DOCSLIB.ORG

North Carolina's Federalists in an Evolving Public

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
North Carolina's Federalists in an Evolving Public NORTH CAROLINA’S FEDERALISTS IN AN EVOLVING PUBLIC SPHERE, 1790-1810 Scott King-Owen A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History University of North Carolina at Wilmington 2006 Approved by Advisory Committee _______Dr. Chris Fonvielle_______ _________Dr. Paul Townend__________ __________Dr. Alan Watson________ Chair Accepted by ______________________________ Dean, Graduate School TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION.................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1 – NORTH CAROLINA AND ITS FEDERALIST LEADERSHIP........... 16 CHAPTER 2 – PRESS AND PUBLIC IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY................. 44 CHAPTER 3 – WILLIAM BOYLAN, FEDERALIST PARTISAN ............................... 68 CHAPTER 4 – THE WAR OF THE EDITORS .............................................................. 92 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................... 115 WORKS CITED ............................................................................................................. 124 ii ABSTRACT Frustrated by electoral defeat at the hands of Jefferson and his allies in 1800, North Carolina’s Federalists devised a plan in 1802 to send the Minerva, a Raleigh newspaper edited by William Boylan, to leading Federalists across the state. These Federalist leaders, including Duncan Cameron, William R. Davie, and Alfred Moore, all prominent politicians and lawyers, believed that the public mind had been corrupted by the newspaper propaganda of the Jeffersonian Republicans. The dissemination of the Minerva, however, could restore the public to a deferential position as well as increase their knowledge about the true state of political affairs. Though the newspapers found their way to each judicial district in North Carolina, they failed to transform the public sphere. The editor of the Minerva, William Boylan, increased the rancor of his partisan invective throughout 1802 and 1803, even though Federalist electoral success still remained elusive. Boylan also pursued the position of state printer, a job which he and his uncle had held for a number of years, but which had been given to Joseph Gales, an Englishman and Republican editor of the Raleigh Register. When Boylan failed to obtain the position of state printer in 1804, he became increasingly bitter toward Gales. When Gales accused Boylan of burning down the press of the Raleigh Register, Boylan responded by beating Gales savagely on the streets of Raleigh in 1804. Boylan, humbled in court by a fine in 1805, retreated from his former partisanship as his Federalist comrades abandoned him because of his attack on Gales. The Federalists, therefore, failed in their attempt to control the public sphere because they could not imitate Jeffersonian propaganda without betraying their conceptions of disinterestedness, virtue, and reason. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I give gratitude first to Dr. Alan Watson, who graciously allowed me to pursue an independent study on North Carolina’s Federalists in the spring of 2005. With guidance, patience, and infectious enthusiasm for North Carolina history, Dr. Watson nurtured this study from a short paper to a full-grown thesis. To Dr. Chris Fonvielle I owe a tremendous debt. His keen eye for catching the infelicitous phrasing of many of my sentences has saved me from making a fool of myself. Even when I doubted myself, Dr. Fonvielle did not. I had the pleasure of an independent study with Dr. Townend on liberalism and republicanism in Anglo-American politics, and I now I realize how fundamental that experience was to my understanding of early America. Dr. Townend’s criticism, always insightful, helped me to avoid errors in my conceptualization of Federalist politics. To my other teachers—Drs. Berkeley, La Vere, McCarthy, Toplin, and Fain—I can only say that I hope I bear the marks of your teaching in my work. I have profited immensely from both from your example and prodding. To the archivists and support staffs at the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, at the Perkins Library of Duke University, and the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, I owe thanks for assistance in bringing box after box of manuscripts. To Carole Sutton, my colleague in the school system, what would have I done without the benefit of your indefatigable editing? Finally, I owe much to those North Carolina historians who have preceded me. Through both their insights and mistakes they have illuminated my path. iv DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my parents, Dl and Virginia Owen, for giving me an appreciation of my North Carolina heritage, to my wife, Melissa King-Owen, who has endured my fascination with the Federalists with uncommon grace, and, most importantly, to Dr. Milton Ready—my undergraduate mentor at UNC-Asheville—who encouraged me as a young scholar to find my own metaphors, analogies, and alternate hypotheses to explain the past. v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. North Carolina Federalists.....................................................................................22 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Prominent North Carolina Federalists.....................................................................3 2. North Carolina’s Geography and