SAVVY WOMEN

AMY BURFOOT, SR. ca 1734-1798

AMY BURFOOT, JR. ca 1760-1810

Mother and Daughter

     "When Amy Burfoot became a widow in 1780, she faced two conventional modes of procedure. She could remain more or less in retirement, performing such tasks as carding, spinning and weaving while managing her estate. Or after what was considered a decent interval, she could take another husband, leaving the management of the estate to him, while she still continued to card, spin, and such like. … Amy Burfoot … decided not to proceed according to the conventional pattern; she decided to employ her own talents in a business world which the menfolk considered reserved for their activities alone.

    " … Quite probably she encountered some masculine resentment at what was considered an improper feminine intrusion in an arena reserved heretofore for the male population. She also labored under another handicap in not being able to write her name … . Nothing daunted and with confidence, she embarked upon her career with vigor. Sometimes a deed reads as if she had dictated it, as, for an illustration, 'this being the very spot I bought of Josiah Gallop.' Her transactions were never large, … but they were regular and continuous until her death. …"

Map of Camden County
Wikipedia

     Amy Sr.'s daughter, Amy Jr. was as practical as her mother. "She was a minor when her father died in 1780. About the same time the elderly John Griffin, well-to-do planter and millwright, became a widower. Before long he looked about him, as widowers often do, and proposed to the young Amy.

     "Now John Griffin was a highly respectable citizen and his possessions were sufficient to insure a wife a comfortable existence. Amy herself was not entirely destitute, having (received a small inheritance from her father.) Since a husband in those days practically acquired control of his wife's property, however, she may have been disturbed as to what provision an elderly widower with children might make for his second wife. … She may have felt that with her youth and the groom's advanced years, merely a marriage would hardly be a fair transaction for her. … Before she married (John), he deeded the prospective bride one hundred and fifty acres of land, ten slaves and a windmill, in fact all his possessions except the property he had acquired from his first wife.

     "… John Griffin and Amy were married. She bore him a son and a daughter. He seems to have been quite happy with the marriage inasmuch as at his death after nine years he left to his wife additional properties to those he had given her before the ceremony.

     "As a widow Amy Griffin faced a situation similar to that which her mother had known. She was still less than thirty years old and, unlike her mother, she decided to marry again. The situation was now somewhat in reverse to that of her first marriage. She had two young children, and there was the possibility that after marriage the control her husband would acquire over her property would deprive those children of what she considered rightfully theirs. Her fiance was an excellent young man, but before she married him she deeded to young Samuel and Fanny Griffin the real estate which had been given her by their father. …

    "Amy Griffin went on to marry Jonathan Lindsey of Currituck, and from all appearances they lived happily ever after. They negotiated several business transactions and they prospered, the husband no doubt receiving practical assistance from his astute helpmeet."

[Taken from Three Hundred Years Along the Pasquotank, A Biographical History of Camden County by Jesse Forbes Pugh, 1957]

     

Who Stole the Pork?

BY HENRY SHICK, COMPANY D, 177^TH PA

        I THINK Mr. S. T. Jennings must be mistaken in his dates about “Who Stole the Pork?” for my regiment moved to Deep Creek, Virginia, on the 9^th of March 1863. The reason I have the time so well fixed in my mind is that my father, who was in the same regiment, said to me, “You can remember this as long as you live, because it is your birthday.” We left there a few days before the battle at Gettysburg, and raided that country all the way to South Mills, [Camden County] North Carolina, and there were not ten loads of pork in all that country. Jennings says they stole ten loads of pork from th4e First New York Mounted Rifles, which they had captured from the farmers along the Deep Creek Canal. I went with a squad twenty-two miles out one day to look for some pork, and all we got was one small pig, and we had to kill that.

[Western Veteran (Topeka, Kansas) 8 May 1889]

Chowan River Bridge

            A map of northeastern North Carolina shows a small cluster of counties dangling from the southeastern corner of Virginia, cut off from the rest of the state by the Chowan River. Until 1927, these counties were only accessible by boat or from Virginia. The isolated counties were Gates, Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, and Currituck. 

