' John W. Graham Presents Interesting Talk
On Colonial Laws At Woman’s Club Meeting
John A. Holmes Urges
Passage of Forthcom
ing Bond Issue
John W. Graham was guest
speaker at the Junior Woman’s
Club meeting last week, when he en
tertained the members with an inter
esting treatise of colonial law as
found in the old records in the Cho
wan County Court House. The paper
was prepared by Mr. Graham for a
meeting of the North Carolina So
ciety for the Preservation of Antiqui
ties held in Raleigh last spring.
John A. Holmes was also a speaker
at last week’s meeting and presented
some valuable information relative to
the forthcoming bond election. He
urged everyone to be certain that he
or she is properly registered on the
county election books, and to cast a
ballot in the election. He stated that
everyone is already aware of the need
of a building program to relieve
crowded and inadequate conditions in
both white and colored schools, urg
ing all to work toward the end that
•this important election is carried.
New members who were welcomed
into the club were Mrs. Peter Carlton,
Mrs. Guy Hobbs and Mrs. Joseph
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| NOTICE TO BICYCLE OWNERS }
\ New bicycle License Tags are now
past due for the new fiscal year and
I are on sale at the Edenton Police Sta
k • <£>
l tion. Every owner of a Bicycle is re- f
quired to buy and display a tag on his
or her Bicycle. Save embarrassment |
l by complying with the law. |
i ■ ' - —❖ I
I Robert L. Pratt j
| Chief of Police f
L <4>
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After a short business session Mr. I
Graham read the following paper,
which is presented here for the bene
fit of history lovers:
I wish to express my great pleasure
to have the opportunity to tell you
something of the colonial law, courts
and judges as disclosed by the records
in the old Court House in Edenton.
Any examination of those records
discloses that there lived in the small
Town of Edenton during the colonial
period such a goodly number of great
men, interesting characters, rogues
and rascals that necessarily I must
limit my remarks to the broader as
pects of colonial law, a few pictur
esque items from the court dockets,
and brief mention of some of the out
standing lawyers and judges.
Courts were held in Albemarle
County as early as 1670 and possibly
prior thereto. The courts were held
regularly, and in the absence of court
houses, the dwellings of private citi
zens were utilized for that purpose.
Even though there were courts
regularly held, the laws passed by the
early assemblies must have been un
known in many cases, for they were
not printed. Every new law was read
in the hearing of the people at the
next court after it had been made. In
consequence of such public hearing,
the laws were supposed to be known.
This situation was not allowed to con
tinue indefinitely, however, for the
first book printed in North Carolina
was Swann’s Revisal of the Laws,
published at New Bern in 1751.
No record of the existence of any
court house in the colony has been
found earlier than 1718, The first
court house seems to have been used
November 11, 1718, and tvas located
in Edenton.
This was a wooden building 6o feet
long, 20 feet wide and of 9 1 2 feet
pitch. It was used not only as a
court house, but also as the meeting
place of the Assembly, and there was
an office provided for the secretary of
the Assembly. Although this build
ing was in existence in 1729, it was
destroyed by fire sometime between
that date and 1766 when the Assembly
authorized the building of the present
handsome edifice in Edenton.
As disclosed by the records at
EdentonJ the criminal law was harsh,
indeed, and provided punishment by
the lash, branding, disfigurement of
the person, banishment and in certain
cases involving slaves found guilty of
murder, execution by burning at a
stake was provided.
The judgment in the case of one
Samuel Prickiove,. tried in March,
1680, is particularly illuminating on
this point, for it was ordered that he
“stand in the pillory three hours and
lose his right ear, and be banished
from this county forever, and to live
in prison without bail in irons, or
otherwise, until he shall be shipped
for his transport, and there aboard
kept in irons till at his place he be
landed with costs and fees.” Also of
Predictions are that meat
prices will be 40% higher
than now, which means poul
try. also. Indications are
feed prices will make no such
advance and the chicks will
be more profitable than for
several years. Chick prices
will be higher and you
will be guaranteed against
decline, so place your order
THE CHOWAN HERALD, EDENTON, N. C.. THURSDAY JANUARY 15, 1948
like import are the cases reported
from a court held in November, 1696,
where William Shreene, "being found
guilty of petty larceny, it was ordered
that ‘he be whipped to have '3O lashes
upon bis naked back, he being stripped
to the waist’; and Robert White and
Vincent White, his son, being found
guilty of grand larceny, they craved
benefit of clergy, which being granted,
it was ordered that they be branded
in the hand with the letter T upon the
brawn of the left thumb, which was
executed accordingly.”
Although we are all familiar with
the trials for witchcraft held in the
New England colonies, I doubt that
many of us know witchcraft was rec
ognized as a crime in the colony of
North Carolina, but the records show
it to be so. At least one woman was
executed for suspicion of witchcraft,
and about 1690 two women were in
dicted for practicing witchcraft upon
the “bodies of divers of His Majesty’s
liege subjects.” Also, a civil suit for
defamation of character was founded
on the allegation that the defendant
had called the complaining party a
witch.
The civil cases considered by the
early courts, in most instances, in
volved suits to recover land and arrest
and imprisonment for debt. A person
sued for debt faced a very serious
matter, for upon issuing of the sum
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mons, he was arrested by the mar
shall, and upon failure to give bond
with sureties to secure his attendance
at the trial, he was imprisoned until
trial, and upon judgment being found
against him, and he being unable to
pay, he was again imprisoned. After
twenty days be could swear a pau
per’s oath and be released. This may
seem an easy way for a recalcitrant
debtor to escape an obligation, but if
he was found to have sworn falsely,
the penalty was that his ears be cut
off.
When we consider the extreme
scarcity of money in the province it
is a wonder that most of the popula
tion did not languish in debtor’s pri
son. This would undoubtedly have
been true except for the fact that
commodities and produce were used to
discharge debts. Prom the beginning
of the colony, tobacco was legal ten
der for the discharge of quit-rents,
fines and governmentally imposed ob
ligations. Judgments for damages
were paid in deer skins, hides, tallow
and furs. Even pork meat and
whale oil were used to discharge pri
vate obligations.
The first instance of lawyers being
disciplined occurred in 1695. A court
held in November of that year order
ed: “Whereas Coll. Wilkinson and
Captain Henderson Walker hath of
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sered sundry affronts to the members
of this court, ordered that neither
Coll. Wm. Wilkinson nor Capt. Hen
derson Walker be from henceforth al
lowed to plea as attorney in this court
(Continued on Page Seven)
Workmen Narrowly
Escape Serious Injury
Julian Broughton and W. G. Saw
yer, employees of J. L. Bfftton & Bro.,
narrowly escaped serious injury Sat
urday while working at the new
theatre on West Eden Street.
While moving a heavy steel beam,
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yineed that it }s the-ideal corn for this locality..
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ROUTE 1 EDENTON. N 1.
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the girder came in contact witfc a
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PAGE THREE