Surrender of Fort Macon

Edgecombe Native Takes Fort Without Fight

________

            It was April 14, 1861. The sun was low in the west when the 54 men from Beaufort and Carolina City [Morehead City], Carteret Co., NC marched from the steamer Cora onto the sandy beach at Fort Macon. The newly recruited company, led by Edgecombe Co. native Josiah Solomon Pender, was there to capture the federal fort that protected the port of Beaufort. The take-over was a gentlemanly, quiet affair. No shots were fired and the fort was turned over with a minimum of ado.

            What led to this quiet change of command?

Josiah Solomon Pender
Taken from "Find A Grave"
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42229086/josiah-solomon-pender

            Prior to the start of the Civil War, with no threatening enemies, forts along the coast of the US had been all but deserted. Older soldiers, as a reward for years of faithful service, had been assigned caretaker duties. Most of the forts had fallen into disrepair. Fort Macon was no different.

            There was only one man on duty at Fort Macon in April 1861—William Alexander, 50 years old, a 30-year veteran who had served gallantly in the Mexican War. His wife, Ann L. Livesay Alexander, a Morehead City native, also lived at the fort.

Alexander knew trouble was on the way. Other forts along the southern coast had been captured by state forces. He was part of the Beaufort community, and he had heard the secessionist rumblings. In fact, on April 2, Alexander wrote Col. H. K. Craig in Washington, D.C. asking for a revolver for his protection. On April 12, the day the war began at Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., Alexander learned from Col. Craig that he was on his own. There were no revolvers available.

By the morning of April 14, Sgt. Alexander had already received word that Pender intended to capture the fort. He wrote Col. Craig again: “… A company of secessionists led by Josiah S. Pender of Beaufort are today going to seize this fort …am at a loss how to act, in premises, what to do, or where to go. I have served the US Army for the last thirty years, and am now no longer fit for any active service, have my family at the Post, and all of my property. The latter I expect to lose—having no where to move it—and cannot at this time convert anything into money.”

Cover of  Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
May 17, 1872 From North Carolina County Photographic Collection #P0001, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill .

Josiah Pender was a fervent secessionist. It was clear to him that there would be a need to keep the port at Beaufort in southern hands. In anticipation of this, he formed the Beaufort Harbor Guards, a 17-man militia company. He was acting with no official authorization. NC had not yet seceded from the Union and, in fact, would not do so until May 20. On January 9, when local citizens seized Fort Johnston and Fort Caswell near Wilmington [New Hanover Co.], NC, Gov. Ellis, who was not ardent in support of secession, sent state militia to restore the forts to US control. Obviously, Pender could not assume Ellis would support the take-over of Fort Macon.

When news of the Fort Sumter, SC attack was telegraphed to Beaufort, Pender was ready to act. His company, along with other local volunteers, boarded the Cora for the short trip across Bogue Sound to Fort Macon. Sgt. Alexander had no choice but to surrender. He and his wife remained at the fort to pack their belongings and were removed to Beaufort on April 17. Alexander was ordered to remain there to await orders. Those orders never came, and he remained where he was until Union forces re-took Fort Macon in March 1862.

After Alexander’s surrender, the triumphant Pender telegraphed S.C. Gov. Francis Pickens of his actions. He also requested guns for the fort. Apparently, he did not notify N. C. Gov. Ellis.

State Takes Fort

It is not clear when Gov. Ellis learned of the take-over of Fort Macon. However, on April 15, when President Lincoln requested troops from N.C. and Ellis realized that the Union was ready to use force against the South, a decision had to be made. Would N.C. fight with its friends, neighbors and kinfolks, or against them? Gov. Ellis made the decision and ordered the seizure of all federal operations within the state. The Goldsboro Rifles, under the Command of Capt. Marshall Crafton, were ordered to take Fort Macon. In short order, Crafton’s company and the newly formed Goldsboro Volunteers [Wayne County] were on their way to Beaufort. The next day, they assumed control of the fort from Capt. Pender.

Fort Macon was falling apart. The moat surrounding the fort had collapsed. Only 4 cannons were mounted, and their carriages so fragile as to be unusable. The backbreaking work of reinforcing the fort began on April 17. By the next week, there were more workers than could be accommodated. Capt. Henry T. Guion had brought 61 free negro volunteers and 21 slaves. The Elm City Rifles [Wilson County], The Neuse Cavalry [Craven County], The Wilson Light Infantry, The Edgecombe Guards, The Guilford [Guilford Co.]Grays, The Orange Guards, and the Warren Guards had all arrived. Many of them were soon disbursed to other assignments.

Fort Macon today as taken from the shore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Macon_State_Park

The work continued throughout the summer, and by the end of August, the fort had been completely restored. The refurbished fort was officially turned over to the Confederacy on August 20.

Pender’s volunteer company joined the state forces on May 16 as Company G, Tenth NC Artillery with Pender as their captain. After NC seceded, the unit became part of the Army of the Confederacy. Pender’s son, Walter, only 17 years old, was a lieutenant in the Beaufort Harbor Guards. He was accidentally shot the next year. Some say the accident happened while he was instructing troops in the use of the bayonet. Another story is that he was playing around when he was shot.