Six NC Counties Cut Off By Chowan River

            A bridge between Windsor (Bertie County) and Edenton (Chowan County) was approved in 1925 and the Chowan River Bridge was opened to the public on 2 July 1927. It was 1.5 miles long, the longest bridge in the state, and reduced the distance between Edenton and Windsor from 89 miles to 21 ½ miles.

            The official opening of the bridge on July 20 was a spectacular event. The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 21 July 1927 said: 

“No Such Spectacle Seen By This Generation In State As That Yesterday at Eden House; While Bands Play, Throng Yells and Aircraft Motors Buzz, Ribbon Is Cut Removing Last Symbolic Hindrance To Union of Rich North East With The State; Admirals of The Navy, Generals of The Army and Men High In Public and Private life Present For Momentous Occasion; Edenton Distinguishes Itself Forever In Manner In Which It Handles Big Undertaking.”

            Ben Dixon MacNeill, a reporter with the News & Observer, described his experience at the opening in his column, “Cellar and Garret” on 26 July 1927:

            “… most magnificent spectacle I have ever witnessed, and … the most delightful experience I have had this year. It was almost worth living a generation for. …I climbed aboard a naval torpedo airplane in Edenton Bay and after a little was wandering around in the sky above the bay and the river and the bridge. It was a big ship, and I could walk around and poke my head out first one window of the big cabin and then another.

            Scarcely had Lieutenant Commander Moloney pulled the craft gently out of the water when we began to have company in the air. Flying low over the great oaks at Hayes came the army dirigible TC-5, almost dragging its anchor-lines on the tree tops. Then its sister ship the TC-9i came over, and together we went toward the bridge where the celebration was to be presently staged. Beneath us the revenue cutter Pamlico was steaming its way slowly, and from its decks came faithfully the strains of martial music.

            At first the bridge looked like a spring stretched across the two miles of water, and as we drew nearer it widened. We came lower and swooped down, almost touching the masts of the cutter and soaring upward. The torpedo ship rode the air smoothly and easily, its great motor roaring. The slower dirigibles wee coming along in the rear, seeming scarcely to move. The bridge became a bridge, and there were automobiles crawling along its length. If you looked carefully enough the ceremonial ribbon across the Bertie end of the bridge could be seen. From out of the mists came a squadron of army observation ships, swift and magnificent, sweeping out of the haze in wild-goose formation. They wheeled and turned back, circling for their bearings. The dirigibles cruised over the scene and the navy ships zoomed and climbed up. Then the hour of the ceremony came, and the pilots of the aircraft, observing the time, moved across for the processional. The official parade arrived at the eastern end of the bridge.

            The dirigibles crossed over and turned, flying close together and low over the bridge. The squadron of army ships came over and took up position above and behind the dirigibles, and the big torpedo planes of the navy above and behind them, with their motors throttled back and drifting serenely. The parade moved across the bridge—the groundling automobiles bearing a distinguished company, and above them the silver dirigibles and above them the yellow-winged observation squadron and above them the navy’s craft.

            Never has there been such a parade anywhere. It almost made one delirious to look down upon the spectacle. I guess I behaved like a child at a Christmas tree. Anyway, I had my head poked far out of the rear cockpit, in the full stream of the exhaust from the great motor that was carrying us. I got dirty, but I had an enormous time. The procession moved on and came to the place of ceremony. The pilots gave their mounts full throttle and they soared up and broke the magic formation.

            Time may bring me to witness such another spectacle and I shall hesitate at no length of accumulating grim to be able to witness it. My white pants can get as black as Egypt and such hair as I have accumulate all the exhaust a motor can discharge and all the talkative females in Christendom can assemble to discuss my deplorable condition, but I shall give the, no mind. It was worth it.”

