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HEEL HISTORY
By Billy Arthur
Fallen Patriot
James Glasgow, our first secretary of state,
was considered a model citizen until word
spread of his corruption.
The betrayal of trust by North
Carolina’s first secretary of state
led to a plot to burn the State
Capitol at Raleigh, his impeachment
and a name change by one of the early
counties.
It also resulted in the formation of
the state’s first Supreme Court.
The official was James Glasgow,
theretofore an esteemed and reputable
patriot. He had come to North Carolina
about 1764, settled in Pitt County and
then moved to Dobbs. He attended the
colonial assemblies and was assistant
secretary at some, all the while gain¬
ing prominence and becoming prosper¬
ous, owning as many as 50 slaves. He
also became a founder of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Order of Masons in
North Carolina and for many years
served as Deputy Grand Master.
About 1774, Glasgow became a
member of the Committee of Safety of
New Bern and a year later was elected
an officer in the state militia. When
North Carolina adopted its first
constitution in 1776, Richard Caswell
became the first governor, and Glasgow
became the first secretary of state. He
filled that office for some 20 years.
Glasgow was so esteemed, in fact,
that when legislators divided Dobbs
County, they named one of the new
counties after him as a mark of respect.
It wasn’t until 1797 that the dis¬
tinguished patriot’s fall from grace
became known. One of Glasgow's du¬
ties was to issue land grants in west¬
ern North Carolina and what was then
eastern Tennessee to Revolutionary
War soldiers. Eventually, however,
state officials began suspecting wrong¬
doings in his office.
Governor Samuel Ashe turned the
matter over to the Council of State and
the legislature. In November, the leg¬
islature found that William Tyrrell, a
clerk in the Raleigh office, had issued
bounties calling for certain parcels of
land whose actual boundaries were
drawn 10 to 100 times larger than they
were on paper. Other evidences of fraud
were uncovered in both the Raleigh and
Tennessee offices.
Tyrrell’s arrest was ordered, he fled
the state, and Glasgow’s records were
moved from his office to the State
Capitol to safeguard the evidence. The
legislature impeached Glasgow and
discharged his staff members. He also
was indicted for "systematic fraud" of
land grants by issuing “forged certifi¬
cates and forged assignments of War¬
rants on a gigantic scale." Among oth¬
ers indicted were John Armstrong in
Nashville, who held the office of “entry
taker" under Glasgow, and who had
aided materially in the frauds.
North Carolinians were stunned to
hear that their trusted official had
succumbed, as historian Kemp P.
Battle wrote, “to the love of lucre" to
enrich himself and confederates. “He
had disgraced a high and honorable
office," Battle continued. "He had many
accomplices who hesitated not to cut
through difficulties with the knife of
the assassin, or to destroy in¬
criminating evidence by fire or poison
or the rifle ball."
The legislature created a special
court of three judges to try the accused.
At least two of them were to meet in
Raleigh and hold court. While there,
they were to hear and decide accumu¬
lated cases that were on appeal from
the district courts. Thereafter, they
were to hold two 10-day terms a year.
While the Glasgow trial was pending,
two judges chanced to overhear a con¬
versation in a Tennessee inn. They
learned that Glasgow and his conspira¬
tors had hatched a plot to destroy the
evidence against them by setting fire to
the State Capitol. After conferring with
Tar Heel native Andrew Jackson, then
a Tennessee district attorney and later
president, they sent a message to Gov¬
ernor Ashe.
Battle dramatically describes the
messenger traveling to Raleigh "in hot
haste.... The task was difficult and
perilous. The roads over the mountains
were little better than Indian trails.
Over precipitous cliffs, in the sharp
winds of winter, through swollen tor¬
rents, through the dense primeval for¬
ests he sped his way. He carried in his
bosom the letter which would save our
archives and ensure there would be no
miscarriage of justice. If his object had
been known, his murdered corpse
would have fed the angry wolves of the
Alleghenies."
“An angel has fallen." Governor Ashe
said, and he ordered an armed watch
Yt Onslow County Museum
anl\S
ma\; 21
Join us on the banks of the
New River at the historic
Pelletier House in Jackson¬
ville. NC. Enjoy demon¬
strations of crafts of the
past, bluegrass music,
stories and a special
treat, an outdoor pro¬
duction of “Alice in
Wonderland”, sponsored by
the Onslow County Museum,
The Onslow Historical
Society and the Council for
the Arts with a Grassroots
Grant. Public invited to
attend from 1 :00pm- 5 :00pm.
The Slalc.'May '90
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