Lenoir County, NC - Newspapers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEWSPAPER ARTICLES These articles were copied from the microfilm by Roger Kammerer and sent to me for typing and posting to the Lenoir Archives and Old Dobbers. We appreciate Roger sharing this information. In places the copy is difficult to read so mistakes have probably been made. Also, there are words used many years ago that are not commonly used words today and many misspellings of other words. RALEIGH REGISTER - a weekly - 6 February 1829 Richard Caswell. Governor of North Carolina, received an education suitable to the Bar, and was uniformly distinguished as a friend to the right of mankind. He possessed a sensibility which impelied him to relieve the distress which he witnessed. Whenever oppressed indigence called for his professional assistance, he afforded it without the hope of any other reward, then the consciousness of having exerted himself to promote the happiness of a fellow man. Warmly attached to the liberties of his country, he was appointed a member of the first Congress in 1774, and he early took arms in resistance to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. He was at the head of a regiment in 1776, when it became necessary to oppose a body of loyalists, composed of a number of the ignorant and disorderly inhabitants of the frontiers, styling themselves Regulators, and of emigrants from the highlands of Scotland. This party of about fifteen hundred men was collected about the middle of February, under Genl. McDonald. He was pursued by Genl. Moore, and on the 27th he found himself under the necessity of engaging Col. Caswell, who was entrenched with about a thousand minute men and militia, directly in his front, at a place called Moore's Creek Bridge. This was about 16 miles distant from Wilmington where M'Donald hoped to join Gen. Clinton. But he was defeated and taken prisoner by Caswell, with the loss of 70 men in killed and wounded and 1500 excellent rifles. The victory was of eminent service in the American cause in North Carolina. Mr. Caswell was President of the Convention which formed the Constitution of North Carolina, in December, 1776, under which Constitution he was Governor from April, 1777 to the year 1780 and from 1785 to 1787. At the time of his death, he was President of the Senate and for a number of years he held the commission of Major General. He died at Fayetteville, Nov. 30, 1789. In his character, the public and domestic virtues were united. Ever honored with some marks of the approbation (?) of his fellow citizens, he watched with unreinitled (?) attention over the welfare of the community, and anxiously endeavored also to promote the felicty of its members in their separate interests. While the complacency of his disposition and his equal temper peculiarly endeared him to his friends, they commanded respect even from his enemies. END OF ARTICLE RALEIGH REIGSTER - (a weekly) - 6 February 1834 From the Newbern Sentinel GOVERNOR CASWELL We commence this week, the publication of a series of Biographical Sketches of some of those men, with those names are associated the principal events that occurred during our Revolutionary struggle, in this State. The incidents are told by Mr. Rogers, in his Biographical Dictionary, and as it is a work seldom seen among us, we have availed ourselves of the use of a copy which was rendered us by a highly respected and much valued friend. Gov. Caswell has left behind him one son and - not readable - daughters - one of whom is the amiable and much beloved widow of the late Secretary White, and resides at present in the City of Raleigh. We have been told by a distinguished citizen of our town who visited the venerable John Adams, a few months previous to his decease, that he enquired very particularly and affectionately respecting Gov. Caswell, and emphatically remarked, "Ah, Sir, he was the support and stay of the Revolutionary cause in North Carolina. He was the lion of the South." Richard Caswell, Governor of North-Carolina, received an education suitable to the Bar, and was uniformly distinguished as a friend to the rights of mankind. He possessed a sensibility which impelied him to relieve the distress which he witnessed. Whenever oppressed indigence called for his professional assistance, he afforded it without the hope of any other reward, than the consciousness of having exerted himself to promote the happiness of a fellow man. Warmly attached to the liberties of his country, he was appointed a member of the first Congress, in 1774, and he early took arms in resistance to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. He was at the head of a regiment in 1776, when it became necessary to oppose a body of loyalists, composed of a number of the ignorant and disorderly inhabitants of the frontiers, styling themselves Regulators, and of emigrants from the highlands of Scotland. This party of