Principal Urban Areas in 1800.........................17 3. The Minerva and Raleigh Register Mastheads......................................................84 vii INTRODUCTION “Federalism begins to look up. Very true, being now on its back, it can look no other way.” 1 The Federalists of North Carolina endured during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a beleaguered minority. They managed to achieve the adoption of the federal Constitution in North Carolina only after a second ratification convention, and, thereafter, maintained an ephemeral influence in state and national political offices. Descended from the conservatives who had wanted to rein in the excesses of the Revolution that raged from 1776 to 1781, these friends of authority, order, and stability attempted to lead a state whose democratic tendencies posed a serious challenge to eighteenth-century notions of deference to the aristocratic elite of society. The North Carolina Federalists, as self-proclaimed men of virtue, learning, and talent, suffered constant rejection at the ballot box during the early days of the American republic. Electoral failure led to an especially bitter partisan spirit in the days after the election of Thomas Jefferson as President in 1801. William R. Davie, North Carolina’s arch-Federalist, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, former governor, and ambassador to France during the Quasi-War crisis of 1798-1799, predicted in 1802 to John Steele, the Salisbury merchant and Comptroller of the United States Treasury, that “we shall never see one clear day.”2 For Davie, Steele, and the other Federalists in the state, the storm clouds had indeed cast their dark shadows over the future of good and orderly government in the United States. Seeking to explain the disastrous election of 1800, many Federalists concluded that Republican newspaper editors had captured the public mind with their insidious propaganda. The proliferation of Republican 1 Quoted in James Broussard, The Southern Federalists (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978), 80. 2 J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton and Kemp P. Battle, eds., “William Richardson Davie: A Memoir,” James Sprunt Historical Monograph 7 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1907), 49. newspapers had filled the public sphere with misinformation designed to discredit the friends of government. Duncan Cameron, a Federalist lawyer in Hillsboro, in 1802 indicted the Republican newspaper editor William Duane, editor of the Philadelphia Aurora, as a primary culprit: “the political opinion of a great portion of our citizens seems to me to grow out of hatred and party principles they are in the habit of reading and I am strengthened in this belief from an assurance that Duane published and sent into all part of the United States many papers that never were subscribed for.”3 The election of 1800, therefore, galvanized Federalist intent to reverse Jeffersonian democracy. The intensively partisan nature of the election and its aftermath, which Federalists viewed in almost apocalyptic terms, portended the end of the revised republican experiment launched at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.4 William R. Davie wrote to John Steele in 1801 that “the Federalists own the destruction of the Constitution as an event certain under the administration of Mr. Jefferson.”5 John Cameron, brother of Duncan Cameron, noted in the summer of 1800 that the “people seem bent on their own Destruction, which, may the Supreme Governour
Load more

Recommended publications
  • This Constitution: a Bicentennial Chronicle, Nos. 14-18
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 300 290 SO 019 380 AUTHOR Mann, Shelia, Ed. TITLE This Constitution: A Bicentennial Chronicle, Nos. 14-18. INSTITUTION American Historical Association, Washington, D.C.; American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C.; Project '87, Washington, DC. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Humanities (NFAH), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 87 NOTE 321p.; For related document, see ED 282 814. Some photographs may not reproduce clearly. AVAILABLE FROMProject '87, 1527 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036 nos. 13-17 $4.00 each, no. 18 $6.00). PUB TYPE Collected Works - Serials (022) -- Historical Materials (060) -- Guides - Classroom Use - Guides (For Teachers) (052) JOURNAL CIT This Constitution; n14-17 Spr Sum Win Fall 1987 n18 Spr-Sum 1988 EDRS PRICE MFO1 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; *Constitutional History; *Constitutional Law; History Instruction; Instructioral Materials; Lesson Plans; Primary Sources; Resource Materials; Secondary Education; Social Studies; United States Government (Course); *United States History IDENTIFIERS *Bicentennial; *United States Constitution ABSTRACT Each issue in this bicentennial series features articles on selected U.S. Constitution topics, along with a section on primary documents and lesson plans or class activities. Issue 14 features: (1) "The Political Economy of tne Constitution" (K. Dolbeare; L. Medcalf); (2) "ANew Historical Whooper': Creating the Art of the Constitutional Sesquicentennial" (K. Marling); (3) "The Founding Fathers and the Right to Bear Arms: To Keep the People Duly Armed" (R. Shalhope); and (4)"The Founding Fathers and the Right to Bear Arms: A Well-Regulated Militia" (L. Cress). Selected articles from issue 15 include: (1) "The Origins of the Constitution" (G.