In an Unmarked Grave Lies the Bones of One Who Years Ago Was Jeered For Foretelling Modern Inventions

[A prophet is not without

honor save in his own country.]

     Some times it seems that one is seized with a longing to drop into Gods Acre and read the inscriptions on the lonely tombs. It affords one food for thought to gaze upon these last resting places of those who have gone before—gone into the eternity the knowledge whereof is shrouded in mystery that only the sounding of the last trumpet will unravel. But often it is the unmarked grave that holds the greatest story.
     In the Episcopal Cemetery a few years ago the writer halted by a mound of earth that, only by its faint outlines, told that 'neath it a soul lay sleeping. A passer by said: "Old man Fred Proctor is buried there." Something in my informant's tones implied that Fred Proctor was more than an ordinary man in his day and a query confirmed my supposition.
     Fred Proctor is well known to many of our residents, though he passed into the long sleep ten or fifteen years ago.
     He was once a young man with thousands of dollars at his command. Wine and women consumed his fortune and left him penniless and without a home. He spent his last days in the poor house and it was there that he breathed his last. Kind friends laid his remains away in the Episcopal cemetery.
     Mr. Proctor made predictions, in his day, that were hooted. Many of these have since come to pass and are we to doubt that others are yet to become realities.
     He often said to listeners that the time was coming when the people of Pasqotank could stand in their houses and talk to people in Camden [Camden County]. Over twenty five years ago did he venture to thus prognosticate. He also predicted that the twentieth century would see the horseless carriage and trolley car. He predicted the setting of type by machinery and expressed no hesitancy in saying that five days would soon suffice to accomplish the trip from New York to London. He was hooted and jeered because of his firm belief that messages would be transmitted without the use of wires. People in those days, called him crazy.  He was laughed at by the shrewd business men of the day and hooted and jeered by children. The venerable scholar also predicted that ships would be built to sail in the air and boats constructed to run under water. All of these things have come to pass and people who have not forgotten him feel repentant now; that they should have treated his talk with so little credence.
    (Fred Proctor died 2 April 1888.)

[Tar Heel (Elizabeth City, NC) 24 Oct 1902]

Military Notice.

            The commissioned officers of the Atlantic Guards*, Camden Guards and Pasquotank R. & R. L. Dragoons**, are hereby ordered to attend a Court Martial of the Regiment, at Elizabeth City, on Tuesday the 23d April next, equipped as the law directs. All persons having business before the said body are hereby ordered to attend, as judgment final will be entered up against all that were fined ni si at the last Court Martial, without they attend and offer such an excuse as will be accepted by the Court Martial.

By order of the Col.       

WM. E. MANN Adj’t.

March 9^th 1850

* The Atlantic Guards were authorized as a corps of cavalry in the militia of Currituck county on Jan. 15, 1847. The commander was Tully L. Dozier.

**R.  & R. L. Dragoons were the “Rough and Ready Light Dragoons.” This corps of cavalry was authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly as part of the Pasquotank militia on 16^th of January, 1847. 

[Taken from The Old North State (Elizabeth City, NC) 9 Mar 1850]

THE ADVENTURES OF SMITH, JONES AND BROWN—JONES, HEARING THAT A SNAKE IS IN THE BOAT,JUMPS INTO THE CANAL.

“In getting up a party to visit Lake Drummond [in the Dismal Swamp*], you will always find more or less of the party who are afraid of snakes. On this occasion the party consisted of only three—Smith, Jones and Brown—all citizens of Suffolk [VA].

“They prepared themselves with the necessary outfit and started for the canal. Their boat being ready they embarked and soon were on the way. Smith being the most expert took the wheel, Brown placed himself at the bow, so that he could ward off approaching danger, and Jones, who was the timid one of the party, was put amidship the boat, with his back to Brown.

“I knew the parties well; they are all living, and I will narrate the snake story as I was told by Brown, who will vouch for its authenticity.

