ecific For ha ter
Title
Publisher Place
Explanation of Symbols, Pe-Eacrs Secured From Primary Sources: S-From Secondary Sources: Q-Quota From Primary Sources: QQ-Quota From Quota. Symbols Page
AH Pc OVER ~'A}fE: Palmer, Paul,
DATA: b. in Md.; bapt. at Welsh Tract, Del; came to N. C., 1720; was qualified for Perquimans, 1738, where he was a large landowner; ord. (it is said) in Conn.; sett. N. J. and Md. before 1727; at Chestnut Ridge, Md., ca. 1742; visited N. E., 1730; Piscatawy, N. J.; sett. Perquimans, 1727-1754; Bapt.; d. Perquimans, N. C., ca. 1754.
SOURCE: The Colcnial Clergy of Virginie, No r t h Cs r o Li n a and South Ca r.o Lf.na by: Rev. FrE:deric.~-Lc::1is 1·~eis
Page: 67 --- HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS, Vol. I By: G. W. Paschal THE GENERAL BAPTISTS
g in the goYern- l ,tter written on that day Rev. John Urmstone com- " L'linc cd that two of h.is v:strymen m. t he C h o"'.an Precinct 'as any regular}r ere ":e!.9fessed Anabaptists," a name by: wh1ch__llaptj_s:!;,s Province or anj \ere stiILcalled~ That in this stronghold of the Church ither church nor f E;;:Jand two of the vestrymen should have been Baptists sily have escaped : . ~uffl~ient proof that they were men of property, promi- me; the peculia, 1 d~ce, and influence. They had probably come into the re ev~ngelical ap. ~ro,·ince several years before in that great tide of immigrants ~ excited no littl I rn Virginia which continued in increasing volume through nment by all whi l •ic first quarter of the eighteenth century and a few years ·ince, just as "·a· J. tcr brought a thousand a year to North Carolina.12 · of Paul Pahner. Aaain, on l\fay ~' 1718, Urmstone wrote: "I have been I:> zss some Baptist in Currituck where I baptized 35 children and the mother rthers who shared of one of them: she hath three sisters and two brethren, all : to frustrate th(: udults, the_§QDs an!! datJghters....QLan_Ana,.b£tptis.!, who pre• Vith the lapse of tends to be a physician, fortune-teller, and conj uror; always ihers to instruct chosen Burgess for that precinct and a leading man in our common purpose, .\sscmblies, a fit man you will say for a vestryman, but ovince, would, in we have too m11.ny such in other vestries, whence it is we .t change of the find so little favor among them.ma that they were These statements of Urmstone show that Baptists were Jper tenets of the not rare at this time and that there were some men of cramentalism, the iuflucnce among them, even in precincts like Chowan· and .the necessity for Currituck, where Episcopalians were most numerous arid 1 of Church and powerful. J worked for the About the time that Urmstone left North Carolina the as the Quakers, 1 inme of Paul a.~ was beginning to appear in the colonial the population, documents, the earliest mention being in the court records riza.tion and had for April 3, l 7~ef As he is justly regarded the founder .ters were present of· the first Baptist church in North Carolina: we should -> Quakers, to con- like to know more of him than our meagre records supply. nut by piecing together the scraps of information found oresence of Bap•
is, 1714. In u Colonial Records, II, 131. 11 Colonial Records, III, 28. Governor Burrington's statement. u Colonial Records, II, 304.
• NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS here and there we get a much more complete picture of hi, If w ts a memb life than once seemed possible. 1 plantation of From Benedict we learn that Paul Palm~ was a native l cnt site of of Maryland; that he was baptized at Welsh Tract, in sth had given Delaware, by Owen Thomas, the pastor of the church at thnt of the town. place; that he was ordained in Connecticut; was some tim« I one child, . in New Jersey, and then in Maryland; that his last work n special Act ( I was in North Carolina. npowered to se It is not clear why Palmer went to Connecticut for ordi- 1 r husband's lar nation, nor have I found any account of his work in New for her dai, 1 Jersey. In Maryland, according to Morgan Edwards an n eighteen y• . I d . I Benedict, he preached at the house of Henry Sater, a Bap• irlow's an m tist layman, who had come from England in 1709, and bap• .er's creek, a1 1 tized nine persons; from this congregation in 17 4~ was Jtichard Skinner, organized the first Bapti~t_ church _ _in__Marylan_d, that of th land was sti Chestnut Ridge. Palmer's reasons for coming to North J "State Records, XXII, 411. "'Grimes, N. C. Wills, p. 206; Hathaway, Hist. and Geneologial ]legisttr, -•. C. Historica 1 III, 284. 13~ THE GENERAL BAPTISTS Ile was a member of the Governor's Council. He had .i plantation of about five hundred acres covering the ire .cnt site of the town of Edenton, and before his ~ u1th had ginn one hundred acres of it for the laying Qut of the town. 'Vhen he died he left his wife Johanna :did one child, a daughter named Anne, "an infant." Hy special Act of the Assembly of 1715 the widow was unpowered to sell the remaining four hundred acres of I er husband'<: land and to keep the proceeds of the sale in trust for her ciaughter until her marriage or until she be• came eighteen years of age, the Act providing that the \lidow's land in Perquimans, 170 acres on' Castleton's or J,aker's creek, adjoining the lands of Juliana Laker and Hichard Skinner, should be surety for the trust. In i722 the land was still unsold. In the meantime Paul Palmer had married Johanna, and leased the land to James Palin of Boston, the lease to expire December 25, l 7Q2, with privilege of renewal.16 At the session of the Assembly in ] 'j2Q, however, the former widow, Johanna, asked the Assembly to take the land fixing the price, which it agreed to do, allowing her two hundred and fifty pounds for the land and fifty pounds for the improvements made thereon. 