    [Show full text]
  • Popular Sovereignty, Slavery in the Territories, and the South, 1785-1860
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2010 Popular sovereignty, slavery in the territories, and the South, 1785-1860 Robert Christopher Childers Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Childers, Robert Christopher, "Popular sovereignty, slavery in the territories, and the South, 1785-1860" (2010). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1135. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1135 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY, SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES, AND THE SOUTH, 1785-1860 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Robert Christopher Childers B.S., B.S.E., Emporia State University, 2002 M.A., Emporia State University, 2004 May 2010 For my wife ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing history might seem a solitary task, but in truth it is a collaborative effort. Throughout my experience working on this project, I have engaged with fellow scholars whose help has made my work possible. Numerous archivists aided me in the search for sources. Working in the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gave me access to the letters and writings of southern leaders and common people alike.
    [Show full text]
  • 2001 North Carolina Women's Soccer • Page 78
    History tistry, medicine, pharmacy and law. Five health schools -- Students Carolina was the nation’s first state university to open its which, with UNC Hospitals, comprise one of the nation’s Recent freshman classes at Carolina have set new standards doors and the only public university to award degrees in the most complete academic medical centers -- are integrated of excellence as measured by the rigorous coursework stu- 18th century. with liberal arts, basic sciences and high-tech academic dents have taken, as well as their grades and SAT scores. Authorized by the N.C. Constitution in 1776, the universi- programs. The incoming freshmen of 2001 are continuing that trend. ty was chartered by the N.C. General Assembly Dec. 11, In fall 2000, Carolina enrolled 24,872 students from all 100 Besides setting a new record for high school preparation, 1789, the same year George Washington first was inaugu- North Carolina counties, the other 49 states and nearly 100 the newest class will become the very best group of first- rated as president. other countries. Eighty-two percent of Carolina’s 15,608 year students Carolina has ever admitted. The cornerstone was laid for Old East, the nation’s first undergraduates were from North Carolina. Sixty-three per- state university building, Oct. 12, 1793. Hinton James, the cent of Carolina’s students were undergraduates, 28 percent UNC students have a long tradition of outstanding achieve- first student, arrived from Wilmington, N.C., Feb. 12, 1795. ment. Thirty-five have been awarded the Rhodes Location Scholarship since it was created in 1902, including the first The 729-acre central campus includes the two oldest state U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Mccorkle PLACE
    CHAPTER EIGHT: McCORKLE PLACE McCorkle Place is said to be the most densely memorialized piece of real estate in North Carolina.501 On the University’s symbolic front lawn, there are almost a dozen monuments and memorials fundamental to the University’s lore and traditions, but only two monuments within the space have determined the role of McCorkle Place as a space for racial justice movements.502 The Unsung Founders Memorial and the University’s Confederate Monument were erected on the oldest quad of the campus almost a century apart for dramatically different memorial purposes. The former honors the enslaved and freed Black persons who “helped build” the University, while the latter commemorated, until its toppling in August 2018, “the sons of the University who entered the war of 1861-65.”503 Separated by only a few dozen yards, the physical distinctions between the two monuments were, before the Confederate Monument was toppled, quite striking. The Unsung 501 Johnathan Michels, “Who Gets to be Remembered In Chapel Hill?,” Scalawag Magazine, 8 October 2016, <https://www.scalawagmagazine.org/2016/10/whats-in-a-name/>. 