“They had not passed the great terror to all who go to the Lake (Paradise Old Fields), where can be seen everything that is hideous; a place that is dreaded, and if it could, would be shunned by every one who visits the Lake. Things of most unquestionable shapes have been seen by persons when passing it.

“No one has ever given any account of the history of the Field, which you are compelled to pass going to Lake Drummond, and which has deterred many from venturing to it. Owing to the many snake stories that has been told by persons who said they were born to see spirits, there can be no doubt that there is a legend connected with that Field. Some have argued that the Field was at one time filled with grottos, and that the fairies of Lake Drummond would leave their realm and by a subterranean passage into it to bask in the beauties which surrounded it. Profane history informs us that it was at this place that Pluto and Proserpine left for the infernal regions. That will make no difference about the snake story that I will relate.

Taken from Gunna Fish Oz at http://gunnafishoz.com/stories/snakes-on-a-boat/ 

“A snake is a wonderful reptile, and it is not necessary for one to be seen that one should be frightened. The very mention, in some instances, is sufficient to scare those who are the least timid. So it was in this instance. Jones, as I have said before, was one of a party that were going to the Lake. He was afraid of snakes. Smith and Brown knew it and they determined to have a little sport at his expense.

“Jones was highly delighted with the grandeur of the scenery by the side of the canal, as they rode along, and was expatiating upon the wonders of nature. Smith was charmed with the romantic effusions of Jones, and paid no attention to Brown, who was sitting at the bow of the boat, here looked toward him, and seeing that he was intently searching for something, asked what was the matter.

“Brown answered that a snake was in the boat and that he was trying to find it. Here Jones commenced to twist and squirm.

"Hallo!" said Brown: "here's another!"

“No sooner had he said another when Jones sprang into the canal. He made several lunges and, Peter like, looked as if he was walking on the water. Smith added more steam to the boat and Jones was overhauled and taken into the boat, very much frightened.

“They had not gone very far when Brown said: "I believe that snake is in the boat yet," and at the same time threw at Jones a piece of rattan, which is good to scare one with—it's a veritable snake.

“He was again taken into the boat, quite exhausted and cold from his ablutions. Brown prepared some ciderberry juice for him, with some pepper and other things that they had along which, after taking, Jones became more quiet.

“Brown says that when he thinks about that snake story it fills him so with laughter that he has to buckle a strap around him to support his physical organization. Jones has not ventured to the Lake since that time, and Brown is afraid to tell him that the snake in the boat was only a piece of rattan. If you want to see snakes come to Suffolk and get Brown to go with you to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp, and he will amuse you to your heart's content.”

*The Dismal Swamp lies in Gates, Pasquotank and Camden Counties, NC and southeastern VA between Norfolk, VA and Elizabeth City, NC.  The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1973, contains over 112,000 acres of wetland forests. North Carolina added to this the Dismal Swamp State Park which protects 22 square miles of wetlands. This park features 20 miles of wilderness trails.

[Taken from The Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond:Early Recollections, by Robt. Arnold, 1888. Another story taken from from this book is "Bear Hunting in the Dismal Swamp"]

Fatal Duel

Taken from The Raleigh Register (Raleigh, NC) 9 Oct 1847

__________________________________

The Rest of The Story

On October first, 1847, H. F. Harris, a member of the legislature, fell in a duel with E. C. Yellowly. Both were young lawyers of the Greenville [Pitt County] bar. They were close friends, rivals at the bar and also for the graces of an only daughter of a wealthy planter.

According to Henry King in Sketches of Pitt County, a case in court caused the first difficulty. Harris had the first speech to the jury and severely criticized the management of the case by Yellowly. In his reply, Yellowly more severely criticized Harris.

After court, Harris made an attack on Yellowly. Friends prevented anything serious then. Harris challenged Yellowly to meet him on the field of honor, which challenge was accepted. However, both were arrested and put under heavy bonds to keep the peace one year. On the day the bond was out Harris renewed the challenge, which was again accepted.