'I'his entailed a lawsuit, as Palin desired to continue his lease. Thus ~a-g_l_P11lmer on coming to the Province, 'had mar ried into one .of jts_ric;he.st_and. most respectable fami• lies, but just how early after 1715 we do not know. He nd his wife and her young daughter had soon moved to Perquimans and settled on the lands of his wife, where he seems to have acquired additional lands of his own. At ny rate in a few years he had much larger land holdings . . \s appears from the will of Mrs. Julian Laker, which was probated in Perquimans Court in January, 1739, two chil• dren were born to Paul Palmer and his wife Johanna, a •• N. 0. Historical and Genealogical R~gister, III, 284. 133 NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS ·arrant for ( daughter named Martha and a son named Samuel, the latter to serve it to br probably being the Samuel Palmer whose death on Decem• iting until AJ ber 4, 1739, is recorded in the Perquimans County records. warrant, an Less probably he is to be identified with the Samuel Palmer y, when Mrs who on Jun" ~7, 1776, was commissioned second mate of the inst the wil] · privateer schooner Johnston, "to act against the enemies of •< rescued tht the thirteen United Colonies." Of Martha nothing more i great conter known. Jin evil and It was after his removal to Perquimans that he and his Sambo proba wife, who as the sequel will show, was a very spirited woman, r the General 1 were brought into court under an indictment for aiding rsnd jury fo and abetting in the stealing of a negro belonging 'to Nicho• 1 IS4 THE GENERAL BAPTISTS warrant for Cush, and instructed the constable who was and a son named Samuel, the latter to serve it to bring along Sambo also and his goods. After el Palmer whose death on Decem• aiting until April fl3 the constable, Charles Wilkins, served i n the Perquimans County records. he warrant, and already had Cush and Sambo in his cus• , · identified with the Samuel Palmer o y, when Mrs. Palmer appeared, and by "force and arms, ns commi sioned second mi. te of the gainst the will of the said Charles Wilkins, constable, took . vion, "to act against the enemies or nd rescued the said negro Sambo, and let him run away, :1ies." Of Martha nothing more is 111 great contempt of our said Sovereign Lord the King, . ' id in evil and pernicious example to others.":" ~{al to Perquimans that he and his Sambo probably took to the swamp, but at the next term ell show, was a very spirited woman, of the General Court at Edenton, July-August, 17~0, the ct under an indictment for aiding grand jury found true bills against Cush for feloniously .ting of a negro belonging 'to Niche- stealing Sambo and his goods, against Mr. Palmer and his f ell ow member of the vestry with wi!e for feloniously receiving Sambo, and the goods, and Jer whose death Crisp had been ap• a second bill against Mr. Palmer for a misdemeanor in in• ~: "demand" of the widow the stand• stigating and commanding Cu~h to steal Sambo, and a tasures which her husband had left. second bill against Mrs. Palmer for a misdemeanor in res• J..nding was not very gently done or cuing Sambo from the hands of the constable. ):he relations between Johanna and ~o . far as the records show the case against Cush, the en far from friendly. Out of this principal offender, was never prosecuted; he was neither ' fiasco of an indictment of which brought into court nor required to give bond. Mr. Palmer, 1ie the details. though at first refusing, finally gave bail to appear at the t3egro slave named Cush, or Quashy .ext court, his bondsmen being Thomas Luten and Wm. (~rs, went to the plantation of Mr. .'tcwart. Mrs. Palmer was not present but a venire was y a negro slave named Sambo and 1 ued for her appearance at the next court.18 · • ng of a new rug (bed spread), one Being brought in custody before the court at its next rnr ·,f new leather breeches, one pair term in April, 17~1, Mr. Palmer and his wife refusing to rf new shoes and one hat, value one plead were ordered to be kept in custody until they should , sixpence, and carried all to 1\Ir· ple~d, but their case was not brought before the court again a.ys that Cush went in broad day- ~nhl the next term, in July-August, 17fll. Then Mr . . gon and that there was no effort at alrner was brought to trial on the charge of instigating it is very hard to see how without (u h to steal Sambo and was found guilty of a misdemeanor. with the master Sambo could hasc . Ir. Palmer, of course, was not able to deny his instructions .he place at all. '.Q Cush but probably because no proof had been offered fter, on April 14, the Honorable "Colonial Records, II, 410f. 11 Colonial Records, II, 416. f Justice of North Carolina, issued - 185 NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS that Cush stole Samba, the court allowed Mr. Palmer to file a bill of errors. Then the case against Mr. Palmer and his wife was brought before court. ''But the Attornt) General having absconded and refusing to plead," the ca 1: was ordered to be referred' to the next court. