the Revolution, died in 1778,
and was buried in the churchyard of St. Philip's, Brunswick. He was
originally from Ramsgate, England, where he had a brother John (who
apparently before 1768 came to Wilmington and set up as a merchant
there), and where he owned a house, which he retained during his
lifetime. He was also a freeman of the Cinque Ports, of which in 1741
"he produced a sufficient testimony" and was therefore excused from jury
duty (Brunswick County Court Records, 1737-1741, p. 133). He lived first
at "Orton" plantation and later at "Rose Full" on the Northeast, a
plantation that he left to his son Parker. The latter and his brother
Richard are said to have been "gentlemen of great respectability and
devoted Whigs, but quiet and unobtrusive in their characters and never
mingled in public life."
William Dry.
William Dry, the
collector, was fourth in descent from Robert Dry, or I)rve, who settled
in South Carolina about i68o, and his grandfather, father, and himself
all bore the same name. William Dry, 1st, married Elizabeth, daughter of
Benjamin Blake, brother of the famous English admiral, Robert Blake (Sontli
Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, V, 109, note 6), and died
about the year 1700. He was a planter of influence and property and
owned a plantation, "Oak Grove," next north of the present site of the
navy yard, Charleston, which he inherited from his father and which he
left to his son (ib., XIX, 60-61. The latter, William Dry, 2d, was one
of the original grantees of lots in Beaufort Town and acquired a second
plantation, two miles above Goose Creek bridge, fronting the highroad,
whereon he lived and where his son William Dry, 3d, the collector, was
born in 1720. This property he advertised for sale or rent in 1733 and
both plantations for sale in 1734 (South Carolina Gazelle, July 28,
1733, February 2, 1734, May 18, 1735), in anticipation of his departure
for North Carolina; and he finally left the colony with his family soon
after August, 1735. He had married Rebecca, sister of Roger, Maurice,
and Nathaniel Moore, and it was undoubtedly through his interest in
their Cape Fear project that he joined them in the enterprise. Either
before his arrival or immediately after, he bought lots in Brunswick and
lived there as a merchant, justice of the peace, and captain of militia
until his death, which occurred in 1746 or 1747. His wife survived him
about ten years.
The son, 'William Dry,
3d, was fifteen years old when he went with his father to the Cape Fear.
He first became prominent in September, 1748, when, at the age of
twenty-eight, as captain of the militia, he led the attack (aided by men
from Wilmington) on an invading force from two Spanish privateers, which
had landed and obtained possession of Brunswick. He became a colonel in
1754, was appointed collector in 1761, was named one of the charter
aldermen of Wilmington in 1760, served in the assembly from 1760 to
1762, became a member of the council in 1764 and continued in the latter
capacity under Dobbs, Tryon, and Martin, until in July, 1775, he was
suspended by Governor Martin on the ground of being disloyal to the
crown. He took the side of the Revolution, though he was never
particularly active in its behalf; and when the new constitution was
adopted, accepted a seat on the revolutionary council.
In February, 1746, Dry
married Mary Jane Rhett, granddaughter, through her father, of William
Rhett and, through her mother, of Nicholas Trott of South Carolina, and
(as the marriage notice states) "a lady of great fortune and merit"
(South Carolina Gazelle, February 24, 1746). He had a large plantation,
"Belleville," on the north side of the road leading from Wilmington
across Eagles Island southward, and at his death left this plantation to
his daughter, Sarah, "one of the finest characters in the country," who
married Benjamin Smith, later governor of the state and the founder of
Smithville (now Southport), who was of the Landgrave Thomas Smith family
of South Carolina. He died in 1781, aged sixty-one, and was buried in
St. Philip's churchyard. His wife survived him until 179$, when she died
at the age of sixty-six. She must have been married at seventeen.
It was at Dry's residence
in Brunswick that Josiah Quincy dined in 1773, and so well that he
called it "the house of universal hospitality" (Journal, p. 459).
Joseph Eagles.
Richard Eagles, the
elder, of a Bristol (England) family, lived in South Carolina until
1735, when he too joined the Cape Fear colony. In South Carolina he
owned a house and Store in Charles Town, which he offered for rent in
1733 (South Carolina Gazelle, January 13, 1733), a lot in the town of
Dorchester, and a plantation, "Eagles" (on Eagles Creek near Dorchester,
South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XX, 47-48), which
he advertised for sale in 1734, with dwelling house, large store,
stable, and chaise house (South Carolina Gazette, August 3, 10, 1734).
He must have left the colony before August 30, 1735, as at that time he
is spoken of as "late of Charles Town, merchant" (ib., August 30, 1735).
He married Elizabeth Crichton, a granddaughter of the first William Dry,
and so was a cousin by marriage of William Dry, the collector. His son,
Richard Eagles, 2d, married Margaret Bugnion, and was the father of
Joseph Eagles, mentioned in Miss Schaw's narrative.
Joseph Eagles, who had
not "come to the years of eighteen" in 1769, when his father's will was
made, cannot have been much more than nineteen or twenty at the time of
Miss Schaw's visit. He was not yet "major," as Miss Schaw says, and was
under the guardianship of her brother Robert, who had been appointed one
of the executors of Richard Eagles's estate. He had been sent to England
when but a child, living probably with his father's relatives in
Bristol, and had but just returned, thoroughly Anglicized. He did not go
back, however, as Miss Schaw thought might be the case, but remained in
the colony and married there. His wife was Sarah, surname unknown. He
died in 1791, leaving two children, Richard, 3d, and Joseph, 2d, the
first of whom died before 1811, and the second in 1827, each without
heirs. As only an aunt remained, the wife of Alfred Moore, the
disappearance of the family name from the annals of North Carolina is
readily accounted for (Brunswick County Records, Conveyances, B, 84, 1,4
327, 341, 368; 'North Carolina Reports, V, 267, 269).