__________________

The story that appeared in Lytell’s Living Age was somewhat different. As Lytell reported it, Harris was an impetuous, ill-disciplined, passionate man. He was the Whig representative last year, from his district. Mr. Yellowly, who is amiable, yet resolute, opposed his nomination. Harris was returned by only fifteen majority, when the party could have given him hundreds.

Stung by the smallness of the return, he [Harris] said, after the poll was over, to Yellowly—“You damned scoundrel, you are the cause of this. If you had not opposed my nomination, I should have had the usual majority.”

“I opposed your nomination,” replied Yellowly, “as I had a right to do, but I supported you at the ballot-box.”

          Thereupon Harris struck him—they clinched, and were separated. Many supposed this would end the matter. But Harris retired to the room, armed himself with a double-barreled gun, pursued Yellowly, swearing he would shoot him the first place he met him. The citizens here interfered, and bound both parties to keep the peace for twelve months.

____________

            

          Whichever story is true, both reporters agree that though the letter of the law was kept, its spirit was violated. Every day, and often by moonlight, Harris was out practicing, until he had perfected himself. Lytell and King agree that on October first, 1847, Harris and Yellowly met on the North Carolina and Virginia State line, on the Dismal Swamp Canal, about four miles from the "Half-way House."*  Before fighting, Yellowly sent his second to see if the duel could then be stopped. Harris was obstinate and demanded that the duel proceed. 

In the first shot, Harris's shot went wild, and Yellowly fired up into the air. Again Yellowly attempted a reconciliation, but Harris said he went there for blood and would have it before he left. In the second shot Harris's shot again went wild. This time Yellowly's shot went true and Harris fell, pierced by the ball, nearly in the center of his forehead, a little over the right eye. 
Seeing Harris fall, Yellowly said to his second, "Go to him for God's sake, for I don't want to kill him." Harris was dead when the second reached him. Yellowly and his party left at once, but was arrested in Virginia, though the magistrate did not hold him.**

          According to King, "both Harris and Yellowly were brave, fearless men. Harris was an expert with the pistol. Both had practiced for the occasion, though Yellowly did not want to fight. Dr. J. Blow was Yellowly’s second, and also surgeon to both."

* Half-way house was another name for the Drummond Hotel which was on the Virginia/North Carolina line on the shore of Drummond Lake in the Dismal Swamp. By stepping to one side or the other, you could move from Virginia to North Carolina or North Carolina to Virginia. [Camden County, NC]

**  J. E. Wilkins, an eye-witness to part of the duel, gave this writer the following account of the affair. He said: "I was a srnall boy on a visit to my uncle, William Wallace, who lived at Culpepper Locks, on the Dismal Swamp Canal, in Virginia. I was in possession of my first gun and with a crowd of boys, some larger, my cousin, W. T. Wallace, son of my uncle, being in the crowd. Returning home, we came up the east bank of the canal and ahead of us saw two carriages and several men, walking about mixed up. A man came running meeting us, stopped us and told us to remain where we were. We were then about one hundred yards from the men and carriages. Soon there were pistol shots and again the men were busy getting about. Soon there were other pistol shots and again the men stirred about. A tall, small man and two or three others got into the carriage and drove off. The boys were much excited, and passing on up the canal bank -by where the shooting had taken place, they saw a man lying next the woods on the bank, with a red handkerchief over his face. The boys went on to William Wallace’s and told that a man had been killed on the canal bank and gave particulars. William Wallace was a magistrate. A warrant was issued and the party in the carriage containing the tall, small [sic] man were arrested at Deep Creek and had a hearing before three magistrates. After the hearing all the parties signed the paper and were released and left. The trial was held in the little inn at Deep Creek, kept by Major Sam Foreman. The body of the dead man was taken to Deep Creek and a coffin got from a wheelwright who kept them.”