Pender was not entirely happy with the situation after the state took over Fort Macon. On June 18, he tendered his resignation unless he was given a better position. The letter, contained in the William & Emmet Robinson Collection at Johnston Co. [NC] Heritage Center, includes the following: “… I have been promised time & again … Men have been promoted … neither practice nor theory in military matters. … I have submitted to be ruled & insulted even by those that knew nothing in regard to their military duties & in all human probability never will. …” The position he wanted was that of Lieut. Col. of Artillery.

Pender did not resign, but there were still problems. His wife was seriously ill in Beaufort; life at the fort was dull. In November, when his request for leave was denied, he left without permission. He falsely claimed that Gen. D. H. Hill had given him leave. He was also accused of having taken items from the Union with a forged requisition.  A general court martial at Morehead City found him guilty, and on 29 Dec 1861 he was dismissed from the Confederate Army for “Conduct unbecoming an officer & a gentleman.”

Col. Lawrence O’Bryan Branch wrote of Josiah, “ … I know him to be brave, enterprising and intelligent, and devotedly anxious for the success of the Cause. …” However, it is likely that Pender was relieved to be free of the restraints of military life.

[Taken from The Connector, Newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogy Society, Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 2004]

A Famous Visitor

Marquis de Lafayette

            Marquis de Lafayette, a 19 year old Frenchman, eagerly offered his service, at his own expense, to fight in the war for American Independence. Although discouraged by Benjamin Franklin, our minister to France, Lafayette bought the ocean-going Victoire and left France on March 27, 1777. The young man fought courageously for the Americans and Washington Irvin wrote about him: “Lafayette from the first attached himself to Washington with an affectionate reverence… it is a picture well worth being hung up in history—this enduring alliance of the calm, dignified, Washington, mature in years and wisdom and the young, buoyant, enthusiastic Lafayette.”[1]    

            He was wounded at Brandywine, but after a short period of time, he was able to accept the command of a division of Virginia light infantry. It was a time of brave men, swords, muskets, horses and intense suffering. Lafayette is best remembered, along with Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne and the Comte de Rochambeau, for defeating Cornwallis at Yorktown. The heroic young Frenchman played a noble part in our fight for independence.

Triumphant Return

            In 1824, Lafayette returned to America to make a triumphant tour which included several stops in North Carolina. Much loved by the American people, he was met by thousands of people wherever he went. He was accompanied by his son George Washington Lafayette and Auguste Levasseur, his personal secretary.

            In planning Lafayette’s journey through North Carolina, the sad state of the roads between Richmond and Raleigh forced the party to travel east through Suffolk, VA and Halifax, (Halifax County) NC. His first stop in NC was in Murfreesboro (Hertford County) where he spent the night of February 26, 1825 at the Indian Queen Inn. The difficult journey to Murfreesboro was recorded by Levasseur in Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825: Or, Journal of a Voyage to the United States.

            “After stopping a few moments among the citizens of Suffolk, we continued on our route to Murfreesborough, where we were to lodge. Our late arrival had the appearance of a nocturnal journey. The bad condition and length of the road had tired our horses, and we thought for a while that we should be compelled to sleep at the foot of the hill on which the town is built. An enormous bonfire, lighted on a neighbouring mountain, whose light displayed our distressed situation; the illuminations of Murfreesborough, which exhibited the appearance of a city in flames; the noise of cannon resounding on our right, with the effect of battery on our flank; the cries of our escort; the whipping and swearing of our drivers, all was insufficient to stimulate our horses, which, sunk in the mud to their knees, appeared to have taken root, refusing to make the least exertion to draw us out of this sad situation, in which we remained about an hour. At length we arrived, and were very amply compensated by the cordial hospitality of the inhabitants of Murfreesborough, who neglected nothing to prove to General Lafayette that the citizens of North Carolina were not less sincerely attached to him than those of the other states.”[2]

North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program- Murfreesboro, Nc

http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=A-65

Halifax

            Lafayette was escorted from Murfreesboro to Northampton Courthouse at what is now Jackson, (Northampton County) NC and from there to Halifax. They crossed the Roanoke River by ferry and arrived in Halifax at about 5 pm on February 27 amid the firing of artillery and ringing bells. “The mounted escort, consisting of 24 of our citizens …, paraded to receive the General, and proceeded to the river accompanied by the deputation of the corporation and county of Halifax. … The citizens and members of the [Royal White Hart] Lodge were formed in front of the hotel … and a numerous collection of ladies occupied the piazza …. On the arrival of the General in front of the Hotel, he descended from the carriage, was introduced to the persons composing the deputation individually and was conducted through the line to the piazza of the Hotel. The waving of Handkerchiefs by the ladies, the Masonic salutation, the respectful raising of the hat by the citizens, and the universal murmur which ran through the assembly, ‘Welcome Lafayette,’ evinced the deep sensibility which his presence inspired.”[3]

            In Halifax, impressive plans were made for the reception of General Lafayette, including a dinner and a grand ball. The banquet was highlighted by 13 toasts, one for each state. This was followed by the ball after which the visitor spent the night at Eagle’s Tavern.