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer again gave bail, their bondsmen being Josepl1 Jessop and John Pettiver. At the next court, October, l 7fll, their cases were further postponed, probably because no witness appeared against them. Finaily at the term of the court in March-April, 17fl~, they were again brought to triat But, no witnesses appearing, the case again~~ them was dismissed. The collapse of this case involved th'lt of the charge of misdemeanor also which Mr. Palmer lu1•l appealed, and this was thrown out of court with the consent ,'1 of the Attorney General, Daniel Richardson.19 · c Neither Mrs. Palmer nor Mr. Palmer lost anything in c popular favor or reputation on account of this trial. It was during this same year that the Assembly by a second special Act on the matter took over the lands of Mrs. Palmer's daughter Anne. A year later the Assembly named Mr. Palmer on the permanent jury list of Perquimans Pre• cinct. In October, l 7fl5, Mr. Palmer served on the grand jury in the same General Court at Edenton in which he had been able to maintain his innocence three years before. There is evidence, however, that he was still annoyed by • frivolous prosecutions. In June, l 7fl6, a case came up frail the inferior court of Perquimans in some matter of differ· ence between Mr. Palmer and one Samuel Phelps, in which the General Court exonerated Mr. Palmer.F" "'Colonial Records, II, 443£1'., 471. "'Colonial Reords, II, 596, 660. In 1912, Colone, "N. B. Shaw of Henda son, N. C., an able lawyer, at the request of Dr. Hufham made a careful study of the prosecution of Mr. Palmer, and gave his impression in _a paprr from which I quote several sections: • "These were all serious charges and if the first was true, it would ha' disgraced Palmer and his wife as common felons. "But does the record bear a semblance of guilt? If so, I have br<"i unable to discover it. In the face of the vilest charges, the law presuro.: 136 THE GENER.Ai. BAPTISTS I red Mr. Palmer to Palmer had been several years in the Province before '.gainst Mr. Palmer attracted attention by his preaching. Governor Eden, "But the Attorney hose famous Governor's House was in Chowan and who 1 ust have known Palmer and his wife, still believed in l 7fil , to plead," the case ' 't court. Mr. and Innocence of those charged with crime, and it devolved upon the Crown t _lsmen being Joseph u show the guilt by proper and convincing proof; the burden was on { risp, who was an interested prosecutor, to make his charges good, but ·he .~xt court, October, ' tled to do so or even try to do it. ••The record discloses the fact, that at July term, 1720, presentments were )., probably because .de by Crisp and at November term, 1720, this same Crisp was foreman ·tally at the term of the grand jury, and that said jury was, for some unrevealed cause; dis• uged and another grand jury empaneled, which jury found the three 'were again brought lls in question; and at the same time the defendants entered into ~ ~' the case again.~t ·ognizance to appear at July term, 1721. At this term Paul Palmer s convicted of the misdemeanor charged in the second bill, and moved js case involved that arrest of judgment and the case was continued to November term, 1721, Jr him to file his bill of errors; also were the other cases continued be• ~;ch M:. Palmer had use Crisp was called and failed to appear and give evidence ~gainst urt with the consent " fendants. At this term the Attorney General again failed to prosecute or want of evidence, and the three cases were continued to April term, dson.19 1122, when the Attorney General in open court confessed he had no evidence , er lost anything in pon which to ask for a conviction, and all three cases were discharged ithout day. '. .it of this trial. It "This is all the record discloses, and nothing else appearing, I am led .sembly by a second o conclude that the prosecution was frivolous. l . "The record shows Crisp to have been a man of great promlnence ; he , the lands of Mrs. ·as a Captain in high favor with the Crown officers, and must have been a ' .the named ·tryman. If his charges were true, he had sustained great financial loss Assembly his slave Sambo and his leather breeches; and whatever may have been ~ . of Perquimans Pre• c standing of Palmer, self-interest and self-respect required him to make his charges. I assume that Crisp was high in church and state, and ·,erved on the grand rt from personal interest, he was bound to uphold the dignity of the ~ denton in which he Crown, and use his best efforts to bring felons to condemnation, but, 'range to say, the records do not show that he ever appeared in the ~ three years before. e urt-house again after making the charges as long as they were on the 'as still annoyed by ·ket, though he was called at three separate terms, to make his charges . Why he did not prosecute the cases must be left largely to con• a case came up from 'ure. The legal inference is that he could not and that the charge§. were me matter of differ• !. e if not malicious. Another fact discloses the animus of the prosecution, in that the negro ~ uel Phelps, 'in which ashy was never called to answer the bill of indictment found against though he was the principal actor in the larceny alleged. · · ,1er.20 "Another significant fact that perhaps fixes the falsity of the charges ' the Attorney General, whose duty it was to prosecute all offenders of the • especially all felons, term after term absconded when those cases were ~l W. B. Shaw of Hender• led by the Court for trial, and finally went into court and confessed he . Hufham made a careful no evidence and dismissed the cases. Would he have done so by his impression in _a paper • llusion with Paul