502 Timothy J. McMillan, “Remembering Forgetting: A Monument to Erasure at the University of North Carolina,” in Silence, Screen and Spectacle: Rethinking Social Memory in the Age of Information, ed. Lindsay A. Freeman, Benjamin Nienass, and Rachel Daniell, 137-162, (Berghahn Book: New York, New York, 2004): 139-142; Other memorials and sites of memory within McCorkle Place include the Old Well, the Davie Poplar, Old East, the Caldwell Monument, a Memorial to Founding Trustees, and the Speaker Ban Monument.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Deprived of Their Liberty'
    'DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY': ENEMY PRISONERS AND THE CULTURE OF WAR IN REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA, 1775-1783 by Trenton Cole Jones A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland June, 2014 © 2014 Trenton Cole Jones All Rights Reserved Abstract Deprived of Their Liberty explores Americans' changing conceptions of legitimate wartime violence by analyzing how the revolutionaries treated their captured enemies, and by asking what their treatment can tell us about the American Revolution more broadly. I suggest that at the commencement of conflict, the revolutionary leadership sought to contain the violence of war according to the prevailing customs of warfare in Europe. These rules of war—or to phrase it differently, the cultural norms of war— emphasized restricting the violence of war to the battlefield and treating enemy prisoners humanely. Only six years later, however, captured British soldiers and seamen, as well as civilian loyalists, languished on board noisome prison ships in Massachusetts and New York, in the lead mines of Connecticut, the jails of Pennsylvania, and the camps of Virginia and Maryland, where they were deprived of their liberty and often their lives by the very government purporting to defend those inalienable rights. My dissertation explores this curious, and heretofore largely unrecognized, transformation in the revolutionaries' conduct of war by looking at the experience of captivity in American hands. Throughout the dissertation, I suggest three principal factors to account for the escalation of violence during the war. From the onset of hostilities, the revolutionaries encountered an obstinate enemy that denied them the status of legitimate combatants, labeling them as rebels and traitors.
    [Show full text]
  • A Walking Tour of City Cemetery
    Tradition has it that Wm Henry Haywood, Jr., (1801- way was established. Finished in January 1833 it was Geddy Hill (1806-1877) was a prominent Raleigh physi 1846), is buried near his sons, Duncan Cameron and Wm. considered the first attempt at a railroad in N' C The cian and a founder of the Medical Society of North Caro Henry, both killed in the Civil War; but his tombstone railroad was constructed to haul stone from' a local Una. is gone. Haywood was a U. S. Senator. He declined ap­ quarry to build the present Capitol. Passenger cars were pointment by President Van Buren as Charge d'Affairs placed upon it for the enjoyment of local citizens. 33. Jacob Marling (d. 1833). Artist. Marling painted to Belgium. Tracks ran from the east portico of the Capitol portraits in water color and oils of numerous members to the roek quarry in the eastern portion of the city Mrs. of the General Assembly and other well-known personages 18. Josiah Ogden Watson (1774-1852). Landowner. Polk was principal stockholder and the investment re­ Known for his landscape paintings, Marling's oil-on-canvas Watson was active in Raleigh civic life, donating money portedly paid over a 300 per cent return. painting of the first N. C. State House hangs in the for the Christ Church tower. His home, "Sharon," belong­ N. C. Museum of History. ed at one time to Governor Jonathan Worth A WALKING 34. Peace Plot. The stone wall around this plot was 19. Romulus Mitchell Saunders (1791-1867). Lawyer designed with a unique drainage system which prevents and statesman.