Taken from  Sketches of Pitt County: A Brief History of the County 1704-1910 by Henry T. King, 1911 and Lyttell’s Lving Age. Vol. XV. October, November, December, 1847

DOUBLE ACTING ROTARY CHURN

[Taken from The Old North State (Elizabeth City, NC) 20 Apr 1850]

Old Trap

 JAMES EDWARD BURGESS
1859-1909

THE NAME “TRAP” first appears in the Camden records after the Revolution and is said to have been given to the location by the women who became irked when their husbands, in their trips to and from the windmill on the river, formed a habit of stopping at a grogshop in the vicinity and tarrying overlong. After 1800 the Trap had become the “Old Trap” in contemporary references, and this was the name officially used when the post office was opened in 1881. The first postmaster, James Edward Burgess, received $9.76 for his services in that year.

Burgess was a farmer and merchant who was a native of the community. Besides being the first postmaster, as Camden's representative in the State Legislature in 1897, he initiated legislation which eventually resulted in establishing the present highway which leads through the Camden marshes to a point on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City—now a part of highways 170 and 158. This thoroughfare also eliminated Lamb's Ferry, which had been in operation near Camden Court House since colonial times. The act sponsored by Burgess reduced by one mile the distance at which a ferry might be operated from Lamb's Ferry. In 1901 and 1905, the county representative, Gideon C. Barco, introduced bills which further limited the Lamb franchise and authorized the newly formed Camden Ferry Company to erect a drawbridge over the Pasquotank River at Elizabeth City. Thus the road was established.

 

[Story taken from Three hundred years along the Pasquotank : a biographical history of Camden County by Jesse Forbes Pugh. Old Trap, N.C. :1957. ]

http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/17076]

BEAR HUNTING IN THE DISMAL SWAMP

It is customary in the fall season to have what is called bear hunts in the Dismal Swamp, and parties are frequently made up to go on such hunts. Before going it is necessary that some preparation should be made. Bear hunting is very dangerous, and is sometimes attended with difficulty. Before starting you should provide yourself with a cowboy suit, a good rifle, a pair of revolvers, a bowie knife (16 inch blade) and sub-marine armor. When thus equipped you can enter the Swamp. You proceed cautiously along listening to hear the bears lapping, when you go in the direction of the sound. Bears



Bear Family in the Dismal Swamp
http://www.visitchesapeake.com/things-to-do/outdoor-recreation/great-dismal-swamp/

move very cautiously, and you should be sure to keep a good lookout in your rear, as it sometimes happens that when you are going forward a drove of them are following you, and when least expected they make the attack, and if the parties should be the least separated, it often happens that all perish. I was told of a party that were out on a bear hunt in the Dismal Swamp, who supposed that they could face anything. The party consisted of eight good men. They had not proceeded very far in the Swamp when they heard in the distance the lapping of bears. Of course it is very exciting, and if one has any courage he is apt to show it at the time. A halt was made and the question asked, what should be done? They were not thinking of the danger that surrounded them. They did not think that bears were on their path. But it was too late. Whilst discussing what to do they were sprung upon from the rear, and six were badly lacerated, one rode off on the back of a bear and the last one retreated to the Lake for safety. Should you at any time go to the Dismal Swamp to hunt bears be exceedingly careful to have your rear well guarded.

 

The Dismal Swamp is located in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, between Elizabeth City, NC and Norfolk, VA. It includes parts of Camden, Gates and Pasquotank Counties in NC. When it was first discovered, the swamp may have encompassed as much as 1,000,000 acres, but after centuries of logging, which devastated the area's ecosystems, it is now about half that size. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1974. It encompasses  about 112,000 acres with Lake Drummond, a 3,100 fresh water lake, in the middle of it.

[Taken from The Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond, EarlyRecollections, by Robert Arnold: Norfolk,VA; Green,Burke & Gregory, Printers, 1888.]

TRAGIC DEATH



Claudius Peter Cary, fencing master, who was endeavouring to get out of the enemies way, died with fatigue in the Dismal Swamp.