Palmer who was to him a despised heretic? ·On the er hand, would he not have been zealous for the prosecution? The ' t was true, it would have re of his office perhaps largely depended upon his faithful discharge of IS. official duties. uilt? If so, I have b~<"~ • These facts lead to the reasonable conclusion that there was no evidence charges, the law presume. sustain the charges, and he was compelled, from a sense of honor, to 137 NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS that the Quakers were the "only sort of dissenters wort} inf· minding." As late as January fl5, 17fl6, Governor Everard. writing from Edenton, bewailed the fact that North Cari, n' i lina was the most heathenish part of America with no sec' I Ir but the Quakers. If Palmer had long been preaching with He the extraordinary evangelizing and proselyting zeal whit! bee Everard noted a few years later it is hard to see how h failed to attract the attention of the Governor who was al most his neighbor. But in l 7fl6 Palmer was probably already engaged in hi evangelistic labors, having been stimulated by the influence of the Yearly Meetings which he was attending as note above. The first field of his activities was in the part of Chowan County north of Poplar Run, and extending to Warwick Swamp on the present boundary of Gates County. I In l 7fl6 he was already interested in this section. In that year he sold to Charles Jordan the son of John Jordan, who was one of the members of the church gathered in the immediate neighborhood north of Poplar Run the next year, a tract of land containing thirty-four acres, adjoining the lands of his father John Jordan and John Parker, another member of Palmer's first church. On March 7, 1727, Palmer joined with John Jordan in witnessing the signe• ture of Na than Miers and wife Mary to a deed conveying 100 acres "on the north side of Poplar Run," to John Welch, still another member of the first Baptist church in North Carolina. confess it before the court and discharge the defendants. Then the i;harse• must have been false. "But I may be asked, where is the motive for such a man as Capt. Nicholas Crisp making so grave charges falsely? For reply I am drlYefl 'to the field of conjecture, or rather to facts brought down to us by ti:adition. which seems to be well sustained by the written hi~L·HY of the time. , "From this I find that Captain Crisp was a wealthy planter living on h! lordly estate in Chowan Precinct near Queen Anne's; he was a v~~try111•!l In the Established Church and naturally one in the councils of Government; zealous, of course, in upholding the power and authority of the Church, he was full of sympathy with the strong hatred existing against thos~ heretics who dared to preach the gospel not promulgated by the est?b)ish church." 138 '8 ! ISTS THE GENE~AL BAPTISTS 1 ein 1y sort o f diss enters wort,h For information with reference to the gathering of this SJ ~5, 17~6, Governor Everard, church we are indebted to . Rev., J olm_Con;ier, a brilliant nd the fact that North Caro• young Baptist preacher living i:i:i l 7~5-31 in N ewport, : ie,art of America with no sect Rhode Island. Comer was born in Boston on August 1, ; ! ad long been preaching with 1'104. He was educated at Harvard and Yale. Early in :t.:1; and proselyting zeal which life he became much interested in religion and joined the '• nter it is hard to see how he Congregational church in Cambridge, but he became a Bap• ·.' -159 NAME: Palmer, Paul see PC 2 Alderman, John Thomas, 1853-1932. Papers, 1755-1930 [broken series] 21 Box no.: -----1 Folder no.: PALMER, PAUL (fl. 1730-40). A native of Maryland, he was baptized at Welch Tract, Del., by Owen Thomas, and was ordained in Connecticut. He sojourned in New Jersey, then moved into Maryland, wbere he baptized nine persons, who formed Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church, the first in that colony. Before Apr., 1720, he settled in North Carolina and married Johanna (Laker) Peterson, widow of Thomas Peterson Cd. 1714), a church warden of Chowan Precinct. Their children were Martha and Samuel. In 1727 he organized the first Baptist church in North Carolina, in upper Chowan County, and in 1729 he constituted the second, Shiloh, in Camden County. Churches in Onslow, Craven, Beaufort, Hyde, Lenoir, and Pitt counties were directly or indirectly the outgrowth of his labors. In 1730 he visited churches in New England and New Jersey. He was preaching in North Carolina in 1738. Morgan Edwards (q.v.) declared him "the father of General Baptists in North Carolina." Apparently he died be• Lr .fore 1754, but the exact date and place are unknown. J. A. EASLEY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOUTHERN BAPTISTS, Vol. 2 - page 1068. ~ j JV_C_ t(j~ U~. I . - 0 ~ ·. )j w He John Burges. And it raised the admiration of his neighbors, be• cause when he was baptized it was in the time of a great snow. But we think we can, as old experienced ministers, who have bap• tized hundreds, testify that we never knew a person to receive any damage by going into the water at such times; no, not even so much as to take a cold.89 After brother Creecy had joined the church, soon after, Abra• ham Jennet, Delight Nixon, Thomas and Mary Burkitt, Melvin Dukes and others were baptized. The few members gathered here continued a branch of the Camden church. Elder Abbot used to attend them at times and the places he preached at were chiefly Joseph Creecy's and Thomas Burkitt's. This branch kept iucreasing until the