liORjMjARi _ c cljkjjal •■'••■ES L TABLET ADDRESS Delivered by JUDG2 WALTER CLARK of Raleigh, North Carolina Fayetteville, North Carolina January 2, 1924 THIS TABLET Placed by the North C rolina Society of Colonial D:-.nes on the IVr ct side of the old market house in Payetteville, was unveiled 2 January, 1924. It bears the following inscription; "Th North Carolina Society of Colonial Denes hes placed this tablet to conn : . te the following events; 1. First 'yr.-gan.iaed Scotch cottier. cut on Cape Peer at the couth cf Cross Creek 1739, t. Cumberland County established 1754. 5. The incorporation of the town of Canpbellton 1762. 4. The settlement of Grose Creek village 1765. 5. Liberty Point Declaration of Independence, June 20, 1775. 6. Cross Creek and Campbell ton united end incorporated as Payettevillo 1783. 7. On this cite stood the State House. 6. Here the Constitution of the United States was ador>t©d November 21. 17 99. 9. Here Charter of the University of North Carolina was granted 1789. 10. Here Lafayette was wolconcd March 4, "1825. The present structure built ebout 1 Q 3C replaced the original one destroyed by the fire cf 1831. The Women's Civic Association organized 1907 has preserved this building." ALL BESS by Walter Clark At the unveiling of the tablet placed by the north Carolina Society of Colonial Danes on the old market house in Payetteville, 2 January, 1924. LADIES OP THE COLONIAL DAMES AID CITIZENS OP PAYETTE VI LLE : It is always most pleasant to anyone, especially to a North Carolinian, to visix Payetteville. Besides the proverbial hospitality and courtesy of your people, there are the historical associations of your past which the le.dics on this occasion are placing in lasting bronze on the front of this historic building and your assurence of a still greater future for which you are rerching out and which you so well deserve to attain. It has been well said that : people who piece no memorials in honor of the greet deeds of their ancestors will do nothing that will deserve commemoration by their descendents. TV-is reproach cannot be made against the people of this city mC. county and least of all against the Ladies who compose the Colonial Dames ox this city. The tablet which you are unveiling today places a iesting memorial at least ten of the most notable events in the history of your city and county. I. It commemorates m the first place the first organized Scotch settlement on the Cope "err River at the mouth of Cross Creek in 1739. This was the beginning of that splendid Scotch immigration which hes been perpetuated end extended through this entire section end whose descendants have done so much for the honor and development of North Carolina . II. It also coma error ate 8 the organization of Cumberland County which w-'S formed in 1754 from the upper pert of Bladen. Str~npely enough, it was named for Willi an Augustus. Luke of Cumberland, second son of George 11. He had commanded the English forces rt the battle - of Colloden in 1745 where the Highlanders received their final defeat ^ end the &ouse of Stuart was completely crushed. &c followed Up his o victory with such cruelty and so ::my executions that he was long "^ called the "Bloody Luke." Gabriel Johnston, who was of Scotch birth, ^was from 1733 to 1751 Governor if the province of North Carolina and he aided largely to st .rt the immigration of the Scotch to this state . tfe 2 "U In 1739 a ehipload of Scotch under Neil McNeil of Zintyre settled near this place, then k i i ?.s Gross Creek. The Oener 1 Assembly, doubtles . on the suggestion of Governor Gabriel Johnston, was anxious to get .Scotch settlers and had passed an act caking then: free of taxation for ten years after arrival rnd voted then a thousand pounds as : . or aid. After Cuiloden the immigration of Highland Scotch to this section greatly increased and in 1754 it ie estimated there were 1 COO Scotch capable of bearing arcs settled in this section., At the a al Assembly held in Wilmington in 1754 the no rife] s made into the County of Cumberland. In 1757 Rev. James >ell of Argyllshire, a Presbyterian, of course, came to Cumberland said took charge of the church near what is now Fayetteville . In 175" there had been granted on quit-leases, 80,000 acres in Cumberland. III. In 1762 the General Assembly, upon application, granted the petition for public buildings for the county to be erected c t Cross Creek and the town of Campbell ton was chartered, the second court- house was built and at a point a mile east cf the present Payetteville. The Scotch immigrants continued to arrive in increasing numbers. IV. The village of Cross Creek was first settled in 1765 where ten years later was made Liberty Point of the Declaration of Independence on 20 Jane, 1775, in honor of which you had a memorable celebration in this city. In 1769 the Regulators among their grievances stated they wanted warehouses for Anson rnd ^ronge counties, which were, of course, then very much larger than at present, erected at Campbellton which was then considered the head of navigation on the Caps Pear, In 1766 a tobacco warehouse and wharf had been built there under orders of the General Assembly and notes were issued, under authority of the Province, of the tobacco inspected, packed and stored there. In this they were nearly 160 