Why We Lost Glasgow County
The change in name involved
л
bctrnvnl of
Irusl on Ihe pari of a prominent stale of¬
ficial and also an allenipl lo burn llie slate
eapilol in Raleigh.
By UBS. MW ABERNETIIY
ASK ihe average North Caro¬
linian to name the county of
which Snow Hill is the "seat
and his answer will be Greene
County.
If this same query had been
propounded 150 years or so ago.
the answer would have been
Glasgow.
Bute. Dobbs and Tryon are
other county names that have dis¬
appeared for various reasons. An
intriguing tale is associated with
the change of names from Glas-
Kw to Greene, involving a plot to
stroy the state capitol in
Raleigh: the building that pre¬
ceded our present structure.
When our State chose its first of¬
ficers in 1776. James Glasgow was
teamed up with Governor Richard
Caswell as Secretary of State. One
of the State’s early patriots, Sec¬
retary of State Glasgow served
in this capacity for twenty-one
years, and no man was more
trusted or to outward appearances
did a better job. For his commend¬
able work and as a mark of re-
pect. one of the new counties was
named in his honor. He was not
only regarded as a dependable
ublic citizen but was so liked
у
the Masonic order that he was
made their Deputy Grand Master.
At this time, as now, it was a
part of the Secretary of State’s
duty to make out grants of State
lands. There was a grant office
in Nashville. Tennessee, under
Colonel Martin Armstrong and
another in Hillsboro under Major
John Armstrong.
In the second year of Governor
Ashe's administration he noticed
certain discrepancies in regard to
the issuing of land grants. He
turned the matter promptly over
to his Council of State. The Legis¬
lature of 1797 appointed a Board
of Inquiry to make an investiga¬
tion. As this work proceeded Wil¬
liam Terrell, a clerk in the Secre¬
tary of State’s office, fled when
the discovery was made that
fraudulent grants had been issued.
For safe-keeping the books giv¬
ing the derogatory evidence were
moved to the State House.
In April 1798 Governor Ashe
received word from Judge Tatum,
in Tennessee, that an attempt
wduld be made to steal the land
grant books and set fire to the
State House. North Carolinians
were stunned to hear that their
trusted Secretary Glasgow, in or¬
der to enrich himself and associates
had issued false land grants in
Tennessee and in the mountains
of North Carolina.
When the Secretary's folly
caught up with him he delegated
Philip Terrell, a Negro slave be¬
longing to Clerk William Terrell,
to set fire to the State House and
so destroy the remaining evidence
which would convict him. When
the Governor received the news
his comment was, "An angel has
fallen!" An armed watch was set
around the State House for some
time, and Philip Terrell, trying to
save from disgrace those whom
he regarded as his betters, was
caught in the act of burglarizing
the room in which the grant rec¬
ords were kept, and was hanged.
An Extraordinary Court
The trial for Mr. Glasgow was
set for June, 1800, at which time
the Assembly called into being an
extraordinary court. It directed
that two circuit judges be in
Raleigh for the June trial and
again in December of the same
year.
As the day for the trial grew
nearer, interest in it gained mo¬
mentum, especially when it was
learned that Judge John Haywood,
considered by many to be the
greatest criminal lawyer of his
day, was to preside over the
court.
One month before the trial,
word was passed around that
Judge Haywood had gone over to
the other side. Secretary Glasgow
knew that the eminent jurist had
drawn the bill creating the Court
of Patents before which he was
to be tried. He offered Judge Hay¬
wood a thousand dollars to leave
the court and defend him. His
offer was accepted and then Judge
Haywood, in his letter of resigna¬
tion to the Governor, stated that
"h i s inadequate compensation"
forced him to take the step.
On the day of the trial Mr.
Glasgow and his lawyer found
themselves arrayed against bril¬
liant legal talent. The judges were
Spruce McKay. John T. Taylor
and Samuel Johnston. The Attor¬
ney General was Blake Baker and
t h e Solicitor-General. Edward
Jones. Duncan Cameron was
Clerk of the Court and reported
the case.
Glasgow Found Guilty
The State won the case and
Glasgow, in spite of his distin¬
guished counsel, was found guilty
and fined two thousand pounds.
He was dismissed in disgrace and
his office was given to Colonel
William White, of Lenoir, a son-in-
law of Governor Caswell. The
Legislature, not willing for one
of its counties to bear a dishonored
name, directed that Glasgow
County be changed to Greene in
compliment to a great soldier.
In addition to the deposition of
James Glasgow the land frauds
also resulted in the dismissal of
Martin Armstrong, John Arm¬
strong and Stokely Donnellson
who had been in charge of the
North Carolina land offices. These
men had all been high in public
confidence and their detection and
disgrace created unprecedented
stir in the State.
An interesting fact in connec¬
tion with this story is that the
special Court, directed by an act
of 1799 to sit in Raleigh, was the
nucleus of the State’s highest
tribunal: an act in 1806 made it
the State Supreme Court.
And so the young capitol sur¬
vived the first threat on its life
only to be burned in 1831. The
present capitol. which replaced the
original one was completed in
1840. and is now playing host to
the 1951 General Assembly.
THE STATE. January 20. 1951