about fifteen hundred men was collected about the middle of February under Genl. McDonald. He was pursued by Genl. Moore, and on the 27th he found himself under the necessity of engaging Col Caswell, who was entrenched with about a thousand minute men and militia, directly in his front, at a place called Moore's Creek Bridge. This was about 16 miles distant from Wilmington, where M'Donald hoped to join Gen. Clinton. But he was defeated and taken prisoner by Caswell, with the loss of 70 men in killed and wounded and 1500 excellent rifles. The victory was of eminent service to the American cause in North-Carolina. Mr. Caswell was President of the Convention which formed the Constitution of North-Carolina. In December 1776, under which Constitution he was Governor from April 1777 to the year 1780 and from 1785 to 1787. At the time of his death, he was president of the Senate and for a number of years he held the commission of Major General. He died at Fayetteville, Nov. 30, 1789. In his character, the public and domestic virtues were united. Ever honored with some marks of the appreciation of his fellow citizens, he watched with unreinitled attention over the welfare of the community and anxiously endeavored also to promote the felicity of its members in their separate interests. While the complacency of his disposition and his equal temper peculiarly endeared him to his friends, they commanded respect even from his enemies. END OF ARTICLE RALEIGH REGISTER - (a weekly) - 8 July 1834 For the Register A brief and imperfect sketch of the Life and Services of GOVERNOR CASWELL To cherish the recollection of departed worth, and revere the memory of those who have rendered important and valuable services to their country, has ever been esteemed, among enlightened nations, not less a sacred than pleasing duty. It is in this way only, that ample justice can be awarded to public benefactors, and posterity be taught to admire and emulate their virtues. To no one of her sons is North-Carolina more indebted for her independence and her free institutions than to the late Gov. CASWELL. He led her armies to battle and to victory during a seven year's war for liberty. He was her first Governor and he served her in the most respectable stations, to his dying hour. The object of the present writer is to rescue from oblivion a few facts connected with the life of Caswell, which may be useful to the future historian and biographer. This is more necessary, as his voluminous correspondence has been destroyed by accident or neglect, and his public character and services have not been noticed with that distinction, which in strict justice they merit. Richard Caswell, Esq. was born in Maryland, on the 3d day of August, 1729. His father was a respectable merchant, but being unfortunate in business, the son was at an early age, thrown upon his own resources. In the hour of need, there proved to him a sufficent inheritance. Young Caswell was by nature bold, ardent and aspiring. Possessing these qualities and stimulated by the example of those who had attained fortune and fame without the advantages of birth or riches in early life, his father's difficulties seem to have infused a new vigor into his character. In the year 1746, while yet but seventeen years old, he left the paternal roof to seek his fortune among strangers in the Province of North-Carolina. Bringing with him letters from the Governor of Maryland to Governor Johnston, he was so fortunate as to obtain immediate employment in one of the public Offices. Subsequently, he obtained the appointment of Deputy Surveyor for the Colony, which he held for several years. The emoluments derived from this office, together with the land he had secured by entry, made him independent in his circumstances, and so soon as he felt this, he brought out his Parents to North-Carolina, settled them comfortably for life, and always bestowed on them the attentions of an affectionate and dutiful son. At this time, he had located himself permanently in Lenoir (then Johnston) county; soon after the arrival of his parents, he married Mary McIlwean. She died in a short time, leaving him but one child, his son William. He afterwards married Sarah Herritage, and by this marriage had many children. About the time of his second marriage, Caswell commenced the study of the law, under William Herritage, Esq. Who was at that day a distinguished attorney. After the usual preparatory course, he appeared at the bar, where he soon acquired the reputation of a sound lawyer and able advocate. He made his first appearance in the House of Commons in the year 1754, as a member from the county of Johnston, and continued in that body until 1770, when he was appointed Speaker, which office he also filled the year following. On the 15th of May, 1771, he commanded a Regiment at the battle of Alamance. Although Col. Caswell had been a great favorite with the colonial Governors, and had