Eagle's Tavern
Small Town North Carolina
http://www.smalltownnc.com/2013/09/07/historic-halifax/historichalifax_27/

           The next day the party made a stop at the Grove Plantation to spend an hour with Mrs. Willie (Wylie) Jones and her daughter. 

Documenting the American South: Memoirs of a Southern Woman "Within the Lines,"  by Mary Polk Branch, Page 94
https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/branch/ill14.html

Rocky Mount   

        They then continued to the village of Rocky Mount at the Falls of the Tar River where they were entertained at Donaldson’s Tavern. The Battle-Evans Mill, built in 1818, stood on the north side of the river in Edgecombe County. The town, south of the river, was in Nash County.

            People from both counties were crowded in a nearby grove hoping to get a glimpse of the Revolutionary hero. A number of people waited in their buggies or wagons. At last, a shout, “He’s here!” and the genial Donaldson came out of the tavern with the postmaster and others who were invited to a banquet hosted by the tavern-keeper. No list of the guest has survived. They spent the night at the tavern.

Donaldson's Tavern Marker located in Battle Park, Rocky Mount, NC
Marquis de La Fayette - Memory Spaces
http//marquisdelafayette-memoryspaces.org/north-carlina-nc/

Raleigh

           They arrived in the Capital at about 12 o’clock on Wednesday. “They were met a few miles from this place by the well disciplined corps of Cavalry under the command of Col. Thomas Polk of Mecklenburg. The General and suite alighted from their carriages, and were introduced to the company individually, after which, preceded by the Calvary and followed by nearly an hundred citizens on horseback, … they proceeded to this city [Raleigh]. At the limits thereof, they were met by the handsome company of Light Infantry… which received them with military honors. Here the General again alighted, and was presented to each member of the company—the interest of which scene was heightened by fine martial music from an excellent band.”[4] 

 An Incident

           In his journal, Levasseur noted the following incident: “The morning of our arrival at Raleigh was near being marked by a very unfortunate accident. In one of the calashes [a light small-wheeled 4-passenger carriage with a folding top] which followed us, was General Daniel of the militia, and a young officer of his staff; their horses ran off, and, the driver not being able to guide them, dashed violently against the trunk of a tree. The force of the shock threw both the riders and the coachman to some distance, but the one most hurt was poor General Daniel, who lay almost senseless upon the spot.

            “Our progress was immediately suspended, and General Lafayette, who, at the time, was a considerable distance in advance of the procession, hastily returned to assure himself of the nature of the accident. General Daniel already began to recover, when the hasty zeal of his friend, General Williams, was upon the point of placing him in greater danger than arose from the fall. This gentleman insisted upon his being immediately bled, and already held the fatal lancet in hand to proceed with the operation, when Mr. George Lafayette besought him seriously to forbear, representing that we had just left the table, and that a bleeding immediately after dinner might be attended with injurious consequences.

            “After having rendered General Daniel the first attentions which his situation demanded, we had him carried to the house of a rich planter, whom we had visited in the morning, some miles off; and, the next day, our wounded friend joined us at Raleigh, entirely recovered from his fall, returning his warmest thanks to Mr. George Lafayette, for having averted the employment of the lancet.                      “I was, at first, much surprised to see this lancet drawn upon such an occasion, but one of our travelling companions informed me, that in the southern and western states, and especially in those where the population is widely scattered, the art of blood-letting is familiar to almost all the great planters. The difficulty of finding a surgeon at the moment of accident often makes it necessary to bleed themselves, which they sometimes do so profusely, that the most hardy phlebotomists of the French school would be alarmed at the sight.”[5]

Raleigh

            “After this ceremony, the procession moved in the following order to the Government House.—First, the Cavalry— then followed the Infantry, succeeding which in an open barouche, drawn by four elegant iron greys, with out-riders, were Gen. Lafayette and Col. Wm. Polk—after which, in carriages, also drawn by four horses each, were George W. Lafayette, M. LeVasseur, the State Escort, &c. As the cavalcade proceeded, a federal salute was fired from cannon placed in the Capitol Square, on reaching which, the General was greeted with the cheers of the assembled multitude. Every door, window and piazza on the street, were crowded with ladies, who manifested their gratification by waving their handkerchiefs, &c.

Original State Capitol in Raleigh before it burned in 1831.

Image by W. Goodacre, Jr. 1831. Call no. OP-14, collection of the State Archives of North Carolina. 

            “On reaching the Government House, the Military filed off on each side leaving a space through which the General, suite and escort passed. In the vestibule, they were received by the Governor and Committee of Arrangements, and conducted to the reception chamber, where were the Heads of Department, Judiciary and other citizens. Governor Burton then welcomed him ….

