Governor Benjamin Smith_
A Patriot And A Stato
nan
^UUJKNE FALLON
Were it not for Benjamin
Smith the town now known as
Southport might have withered on
the vine and gone down to ex
tinction, unnamed and unsung.
ken a man who once counted
his wealth in many thousand
acres of farmland, and who was
the grandson of Thomas Smith,
landgrave (king’s grantowner);
who once owned Orton Plantation,
who served a two-year term as
governor of his native state, and
who was elected no less than 15
times to the state legislature,
there is surprisingly little docu
mented history concerning him to
be found. Thus, the researcher is
forced to patch and mend and
gather a wool long unraveled by
the careless winds of antiquity.
For example, the dozen refer
ence w'orks examined by this
writer and treating on Benjamin
Smith, give no birthdate, nor do
any of the volumes furnish the
reader with the given name of
his father.
For a record of his birth date,
it was necessary to visit his grave
close by old St. Phillips Church,
where a marker erected by the
Masons shows that he was born
December 10, 1756, and died De
cember 10, 1826.
incidentally, this marker erect
ed by the Masons probably was
placed out of consideration for
the man who once was Grand
Master for North Carolina.
From one source it was learned
that Smith was married to Sarah,
daughter of William Dry, first
collector of customs for the port
at Brunswick Town. There is no
record of any children born to
this union.
There is a great possibility
that he was raised as a young
boy fairly close to the ruins of
Brunswick Town. In his declining
year's, Smith evidenced a desire
to be buried in St. Philips church
yard, thereby evidencing a fami
liarity with that locality.
The earliest record of the Smith
family to which Benjamin belong
ed is found in the following quo
tation, taken from James Sprunt’s
Inexhaustible “Cape Fear Chroni
cles”: “About 1692 Landgrave
(Thomas) Smith located a grant
BENJAMIN SMITH
of 48,000 acres on the Cape Pear
River; but there was no perman
ent settlement made at that time
This was the grandfather of
Benjamin Smith. How many chil
dren that venerable figure sired,
and the name of that son who
in turn became the father of
Benjamin, was not known.
As to the year of Benjamin
Smith’s advent into the w«wh
here again we1 run into a brick
wall. Since he was old enough in
1777 to serve as aide de camp
to General George Washington
commander-in-chief of the Contin
ental Army of the United States,
it would appear that Benjamin
was born sometime about 1752
making him around 25 during his
service under Washington in the
Revolutionary War. When he died
under peculiar circumstances in
Smithville in the month of Jan
uary in the year 1826, his age
was approximately 74. A fairly
lengthy life, to be sure, and cer
tainly one in which was packed
every emotion known to mankind:
the highest honors; a stirring
military and political career, and
misfortunes so swift and merciless
as to have broken the spirit of
any man not endowed with the
iorecful attributes of Benjamin
Smith.
In North Carolina Governors”,
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if, bnef sketch of the careers 01
those men whom held the highest
office in the Tar Heel state froir
1585 to 1958. compiled and printed
by the N. C. State Department oi
Archives and History, we are in
debted for a picture (probably
fhom a painting) of Smith. The
likeness is in profile and shows
a strong face, with massive chin
and a Roman nose decidedly ac
quine, almost hawklike. The pic
ture depicts the governor wearing
stock and periwig. Beneath the
latter the eyes and bows are
dark. Surely the likeness of a
man of temper and soaring spirit
is this. ’
And the bits of impassioned
history attached to this man,
coming' down to us from well
beyond a hundred years ago, prove
that Benjamin Smith was, in
deed, a man given to impulse and
direct action. In several reference
works he is described as “given
to sudden bursts of temper terri
ble to behold.” And he bore, with
in his body and to the day of
his death, at least one bullet, the
result of duels he fought on the
field of honor.
For a further look at our sub
ject’s honored career as a patriot
and soldier during the raging.
“War of Rebellion” as the British
termed it, we turn to more
familiar ground, to the Carolinas
in fact, and the town of Port
Royal, S. C.