years ahead of the present co-operative tobacco associations and received greater recognition in that the State issued notes upon the shipment Df the tobacco. In 1770 many Highland clans were reported represented in this section the McNeils being prominent. The Scotch "-ore their national costume and mingled together like one family. The bag-pipes were played at all gatherings." In 1771 upon the petition of the free-hold inhabitants of and near Campbellton the privilege of a bSKtough town was given them to send a member to the general Assembly and Robert Rowan was the first member chosen. A public highway was ordered built from Cross Creek to the D n River through Cumberland, Chatham, and Guilford. In 1772 an act was passed exempting immigrants from taxation for four years and several shiploads of Scotch folks coming from the Highlands of Arran, Dura, Isla, Skye , rnd Argyllshire were landed and most of them settled in Cumberland. The number of these immigrants in that year was given as 1600. Another great wove of Scotch immigration followed in 1774 when the McDonalds fairly poured in from Skye one 1 adjacent islands, Allan McDonrld the husband of the celebrated Plora McDonald being their leader. V. On June 20. 1775, the patriots formed an association and adopted the Liberty Point Declaration of Independence, which was signet" by Robert Rowan and 30 others. This was as defiant as the Mecklenburg Declaration and only a few days later. It read as follows: "The Association. Jane 20, ths oj I :P. near Ser.tcn xae increase of arbitrary impositions from th "The actua'J cor. enoenent of hostility ainst continent, by :he British troops, in the bloody scene of .. 1 l! ly,i2t. near Ser.tcn the increase of arbitrary impositions fro . . I and despotic Ministry, end the dread of instigated insurrections in the colonies, ore cruses sufficient to drive ■■ . pe " - j use of arms. We, iherefcr^. the -e 3 subscribers, of Cumberland County, holding ourselves vouncl by the most sacred of rll obligations, bhe duty of good citizens towards an injured country, r. t convinced, that, under our distressed circumstances, we shall be justified in resisting force by force, do unite ourselves under ev ry vie oi religion and honor. and assooirte as a band in her defence against every foe. aereby = ol< ' ' Sing, Chat .hcnaver our Continental or Provincii • sree it necessary, we will go forth and be r •..■..•/ to sacrifice cur lives and fortunes to secure her freedom i by. This obligation to continue in full force until a reconciliation shal] take place between Great Britain and America, upon constituti onal principles, an even we cost ardently desire; and we will hold all those persons inimical to the- liberty of the colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe to this Association; and wo will in all things follow the advice of our General Committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, the pre serve t ion of perce and good order and the safety of infividual rnd private property. Signed, Robert Rowan Lewis Barge Mau rice N o w 1 an Lewis Powell Martin Lennard George Fi etcher Walter Murray David Evans John Elwell Benjamin Elwell Joseph Green Robert Green Robert Carver ■Fheoplilus Evans Thomas Moody Jos. De Lespine Arthur Council John Oliver Charles Stevens William Ecrrin Robert Verne r David Dunn Simon 3: nday John Jones Robert Council Samuel C rver David Shepard liicajah Fnrrell John Wilson James Emmet Aaron Vardey John Parker Philip Herrin James Gee William White Joshua Hadley Wi Iliac Blocker Sam' 1 . Hollingsw orth •■ Llliam Carver" The liberty Point Declaration which was adopted here was quickly followed by similar declarations in .^ew Hanover, Duplin, ^uison. Bladen, 0;>clow, and several other counties. It did not meet with tl immigrants who knew :he concurrence of these newly arrived nothing .of the grievances of the older and who remembered the disaster ous results in Scotland in 1745 from the palace in Hew Born., issued the famous proclamation ordering settlers their own uprising la r tin, who had fled raise the roSfaJ standard arts Cross Creek, and appointed Brigadier General, The clrns ca:.:e down In 1776 Governor Josiah palace in Hew Born, issued the famous the loyal Scotch to Allan IIcDinald was uickly with their pipes playing. The McDonalds, McLcods, Mcjfenzies, McRaes, McLeans, McHcys, MeLaa hlins, and many others. On 27 February 1776 this array oi Hi hlanders went to defeat at the battle of [.I ore's Creek 3ridge not far from here, in which the citizens cf this section were opposed to each other. Besides the killed, large numbers were talc en or is oners. In 1781 after the battle of Guilford Court House on 15 March, Comwallis, with his little British army of 1520 infantry and 200 cavaifcy, marched through Cross Creek hoping to rrise re-enforcements among the Scotch settlers. with small suo 1 ilmington ant": there received some re-enforce. eents oat on his fatal ~sreh through eastern C rolina en route to the final surrender at Yorktovm. :I £.• "' Ch G d Thence he set a camping at halifax C ornwr lifts ' £ muster roll on January 1791, at Hillsboro -h.'ou-c a total of 3,224 officer treat from uilford Court House, he had 1725 only, so that he lost nearly half of his force in 75 c ys men bui Dross Creek on his . t :.