OF NORTH CAROLINA, From 1584 to 1851. COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS, OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF HER DISTINGUISHED BY JOHN H. WHEELER, LATE TREASURER OF THE STATE. "Truth is stranger than Fiction." ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS. VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA: LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO AND CO. SUCCESSORS TO GRIGG, ELLIOT AND CO. 1851. F 254 W56 1851 11507 HISTORY maketh a young man to be old, without either wrinkles or gray hairs; privileging him with the experience of age, without either the infirmities or inconvenience thereof. FULLER'S Holy War. Ill fares it with a State, whose history is written by others than her own sons. PRESCOTT. The archives of the State, and the desks of ancient families, now bury the story of the rise and progress of the State of North Carolina: ignorance and wickedness may misrepresent the character of her history, if efforts are not made to break away the darkness that surrounds it. Such are the inducements of this publication. JONES. The world will not be able fully to understand North Carolina, until they have opened the treasures of history, and become familiar with the doings of her sons previous to the Revolution, during that painful struggle, and the succeeding years of prosperity. Then will North Carolina be respected as she is known. FOOTE. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA: T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS. THE CAFT CF J.T.C WAMEY ΤΟ GEORGE BANCROFT, LL. D., WHOSE WRITINGS HAVE MARKED THE AGE IN WHICH HE LIVES, AND THE ONLY HISTORIAN WHO HAS DONE JUSTICE TO NORTH CAROLINA; то PETER FORCE, OF WASHINGTON CITY, WHOSE PATIENT LABOR AND INDEFATIGABLE RESEARCH HAVE PROVED HER EARLY PATRIOTISM; AND TO DAVID L. SWAIN, LL. D., WHOSE NATIVE WORTH, WHOSE SERVICES AND WHOSE TALENTS, ARE ALIKE HER PRIDE AND ORNAMENT; TO THESE, BY WHOSE COUNSEL THESE SKETCHES HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN, WHOSE EXAMPLE HAS ENCOURAGED, AND WHOSE LABORS HAVE AIDED; AND TO THE YOUNG MEN OF THE State of North Carolina, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. THE FOLLOWING OPINIONS RELATIVE TO THE MERITS OF THIS WORK HAVE BEEN EXPRESSED. EXTRACT from the Report of the Joint Select Committee of the Library of the General Assembly of North Carolina, at the last session (1851), through Hon. Wm. H. Washington (Chairman), Senator from Craven County. "The Committee cannot but regard the work of Col. Wheeler as a patriotic and praiseworthy effort to rescue from oblivion important facts of our early history, and to elevate the character and standing of his native State; and, as such, would cordially recommend it to the favorable consideration, not only of the legislature, but of the people of the State at large." Extract from a letter of Hon. David L. Swain, President of the University of North Carolina, to Rev. Francis L. Hawks, D. D., LL. D., of New York. "CHAPEL HILL, February 22, 1851. "The Sketches of Col. Wheeler, in relation to this State, contain a great amount of useful and minute information, chiefly statistical and biographical, connected with every county in the State." Extract from a letter of Hon. R. M. Pearson, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. "RALEIGH, March 1, 1851. "I have had a conversation with the other two Judges, upon the subject of the Sketches of North Carolina, which you are about to publish. "We concur in thinking that such a work will be highly interesting to every citizen of the State; useful as a book of reference; and will rescue from oblivion many facts that ought not to be forgotten." Extract from a letter of Hon. George Bancroft, author of "History of the United States." "NEW YORK, March 15, 1851. "I look forward to the publication of your work with great interest, in the hope that you may fill the gap in the history of your patriotic State." "This is a work of which every son of North Carolina ought to be proud." Spirit of the Age, Raleigh. "This work will be valuable, and ought to be in the hands of every North Carolinian." Patriot, "Too little is known of our history. When the important information that Col. Wheeler will impart, can be procured, every family ought to own a copy of this work." Mountain Banner, Rutherfordton. "We hesitate not to say, that this work will turn out one of the most valuable books to the citizens of the State ever yet published." Watchman, Salisbury. |