year 1775, when it became a constituted body. The meeting house is east of Edenton about five miles. ~ight worthy, indeed, is this church of high place in the respect and love of our Baptist people, but as it is not my purpose to carry the account in the present section of my work later than the time of the organization of the Kehukee Association, I now turn to some further account of Paul Palmer. Comer's Diary contains some references to Mr, Palmer from December 1, 17fl9. On this date he notes that he wrote a letter to Mr. Palmer, "minister at North Carolina." On the fourteenth of the same month he has an entry show• ing that he had received a letter from Palmer with a "small token of love." In March, 1730, he writes that he had re• ceived a letter from Mr. Paul Palmer, minister. in North Carolina, together with a manuscript for the press entitled "Christ the Predestinated and Elected." I have not been able to find that the paper was published. Again we learn from the Diary of Mr. Comer that in the fall of 1730 Mr. Palmer went to New England to visit the churches there. Palmer seemsto have made his way thither by water. After spending some time with the churches in Massachusetts he started by land on his return to North Carolina intending 30 Elder John Leland says: "I have seen ice cut more than a foot thick. and people baptized in the water, and yet I have never heard of any person taking cold, or any kind of sickness in so doing." Writings, "Vir• ginia. Chronicle," p. 116. 151 -. NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS " to visit the churches at Newport. But as the smallpox had give sor been epidemic in Boston at the time of his visit Mr. Palmer son of ~ ·) found that Rhode Island had set a quarantine which pre• His pla l vented his going to Newport. By prearrangement he met Mr. that he Comer at North Kingstown. Mr. Comer does not tell what respect," matters were discussed at their conference, but he was very receptio , l favorably impressed with Mr. Palmer, closing his entry on of the s < the meeting with the statement that Palmer was a "man that her of parts and worthy.i"? should l 11 Continuing his journey southward, as we learn from a Ther• further entry in Comer's Diary, Mr. Palmer stopped a while Diary o 11 with Rev. John Drake, the aged pastor of the Church at in 177~ Piscataway in East New Jersey, a descendant of the famous Kehuke Sir Francis Drake, and a man of much ability, piety and church f; influence. During his stay here Mr. Palmer assisted Mr. near the Drake in the ordination of Henry Loveall, who had come County! to the church with the recommendation of Mr. Comer and hardly ·! some other New England Baptists, but who was later dis• in all o covered to be an escaped convict from Long Island. Be• to this , < cause of their relation to Loveall, Comer, Palmer and Drake the yea 1:. came under the censure of some in New England. Loveall poor pe!C assisted Mr. Drake at Piscataway until his real character River, r:· became known. Later, as we have seen, he became connected Marsde :. with the church at Chestnut Ridge in Maryland and in who Iiv- .,· 17 4~ was its pastor. It is not improbable that he was recom• also liv , . mended to this church by Mr. Palmer, who had himself in be app< 1: his early ministry preached to that congregation and bap• was inc1 l . t tized nine of its members as related above. It cannot be d esirou j-. doubted that Mr. Palmer visited this church on his return which cl to North Carolina, and nothing is more probable than that his opinion of Loveall was expressed. Loveall's future "Mor;.. record showed that he was unworthy; he had deceived Palmer says: "H ·1 as he had deceived Comer. above m 1 difficult ie 1 ~ The records of this trip of Mr. Palmer are scant but they doing S• l behind h "'Diary, entry for October 6, 1730. by Bent: r: "\, 15~ THE GENERAL BAPTISTS give some certain indications of his character. Only a per• son of some means could have undertaken such a·jou:rney. His plan of visiting the churches of a remote section shows mtine which pre• that he was a man of large conceptions, of proper self• ~ementhe met Mr. respect, and calm assurance of his own powers. And the does not tell what reception accorded him by Mr. Comer and Mr. Drake, two , but he was very of the ablest ministers who have lived in America, suggest sing his entry on that he had not thought of himself more highly than he mer was a "man should have thought.41 There is no entry relating to Mr. Palmer in Comer's we learn from a Diary of later date than 1730. Morgan Edwards writing r stopped a while in l 77fl, in a note to his account of the formation cf the of the Church at Kehukee Association, says that, "Paul Palmer gathered a nt of the famous church at New River," which Mr. Edwards supposed to be bility, piety and near the South Carolina line, while in reality it is in Onslow er assisted Mr. County, North Carolina. As in the year 1731 there were ll, who had come hardly three freeholders and not more than thirty families Mr. Comer and in all of Onslow, the implication is that it was subsequent ho was later dis• to this time that Mr. Palmer gathered this church. By =s Island. Be• the year 1734 there were more than a hundred families of almer and Drake poor people, with a vast number of children settled on New <'ngland. Loveall River, and already they were being visited by Rev. Richard is real character Marsden, an itinerant preacher of the Church of England became connected who lived at Wilmington, and by Rev. John La