--ile after the battle, Page 4 by casualties and desertions (which are said to have been numerous) and only 2/3 of these were said to have been fit to fight. Lieut-Col. Webster, a gallant officer of the 33rd Rcginient, was among the wounded at Guilford which aocompained the army. He died when he reached a few miles below hlizabethtown and was burried at the. foot of a pine tree on the roadside at a spot which is still pointed out. Long years afterwards when the grave was opened, it is said that he lay in his uniform and ingisnia as a British officer almost apparently alive but Irieven the body was touched the whole instantly dissolved into dust. VI. In 1783 the village of Cross Greek and the village of Campbell ton were united and incorporated as Fayetteville in honor of Marquis de LaFayette who had rendered such efficient service in aiding the achievement of our independence and under that historic name the city has borne an honorable and conspicuous part iii all the subsequent events of our state history. In 1784 Ci iberland Co ;nty was abolished and was divided into two new counties, Lloore and Fayette, but in a few months the name of Payette was changed bach to Cumberland. The first capital of the province of No^th C - rolina was at B-.th in what is now Beaufort County. Then for a while it was at Wil -iu.rtonj thence it was moved to Nov, 3om under Governor Try on who built there a palace. During our Revolution the General Assemblies were styled "Congresses" for a while. T .: Congress which met at h. lifax in 12 April 1776 instructed our delegation in the General Con.ress at Philadelphia to declare for American Independence, bein< the first state to do so, which historical event is commemorated on our state flag end seal. Di.xin the Revolution our Legislative Assemblies were held at Smithfield, at Hillsboro, at F; „ etteville , and other places. Vll.I'urin: the Revolution and for some time afterwards we had no capital and our General Assemblies were peripatetic, meeting at Wilmington, Halifax , Smithfield, Fayetteville , Hillsboro, and probably other places until the capital was permanently located at its present site by the Act of 1790. The building which stood on this spot was occupied by the General Assembly when it met here and which adjourned in 1789 for the Convention which in the sane building adopted the Constitution of the United States. At Hillsboro in 1788, the State Convention declared by a v:te of 100 majority against the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. It is said that this was cone under the influence of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration and afterwards twice President of the United States on the ground that there was no bill of rights recognising the rights of persons in that instrument. Honorable Willie Jones of Halifax and others, acting in co-operation with Mr. Jefferson, opposed and r r tifi cation of the Constitution after the Union had been made sure by the adoption of nine states, until the first ten Amendments \ sre agreed to be incorporated and upon that understanding the Convention was called to meet at Fayetteville in November 1^89. ' Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/northcarolinacolOOclar Page 5 VIII. And hero was ratified on 21 November, 1789, the Constitution of the United States, we being the twelfth state to do this. The General Assenbley was in session here when the Convention assembled and adjourned over for the purpose of holding the Convention. Governor Richard Caswell died here during that session of the General Assembly. The Constitution of the United Stctes was adopted at this place on 21 November, 1789. IX. When the first republican Constitution of the State was adopted at Halifax on 18 December, 1776 amid the thunders of war, the" founders of our government thinking of the future and of the necessity of education to make our people free and progressive, that they should "know their ri^atE and knowing dare maintain them" inserted in that Constitution this wise provision, "all useful learning shall be duly encouraged and promoted in one or more Universities but it was not until the General Assembly met here in 1784 that they had leisure to formulate and grant the charter of that University. It is said that the geographical centre of the State is where the Gape Fear and the Deep Rivers cone together at the point which was formerly known as the town of Haywood, In former times when railroads were unknown and public roads were few and verv inferior, the Cape Peer running up through the heart of the State, furnished at Fayetteville the point of departure from which wagons plying into the interior of North Carolina furnished for that great western half of the State the most ready and accessible means of shipping our products and receiving imported goods from the north and from Europe. Fayetteville was literally the metropolis of the State. When in 1792 the General Assembly at New Bern decided upon a permanent capital for North C rolina, naturally Fayetteville would nave been chosen but the influences in favor of the present location at Raleirh were very strong. The contest was for a long time undetermined, but was finally settled in favor of the site which has since become Raleigh by friends of the eelection of tnat locality promising the J S, Sena tor ship to