filled many offices of trust and confidence with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employers, yet when the mother country invaded the liberties of the colonies, he was found in the front rank of those who resolved to die freemen, rather than live slaves. In the year 1775, he was appointed a Delegate to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, and resigned his seat about the beginning of the next year. His object in resigning his seat was, that he might render a more efficient service by fighting the battles of his country. But for this patriotic act, his name would now appear enrolled among the illustrious signers of American Independence. On the 20th of February, 1776 and within a few weeks after he had resigned his seat in Congress, in conjunction with Col. Lillington, he gained the victory of Moore's Creek Bridge. This timely defeat of the enemy was of incalculable benefit to North-Carolina during the war. A large body of Highlanders and Tories were on the march to Wilmington to form a junction with a Royal Fleet and Army which were expected on the Coast. Had this union been effected, it would have placed a large part of the Province in the power of the enemy. At Moore's Creek Bridge, the Highlanders and Tories were defeated, their second Officer slain, their Commander taken prisoner, their Army dispersed, and their spirits so broken that there could be but little apprehended from them in future. In the month of November following, Col. Caswell took his seat in the Provincial Congress, and was President of that body at the adoption of the present Constitution of the State. He received from the same Congress the appointment of Brigadier General; and at the April Session of the General Assembly was elected Governor, which office he continued to hold during the years 1778 and 1779 without receiving any compensation for his services. He commanded the North-Carolina Militia under General Gates, at the unfortunate battle near Camden. It was well understood by many of General Caswell's friends, that he was opposed to Gates' precipitate movements on the enemy, and thought as his army consisted mostly of raw troops, that he should have secured an advantageous position before risking an engagement with a veteran army. Early in the battle, the Virginia militia fled in a body, and no exceptions on the part of their officers could prevent a large portion of the North-Carolina militia from following their example. Although General Caswell's military character suffered for the moment from the defeat at Camden, the fact that he continued to possess the unlimited confidence of his countrymen, shows that when the details of the battle were calmly reviewed, that no blame was imputed to him. Upon his return, he used every exertion to revive the drooping spirits of the Whigs and to crush disaffection to the cause of Independence. Early in 1781, it was discovered that the British army under their distinguished leader, Lord Cornwallis, intended to invade and ravage North- Carolina; and under such circumstances, Caswell deemed it all important to secure the public papers and records, by removing them to the western part of the State. He left behind him his two sons, General William and Colonel Richard Caswell, exhorting them to oppose and harrass the enemy. In the latter part of 1781, he returned from the west, and was at the succeeding election chosen Senator by the county of Dobbs. In 1782, upon the establishment of the Comptroller's Department by the Legislature, he was elected by joint ballot Comptroller of Public Accounts. At the same session, he was appointed Speaker of the Senate, and continued to discharge the duties of both Offices until 1785, when he was again called to the office of Chief Magistrate, and continued such during the years 1785, '86 & '87. In 1787, the General Assembly appointed him a Delegate to the Federal Convention at Philadelphia - with power to appoint a success, and such was the press of his official business, that he found himself compelled to delegate the important trust. He selected William Blount, Esq. His successor. In 1789, he returned to the General Assembly and was appointed Speaker of the Senate. He was also a member elect from the county of Dobbs to the Convention which met at Fayetteville on the 3rd Monday of November and ratified the Constitution of the United States. But Gov. Caswell's high and honorable destiny was now nearly completed - he had acquired an ample fortune for his family - he had lived to see the independence of his country secured - his adopted State blessed with a free constitution and wise laws, and expected in a few days to give his consent to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, of which he had been a zealous friend and advocate, as the best guaranty for national strength and prosperity. On the 8th day of November, he was seized with a Paralysis, while presiding in the Senate, and