    [Show full text]
  • Ch 5 NC Legislature.Indd
    The State Legislature The General Assembly is the oldest governmental body in North Carolina. According to tradition, a “legislative assembly of free holders” met for the first time around 1666. No documentary proof, however, exists proving that this assembly actually met. Provisions for a representative assembly in Proprietary North Carolina can be traced to the Concessions and Agreements, adopted in 1665, which called for an unicameral body composed of the governor, his council and twelve delegates selected annually to sit as a legislature. This system of representation prevailed until 1670, when Albemarle County was divided into three precincts. Berkeley Precinct, Carteret Precinct and Shaftsbury Precinct were apparently each allowed five representatives. Around 1682, four new precincts were created from the original three as the colony’s population grew and the frontier moved westward. The new precincts were usually allotted two representatives, although some were granted more. Beginning with the Assembly of 1723, several of the larger, more important towns were allowed to elect their own representatives. Edenton was the first town granted this privilege, followed by Bath, New Bern, Wilmington, Brunswick, Halifax, Campbellton (Fayetteville), Salisbury, Hillsborough and Tarborough. Around 1735 Albemarle and Bath Counties were dissolved and the precincts became counties. The unicameral legislature continued until around 1697, when a bicameral form was adopted. The governor or chief executive at the time, and his council constituted the upper house. The lower house, the House of Burgesses, was composed of representatives elected from the colony’s various precincts. The lower house could adopt its own rules of procedure and elect its own speaker and other officers.
    [Show full text]
  • W4728 James Martin
    Southern Campaigns American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters 1 Pension application of James Martin W4728 Martha Martin HQ19 & f86NC Transcribed by Will Graves 7/17/06 rev'd 8/8/14 [Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Where the meaning is not compromised by adhering to the spelling, punctuation or grammar, no change has been made. Corrections or additional notes have been inserted within brackets or footnotes. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. A bracketed question mark indicates that the word or words preceding it represent(s) a guess by me. The word 'illegible' or 'indecipherable' appearing in brackets indicates that at the time I made the transcription, I was unable to decipher the word or phrase in question. Only materials pertinent to the military service of the veteran and to contemporary events have been transcribed. Affidavits that provide additional information on these events are included and genealogical information is abstracted, while standard, 'boilerplate' affidavits and attestations related solely to the application, and later nineteenth and twentieth century research requests for information have been omitted. I use speech recognition software to make all my transcriptions. Such software misinterprets my southern accent with unfortunate regularity and my poor proofreading skills fail to catch all misinterpretations. Also, dates or numbers which the software treats as numerals rather than words are not corrected: for example, the software transcribes "the eighth of June one thousand eighty six" as "the 8th of June 1786." Please call material errors or omissions to my attention.] [p 5] Stokes County North Carolina October 1832 The Declaration of James Martin Sr.
    [Show full text]
  • CRAWFORD, WILLIAM HARRIS, 1772-1834. William Harris Crawford Papers, 1815-1829
    CRAWFORD, WILLIAM HARRIS, 1772-1834. William Harris Crawford papers, 1815-1829 Emory University Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library Atlanta, GA 30322 404-727-6887 [email protected] Descriptive Summary Creator: Crawford, William Harris, 1772-1834. Title: William Harris Crawford papers, 1815-1829 Call Number: Manuscript Collection No. 307 Extent: .25 linear feet (1 box) Abstract: Mainly photocopies of letters of presidential candidate and Georgia politician William H. Crawford. Language: Materials entirely in English. Administrative Information Restrictions on Access Unrestricted access. Terms Governing Use and Reproduction All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction. Special restrictions also apply: The collection contains some copies of original materials held by other institutions; these copies may not be reproduced without the permission of the owner of the originals Source Gift, date unknown. Citation [after identification of item(s)], William Harris Crawford, 1815-1829, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. Processing Unknown. This finding aid may include language that is offensive or harmful. Please refer to the Rose Library's harmful language statement for more information about why such language may appear and ongoing efforts to remediate racist, ableist, sexist, homophobic, euphemistic and other Emory Libraries provides copies of its finding aids for use only in research and private study. Copies supplied may not be copied for others or otherwise distributed without prior consent of the holding repository. William Harris Crawford papers, 1815-1829 Manuscript Collection No. 307 oppressive language. If you are concerned about language used in this finding aid, please contact us at [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Recommendation for the Disposition and Preservation of the Confederate Monument
    Recommendation for the Disposition and Preservation of the Confederate Monument A Four-Part Plan presented by UNC-Chapel Hill to the UNC Board of Governors Appendices TABLE OF CONTENTS A-1: Executive Summary of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Safety Panel Report. ..................... 3 A-2: Summary of Safety and Security Considerations ......... 6 B: Letter from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources ................................... 10 C: Campus Map ................................................................. 11 D: Legal Considerations ..................................................... 12 E: Requested Cost Estimates .............................................15 F: Work of the Chancellor’s Task Force on UNC Chapel Hill History ...........................................28 G-1: Site Evaluation ........................................................... 31 G-2: Summary of Possible Sites for Disposition of Confederate Monument ......................... 38 H: Summary of Community and Public Input ..................... 52 Appendix A-1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL PUBLIC SAFETY PANEL REPORT This is an executive summary of the Report of a five-person expert Panel (the “Panel”) convened by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC-CH”) to assess the security and public safety issues associated with the “Silent Sam” civil war monument (the “Monument”). This Panel consisted of five security professionals led by Chris Swecker, Attorney at Law and former FBI Assistant Director. Other members include Jane Perlov, who has served as NYPD Chief of Detectives, Queens, Secretary of Public Safety, Commonwealth of Mass. and Chief of Police in Raleigh N.C.; Louis Quijas, former FBI Assistant Director and Chief of Police, High Point, N.C.; Johnny Jennings, Deputy Chief of Police, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD); and Edward Reeder, Major General US Army Special Forces Command (Ret.) and CEO of Five Star Global Security.