[Virginia Gazette. Williamsburg: Printed by Dixon & Nicholson. May7 22, 1779]

NOTE: The Dismal Swamp is on the border of North Carolina and Virginia. In North Carolina, it includes parts of Gates, Pasquotank, and Camden Counties.

NEWS FLASH!!

Hanging Too Good.

Some scoundrel Monday tried to wreck the cars on the Hamilton railroad, and only the having to run an extra train to the Shiloh Oil Mills to carry cotton seed prevented a horrible and harrowing disaster.

It was not determined until after one o'clock to send this train so the dastardly deed was done in order that the train going to Hamilton leaving here at 5:30 should be wrecked.

The extra left the Princeville depot at 3 o'clock and ran off the track at the Y switch, the one next to the Lloyd farm where there is a deep ravine, the deepest on the road. At this point it is the custom of the engineer when carrying freight only to Shiloh to switch his engine on the Y, let the cars pass and then push them to the station.

When he reached the point he was therefore going slowly and to this is due the reason why the entire train was not thrown down the tressel [sic].

The switch target showed that the way was opened and the engineer ran along until he forced his engine off the track. Examination showed that the switch had been uncoupled so that the flanges of the engine and the car wheels would not switch the next rails.

It was a bad run off, for eleven hours elapsed before the train was on the track again. To take the passengers down another engine and cars had to be telegraphed for one from Hamilton.

[Tarboro Southerner, 1888. This story was published in The Connector, newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Spring 2000 issue.]

A Rowdy Leader

Colonel Griffith Jones

Ca. 1692 - 1766

Griffith Jones was an early settler along the Pasquotank River in northeastern North Carolina. Usually called "Griffin," Jones was a trouble maker in his younger days. In 1729, he and Truman Jones appeared in court charged with "forcible entry and expelling from her plantation the widow and infant son of the late Colonel William Reed." No doubt the neighbors were interested when the indictment went on to say that the two men used "force and Armes to Witt Swords Staves Gunns and other defensive and invasive Armes with the Appurtenances at Arenoose Creek in Pasquotank precinct upon the peaceable possessions of one Mrs. Jane Reed Widow and Extrix of William Reed late of Pasquotank precinct aforesaid Esqr dec'd." The accused men were charged with ejecting the widow Reed and her infant son and "with a Strong hand did keep them out and still do."

However, by 1773, Griffith Jones had become a more upstanding citizen. He had often served as a member of the court where the guardian accounts of his orphan children, Meriam and Lemuel Jones, were rendered. Some of the items purchased for his daughter were: "a quantity of dimity and lace, a scarlet cloak, a silk gauze dress cap with ribbon, a year's tuition to Lemuel Burkitt for schooling, and fees to Charles Cason for 3 mos. teaching her Dances." Among the expenditures for Lemuel were: "buckram, broadcloth, linen, silk handkerchiefs, a silk hat, and for 6 mos. Schooling."

Which was the real Griffith Jones? Was he the wild evictor of widows or the father who provided well for his children? No doubt he was both. Obviously his reputation suffered no harm from the episode with Mrs. Reed as he was elected to the House of Commons just two years after the incident.

Jones was married twice, but court records, including deeds and wills, reveal that he had several mistresses on the side. In fact, one of his illegitimate children took his father's name and received valuable gifts from him.

Jones was elected seven times to the General Assembly and served as a justice of the Pasquotank Precinct Court. Militarily, he was referred to as Major in 1735. By 1745, he was a Colonel. His final service seems to have been in the general muster of 1754-55. Because of the difficulty of having to cross the Pasquotank River, the Militia organized two separate commands, one on each side of the river. Griffiths was captain of the company "drawn from the inhabitants within the forks of Arenuse Creek over to North River."

Source: Three Hundred Years Along the Pasquotank: A Biographical History of Camden County by Jesse Forbes Pugh, 1957.