a resident of the C>pe Fear section — not "from a -etteville, however — whose support ave the requisite majority which locate", the new capital within ten miles of the home of Isaac H-. ter. EC Fayetteville been chosen our R. R. system would have been located essentially differently. Tiiere would have been water competition nere and the history of our State would have been varied in" all its subsequent scenes. X. It was here that on 4 March, 1825, the marquis de Lafayette received a royal celeome in this town which bore his name, The incidents of that reception and of the Liberty Point Declaration of Independence yn 20 J ue, 1775, hare heretofore been recided in addresses made on this spot. In March, 1865, the Federal Army on its march northwards from the destruction of Columbia, at Fayetteville burned the press end office of i.. J. Hale and Sons, the editors and publishers of the Fayetteville Observer and committed other depredations which have not yet passed from the memory of your people. " ! e have forgiven but we have not forgotten. The building which stood on this spot and had been used as the State Rouse by several legislatures, was destroyed by fire in 18 SIB and the xresent structure was built to reolace it in 18' ■; -,J Page 6 The VVomen'u CJivic Association, organized in 1907, has preserved this building from destruction. The greatest credit. is due to their efforts which should command great success and the entire support of your penpie. To narrate the historical events in Cumberland and Fayetteville would take far more than the time allotted to me on this occassion and the list of the great men whom you have furnished to the State would be a roll of honor to any people. With the name of Cumberland County is connected the romantic history of Flora McDonald whose name and memory has been preserved wherever the English language is spoken. After the fatal battle of Culloden in which the cause'of the Stuarts and the unfortunste Prince Charles Ddward passed forever, Flora McDonald was arrested for aiding in his escape and carried to London. She had not been an advocate of the Pretender's claim to the crown nor was she even of the same religious faith- She was moved by the impulsive humanity of a woman for one in distress. When asked by King George how she- had dared to aid the enemy of his crown and kingdom she replied with noble dignity. "I only did what I would ao for your majesty in the same condition' end relieve distress," She afterwards married Allan McDonald and emigrated to America in 1775 just on the eve of our devolution. The ruins of the house in which she ana her husband settled in Fgyettevflle was to be seen for many years. Pier husband wrs made a general in the British Amy and was taken prisoner in the battle of Moores' Creek on 27 February, 1775. Cn his release the family returned to Scotland but her name and fame will be forever connected with Fayetteville and Cumberland bounty, in her old age she plaintively said she had served both the Stuarts and their opponents and had received nothing but sorrow and misfortune in the service of both. She died in Scotland. Among the long list of names furnished by this country to the State we can only mention a few. John Lewis Taylor, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of .North Carolina, represented Fayetteville in the House of Commons in 1792, 93 and 94. In 1798 he became a judge of the Superior Court and in 1819 one of the judges of the Supreme Court, becoming later Chief Justice. Among the sans of this city and county who have held high positions in the State are Warren Winslow who was for a. short while Governor of the State succeeding upon the election of javid S. Head to the U. S„ Senate in 1854; besides Chief Justice Taylor, John D. Toofler, and James C e McHae were Supreme Court judges while as Superior Court judges the County has furnished besides Toomer and :■•: Mcitae, Robert Strange, Jesse G. Shepherd, Halph ?. Buxton, and the present honored incumbent, IT. A. Sinclair. The County has furnished as members of Congress, William Barry Grove, Samuel D. Purviance, Archibald McNeil, Lemuel B e thune, Robert Strange, Jas. C. Dobbin, Warren Winslow, Wharton J. Green, rnd John G„ Shaw. Eon. Henry Potter was appointed District Judge to succeed Judge Sitgrea.ves in i801 and occupied that position for more than fifty years. Louis D, Henry, long one of the most prominent citizens of the State, and a member of the Legislature of which he was chosen Speaker, represented this county end was a candidate for Governor in 1842. Hon. Jas. C. Dobbin was a member of the House of Commons, of which he was Speaker, and became Secretary of the Navy on the election of Franklin Pierce as ©resident and served with distinction. It was under his auspices th~t there was carried to a successful conclusion perry's expedition to Japan which opened up that country to civilization. The expedition had been planned by his predecessor, Hon. William a. Graham, also of this State, and was carried to success under the r dm ini strati on of Mr. Dobbin. Page 7 Hon. 3. J. Kale, besides being r. distinguished soldier in the Confederate Arny, later w:.s our efficient consul to Manchester, England, end died while II. S. Minister to Costa ftica. Hon Geo. . . .lose h~s been Speaker of the State House of .