North Carolina Newspapers

Whole JW. 803. Tarhornii?h (lUlgecombe County, JSC.J Saturday September 17, Vol. XV 11 L jVo 37. The Tarhorough Press, BY OEOnGE HOWARD, - Is published weekly at Two Dollars and Fifty Vents per year, if paid in advance or Three Hollars at the expiration of the subscription year. Fnr an period less than a year, Tive'ity-Jice Csnts per month. Subscribers are at liberty to discontinue at any time, on giving notice thereof and paying arrears those residing at a distance, must invariably pay in advance, or give a respon sible reference in this vicinity. Advertisements not exceeding a square will be inserted at One Dollar the first insertion, and 25 cents for every continuance. Longer ad vertise ments in like proportion. Court Orders and Ju dicial advertisements 25 per cent, higher. Ad vertisements must be marked the number of in sertions required, or theywill be continued until otherwise ordered and charged accordingly. Letters addressed to the Kditor must be post paid or they may not be attended to. EDGECOMBE COUNTY. N C. We hive been recently favored with th perusal of a manuscript copy of A statisti cal and historical account of Edgecombe County, first presented to ihe Agricultural Society of said County, by Jer. Battle, 1S11" and transcribed by permission of Gov. Swain, from the'mamiscript copv, in his possession, at Chapel Hill, April 25th. 1S40, by IV. F. Dancy, E-q. from which we take the following extracts. The County of Edgecombe extends about forty miles from North to South, and thir ty from East to West. It is generally a lev el county, with gentle elevations; and .not destitute of pleasant and healthy situations. The soil is exceedingly diversified, consis- tin0- of a gradation from poor piney wood, to a rich swamp land, lying on the creeks j and river. The proportion of these is a bout three-fourths of the former to one fourth of the latter. The best river land produces abundantly of Indian corn, peas, wheat, rye, oats, sweet potatoes, Irish po- . n o 1 a L - 1 ! 1 tatoes, cotton, tlax, xc. anu n is oeneveu some spots are well adapted to the culture of hemp. The best piney land produces every thing that the river land docs, but not in the same degree of perfection; and the most barren piney lands are yet valua ble, where thy are not too remote from navigation, for the tar a.vl turpentine they afford. The lands on the river are valued from $10 to 20 per acre; on the creeks, from S5 to 510; and the piney vvooas H orn Monable, on this occasion, not to mention Si to S5. I the merits of Col. Jonas Johns on, who In the county there is a gneat variety of -pose from obscurity and acted a conspicu excellent timbers, viz on the river andjous part in our revolutionary struggle, creeks are various species of oak, p plar, Henry Irwin had long been a resident and pickory, black walnut, mulberry, ash, & j merchant of Tat-boro'. He took an active The swamps afford excellent cypress, juni- j part in our differences with Great Hritain, per and white oak. Hut the pine timberand perh ips no man, according to his situ- is perhapsstill more valuable, being tall, : straight, and well calculated for building. These different situations abound in various i other 2'owths, as cedar, elm, sugir maple, dog wood, sassafras, chmqnepin, sweet' p-um. black rum. whortleberry, urapc vine, &c. The forests, fields and gar lens also a- bound in shrubs and plants, that serve the nnronsps nf medicine and rural arts, viz: the high and low myrtle, the gallbery, the i' -1-. - - several kinds of rhus, particularly the njus glahan or common sumach wild turnip, dock, poke, thorn apple, night shade. Vir ginia snake root, pocoon, &c. The latter appears to be a species of turmeric, grow ing spontaneously in rich soils, and will in time probably become an important article of the materia medica. The hortular plants, roots and herbs, are colewort, cab bage, lettuce, spinage, parsley, cresses, on ions, celery, radishes, carrots, parsnips, tur nips, asparagus, &.c. &c. Tln re are also fruit trees in abundance, particularly the apple, pear, plum, cherry, nectarine and peach The latter comes very soon to perfection but. is subject soon to decay, the i owners never having adopted any ol the methods that have been discovered for their preservation. There are many good springs on the river and creeks, and the wells in the piney woods are generally good. First jeliled. ) When the county was first set tled cannot be well ascertained from any document here; but it was probably prior to the year 1726, the oldest land patents we ' ve met with, bearing this date. As the fn-t settlement of the Continent commenc ed at the mouths of rivers, so these inte rior settlements commenced at the mouths of creeks, progressing upwards, as the na tives gave ground. At the mouth of Town Creek, it is believed, was the first settle ment in the County. The site of Tarbor ough, and its vicinity, weie settled at an early period. Ihe Indians inhabiting these parts were driven by some of the settlers at Bath across Contentnea (creek,) ivVinr-a lkn.t of.