            “After partaking of some light refreshment, the General was introduced to a numerous party of Ladies, assembled to pay their respects to him. Immediately after which, escorted as before, he proceeded to the East Front of the capitol, opposite Canova’s celebrated statue of Washington, where he was addressed …by Colonel Wm. Polk. …

Statue of George Washington by Antonio Canova
This is a copy. The original was destroyed by fire in 1831.
Located inside the State Capitol Building
Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington_by_Antonio_Canova_-_DSC05895.jpg

           “At the conclusion, the veteran soldiers, Gen. Lafayette and Col. Polk rushed into each other’s arms, and again wept their gratitude, that they who had borne the brunt of battle together in their youthful prime, had been spared to meet again on peaceful plains and in happier hours. It was a sight which warmed the cold heart of age and made the youthful spirit glow with brighter enthusiasm, and a simultaneous expression of feeling burst forth in a lengthened huzza from the attendant crowd.”[6]

          Back at the Government House, an elegant dinner was provided. The dinner was accompanied by numerous toasts and band music. The company separated sooner than they normally would have in order to prepare for the evening ball.

            “In the evening, a Ball was given complimentary to the General, and also held at the Government House. The pillars in the Ball-room were tastefully wreathed with evergreens. In the centre of the room, surmounting the pillars, appeared in large golden characters, the name of Lafayette. Though no military trophies adorned the walls, no splendid ornaments excited admiration, yet there were two objects which spoke to the memory and feeling—a large full length portrait of Washington and the living presence of his great co-adjutor in the work of glory. There was no need of artificial embellishments, for the ‘human face divine’ shone in all the beautiful variety with which Nature’s cunning hand has painted woman.

            “When we compare the simplicity and plainness with which Gen. Lafayette was received here with the splendor and high wrought scenery of our sister States, we acknowledge that our externals are by no means to be compared—we will contend that in our Republican reception of the man whom all delight to honor, there was as warm a welcome, as pure a spirit of patriotism, as though our walls had been tapestried with cloth of gold, and our floors painted by the first artists of the country.”[7]

            “The next morning, (Thursday) the General, his suit and escort breakfasted with Col. Polk, where he was introduced to three or four old revolutionary soldiers. At 11 o’clock, he took leave of Col. Polk (whose health would not admit of his proceeding farther) in the same affectionate and feeling manner as on his first meeting with this old revolutionary brother officer; and, at about 1 o’clock, took his departure for Fayetteville, attended by the governor, the State escort, and Col. Thos G. Polk’s Calvary.”[8]

Fayetteville

            The Lafayette party arrived in Fayetteville (Cumberland County) on March 4, after a rainy day. This was the first town named for the general after the Revolution.

            “He was met 10 miles from town by the Fayetteville Flying Artillery …. The whole cavalcade proceeded thence, amidst the discharge of artillery, to the Town House, where the troops formed lines on each side of the street, and the carriages, containing the General and suite, passed between them to the east door of the House. Here, alighting from his carriage, with the gentlemen accompanying him, he was met by Judge Toomer, who, in behalf of the Committee and citizens of Fayetteville welcomed him.”[9]

            “After General Lafayette had expressed his gratitude for the reception given him by the citizens of Fayetteville, … we were conducted to the residence of Mr. Duncan M'Rae [sic], where, by the attentions of Mrs. Duncan, our lodgings had been prepared in an elegant and commodious manner. The general was there received by the committee, appointed to supply all his wants.

            “ ‘You are here in your own town,’ said the chairman of the committee to him, ‘in your own house, surrounded by your children. Dispose of all— every thing is yours.’

https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/ncm/index.php/2004/03/01/this_month_march_1825/

            “Every moment of our short stay at Fayetteville was occupied by festivals of gratitude and friendship. Notwithstanding the bad weather, which never ceased to oppose us, the volunteer militia companies, assembled to render military honours to the last surviving major-general of the revolutionary army, would not quit the little camp which they had formed in front of the balcony of the house, whence the general could easily see them manoeuvre. They were still under arms, on the morning of our departure, and we passed in front of their line on leaving the town. It was then that General Lafayette, wishing to give them an expression of his gratitude, alighted, and passing through the ranks, took each officer and soldier affectionately by the hand. This conduct excited the spectators to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that a great portion of the population, willing to prolong the pleasure of seeing him, accompanied his carriage a considerable distance on the road, and only quitted him when the sun was nearly set.”[10]

            Lafayette continued his journey into South Carolina.

---

[1] The Life Of George Washington, Vol. 3 by Washington Irving, 1856; p818

[2] Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825: Or, Journal of a Voyage to ..., Volume 2 By Auguste Levasseur: 1829

[3] Halifax Free Press (Halifax, NC) 4 Mar 1825

[4] Weekly Raleigh Register, (Raleigh, NC) 11 Mar 1825

[5] Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825: Or, Journal of a Voyage to ..., Volume 2 By Auguste Levasseur: 1829

[6] Weekly Raleigh Register, (Raleigh, NC) 11 Mar 1825

[7] Ibid

[8] North-Carolina Free Press (Halifax, NC), 18 Mar 1825, p2.