Pierre, who ary land and in also lived on the Cape Fear and who hoped that he might hat he was recom• be appointed missionary to the parish in which New River 'ho had himself in was included. La Pierre represented the inhabitants as very egation and bap• ve. It cannot be · desirous of having divine worship set up among them, in irch on his return which desire they were encouraged by Governor Burr-:.ngton irobable than that and one Mr. John Williams. But the place did not long Loveall's future ., Morgan Edwards in his rather deprecatory account of Mr. Palmer id deceived Palmer says: "He at last moved to North Carolina, where he gathered the church above mentioned, with which he continued, not however without some difficulties, until his death. He appears to have been the iPstrument of doing some good, but was not so happy as to leave a good character are scant but they behind him." Materials for a History of the Baptists, Maryland, used by Benedict, History of Baptists, p. 681, edition of 18·16. 153 r NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS . e receive the ministrations of these ministers: Mr. Marsden about a re. seems not to have kept up his occasional visits which he made garded witf ~ without charge, while La Pierre received no encouragement Baptists in ' meetings ar from the Society nor from the inhabitants of the Cape I Fear, but was forced to ward off starvation by working on ernment. I 1 a farm with his own hands.P Neither of these ministers the Baptist. . say anything of the work of Paul Palmer in these parts. Churchman London, cm,; Nor does Governor Burrington. Hence, it is probable that '1 Mr. Palmer gathered the church here after the year 1735. stand the g preaching Later the Separates from Sandy Creek came among· them 1, and organized one of the earliest churches of the Sandy Especially : Creek Association. In 1761 the Pastor of Bath, who had ment despe made an itinerary into Onslow the previous winter, reported of some in l·· Church. 1' that only a few Episcopalians were left there, but that it . ll of ministers was "the present seat of enthusiasm in this Province," the . 1 n enthusiasm being the N ewlight religious experience. Here intimation 1 we have a concrete instance of the sowing of Mr. Palmer former mir yielding harvests for Baptists of another order to garner. silence on · l _To gather churches in the early colonial days was no that he kn: -~. little task. A half score ministers of the Church of England It is sigi .~ had labored in North Carolina in the quarter of a century cept Palme , before 17~7. They had the support of the Society for the few miles f , Propagation of the Gospel and of an Establishment in the hers, J osep' Province. But all their efforts had ended in such failure sent the let & that they all had left the field vacant before October, 1729. With re' But within the last four years Paul Palmer had begun his arise. Wh~1 wonderful evangelical career and was already founding results? t Baptist churches, thus initiating a movement which has The first 11 of Burkitt l t continued to grow with the passing years and has made c the Baptists by far the most numerous body of Christians trr The most in North Carolina. Governor Everard writing to the before they :·.1 Bishop of London under date of October lfl, l 7fl9, declared Baptist, an that on his arrival in the Province in l 7fl5 he heard of no preached an -r Dissenters except Quakers. By 17fl9 Palmer had brought their churcl l i .. History c i• '"Colo·nial Records, III, 391, 339, 342, .529, 623. 154 ,. THE GENERAL BAPTISTS ters : ~fr. Marsden about a religious transformation which the Governor re• risits which he made garded with nothing short of wonder. He was leading the : no encouragement Baptists in a great missionary campaign, holding daily tauts of the Cape meetings and making proselytes in every part of the Gov• .ion by working on ernment. His converts were numbered by the hundreds and of these ministers the Baptists were :flourishing. Governor Everard as a good er in these parts. Churchman, or desiring to appear such to the Bishop of it is probable that London, confessed that he was powerless to prevent or with• ter the year 1735. stand the great tide of religious enthusiasm which under the came among them preaching of Palmer was sweeping over the Province. hes of the Sandy Especially did he regard the prospect for the Establish• of Bath, who had ment desperate in view of the immoral and irreverent lives s winter, reported of some in high places who should be the support of the there, but that it Church. The only hope for the Church was the sending is Province," the of ministers of pure lives and zeal for their work, with plain experience. Here intimation that such had not been the character of the g of Mr. Palmer former ministers who had been in North Carolina. His order to garner. silence on the character of Mr. Palmer is sufficient proof nial days was no that· he knew nothing against it. hurch of England It is significant that Everard mentions no preacher ex• rter of a century cept Palmer, although he was writing from Edenton only a . e Society for the few miles from the church in Chowan some of whose mem• ab1ishment in the bers, Joseph Parker among them, had a few weeks before d in such failure sent the letter discussed above to Elder John Comer. re October, l '7~9. With reference to this work of Palmer some questions er had begun his arise. What was its nature? What were its permanent lready founding results? ement which has The first question may be answered by giving the words rs and has made of Burkitt and Read :43 dy of Christians writing to the The most of these churches (those of the Kehukee Association), before they were ever united in an Association, were General ~' 1'7Q9, declared Baptist, and held with the Arminian tenets. . . . They 5 he heard of no preached and adhered to the Arminian, or Free-will doctrines, and mer had brought their churches were first established upon this system. They .. History of the Kehukee Associatto», p. 28. 