-..-. l 1 U . I. C . t mjr ma ic . siairi, ctll'l li'HIl lOT'S arid dwelt secure for several years; b it were, at length. bsiegc 1 and .'destroyed. The ruins of thir fans are now to be seen in Greene County. H it the greatest nu nb?rof its settlers came from Virginia. The nVmcmil oh- ject of .the early settlers apnears to hive been th enjoy meit of ease and .idleness; and there is not perhaps a spat in the St,te where a mere subsistence Wis and still is more easily procured than hre. The chief and aim st entire occupation was hinting and rearing stock, which onsiste 1 princi pally of horses and cattle. The fanner ran wild and were pursued and taken by stnta gem, when necessity required. Cattle wore ese :med ofmor.' v due, and w;n kept gei tie, but subsisted ihrnigh the yeir without feeding, except cows and calves. Agricul ture was scarcely thought of. The settlers were most of lh dr time tinder the neeessi ty of eating meat without bread. One horse and plough served a whole neighborhood. About the year 1740. f he natives we.ro numerous in this part of the cou llry, and (he laud being mostly, vacant, none could be sold except such as had wme improve-i men an I then low. Eigeeombe- retains one of the most indent names of any Coun ty in the Slate; it formerly included the counties of Northampton, Halifax, Martin, Nash, and several othe s. Phis county affords but little historical information;. It may be worthy of remark, however, and is much to tlv; credit of the county, ' that its inhabitants formerly w.rc and still are do cile, peaceable, and easily governed. This is evinced by adverting to the eireumstan cesofthe late revolution. The min iates of a self-erea'e I pow -r, termed a Commit tee, which engrossed all the authority, both civ.il and military, wee then as im plicitly obeyed as are now the laws of our Legislature. There was no opposition to their orders, and none endeivored to evade them, except the Tories (who wt re actu ted perhaps more from cowardice than principle) A part of these embodied themselves in the south-west part of the county, and also a considerable number in the northeast, for the purpose of resist ance. Hut all were dispersed without bloodshed. In effecting this, Cols. Hill and Williams, of Martin, were instrumen tal. A few Scotch merchants resided in the county at the commencement of the revolution; but they preferred remaining subjects of Great Hritain, and of conse quence left the county under the expul sion law. No part of this county was ever a scene of action during the war, but the inhabit ants were not idle spectators; b.vh office; s and sildicrs were ready at all times to ser ve tneir country n wouiu oe unpar- ation made a greater sacrifice to his coun-' try. He at an early period of the war ob- taine I a Lieutenant Colonel's commission !m the regular army. He bade adieu to his family oi intant children and to his ease, and ioined the army, alas! to return home no more. He fell in the battle ot ; Germanto wn, bravely fighting in the cause j of his country. As the enemy uliimatdy 1 kent the fndd of battle, his bod v was never i - j recovered that it might receive the honors due to his merits. Col. Isaac Sessums was a great whig, and very active in the ser vice of his country. He was Senator from this countv when the Legislature sat at ;ic ut;i tij uiui ii uii-iv, uivu. uif' J Tf I L.'l P.- T..,..l, .,,1,1 lo lLr;, ,liwl id vers y routers, art ages, tyc ' Tar river, or Pamtico, is the only river in the county. (Both these are probably Ind ian names, li appears mai uoanoiie was con sidered, even Oy the natives, who lived in the woods, as a siekly'place. 1 hose who changed iheir resilience from that river to this, called this I ar river, signitving, it i said, the river of health.) It rises in Granville county, and runs through Frank lin, Nash, Edgecombe, Pitt and Beaufort counties, and empties into Pamtico sound. It is navigable a considerable part of the year for boats of a p-rticular construction, carrying from 200 to 400 barrels, as high upas 15 miles above Tarboro', in a straight direction, which is 40 or 50 by water. That portion of Tar river which passes through Edgecombe, meanders through a tract of 75 miles, from Nash to Pitt. It is from 50 to 125 yards wide. Its banks are in many places low and fertile, and are oc casionally subject to be inundated by fresh ets. It is notorious that the waters in our creeks and especially Tar river, have greatly diminished within these twenty or thirty years past; which circumstance tends greatly to enhance the value of those lands. Formerly the destruction of crops in these low grounds, was so frequent as to render even a comfortable subsistence pre carious to those who cultivated no