[9] The North-Carolina Star (Raleigh, NC) 18 Mar 1825

[10] Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825: Or, Journal of a Voyage to ..., Volume 2 By Auguste Levasseur: 1829

Theodosia Alston Lost At Sea

The Patriot, a refitted privateer schooner, slipped out of Georgetown, SC on 30 Dec 1812. There were two passengers—Theodosia Alston, wife of SC governor, Joseph Alston—prostrated by grief at the death of her 12 year old son the prior June, bound for a visit with her dearly loved father in New York—and physician Timothy Green. Captain Overstocks, assisted by NY pilot, Coon, planned to complete the journey in about 6 days. Because of the British blockade of the coast, Gov. Alston wrote a letter to the British navy begging safe passage for his wife.

In early January, the ship encountered the British fleet near Cape Hatteras, off the North Carolina coast. Gov. Alston's letter was offered, and the British officers allowed the ship to continue on its way. Howev­er, a strong storm that same night scattered the ships of the British fleet, and the Patriot disappeared forever. What befell Theodosia Alston? Legends grew around the disappearance of the ship and its ill-fated passenger. One story had the ship breaking up off Cape Hatteras. Was it lured there by ruthless Outer Banks looters with their false lanterns? Or was the ship boarded by pirates and its passengers and crew forced to walk the plank? Some residents of southern Virginia claimed that the body of a beautiful woman washed ashore after the storm. Theodosia?

          A less likely story has Theodosia buried in Alexandria, VA with a tombstone inscribed: “To the Memory of A Female Stranger Whose Mortal Sufferings Terminated The 11th Day of October,  1816 Aged 25 years, 8 months”. The story tells of a veiled woman leaving a river packet with a man in Oct. 1816. They took rooms in Gadsby’s Tavern. Later, a doctor was called and the mysterious lady, said to closely resemble Theodosia, died without revealing her identity. Was she making her way to New York in disguise?

            The true story will probably never be known, but one piece of evidence survives. In 1865, Dr. W. G. Poole of Elizabeth City, NC was called to treat an old woman at Nags Head, NC. As payment, she gave the doctor a painting of a lovely young lady — later identified as Theodosia. The woman said the Patriot had run aground at Ocracoke with her rudder lashed down, her cargo still in place, and a table still set in the cabin. Bankers stripped the ship; the portrait went to the woman’s husband as his part of the loot. What are we to believe?

The Nags Head Portrait of Theodosia Burr hangs
in the Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington, Connecticut

Who was Theodosia Alston?

            Theodosia Alston was the only daughter of Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, best remembered for the duel in which he killed Alexander Hamilton. Widowed early, Aaron Burr lavished his affection on Theodosia, planning in detail her intellectual and social development. She was one of the best educated women of her time and well-suited to her position as hostess and companion to her highly successful father.

Taken from an unidentified 1890 American History Book

            In 1801, Theodosia married South Carolina plantation owner Joseph Alston who entered politics at Burr’s suggestion. Their only child, Aaron Burr Alston was born the next year.

Theodosia's Northeastern North Carolina Connection

            Theodosia did not adapt well to the heat and humidity of the South Carolina Low Country and she made frequent visits to New York to visit her father—a journey that took 20 days. The route took the travelers through North Carolina by way of Fayetteville, Raleigh, Louisburg, Warrenton, and to Petersburg, VA.

Theodosia and Aaron Bur corresponded frequently. The following is taken from a letter Burr wrote to his daughter from Warrenton, NC on October 27, 1804: We parted at Fayetteville. The morning following I started one hour before day, the moon showing us the way, and, at about seven or eight in the evening, was at Raleigh, being full fifty miles. … I reposed till nine the next morning, and came the next day only to Louisburgh (twenty-nine miles), where I slept in the little up-stairs room which you once occupied; but there is a new landlord. The Jew is broke up. The wind had been two days strong at northeast, threatening a storm … So I lay abed again till nine, and, after breakfasting for two hours, set off at eleven in all the storm. At twelve it began to snow, and continued to snow most plentifully till night. …got here about five, being twenty-five miles.  … My landlord has just been telling me that Swartwent passed here eight days ago. They were three in the stage, all very apprehensive of being overset, as they were to start at two in the morning. In the excess of caution, they desired the landlord to give no rum to the driver. The landlord promised, and gave orders to the barkeeper. When the driver arrived, he called for a dram; was refused, and told the reason. Resenting this indignity, he swore he would get drunk, went to a store, bought rum, and got drunk. Set out at two, and overset the stage the first hour. The passengers were bruised, but not very seriously injured.”

 

This portrait of Aaron Burr was taken from "Aaron Burr," the Wikipedia article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Burr

         Aaron Burr earlier had become enmeshed in unsavory deals that wrecked his fortunes and reputation. He went abroad for several years. When he returned in 1812, it was only to receive the news of his grandson’s death. A message from his son-in-law, dated Jul 26 said: “… One dreadful blow has destroyed us; reduced us to the veriest, the most sublimated wretchedness. That boy, …who was to have transmitted down the mingled blood of Theodosia and myself…that boy, at once our happiness and our pride, is taken from us… is dead. We saw him dead. My own hand surrendered him to the grave; …My present wish is that Theodosia should join you, … as soon as possible.” And, “Theodosia has endured all that a human being could endure, but her admiral mind will triumph. She supports herself in a manner worthy of your daughter.”

