OF NORTH CAROLINA, From 1584 to 1851. COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS, OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF HER DISTINGUISHED STATESMEN, JURISTS, LAWYERS, SOLDIERS, DIVINES, ETC. BY JOHN H. WHEELER, LATE TREASURER OF THE STATE. "Truth is stranger than Fiction." ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS. VOL. II. PHILADELPHIA: LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO AND CO. 1851. EXPLANATION OF THE MAP. On the dissolution of the Proprietary Government in 1729, the Province of North Carolina was divided into three Counties: 1. ALBEMARLE. 2. BATH. 3. CLARENDON. From these three branches spring all the Counties of the State. See Sketches, vol. i. 42. All of these (Albemarle, Bath and Clarendon) exist only by name, the territory having been divided, and are only used, as are also Bute, Dobbs, Tryon and Glasgow (marked thus *) to show the branches from whence other counties have sprung. To find a County, its formation and derivation, is not difficult. Wake, for instance, is a centre County, formed in 1770 from Cumberland, Orange and Johnston. Revised Statutes, vol. ii. 165. Lincoln County, formed in 1779 from Tryon (see Revised Statutes), which in that year was divided into Lincoln and Rutherford; Tryon erected in 1768 from Mecklenburg; Mecklenburg in 1762 from Anson; Anson in 1749 from Bladen; Bladen in 1734 from New Hanover; New Hanover in 1729 from Clarendon. All of which is plainly visible in the delineation. Guilford County was formed in 1770, from Orange and Rowan; but as Orange was from a different stock than Rowan, it could not be delineated on the plan of the tree. This must be borne in mind. The engraver has omitted in some of the engravings to letter the branch CASWELL, Springing from Orange and Person, which springs from Caswell, which the reader will supply. The above is the Coat of Arms of North Carolina, as exhibited on the Great Seal of State. In December, 1776, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and Thomas Burke, were appointed to prepare "a suitable device for the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina." It is emblematic, and represents LIBERTY and PLENTY. Liberty holds in her left hand the Constitution, and in her right a staff surmounted by the cap of Liberty, indicating that her liberties are safe and secured by the Constitution. Plenty holds in her right hand an ear of grain, and at her left the cornucopiæ is seen, from which pour forth the rich fruits of the earth; both indicating that North Carolina is a land of liberty guided by law, and abundant in products to sustain life. COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA. In 1728, the precincts of North Carolina were Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan, Craven, Beaufort, Bertie, Hyde, and Carteret.* In 1729, Tyrrel and New Hanover. In 1731, Onslow and Bladen. In 1738, the precincts were denominated counties.† SERIES III. THE State of North Carolina is situated between 33° 53', and 36° 33' north latitude, and 1° 28' east, and 6° 50' west longitude. It is so called in honor of CHARLES II., who granted the charter to the Duke of Albemarle and others. It is bounded on the north by the State of Virginia, east by the Atlantic, south by South Carolina, and west by Tennessee. Its mean length is about 362 miles. Its mean breadth is 121 miles. Its area is 43,800 square miles, or 28,032,000 acres. It was the first State in which the English landed (1584), and the first State whose citizens threw off the English yoke (1775). Its shape is irregular. Its northern line (36°33') is straight from east to west. Its eastern boundary irregular by the indentures and curvatures of the Atlantic. Its southern line still more irregular, as is also its western line, by the course of the Blue Ridge. The State is divided into eighty-two counties, the names of which are exhibited in the following table, with the sections of the State in which they are situated, the date of their formation, the capital or county town, distance from Raleigh (the seat of government), and the population of each in federal numbers, according to the last census. The population of the State is 553,290 white; 27,196 free colored; 288,412 slaves; 753,505 federal population; 841 Indians. Its products, according to the census of 1840, are 1,960,855 bushels of wheat. 506,766 dollars annual amount of lumber sold. 73,350 barrels of fish. 593,451 barrels of tar, pitch, turpentine, and rosin. 995,300 dollars invested in cotton dise. |