Eagles's plantation,
which Miss Schaw visited in so unexpected a way, was called "The Forks"
and was inherited from his father, who was living upon it at the time of
his death. It was situated a short distance above Old Town Creek, on the
road from Brunswick to Schawfield, was bounded on the south by Eagles
Creek, and lay a little way below Eagles Island opposite Wilmington—an
island that received its name from Joseph's grandfather, who owned land
there. The plantation was of considerable size, containing a house, a
sawmill, and a gristmill.
Robert Howe.
Robert Howe was born in
North Carolina in 1730, the third son of Job Howe, or Hows, as the name
appears to have been spelt originally. His grandfather (also a Job—there
were three of the name) came with the Moores from South Carolina, and
Robert, through his grandmother, Mary Moore, sister of Roger, Maurice,
and Nathaniel, was related to the Moores, Drys, and others among the
first settlers. He was sent to England early, returning in 1748, and
soon began to play his part in the history of the colony. He became a
justice of the peace in 1756, was appointed captain at Fort Johnston in
1765, succeeding Dalrymple, was superseded by Collet in 1767, but
resumed the post on Collet's return to England in 1769, and was finally
supplanted on Collet's return in 1773. He was for a time a baron of the
court of exchequer and became a member of the assembly as early as 1760.
He married Sarah Grange, daughter of Thomas Grange, "a respectable
planter on the Upper Cape Fear River" (North Carolina Booklet, VII,
169), but was separated from her in 1772 and never remarried. His
political and military career after 1772 is too well known to need
rehearsal here.
Howe's personality and
character have been variously interpreted according to the point of
view. Miss Schaw expressed the opinion common in loyalist circles.
Governor Martin, while acknowledging that Howe was a "man of lively
parts and good understanding," charged him with "misapplication of the
public money" and with endeavoring "to establish a new reputation by
patriotism." Quincy, a northerner, thought better of him, as "a most
happy compound of the man of sense, the sword, the senate, and the buck.
A truly surprising character." No one has ever questioned his ability,
energy, or devotion to the revolutionary cause, but it may be that the
"relation of his past life and adventures" (did we but have it) would be
to us, as it was to Quincy, "moving and ravishing." "He was," adds the
latter, "formed by nature and his education to shine in the senate and
the field—in the company of the philosopher and the libertine—a favorite
of the man of sense and the female world. He has faults and vices— but
alas who is without them." This duality of character may explain the
unpleasant impression of Howe which Miss Schaw received. Howe's
opposition to Martin and his later military activity and influence stamp
him as a leader of men and a determined, obstinate fighter, but certain
incidents of his life and his later court-martial— though he was
unanimously acquitted—seem to point to flaws in his character that have
never been fully explained.
Flowe's father had
estates on the Sound and a plantation at Howe's Point below Brunswick.
The latter, containing a large three-story frame building on a stone or
brick foundation, became Robert's residence and was largely destroyed by
the British on May 12, 1776. Howe died in 1786, at the age of fifty-six.
James Moore.
James Moore, colonel and
major general, was grandson of James Moore, who emigrated from Ireland
to Charles Town, was governor there under the proprietors, and died in
1706. His father was Maurice Moore, the pioneer and the third husband of
the widow Swann, who was his mother. He was born in New Hanover precinct
in 1737 and spent his early years inconspicuously, probably on his
father's plantation at Rocky Point—at least until 1761 when the property
was sold to John Rutherfurd. lie was appointed a justice of the peace in
1759 and a colonel of militia before 1765. He took part in Tryon's
campaign against the Regulators, as colonel of "all the artillery and
artillery company of volunteers," with Robert Schaw as lieutenant
colonel, and was present at the battle of Alamance, which ended in the
defeat of the Regulators in 1771.
James Moore was one of
the best types of those who conscientiously opposed the royal government
in America, and from the time of the Stamp Act until his early death he
was generous and high-minded in his efforts to promote the cause of the
Revolution. He was appointed, September 1, 1775, colonel of the first
regiment of Continental troops raised by authority of the Convention,
and in February, 1776, was already in the field, prepared to oppose
Brigadier General Macdonald, who, at the head of the Highlanders,
serving under the royal standard, was marching on Wilmington. He was in
command of the campaign which culminated in the battle of Moore's Creek
bridge, and took part in the manuvres preliminary to the battle, but
through no fault of his own had no actual part in the fighting that
followed. As soon as the battle was over, he directed the movement of
the troops and vigorously pressed on the pursuit (Connor, History of
North Carolina, I, 373, 385-387). As Noble says, "Moore planned the
whole campaign, provided for every contingency, and drove the enemy into
the hands of two brave colonels [Caswell and Lillington, each at the
head of a provincial regiment] who had taken their stand at Moore's
Creek, The success of the American arms is entirely due to his
foresight, energy, and skill" (North Carolina Booklet, XI).
Moore served in the
American army less than a year, dying of fever at Wilmington, January
15, 1777. His loss was deeply felt, for friends and foes alike spoke
well of James Moore. Miss Schaw's comments on both Robert Howe and James
Moore show the shrewdness of her judgment. |