155 / NORTH CAROLINA.,BAPTISTS As late as e gathered churches without requiring an experience of grace previous itinerant pren) to their baptism, but baptized all who believed in the doctrine of baptism by immersion, and requested baptism of them. The . places, destitu. churches of this order were first gathered here by Elders Paul: verted and de Palmer and Joseph Parker. make applicat, froni. them. "46 1 I shall point out later the evil consequences of admitting As to the 1 < the unconverted to baptism and to church membership, the all those whon disrepute into which it brought some of the churches and came Baptist the division of the Baptists, the precedent which it was to 1 baptized by t L give Alexander Campbell a hundred years later for his con• regarded as b. tentions in support of his schism from the Baptists. But they had no c , because of its Arminian character we may be sure that the a church rela preaching of Palmer made a readier appeal. Though un• And attention; limited Arminianism entails evil consequences, as in the case the statement of these early North Carolina Baptists, it must be admitted 1 cessors admitti, that a too rigid Calvinism repels, and we do well to remem• It would be n1 ber the words of Elder John Leland: "It is a matter of willingness to fact that the preaching that has been most blessed of God, just as the C[ and most profitable to men, is the doctrine of sovereign grace proved that t, in the salvation of souls, mixed with a little of what is called the Reedy Cr Arrninianism.4 4 ticular Baptis ~ Palmer was an evangelist rather than a: pastor, but he found only th baptized as many disciples as he made, without necessarily very host of t gathering them into churches. This continued to be the Baptists. l practice of the evangelists of the General Baptists in the It is probe Province, an example of which may be found in the account of Palmer's · of the beginning of the work at Reedy Creek church in verted or unc Warren County, as told by Burkitt and Read. They say:45 promising ad Doctor Josiah Hart was the first preacher of the Baptist per• scattered and suasion who preached here. He came about the year 1750 and depend for ri preached and baptized. Soon after him Wm, Washington, James on hi.s rare vi Smart, Sam. Davis, William Walker and others joined in the work of preaching and baptizing, all upon what is called the Free-will that many of plan, and numbers came and . were baptized, but nothing like a and many of church constitution . too har ·hly. .. Letter of Valediction on Leaving Virginia in 1791. '"Kehukee A s11 "'Kehukee Association, p. 229. 156 THE GENERAL BAPTISTS As late as 1783 the Kehukee Association authorized an '!Tace previous 0( itinerant preacher to baptize "when he travels into. dark Ill the doctrine of m of them. The places, destitute of ministerial helps, and persons get con• re by Elders Paul:' verted and desire baptism of him and are not capable to make application to any church by reason of their distance from them. "4a uences of admitting As to the results of Palmer's work, in a general sense ": rrch membership, the all those whom he baptized, converted and unconverted, be• J of the churches and came Baptists, just as all the children and the few adults dent which it was to baptized by the ministers of the Church of England were , ars later for his con• regarded as being in the pale of the church, even though ,~ 1 the Baptists. But they had no connection with any local organization. Such 1 nay be sure that the J a church relationship seemed quite natural in those days . . t ppeal. Though un- And attention needs to be called to the fact that probably {- .iences, as in the case the statement of Burkitt and Read that Palmer and his suc• 1 it must be admitted b·· ve do well to remem- cessors admitted the unconverted to baptism is not quite fair. 1f "It is a matter of It would be more nearly true to say that they considered willingness to be baptized a sufficient evidence of conversion, • most blessed of God, just as the churches of the Disciples do today. Results ~l ne o f sovereign. grace proved that they were mistaken. On the orrranization of r ittle of what is called . 0 the Reedy Creek church, spoken of above, the stricter Par- ticular Baptists, claiming to exercise the greatest charity, t an a: pastor, but he found only thirteen whom they believed converted out of a , without necessarily very host of those baptized by the ministers of the General continued to be the :'. ieral Baptists in the Baptists. It is probable, however, that a much larger proportion 1 found in the account of Palmer's disciples were converted. But whether con• . ' dy Creek church in ( verted or unconverted they were soon numerous and uncom• ' l Read. They say :45 \1 promising adherents of Baptist principles. Being widely > .er of the Baptist per• scattered and having no pastors and teachers they had to mt the year 1750 and depend for religious instruction on the sermons of Palmer , 'm. Washington, James on his rare visits. Under such conditions it is small wonder 'ti re rs joined in the work is called the Free-will that many of them made little progress in Christian living J E ed, but nothing like a and many of them fell away; they should not be judged too harshly. I 1791. '"Kehukee Association, p. 69. 