survived the attack but two days. He died on the 10th having been speechless during the whole time of his sickness. Thus died Gov. Caswell as he had lived, in the service of his country. Few men have lived more respected or died more sincerely lamented. His friends and compatriots of the Legislature and Convention mourned over him as a man and Patriot who was worthy to receive every distinction in their power to bestow. On the 11th of November, an Eulogium was pronounced over his body attended by the members of the Legislature and Convention, the Officers of State and the citizens and strangers of Fayetteville. The body was then removed and interred in the Family burial ground at his residence in Lenoir (then Dobbs) county. Governor Caswell's fame was not confined to North Carolina. His character as a Patriot and Statesman was well understood and properly appreciated throughout the Union. This is well illustrated by an ancedote related to the writer some four years ago by Judge Gaston. The Judge being on a visit to Boston, improved the opportunity to visit the venerable John Adams at Quincy. While conversing with him on the events and characters most interesting in our history, the Ex-President kindling with animation asked him: "And what has become of Richard Caswell's family - Sir, Caswell was a MAN. We always looked to Caswell for North Carolina." Such a compliment from him who can be justly called one of the main pillars of the Revolution and who, when more timid minds were shrinking from a contest with the Mother Country, fearlessly announced "Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I am for independence now and forever" is fame of itself. We trust that the future historian will not forget to make to the public worth and virtues of Gov. Caswell such a reparation as is due to his much neglected memory. B. END OF ARTICLE RALEIGH REGISTER - (a weekly) - 22 July 1834 FOR THE REGISTER A writer, who signs himself B. in the last Register, given an interesting account of the Life and Services of Richard Caswell, the first Governor of the State of N. Carolina. He is however in error in the following statements. "In the year 1775, he was appointed a Delegate to the Continental Congress. And resigned his seat about the beginning of the next year. His object in resigning his seat was, that he might render a more efficient service, by fighting the battles of his country." The writer is mistaken as to the period of the election of Governor Caswell to the Continental Congress. He was a Member of the first Provincial Congress of North Carolina, which assembled in Newbern, on the 25th of August, 1774; and was on Saturday, the 27th of the same month and year, in conjunction with William Hooper and Joseph Hewes, elected a Delegate to the Continental Congress. The writer is again mistaken as to the time and the cause of his resignation, as a member of the Continental Congress. On the 8th of September, 1775, the Provincial Congress of North-Carolina elected Samuel Johnston, Treasurer of the Northern, and Richard Caswell Treasurer of the Southern District; and on accepting that appointment, Governor Caswell resigned his seat in the Continental Congress. On that day, he rose in his place and informed the Provincial Congress " .. that as they had done him the honor to appoint him Treasurer of the Southern District and one of the Signers of the Public Bills of Credit, his attending these duties, would render it entirely out of his power to attend the Continental Congress, as one of the Delegates of the Province. He therefore requested that the Congress would be pleased to appoint some other gentlemen in his stead." Whereupon, John Penn was appointed. A. END OF ARTICLE RALEIGH, NC - THE FARMER AND MECHANIC - 26 Dec, 1878 GOV. CASWELL'S GRAVE "It is not too late now. I guess I'll 'let in' on the whole State of North Carolina. They ought to be abused and why do I say so? I went out this afternoon about twomiles from here (looking for a lawyer's satchel) and in an old field near a deep ravine I sat down under a large oak tree to rest. The young man who was with me asked me if I was aware that I was sitting on a grave. There was no mound, no tombstone, nothing to indicate the last resting place of a human being and I told him he was mistaken. Said he: 'You are sitting on the grave of Richard Caswell, the first governor of North Carolina!' and he spoke truly. There is an old broom straw field neglected, unmarked by a monument, without even a wood head-board, with a large oak tree growing from the very centre of the grave, lie the bones of North Carolina's most illustrious son, her patriot soldier, her liberty loving statesman, her first elected governor, neglected, forgotten, with nothing to mark his resting place, not even to indicate that a grave is there. Doubtless the place where he lies would be unknown but for the fact that his own hands placed at the head of his wife's