            Theodosia wrote to her father on 12 Aug: “…I wish to see you and will leave this [place] as soon as possible. I could not go alone by land for our coachman is a great drunkard and requires the presence of a master, and my husband is obliged to wait for a military court of inquiry. …”

            During the autumn, Theodosia’s health became precarious. Timothy Green, a physician and friend of the Burr family, journeyed to South Carolina and wrote Burr on 7 Dec 1812, “Mr. Alston seemed rather hurt that you should conceive it necessary to send a person here… you had learned your daughter was in a low state of health, and required unusual attention… I had torn myself from my family to perform this service for my friend. …” and on 22 Dec: “I have engaged a passage to New-York for your daughter… We shall sail in eight days.”

            When Joseph Alston heard nothing from his wife, he wrote to her from Columbia, SC on 15 Jan 1813: “Another mail, and still no letter! I hear, too, rumours of a gale off Cape Hatteras the beginning of the month. …” He wrote Aaron Burr on 19 Jan: “Tomorrow will be three weeks since, in obedience to your wishes, Theodosia left me. …in the privateer Patriot, … Is my wife, too, taken from me? … My wife is either captured or lost.” He wrote Burr again on 25 Feb: “…My boy—my wife—gone, both! This, then is the end of all the hopes we had formed. …”

            Matthew L. Davis, in his Memoirs of Aaron Burr (1836), said, “…the unfortunate Theodosia was never again heard of, except in idle rumours and exaggerated tales of her capture and murder by pirates. These reports, it is believed, were without foundation. The schooner on board which she had taken passage probably foundered, and every soul perished in a heavy gale which was experienced along our whole coast a few days after her departure from Georgetown.” Officially, Theodosia was never heard from again. However, some time later, two murderers who were hanged in Norfolk, VA are said to have confessed to being on a pirate ship that overtook the Patriot and sent all passengers and crew over the side. In 1850, an old resident of a Michigan poorhouse confessed to tipping the plank on which Theodosia walked into the ocean. He said: “…We captured the vessel in which this lady was. When told she must walk the plank into the ocean, she asked for a few moments alone, which was granted. She came forward when told her time had expired, dressed beautiful in white, the loveliest woman I had ever seen. Calmly she stepped upon the plank. With eyes raised to the heavens, and hands crossed reverently upon her bosom, she walked slowly and firmly into the ocean without an apparent tremor. …”

Last Will and Testament

            Joseph Alston died in 1816. His brother, William Alston, sent a trunk to Aaron Burr with a message: “…he never had the courage to open …some things that belonged to your daughter Theodosia; …” The trunk contained a letter from Theodosia written in 1805, directed to “My husband. To be delivered after my death. I wish this to be read immediately, and before my burial.” The letter reads, in part, “…something whispers me that my end approaches. …I have some few requests to make. … Burn all my papers except my father’s letters, which I beg you to return to him. …Speak of me often to our son. …I charge you not to allow me to be stripped and washed, as is usual. I am pure enough thus to return to dust. Why, then, expose my person? Pray see to this. If it does not appear contradictory or silly, I beg to be kept as long as possible before I am consigned to the earth. …”

[This story appeared in The Connector, Newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Summer 1999 Issue.]

David Arnott (Arnold) 

Revolutionary War Pension Application

Halifax County

On February 19, 1829, in Halifax County, NC, David Arnott (or Arnold) applied for a Revolutionary War pension. In order to secure the pension Arnott related the following about his war experience:

            He enlisted in early 1778 to complete the term of a private, Bythal Haynes, who had deserted. This term was to last until April 1780. His commander was Lieutenant Fitzgerald or Gerard. The regiment was led by Colonel James Hogun.

Within the regiment, the company of light horse commanded by Captain Cosmo Medici or Medicie, was severely lacking in equipment such as bridle bits, stirrups, saddle backs and such. David Arnott, a blacksmith, was assigned to the Quarter Master General to make the necessary items. He continued in this job until the North Carolina Brigade returned from the north on its way to Charleston, SC, which was in February 1780.

            David recalled that he marched to Charleston with Lieutenant Col. Davidson’s company in the 1^st NC Regiment commanded by Col. Clark. He was at Charleston when it was blockaded by the British and continued to serve until April 1780 when he was discharged in Charleston, SC. It would seem that he barely missed the end of the “Siege of Charleston” which began on April 1 and ended with Gen. Lincoln’s surrender to the British on May 12, 1780.

After the War

    

            David Arnold had returned to Halifax in 1880 and continued to work there as a blacksmith until he applied for his pension in 1829 at the age of 75. He had been turned down for a pension in 1827 because of a question about his name and had not applied again because “by his own labor as a blacksmith he was enabled to provide for himself & family, and though earnestly urged by his friends, he never could consent to throw himself upon the bounty of his Country, so long as he was able to provide for his household by his own exertions: -- neither did he conceive his circumstances so utterly hopeless as to justify it.”