other; whereas it is now a rare occurrence for a crop to be destroyed by an inundation. -Where the line dividing Edgecombe from Nash crosses the river, there mences: a cataract, which extends down the river a quarter of a mile. The bed of .the river and its banks are covered with rocks of all sizes under 20 feet in diameter, and when the water is high, in passing over and amongst these rocks, the noise may be har.l fouror five miles. This cataract, usually denominated the Great Falls, is attended with several advantages. It af fords seats for three grist mills and a saw mill, some of which have been running 60 or 70 years, and seldom stop for want of wa'er. At the commencement of the Great Falls mentioned above, is an Island, con taining about 15 acres, and is called Panther island, fiom its formerly being the habita tion of those animals. There is another island, about the termination of this cata ract, ol a smaller size and has been in cul tivation. Those are all the islands worthy to be noticed, except those interspersed a mong the swamps of Coneto, to be men tioned hereafter. Tar River has two Bridges in the county 1 The most considerable one is at Tarboro'. It is about 200 yards long, well built, and wide enough for two carriages to pass a breast. E'ght miles above is Teat's bridge, which is also built and supported at the public expense. The tributary streams of Tar river arc on the north side, Deep creek. Fishing erek, and Swift creek; on the south side, Town creek, Hendrick's creek, and others of less note. Deep creek is an inconsiderable stream, and falls into Fishing creek near its mouth. Fishing creek risesin Granville county, and after passing through Franklin forms a consid erable part of the boundary between Hali fax and Edgecorabeand falls into Tar riv er three milesrtoove Tarboro', in a straight direction. An act of Assembly was pass ed a few yiars ago, for opening and ma king navigable this creek which has been partly effected. When water is flush it admits Hat bottom boats, carrying: 100 to 200 barrels, as far up as Wyatt's bridge, which is 25 miles above Tarboro by land, and about 70 by water. It has four bridg es, Wyatt's, Speir's, Coflield's and Ses- sum's, the two first are built and supported at the joint expense of these two counties. Sessum's bridge is about 10 miles above Tarboro by land. Swift creek is narrow, but long, it heads in rranuiin, and is there called Sandy creek. It falls into Tar river between Teat's bridge and Fishing creek; it has lately been cleared out for the passage of considerable boals. Town creek is not navigable, but is larger than Deepi, ,, ' t i. mi ii small oak u Teic. u joins i ar river iu mucs neiow Tarboro'. Hendricks's creek is a small stream, but is well supplied with springs. This li'tle creek has a bridge across it near Tarboro'. Contentnea is a pretty consid erable creek and is navigable for small craft, as high up as Kountree's bridge, which is five or six miles above Stanton's H ridge. This creek is the boundary be tween vVayne and Greene counties, forms the ouhern boundary of Edgecombe, and falls into iNeuse river. Swamps. Swamps abound in several parts of the countv. Tosnot is extensive, lies in the southern part of the county, and empties into Contentnea two or three miles below Stanton's bridge. It affords good range for stock. A considerable quantity of pork, beef, and mutton are annually driv en from this neighborhood to Virginia. This water course has three bridges across it While Oak swamp runs into Tosnot, and has one bridge. Tyan Cokey swamp Empties into Town Creek on the north side. It lormerly attorned good range lor stock, but at present this advantage is in considerable, and the land adjacent is gene rally poor. It has one bridge near which, is a store, where naval stores and some other articles of produce are taken. It is called Trade-field. i he eastern section of the county abounds in swamps of exten sive fertility, and containing from 50 to 500 acres. They diverge from Coneto ( reek, which falls into Tar river below Penny Hill, in Pitt county. Their surface is in many places strictly covered with reeds, which in warm dry winters afford excellent food for cattle, as they suffer no permanent injury from the feeding of stock. It is believed that such of these swamps, as lie contiguous to the rivJr, of which there are many, might be rendered arable, by means of ditches; some difficulties would attend, and will perhaps, for some years, prevent any considerable enterpri zes by the proprietors. These swamps are flat, and the river which is two or three miles off, is the only place to which the vvater could be conveyed; and as the soil though, rich is sandy, the ditches would soon fill UP unless they were lined with wood. These swamps have been resorted to for manure, which is found very pro ductive. A considerable quantity of pork is raised here and brought to market, i Bees thrive well here. More honey and wax are brought thence to market, than, from any other part of the county- Among com-jihese swamps are interspeised a number of islinds, the most of which are inhabited, lard, 243 hhds tobacco, 1 45 barrels brm The soil is light and sandv, but produces . v. 73 bureis flour, 2740 bushels wheat, vcrv kindlv corn, no-is. nntmm cotton. ! 