Here, as the very name points
out, was a plum richly prized by
King George’s dragoons. From this
port was sent, to England, the
cotton, rice, indigo, lumber so
much in demand in the mills of
Albion. It was a seaway; and as
such, was closer in fact to Bir
mingham, Liverpool and London
than many American settlements
nnlv n _a
- vtyw mnes ciis
tant from its wharves. The Brit
ish thought enough of the little
port to keep a substantial garri
son of scarlet-coats and Hessian
mercenaries ensconsed therein.
And when the port was threaten
ed by the Americans, several
troopships left England with
heavy reinforcements to bolster
it and to "keep it safe from those
infernal rebels”.
This was the situation during
the middle years of the war when
Benjamin Smith, hardened by the |
bn Long Island and then
|dier ‘ General in his own
stened to join the 800
|-my of General William
then encamped south
Charleston and licking
I’eceived in an abortive at
penetrate into the bust
strongly-held bastion of
bn.
;e's Army was a large
Continentals; but con
many green troops in
im the woods and farm
of both Carolinas. Smith
ip the men into fight
1, before the ragtag com
:scended on Port Royal,
rout the king s soldiers
them reeling in dis
itreat to the sanctuary
led sloops which had
caAem reinforcements only
welrlier. It was a glorious
[nd one of the few en
to take place in South
which resulted in a
iontinental victory. A
swAnge for every American
farAned-soldier and doubly
enjJin that the land wrest
ed |the British was home
soilkie Carolina-bred rebels.
an
orl
of!
vie
gad
Cai
cleJ
ern’
Ben,
only
for
snow
acco
land
pects mat me "Soutn
aign was welcomed by
Smith, Carolinian, not
ts happy outcome, but
bsence of the ice and
whipping winds which
;d disaster on Long Is
over, Benjamin retum
wick to find that he
of Orton Plantation,
randfather had willed
in that old gentleman’s
ewhere about that pe
built a home which
‘Belvidere”.
m, like a shining dream,
xay
mark? olitical career; a time
of ac
great
casion
tol—h
snap !
fruatri
jamin
newly
can st
cxeeptii
hold th
leasanc vistas, a re
ishment and days of
ty—married only oc
y duels with the pis
the trap of debt would
ipon this man with a
finality.
Som< ie around 1788, Ben
was appointed to the
d congress of Ameri
as a representative
from B vick County. With the
two years, he was to
osition until 1810, at
KIMBALl'S
HUBERT BELLAMY,
«w«o»e>H. C. ?
which time he relinquished it to
become governor of North Caro
lina for a two-year term. His
final triumph in political skir
mishing had been prefaced by
over a dozen one-year terms as
state representative from Bruns
wick.
Then as now, a representative
spent but little time in the state
capital. There was plenty of time
for the country gentleman to
hunt, to fish, to oversee his large
holdings. And in the case of fiery
Benjamin Smith, to fight duels.
Of these affaires ’d honour two
stand out above the rest. The first
took place on the banks of the
Cape Fear at dawn and involved
one Thomas Leonard as opponent.
The falling out was purportedly
over a remark made by Leonard
and reflecting on the “patronage
of rich men’s sons, (possibly a
slur either on Smith’s military
or political successes). In this
duel no surgeon was present—an
omission that might easily have
cost Benjamin Smith his life. The
aim of Leonard was truer than
that of the former general and
Smith took a bullet through a leg.
The second duel was fought, also
with pistols, against a Captain
Maurice Moore. Once again
Smith’s ball whizzed harmlessly
past the captain, while Moore suc
ceeded in shooting his adversary
“in the side”. Actually the ball
entered Smith’s hip. One of these
bullets, maybe both, remained in
side Smith to his dying day.
It is not known exactly when
Smith’s fortunes went into de
cline. Upon the conclusion of his
gubernatorial term in the early
spring of 1812, he retired from
the political field. He was 60,
with 14 years left him. Long be
fore this, he had received 20,000
acres located in the state of Ten
nessee, in partial payment for his
fine war services. The earl-like
squire from the banks of the
Cape Fear, literally rolling in
wealth at the time of the bequest,
magnanimously handed over the
great grant of land to the Uni
versity of North Carolina; sug
gesting that if so desired, it could
be sold and turned into cash for
the university. Figuring that the
land was worth say, five dollars
an acre, here was an outright
gift of some $100,000, a tremen
dous chunk of cash in that dis
tant day.