157 .r ., D f NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS .O" c: at Kehukee It is not improbable, however, that other congregations rrations fro were gathered by Palmer than those in Chowan, Camden b at Bear C and Onslow. We may be sure that churches were gathered Banks and wherever the number of converts was sufficient and a local General to pastor could be secured. Both of these requisites seem to of the Kel have been met in New Bern in 1740, when as we shall see work in N< below, a congregation of Baptists petitioned to be allowed made cons' to build a house of worship; they were also met in Beaufort suffered th on Bay and Neuse rivers in 1742 when a congregation of men of edi Dissenters filed a petition with Chief Justice Montgomery made. As to be allowed to register two places of worship, of which also of Englan1 more will be found below. Of the churches thus formed, that North Ca of Swift Creek in Craven County, whose founding as a themselves General Baptist church Morgan Edwards attributes to the How lo preaching of Elder William Burges, became a Particular certain in Baptist church in 1756 and later a member of the Kehukee Burkitt a Association. In all probability the church on Pungo in the State Beaufort County, where Elder John Winfield was pastor entering 1 about 1755, was founded partly by some of the early con• he registe verts of Palmer. The presence of two kinds of Baptists, General which are clearly General and Separates, is indicated in a found by letter of Rev. Alexander Stewart of Bath, written in 1760. 47 There was also a church at Mattamuskeet in Hyde County whose origin is obscure but possibly goes back to Palmer's converts. Permiss . In another respect the labors of Palmer have proved of Protestant part of t value to the Baptists. He planted in the hearts of many pursuant the Baptist faith from which others were to reap the harvests. William ' Some of his converts were gathered later by the Separates under Stearns on the Trent and New River. To Palmer and his fellow workers rather than to those who labored ., Colonial. Records, VI, 316. Mr. Stewart's language is: "Of late years this province is overrun with a people that at first called themselves Ana• baptists, but having now refined upon that scheme, have run into so many errors & have so bewildered &; I may say almost bewitched the minds of the people that scarcely will they Ilsten to anything that can be said in defence of the church we belong to." 158 ' ..J I f THE GENERAL BAPTISTS other congregations at Kehukee must be ascribed the gathering of the congre• in Chowan, Camden gations from which afterwards were formed the churches urches were gathered at Bear Creek in the present county of Lenoir aud Red sufficient and a local Banks and Flat Swamp in Pitt, all of which changed from the 5lese • requisites seem to General to the Particular order and later became members hen as we shall ~1,;e of the Kehukse Association. Palmer started the Baptist l ,';~;Oll!i!d i6 be a.lfo v!l!d work in North Carolina and from his time until now it has a also met in Beaufort made constant progress. But from the first the Baptists hen A congreg~tfon or su±fered the handicap of not having a sufficient number of , :.J ust~ce 1\.font~ornery men of education and zeal to lead and instruct the converts · rorship, of which also made. As we shall see later it was the policy of the Church 'hes thus formed, that of England in its plans for the pmpagation of the Gospel in , lhose foundin o- as a North Carolina to make it all but impossible for any but ., l-i1rds attributes0 to the themselves to have an educated ministry. r nbecame a Particular How long did Palmer continue this work? We have no nber of the Kehukee certain indication of the time of his death except that / 1Sf ; hurch on Pungo in Burkitt and Read say that he was dead when Gano visited fl• i Avv'infield was pastor the State in 1754. Dr. Hufham says that Palmer was still I ne of the early con- entering land in Perquimans County in 1738. In that year 1 0 kinds of Baptists, he ~egistered for license as a Dissenting preacher with the l i .. d" a=s, Is m icated in a General Court at Edenton as appears from a document l ieh, written in I 760.4T found by Mr. J. R. B. Hathaway in the Court House at : : .E~et in Hyde County Edenton, which reads as follows: I es back to Palmer's jtl( NORTH CAROLINA. 1F· Permission is hereby granted to Paul Palmer, of Edenton, a ner have proved of Protestant Minister to teach or Preach the word of God in any :he hearts of many part of the said Province (he having qualified himself as such) 0 reap the harvests. pursuant to an _Act of Parliament made in the first year of King r by the Separates William and Queen Mary Intitled an "Act for Tolerating ( D" Protestant Dissenters." [ . n.iver-. To Palmer Given under my hand at Edenton for the 4th day of October those who labored Anno Dom., 1738. (Not signed) uage is: "Of late years The above paper is endorsed on the back "To be Regis• called themselves Ana• have run into so many tered for Paul Palmer." t bewitched the minds The question may arise as to why Mr. Palmer had waited anything that can be so long to take out such a license. The answer would seem 159