Whole JW. 803.
Tarhornii?h (lUlgecombe County, JSC.J Saturday September 17,
Vol. XV 11 L jVo 37.
The Tarhorough Press,
BY OEOnGE HOWARD, -
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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