1 50 tor skins: 15S bushels bans 70 bush- flix. &c. and is much heer in dry seasons th in in wet. The crop of the year IHlO, i (which was excessively dry,) was the b-sli that had been produce I here far man v years; whereas on the stiff low lands, ihe,'3'10" amount of produce sent out of the crops wer e great ly injured by the drought. , county by 75 farmers, which does not piss . Roads. Roads, though sufficiently numerous far the convenience of travelling, are far from bfiing kept in good repair. Not one in the county, five miles in le ig!h, is in such or der as the laws prescribe. It must be at tributed to a want of public spirit, or of a more advanced stale of civilizaiiou. The stigma must rest on the overseers, State attornies and grand juries. Some little exertion has of late been made, hu the ef fect has been only to gel a few sign boards and mile posts erected, and in this respect we now excel the adjacent counties. - Medicinal Springs. There are several medicinal springs in the countv: one about thre miles from Tarborongh is the most noted. The. wa ter is flash, transparent, and not unpleasant to most palates. Larg" draughts of it ope rate on the stomach, bowels, pores, or kid neys but principally the latter. It is thought wholesome as a common drink, and lias been in pre'ty general use by a fa mily living near it. Another medicinal spring, formerly much noted for its healing qualities, is situated in the bottom of Town (reek, and is now covered by a mill latel erected over its site The wafer was cold, transparent, and active in its operations o;. the human system. It fl wed from an aperture, not less than ten feel in depth, below the bed of the creek and was acces sible onlj' in dry times. Na ! ira I Ca rinsil ics. There are not many natural curiosities to be met with in the county. In Ihe bank of the river, many feet above its bed, are discovered quantities of marine sub stances, shells of various sorts and sizes, fish bones, shark's teeth, &c. In the bed of the river, and in Fishing Creek are found as many as sixteen restectree or joints ot the back bone ol some hsh, ten inches in diameter, lying in their proper order; also pieces of ribs, one of which is about seven inches in length and weighs fourteen oun ces. These bones are perfectly petrified. In digging a well near Tarboro', was dis- i r . i .i f eoyereo, many iect neiow me suriace, a ee, iu a horizontal position. perfectly sound. In digging another well, when it was expected the water would make its appearance, some bunches of reeds were found in a muddy, logy soil, from whence there was never any good water produced. Productions. The county affords a great variety of product ions, ihat are immediately condu cive to the comfortable subsistence of man, and it is evident penury cannot exist to any extent where there is a surplus of such commodities, as are exhibited in the ta ble annexed; which affords a pretty cor rect view of the average annual amount of the different kinds of surplu produce, that are collected or raised in the county, and sent out to foreign markets. In the table it will be seen that naval stores hold a res pectable rank as a staple commodity; from which we discover that the pine, which af fords one of the 'most striking marks of sterility of soil, is still entitled to great consideration, more especially when con tiguous to rich lands or navigable waters. A large proportion of the county abounds in them. They serve for fencing and building, better than any other -limber; but in addition to these advantages, they yield to the laborer a greater profit than our best lands would do by farming. An ex perienced hand can make from 100 o 120 barrels of turpentine in a y ear, including the miking of barrels to hold it; while the expences of carrying on ihe work are ex tremely small 1 ar is also made from the old trees that have been lyinir on the ground long enough to lose ihe sap. A hand can work to the greatest advantage by making both tar and turpentine, during ihe same year; the former being attended to in the fall and winter, when from the weakness of the sun's heat, ihe trees will not yield turpentine. The natives of ibis county knew but lilt le of these advantages and would have starved, had they been pos sessed of no other means of subsis ence. Emigrants from Virginia and the north eastern counties of Ihis btate. settled on these barren lands, and converted the pines into meal, bread and money. From the lable exhibiting the average annual amount of surplus produce, collect