The H Tory of Iiuimiince
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THE H TORY OF IIUIMIINCE . fl W O R K : T Y F O R T H E o ec a s e o r M . A , A T T H E U N l V E R S l THE H TORY OF IILIIMIINCE . A W O R K F O R T H E D E GR E E O F M . A . A T T H E U N IV E R SITY O F N O R T H C A R O LIN A . M IS S S . W . ST O C K A R D . RALEIG H A P IT A PR I N T IN M PA N C L G C O Y . 1 900. T O I N A K G E N E R A L J U L A S H S P E R E C A R R , A T H A N K S GIVI N G . I N T R O D U OT O R Y . That our American Republic sprang into life ful l fo r m ed " r like Pallas from the head of eus seems mi aculous , b u t there is nothing wonderful about either . Both Eng " h a d land and eus , you know , been troubled with head pains . The English Church and Presbyterianism were sig fi n d n i ca t . Runnyme e , Magna Charta , the strength of the - Anglo saxon speech against the French and the Latin , the th e Cornish and the Celt , attest to elasticity and might of d the English consciousness . Every bill of rights foretol a ’ e possible America . Moore s Utopia was like an index fing r pointing to Columbia , T h e n d f e er n d th e r d e la o v y la p i . But t o see things in their general light is easier than to dissect and V ivisect particul arly . And it might be pleas s i t anter to write a history of the Feejee Islanders , than to d o wn among a people whose conflicting opinions have b e a bso come a matter of history , and to try to tell the truth , lute , unprejudiced . 1 s e n An account of the Indians g__ , in the first place , for M b w m the children , again , ecause they ere the for er land s owner . Haw River took its name from them . Alamance , ' ’ s a in Indian speech , they y , means all men s land , a universal sort of co untry and indeed it well might be s o named ; Gov er n o r Moreh ead called the lovely sl oping fi el ds b etw een ' k C i ee . Stinking " uarter and the Big Alamance , his Eden - 1 An Indian grave ya d has been found , not far from Glencoe ; the skeletons show them to have been buried in a sitting position . Their bones are crumbling back to dust ; two hundred years ago their h u z za r s rang loud and clear throu gh d forests and savannahs ; to ay a few arrow points , pots and s o skeletons remain to tell the story of that race , relent * A l l e m a n ce A l e m n . It m a b e G er m n . , a y y a 6 D INTRO U CTORY . lessly has time swept them away . Only their names enduring u A a s i t stay to s . thousand years are but yesterday when is past , and as a tale that is told w s so . This ork is di proportionate , necessarily Some peo ple preserve their family history while others do not . The Thompson family history is being prepared by Mr . Ed . o . Th mpson , hence that is untouched This history does not contain the whole of life as it once was in Alamance , the drama would come nearer that than I l history . sha l perhaps do better than this attempt when I fortune smiles , and can have more leisure . i n v i n But those , who dared all things , whose courage was cible , who , by their valiant hope and endeavor, gave us a name and a home , are too good to be forgotten . They came from Ireland , England , Scotland , Germany , by way of Pennsylvania in wagons to Alamance , a beautiful but a A m a l a k i t es eb u z i tes wild country , inhabited not by and J , but by treacherous Indians . The vibrations of the energy of our forefathers should still make us tingle with desire to accomplish . Capt . Stockard lives on the old homestead , that James Stockard owned before the Regulation War . The land of Michael Holt , extending from Greensboro almost to Hills boro , still belongs to his descendants , enough for the whole family . Dr . D . A . Long lives on the land he got by his — “ ” great grandfather from the Crown Long Land . Mr . l i r o n er . W . H . T g , Mr I R Garret , Mr Van Montgomery , “ Mr . Nathaniel Woody , etc . , received their land to have ” and to hold by right from the agents of King George . It is said that the purest race on earth live in North Carolina for these reasons . Her early settlers came , being driven by religious and political persecutions , to establish en er a n d d en om i homes . The cream of other nations , gy_ e 1 0 0 — 1 6 n ati on sand p a r ti es settl d this State between 7 77 and while many have gone out to people the West there has been no immigration since . D INTRO U CTORY . 7 Our young people should know the price of their liberty and our old people must not forget for G o o d d eed s d y i n g to n gu el es s te r t s n d i t n o n t t Slaugh a h o u a w a i g ha . If this work meets with approbation in Alamance and helps to disseminate a knowledge so dear to us all , if it could but be an incentive to a more noble endeavor, then , m a I it y be , has been granted one fond wish that have done something . T H E H IST OR Y OF A LA M A N CE . CHAPTE R I . North Carolina is as rich in noble deeds of daring men as a n d Scotland . The knowledge of what Scotchmen endured availed was an incentive to the Scotch . It also gave them -co n fid en ce self , less to fear in seeming failure , and a long e look ahead . So may it b to u s . The fact that the sturdy Scots are given a place i n the f ’ l a r e r shining temple of fame is due g y to Pe cy s Reliques , ’ to Burns , and to Sir Walter Scott s works . They merited this high honor . Their d eeds were seeds that would have died in the embryo but for these men who preserved them ’ to sow broadcast forever over the English speaking wor d . A comprehensive history of North Carolina would be invaluabl e . For the historian holds the same relation to the mind of man as the farmer d o es to his body . l i b er i a l But the historian is a man of the most culture , u n large grasp of ideas , l eisure , no cares for daily bread , - h prejudiced , magnanimous . Such an one the ravens ought ’fe td ed and manna be sent him fr om heaven . n History is a narrative not having beginning or end . U a u m bl e o f written history is a labyrinth , j incidents without a m a i n the silver thread of g u en t t o or expo sit io n . It is like ~ d n d . the beads of a ro ary , unconnecte , disjointe , broke — Written —history is fossilized l ife , a latent energy stored s tr en g fIi for new endeavor . Prosperous wise and happy are that people who have a noble history and read it . T o write a history of North Carolina would be work for l T ’ a ifetime . o write historical sketches of one s county is 1 0 T H E H ISTORY O F ALAMANCE more within the range of one with limited facilities and leisure . l A amance was never a barren waste . Four hundred years ago the red man revelled here in luxurious nature . He “ could kil l more deer than could be eaten on Stinki n g ” Quarter creek . Not only did he succeed in living like a “ ” lord but writ his name in water . So the rivers and the springs ripple and sing to the music of the names he gave — them Altamahaw , Ossipee , Saxapahaw and Alamance . Besides the Indian and far above him in might there have lived amon g us g reat men in the high noon of their useful R u ffi n ness . The names of Murphy , , Bingham and Wilson adorn the county they have blessed . Their s u n h a s set but the good deeds they’ve done come out to shine like the stars that glorify the night . “ In 1 1 Chatham and Lord North were thundering in 77 ” Parliament , the letters of Junius were attracting general c o attention , all sorts of politi al contenti ns were hurled ’ th e against King George s government , and far away across Atlantic the farmers of Orange county , North Carolina , ’ were making resista nce to the oppression o f King George s — representatives Governor Tryon ’and Col .