Among Benjamin Smith’s best
work as representative and gov
ernor of North Carolina was his
interest in education. He was the
first governor of Tarheelia to ad
vocate the building of a state
penitentiary, where "the wretched
souls might get a chance at he
habilitation, working a state farm
and other public works, instead
of coughing out their lungs in
some damp dungeon-cell in the
town of their imprisonment.” As
governor, Smith spent much time
studying how those “physically
unable and unfit to till the soil”
might be gainfully employed and
make their own living, “instead of
being public charges in poor
houses.”
By this it is quite apparent that
Gov. Benjamin Smith was years
ahead in his thinking than the
governors of more populated
states to the north. It wasn’t all
moonlight and wisteria; fast
horses and quick duels . . . not by
a long shot.
That sandy island off the point
of Cape Fear, that spit of sub
tropical terrain upon which flour
ished the royal palm and the wild
orange tree, became Smith Is
land, and so remains to this day.
I quote now the terrible and
revealing words written by James
Sprunt, in 1914, and in the eve
ning of that eminent historian’s
life:
“Aide-de-camp to Washington,
a general of the State Militia, a
governor of the State, a bene
factor of the University, Benjamin
Smith became a melancholy ex
ample of public ingratitude. He
lived to see, through repressed
teams, his castles tumbled down
in mud and slime . .
We come now to that downfall.
It began with ordinary business
reverses. If Benjamin Smith were
a patriot, a solon, a wealthy
planter, he was no businessman
at all. Here, his very tenacity
worked against him. He was used
to winning; could not counterance
losing. It was gall and wormwood
to him.
Instead of writing off his
losses, he tried to redeem his re
Continued On Page 4
WatcrlT
One thing we found out this
year—it’s a lot easier, and per
haps even more economical, to
buy your Christmas tree instead
of roaming about in the woods
in quest of holiday greenery.
The way we found it out was
by going out Sunday in search
of a cedar suitable for use as a
home tree. We confess that in
recent years we have been work
ing the banks of Davis Creek
over at Long Beach. We have a
lot on the third row where cedars
seem to thrive, and we had been
making an annual harvest. Then
along came the town edict which
forbade the cutting and removal
of trees, and even though the or
dinance made an exception of
landowners, we thought that we
might be a bad example, and pos
sibly might lead someone else to
get into trouble. (And we con
fess, too, that we were not en
tirely unmindful of the fact that
we just might have to go through
an embarassing explanation to
Officer Clay Jordan).
So we went Christmas tree
hunting in the woods up toward
the Robbins Nest. We thought we
knew an area which would af
ford a multiple choice, but we
actually scoured the woods for a
couple of hours without seeing a
tree that came close to being ac
ceptable.
Finally we went down on the
point near the old Price Creek
Lighthouse where cedars grow
large and tall. And that’s the
way they do groJ_
too tall for horrwe and
Finally we located^Ption’
of mature years irM tree
the marsh, and a fu«e °*
after we had set i%°ulS,
simple search we
with a makeshift ceda*01111
As much as we hatel
year we think we will
mercial.
When we do another of
Christmas customs will hav<l
down the drain, for to be all
go out into the woods anl
select and cut your own Chi'
mas tree is one of the freedol
peculiar to small Southern towl
Through the years it has bed
one of the most enjoyable ritual
of the holiday season. “It’s thl
prettiest tree X ever saw” or “I
think it is even prettier than the!
tree we had last year” are par
donable exaggerations made in
the true spirit of the season, in
much the same manner that
Christmas cooking draws lavish
praise.
That reminds us of the most
memorable Christmas tree expedi
tions we ever Went on. That
year we needed two trees, rather
large ones. We decided that over
toward Dutchman’s Creek should
be a good territory, and sure
enough, it was. In fact, trees
were so plentiful and so beautiful
that we moved from one to an
other, rejecting some beauties in
the process. Finally we selected
(Continued on Page 4)
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