ed and exported from Edgecombe county, Ik OlJIJaiO I IIUl III W , ...w.w-.. m t n nnon r-o thit in 18 I thfrf U'PrP I J stores in Tarboro' and 7 in other parts of the county, making 21 stores, that annually exported about 6,325 barrels corn, 6850 bushels peas, 2042 barrels pork, 8210 Ids. tallow. S170 lbs beeswax, 43,240 lb cotton, 1 202 bushels flaxseed, 9413 barrels naval stores, 1 24,. "00 lbs bacon, 556 kegs els oais, 101 barrels black lead, 3000 lbs bf-ef.J In addition to the foregoing statement, it may not be amiss to insert the averaee mroun any oi me anove named marKeis, to wit: namely, 150 bushels of wheat, 1375 barrels nval stores, 1,418.900 lbs of live p-rk, 15.G00 lbs beef. 190 head sheep, 20,000 lbs bacon, 1 1 70 barrels corn; besides ihese articles for exportation, the town is g nerally well supplied from the country with country with fiesh beef, lambs, pigs, poultry, eggs, butter, honey, fruit, melons, roots, &c. ( Tai borough is the only town in the ' countv. It is handsomely situated on the s. vv bank of Tar river, iust above the mouth of ll' iidrick's crck, in lat tude 35 45 It is 45 miles west bv n. from Wash ington, 36 s of Halifax, S3 n. w of Ncw hnrn, and 6S e;t of Ualeiiih. It was laid off into lots in the year 1760 The streets ire 72 feet wide, a id cross each other at right angles, leaving squares of two acres each. These squares being: divided into half acre fats, makes every lot front two, vtretts Th rn are about 50 private hou ses in it, and generally from 15 to 20 -tores; a church, jail, tebacco warehouse, and a hrge Court house, whirh in the year 17-5 was used lor the sitting of the State Legislature. -There are several good springs. adjacent to tie town, but for culi nary uses almost every family has a well, and some of these wells afford good water the gre test part of the year. This place ffords good encouragement to all indus trious persons, part cularly mechanics of almost every description; 60 or 70 mechan ics have had full employment heie at one time. Merchants generally do well here, and there has scarcely been an instance of failure in the place. Agriculture. Agriculture with us is still in its rude' tte. Lands are too cheap and p'enty for farmers to be induced to quit their accu tomed plans, far the purpose of making the most of a given spot. The productions however, will show that the people are neither very indolent nor entirely ignorant f the advantages of farming. The usual plan appeals to be, to clear and put into cultivation as larsre nn extent of ground as practicable, and to exhaust it as fast as a series of grain crops can do it. A few years of this mode of cultivation renders it necessary to give it rest every other year; at which times it is either sowed in small grain, or abandoned to the weeds. It is at length entirely worn out, while other ground is cleared to supply its place. Ma nuring and other modes of improvement cannot well enter into our method of till age, the whofa time being spent in extend ing the space of cultivation. Manufactures The manufactories are only such as serve our domestic purposes, and consist of the following, viz: looms 933 in number, in which are woven annually about 150,000 yards of diff rent kinds of cloth, which at an average price of 40 cents per yard ia' worth 560,000. 159 distilleries, in which are annually distilled 39.000 gallons of peach and apple brandy, vvoith at 75 cents per gallon 29,250. 439 tanneries, in which are tanned annually 1964 hides, woith at $4 00 each, $78.56. Mechanics 31 blacksmith shops, 4 hat t rs shops, 2 cabinet shops, 6 saddlers shops, of these there is only one of the lat-, far kept up during the year, in this there is work done to the annual amount of S4000; 3 carriage shops, only one of which is regu lator kept up, in which there is work done annually to toe amount of $4500; 3 shoe makers shops, one of which sells work to the amount of 2000. Hesides thee there are others of less note, such as turners, coopers, wheelwrights, &.C Labor saving machines there are 29 cotton machines, working 50 ?;.ws, some of wiiich go by hand, some by hrrse, and. some by w-ter. There are also a few corn shelling machines in the county, and some wheat fans; the latter are in considerable demand, and can be hired for a dollar per day. Commerce. f: The commerce of this place is carried on to great disadvantage. The navigation is precarious, as there is usually a considera ble part of the year, that the water is too low far boats to have an easy passage from Tarboro to Washington. Tarboro' is the principal market far this and some of the adjacent counties- The produce is carried down the river to Wasl.injiton in long flat carrying from 200 to 400 rVlUOOlPO HO:il. - - , barrels, and drawing irom two 10 mree .eec w ter. A part of the produce is bartered in Washington lor West Indhvgoods; but 1 the great, r pait is shipped to the northern