Johnston County, NC - Bicentennial Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Court House by the River and the Revolution Reprinted with permission of the the Smithfield Herald Friday, April 21, 1978 By Tom J. Lassiter Senior Editor On Sunday, after a picnic dinner on the Town Commons beside the Neuse River, towns people celebrating Smithfield's 201st birthday will take a refresher course in early Smithfield history as guides lead them on a tour past sites and buildings having historical significance. They will be reminded, for example, that the original courthouse at Smithfield, established in 1771, six years before the town was created on land provided by John Smith Junior, stood beside the river on the lot occupied today by the Riverside Warehouse. On the green outside this courthouse, a slave was burned at the stake in 1780 for poisoning her master and members of his family. But history more significant than a burning at the stake was enacted on the riverside site. At Smithfield's original courthouse (a wooden building replaced by an imposing brick structure erected on the present courthouse site by the end of the 18th century) important events related to the American Revolution took place. On August 12, 1774, Johnston County freeholders led by Samuel Smith Junior (town founder's first cousin) met at the courthouse beside the river and adopted their version of a Declaration of Independence (nearly two years before the Declaration of July 4, 1776 was adopted at Philadelphia.) A resolution adopted by the Johnstonians demanded trial by jury for all persons accused of treason. Earlier, in 1768 when the Johnston County Courthouse was at Hinton's Quarter just east of what is now Clayton, three Johnston County residents accused of conspiracy to defy the Colonial Government had been ordered to have their heads locked in the Johnston County pillory, their ears cut off and their bare backs lashed 40 times. The resolution of August 12 also protested "taxation without representation." We should note that the Declaration of the Johnston County citizens was not a full-fledged Declaration of Independence. There was no call for separation of the colonies from England. Provincial Council And Johnston County Johnstonians, perhaps, aren't sufficiently aware of other significant North Carolina history enacted at the old courthouse by the river. In 1774 Governor Martin refused to call a meeting of North Carolina's Colonial Assembly, fearing the growing spirit of independence in the colony and resisting efforts of North Carolinians to send delegates to the Continental Congress established at Philadelphia to obtain relief from harsh British laws. North Carolina Assemblymen, however, defied the royal governor and asked counties to send delegates to a Provincial Congress not subject to the royal governor's control. The first Provincial Congress assembled at New Bern in August 1774. It moved North Carolina into the revolutionary movement, recommending that counties create committees to enforce policies adopted by the Provincial Congress. These county committees at first favored reconciliation with the Crown, but their allegiance to England snapped under the stress that followed news of bloodshed at Lexington, Massachusetts. In 1775 Governor Martin fled from New Bern and sought refuge on a British ship in lower Cape Fear River. Royal government never again held sway across North Carolina. By the end of summer 1775, provisional government in North Carolina was in full command, functioning with strong support from every county despite prevalence of substantial loyalty to the Crown in some regions. The Provincial Congress became the supreme power in a North Carolina that was moving toward independent statehood. This Congress, which met infrequently, assigned executive and judicial administration to a 13-member body called the Provincial Council. District and local "committees of safety" were clothed with administrative authority. The first meeting of North Carolina's Provincial Council was held at the Johnston County Courthouse (in the building by the river) on October 18, 1775, some 18 months before the town of Smithfield was established. The Provincial Council's second session was held at Johnston County Courthouse on December 9, 1775. Momentarily, at least, Johnston County Courthouse at what became Smithfield was the seat of administrative authority for all North Carolina. The government of North Carolina completed by the Provincial Congress in 1775 (and administered by the Provincial Council that began its work at Johnston County Courthouse) has been called, by the eminent American historian Allan Nevins, "the most elaborate provisional government on the continent" during those revolutionary times. Legislature Met In Smithfield By 1777 North Carolina had a State Legislature functioning under a constitution adopted in 1776. The Legislature met in Smithfield from May 3 to May 15, 1779, holding sessions in the courthouse by the river. From 1777 to 1794 (before Raleigh was laid out as the state capital), the Legislature moved from town to town, "auctioning off sessions to the highest bidders" (to quote historian R.D.W. Connor.) But it was a smallpox outbreak at New Bern (the old capital) that moved Governor Richard Caswell to shift the 1779 spring session from New Bern to Smithfield. Caswell, the first governor of the State of North Carolina, bought several lots in the new town of Smithfield (perhaps for political or speculative reasons.) An old map (1802) provides evidence that Caswell was the original owner of the lot now occupied by Congleton's Hardware in the heart of Smithfield. The town's Caswell Street is named for the governor, who was born in the expansive original Johnston County, in the area we now know as Kinston region. (Note to reader: Richard Caswell was born in MA and migrated south at the age of 17) Sunday's "tourists" won't see the old courthouse by the river, but in their imagination they can be witness to stirring events that occured there in the long ago. ______________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts - gpotts1@nc.rr.com ______________________________________________________________________