            A schedule attached to David Arnold’s application for a pension listed the property he had amassed over a lifetime:

“One tract of Land containing 256 acres

One Negro woman & child

One set of Blacksmith Tools

Three unimproved Lots in Gainsborough

One cow, calf & yearling

One cart, a few hoes, an axe and some household furniture of little value.

All the above property except the Blacksmith Tools have been conveyed by deed of trust now of record in this Court for the benefit of Thomas Burges Esq. to secure the payment of a debt which is justly due him amounting to $1245 with interest on $1025 until paid.”

            In the end, “the infirmities attendant on disease & old age render him incapable of much exertion – that his family residing with him consists of three daughters, to wit: Mary about 28 years old, Dorothy 21 & Martha 14. -- that they were tenderly raised & only accustomed to perform the ordinary duties relating to housekeeping … .”

His Name Was A Problem

        Mr. Arnott had difficulty being approved for his pension because he applied as David Arnott while he was listed on the muster rolls as David Arnold. James Grant wrote on David Arnott’s behalf that he had known him as David Arnold for 20 years and had never known that David himself spelt his name Arnot. Grant went on to say that “I found him when I first grew into manhood, a very worthy, respectable man, residing in the County of Halifax, & from the Circumstance of his being uniformly called Arnold, I think the mistake arose,”…  from the spelling of his name.

            William Hill wrote that he had examined the Warrant Book and found no David Arnot, but had found David Arnold, and that he believed, based on the fact that Arnold received a warrant for 274 acres of land, the quantity allowed for 3 years service, and other facts in the application, that David Arnot was the same as David Arnold.

            David Arnold received a pension of $8 per month for his service during the Revolution.

[Taken from the Pension application of David Arnot (Arnold or Arnott) S41417 which was transcribed by Will Graves and can be found on the internet at  Southern Campaigns American Revolution Pension Statements and Rosters]

ADVENTURES OF A PRIVATEER.

The following story was told by James Moore, father of a one-time Attorney General of NC, B. F. Moore and included in History of Halifax County.

"In 1775-6, enlistments were made in the neighborhoods where the musters were held, and I was very anxiously concerned because I was not of the age required for a soldier (i. e. 16). At this time I was only ten or eleven years old, and during a part of the period from thence till I reached the required age, I was at school; but as soon as I was sixteen, which was in 1781, the year in which Cornwallis was taken, I entered on board a privateer schooner called the Hannah, which sailed out of Edenton on an eight weeks' cruise.


"Our captain's name was Kit Gardiner, an Englishman by birth. William Gold, of Connecticut, was lieutenant, and Daniel Webb, of South Quay, Nansemond County, Virginia, was first prize master.

"We sailed in March from Edenton and crossed the Ocracoke bar and soon was in the Gulf Stream with heavy surges. We sprung our bowsprit and put into Beaufort harbor and put another in. From there we sailed and cruised off Charleston, [South Carolina], took four prizes and condemned three. The fourth was a Bermudian, a neutral, and he had two sets of consignments, one for a British port and the other for an American, by which means she was cleared at Wilmington, N. C.

"The first prize was a schooner from Cork, Ireland, to New York. She was taken first by a privateer out of Philadelphia and retaken by the Charleston frigate. This frigate was built in Newburyport, fifty miles eastward of Boston (I was shown the spot where it was said she was built) and was called the Boston. She happened to be in Charleston when the British took that city, and they changed her name and called her Charleston. After her capture she was their regular packet from Charleston to New York.

"In our cruise, we took a schooner called the Lord Cornwallis, laden with Governor Martin's effects. He was Governor of South Carolina and became traitor; and when laying in provisions against the siege, he caused the barrels to be filled with sand instead of pork.

"The second prize was from New Hampshire laden with salt and garden seeds, such as peas, beans, etc. I was put aboard of her. Our place of rendezvous was Beaufort,[Carteret County], N. C. Now as we took the vessel near Charleston, the port to which she was bound, it was reasonable to suppose that her provisions were nearly exhausted, which was the case.

"With these, we undertook to make Beaufort, but instead of that, the first port was Newburyport, … and, sixteen days after, we were tossed and carried by contrary winds, going all around the different capes till we were off the Banks of Newfoundland and in view of the Agamenticus Hills, whose appearance, when seen at sea, is like three burly-headed clouds. We sailed along thence and arrived at Newburyport, sold our cargo (salt) at one dollar a bushel, and I received what the prize master saw fit to allow me, which was four dollars only."

In 1775, as the 13 colonies went to war with Britain, George Washington turned the fishing schooner Hannah into a privateer. She was the first of eleven ships eventually charterred to aid in the war. During the American siege of Boston, "Washington's Navy" captured 55 prizes which provided much needed supplies for the revolutionary cause.

Sources: History of Halifax County, by William Cicero Allen, 1918. A Google book.