ELDER JOHN TANNER SHOT FOR BAPTIZING

Kehukee Association

One of the earliest Baptist Associations in America was formed in northeastern North Carolina. The Kehukee Baptist Association was founded in 1765 at the Kehukee meeting-house near Kehukee Creek in Halifax County, North Carolina. It included the following churches:

1. Toisnot, in Edgecombe County;
2. Kehukee, in Halifax County;
3. Falls of Tar River, in Edgecombe County;
4. Fishing Creek, in Halifax County;
5. Sandy Creek, in Warren County;
6. Sandy Run, in Bertie County;
7. A church in Camden County.

The Kehukee Association was the fourth Association of Baptist Churches in America. Philadelphia, formed in 1707, Charleston, formed in 1751, and Sandy Creek, formed in 1758, preceded the Kehukee Association. The first history of the Association was written by Elders Lemuel Burkitt and Jesse Read, and published in 1803.

Not everyone accepted the doctrine of the early Baptist Church and the pastors often endured persecution for their beliefs. One example involved Elder John Tanner, an Edgecombe County pastor, who was seriously injured and almost lost his life.

A woman named Dawson from Windsor in Bertie County, NC was converted. She wished to be baptiaed and to join the church of a certain Elder Dargan. Her husband was greatly opposed to it, and threatened that if anyone baptized his wife he would shoot him. For a considerable time, the baptism did not take place.

Eventually, Elder Tanner visited Elder Dargan's church at Cashie and Mrs. Dawson applied to the church for baptism. She related her experience and was received. It so happened that Elder Daran was old and feeble, and he asked Elder Tanner to carry out the baptism. It is not known whether Elder Tanner knew of Mr. Dawson's threat to shoot whoever baptized his wife, but, at any rate, Elder Tanner baptized Mrs. Dawson.

The following June, in 1777, Elder Tanner was coming to preach at Sandy Run Meeting House. Mr. Dawson had not forgotten his threat of revenge. He heard of the expected arrival of Elder Tanner and travelled from Windsor to Norfleet's Ferry on the Roanoke River. With a large horseman's pistol, he lay in wait near the bank of the river. As Elder Tanner and Elder Dargan came up from the ferry landing, Dawson shot Tanner at close range.

Elder Tanner was carried to the house of Elisha Williams, near Scotland Neck in Halifax County. Elder Lemuel Burkitt, who was co-author of an early history of the Kehukee Association, was present when the surgeon dressed Mr. Tanner's wound. He revealed that rhe result of the shooting was that seventeen shot went into Tanner's thigh. One of the shot was so large that it went through his thigh and into his clothing.

Mr. Dawson, frightened and fearing Elder Tanner's death and a charge of murder, sent a doctor to attend him, not just once, but on a daily basis. Tanner was ill and near death for several weeks before finally recovering. He never attempted to sue for any damage for the injury, regarding the matter as a persecution for Christ's sake.

In Virginia, Elder Tanner suffered further persecution for his beliefs. He was and six other preachers— William Webber, Joseph Anthony, Augustine Eastin, John Weatherford, Jeremiah Walker and David Tinsley— were jailed in Chesterfield for their preaching.

In describing the event, Burkitt and Read said, "The people were so desirous to hear preaching that they would attend at the prison, and the ministers would preach to them through the grates. In order to prevent their hearing, Colonel Cary had a brick wall erected ten or twelve feet high before the prison, and the top thereof fixed with glass, set in mortar to prevent the people from sitting on the top of the wall to hear the word."

Elder Tanner later moved to Kentucky and then to Missouri.

This story appears in several different places. Among them are:
1. Colonial Records. Vol. VIII.
2. History of Edgecombe county, North Carolina by Joseph Kelly Turner and John Luther Bridgers: 1920.
3. A history of Kentucky Baptists: From 1769 to 1885, including more ..., Volume 1 by John H. Spencer: 1886
4. A history of the Baptists in Missouri: embracing an account of the ... by Robert Samuel Duncan: 1882

A search of the internet will find a number of other references to the incident.