    [Show full text]
  • GOVERNOR ALEXANDER MARTIN (First Administration), 1781-1785, N.D
    Governors’ Papers 1 Alexander Martin GOVERNOR ALEXANDER MARTIN (First Administration), 1781-1785, n.d. Arrangement: By record series, then chronological Reprocessed by: James Mark Valsame Date: September 3, 2009 Alexander Martin (1738 – November 2, 1807), merchant, lawyer, legislator, governor, and senator, was born at Lebanon, Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, NJ, the oldest son of Hugh and Jane Hunter Martin. Hugh Martin was born near Inniskilling, County Tyrone, Ireland, about 1700; Jane Hunter Martin was born in County Antrim, Ireland, about 1720. The two families migrated within a few years of each other in the late 1720s, landing at New Castle, DE, but settling soon afterwards in New Jersey, where Hugh and Jane first met and were married. Little is known of Alexander Martin’s childhood except for a comment of his brother that he did not speak a word until four. His father became a moderately prosperous farmer, served as a justice of the peace, and for a period conducted an English school. Alexander attended Francis Alison’s academy at New London, Connecticut, and then Newark College, which, while he was a student, was moved, under the direction of President Aaron Burr, to Princeton, N.J. Martin received A.B. (September 29,1756) and A.M. (1759) degrees from Princeton. After graduation he moved to Cumberland, Virginia, where, for just over a year, he served as a tutor to the son of N. Davies and conducted a school. He returned briefly to New Jersey, apparently on family business, before making a permanent move south to seek his fortune. Martin settled in Salisbury, NC, about 1760, and became a merchant.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1 State Symbols
    NORTH CAROLINA Lords Proprietor Seal Albemarle Seal 1665-1730 North Carolina’s State Symbols Like every other state in the U.S. and nearly every country in the world, North Carolina’s state government has selected a wide array of official state symbols. Some of these symbols, such as the state seal, are historic relics that played an important legal role earlier in the state’s history. Others are symbols chosen by the N.C. General Assembly to promote important North Carolina products, natural resources and human achievements. Some symbols are literally larger than life, particularly such historic state buildings as the North Carolina Capitol, the N.C. Legislative Building and the Executive Mansion, the official residence of North Carolina’s governor. All North Carolina symbols share one important function, namely reminding North Carolinians and the rest of the world of our state’s cultural character, natural wonders and rich history. The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina The state seal is probably the oldest official state symbol. A seal for important documents was used before a state government was organized in North Carolina. During the colonial period North Carolina used four different seals in succession. Since independence, the state has used six different versions of the seal. STATE SYMBOLS NORTH CAROLINA MANUAL 2011-2012 Provincial Seal 1730-1767 Provincial Seal 1767-1776 Shortly after King Charles II issued the Charter of 1663 to the Lords Proprietor, a seal was adopted to use in conjunction with their newly-acquired domains in America. No official description has been found of the seal but it can be seen in the British Public Record Office in London.
    [Show full text]