grave a small tombstone, and it is known that the illustrious governor was buried by her side. That ought to be done with the people for not erecting a monument over Gov. Caswell's grave?" Danville News A prominent resident of Eastern North Carolina, informs us that the late Gov. Swain declared the burial place of Gov. Caswell utterly unknown. However, there is no special haste for a monument while his grand-children are in the Orphan Asylum. END OF ARTICLE NEW BERN DAILY JOURNAL, Saturday, December 19, 1891 MONUMNET FOR CASWELL'S GRAVE The Kinston Free Press calls attention once more to the neglected condition of Governor Richard Caswell's grave which is in a small temporarily enclosed lot a short distance from that city and says it thinks the Lenoir county authorities ought to attend to the patriotic work of caring for it but as it seems they will not, it proposes a subscription list for the purpose of placing a monument there and states that Mr. J. K. Willis of this city kindly and liberally offers to give $25 towards it. Mr. Willis himself authorizes us to state that he has fully made up his mind that the grave shall be marked and if no one else takes any decisive step in the matter he will use the twenty-five dollars he proposed giving and place a stone of that value there himself, but if any contributions come in from any other source his donation in cash will go with the funds raised and as good a monument as can be procured for the money raised placed over the grave. State pride should be an incentive to the accomplishment of this work. Governor Caswell was one of the most influential Carolinians in the Revolutionary times. He was an upright man, a brave soldier, a true patriot and an able executive officer. A lawyer by profession, his talents kept him in prominent positions and he held many responsible public positions. He was the President of the convention which formed the constitution and the new State Government of 1776 after the Declaration of Independence had separated the colonies from the mother country and he was the first Governor of the State under that Constitution. He was a member of the convention which framed the Federal Constitution in 1787 and of the one in North Carolina which ratified it in 1789. After an interval of several terms he was again called to the Gubernatorial chair and at the time of his death he was Speaker of the State Senate and was stricken with the paralysis which terminated his life while presiding over that body and he filled all the positions with which he was entrusted with marked ability and credit to the State, and the entire State will be honored in whatever is done to honor him and perpetuate his memory. As Lenoir County was his home we suggest that Kinston take the lead and lot whatever funds are raised there be augmented by what New Berne and other interested places will do. Remember that it is a settled fact that Governor Caswell's grave is going to be marked at no distant day - the only point that remains to be settled in how good a monument will be erected and that will depend entirely upon the alacrity and liberality with which those who have cause to feel interested respond to the call for action in the matter. END OF ARTICLE NEW BERNE DAILY JOURNAL - 23 Jan, 1892 CASWELL'S GRAVE From the Kinston Free Press we take the following: In his address to the Grand Lodge of Masons at Raleigh last week Grand Master Gudger called upon the Masons in North Carolina to mark the grave of Governor Caswell, near Kinston, who was the first Grand Master in North Carolina. The Free Press hopes this call will be heeded. The grave of Caswell ought to be suitably marked, and the Masons would add another to their many good deeds in seeing that it is done. We endorse all the Free Press has said in advocacy of this movement and we would call attention to a recent article in the Journal giving a synopsis of the career and valuable services of this early patriot and urging this matter. In that article we stated, and take this occasion to state again that the grave will be marked. Our townsman, Mr. J. K. Willis, stands ready to contribute $25 towards any funds raised if or the purpose and unless decisive steps are taken in the matter at an early day, Mr. Willis intends to place a set of tombstones at the grave at his own expense. Of course, unless others helped it would not be a monument such as ought to be placed over Governor Caswell's grave but it would be vastly better than continued neglect. As we said previously the grave will be marked, the question to be settled is: How good a monument will be placed there? Let those most interested take the matter in hand, others help out as their public spirits suggest and means permit and let the desired result be accomplished. END OF ARTICLE ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Martha Mewborn Marble _____________________________________________________________________________