My Grandpapa, John Adams Lang

by Connor Eagles

"John Adams Lang, seventh child of Robert and Mariah Rogers Lang, was born 3/29/1843 near Fountain in Pitt Co., N.C. On Dec. 26, 1872, he married Zilphia Elizabeth 'Dippie' Baker, who was born Dec. 24, 1852, the oldest child of John Thomas and Nancy Horton Baker. John Adams Lang died Sept. 17, 1930 and was buried beside his wife in Queen Ann Cemetery, Fountain, N.C. Dippie Lang died Dec. 13, 1922."

John Adams Lang was the grandfather of Connor Eagles who wrote the following stories about John.

"Grandpapa John Adams Lang enlisted in 'The Marlboro Guards' on April 20, 1861 at Marlboro, Pitt County, N.C. He was just 18 and weighed only 111 pounds. The 'Marlboro Guards' soon made up Co. E of the 27th Regiment of Cooke's Brigade of A.P. Hill's Corps.

"Grandpapa said as a boy the nearest he ever got to any 'store bought' candy was to stand and look at a glass chewing gum jar filled with red streaked candy on the top shelf in a store, far out of a boy's reach. He resolved that if he ever had the money he would buy all the candy he could eat at one time!

"After enlisting he soon found his way down to Wilmington where he was paid $11.00 in Confederate paper money for one month's services in the Army. This was his first chance to satisfy the craving for candy. He went to a candy kitchen and spent the $11.00 for extra large sticks of lemon candy. He said he had an armful. Back to camp he went, and he and his comrades had all the 'store bought' candy they could eat.

"Grandpapa soon found himself going down in South Carolina below Charleston. They were 'foraging' for supplies—that is, gathering up all available feed, food, etc., that could be spared. They soon came to Pocatalico. I thought this quite a name and wanted to know about it. It seems the Indians had turtle races; and in order to hurry the turtles, with a sharp stick they said, 'Poke his tail he go,' from which came Pocataligo. Then farther down was Coosahatchie. …

"Grandpapa spent one winter on the Blue Ridge and along the Shenandoah Valley. He told about the warm camp fires from the hickory and oak wood, the wonderful pastures and fat cattle. He never tired of talking of the loveliness and beauty of the Shenandoah Valley. …

"Then there was the time the soldiers, for a change, were enjoying the 'luxury' of a ride on a freight train in the mountains. They wee loaded in box cars. Fortunately the train was slow. All of a sudden there was a weakness in the track, and car after car tumbled off the track Andover on the mountainside. Luckily all escaped with a good scare and a few bruises. It was quite a thrilling ride to the more daring.

"Captain Graham of Co. G., 27th Regiment, said he had often wondered about the reported bloody tracks made by some of Washington's barefooted troops at Valley Forge during that awful winter.

"But in a forced march on frozen ground, in snow and sleet, he saw troops in the 27th Regiment with worn out shoes and virtually bare feet leave blood prints behind. At this particular time General Cooke rode ahead to the camp and had camp fires built so the cold and suffering troops could warm. It was a most cheerful and welcome sight to the foot-weary soldiers. I could understand something of why Grandpapa and his comrades loved General Cooke so.

"Grandpapa was wounded twice, but never captured. One wound was minor, just a 'scratch' as he put it. I believe the other, and more serious wound, took place at the 'Battle of the Wilderness." A Yankee bullet passed almost through his hip. The doctor said it barely missed the ball and socket joint, that if it had struck the joint it would have meant death. But as it was, the bullet was stayed just before passing through the skin and out. Grandpapa said he could see it just under the pushed up skin. The doctor only had to split the skin with his scalpel, and the bullet fell to the floor. …

"Company E had suffered heavily during the four years of war. There were only 17 men including officers left to be paroled. Among them was Uncle Bob Lang, who was a corporal. The 27th Regiment had only 117 men and officers left, a pitiful skeleton of four years ago. The men wee tired, hungry, ragged, but their spirits were not broken. …

"Grandpapa was not present at the surrender, and so was not among the parolees. He was not too far away guarding meager supplies. When he heard of the surrender, he said 'I threw my musket down and started the long walk home.' He had to sleep in the open, but for four years he had become hardened to that. He had to beg food when so often there was no food. For instance, he was in Nash County going to Wilson. It was 10:00, and he had had no breakfast. He saw a girl beside the road at a spring house, washing clothes.

"'Is there any chance to get something to eat?' he asked.

"She replied, 'We have nothing but some cool buttermilk. You may have all of that you want and be welcome.'

"Grandpapa always said he could not drink milk, but he was so hungry that he said he'd try a glass. She poured it, and he closed his eyes and drank it down. She offered more, but he said, 'I think I can make it to Wilson on that,' and he did.

"At last he arrived home. The slaves were free, but most were loyal and stayed on to help restore the ravages of war. Grandpapa found his sister Jane, whose husband lost his life in the war, with four little boys. He said, 'They could hardly make it,' so he lived with them and helped them until they were large enough to get along."

[From The May, Lang, Joyner, Williams Families of N. C., by Laura Foster Renard, 1974. The story was also published in The Connector, newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Winter 20085 issue.]