Volume XV
Number 44
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
April 3
1948
Entered u wcond-clM* matter. June t. 1933. at the Postofllce at Ralcish. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Early N. C. Press Agents
If you think that it has been only in recent
years that efforts have been made toward
advertising IN'orfh Carolina, you're sadly
mistaken, as this article by Mrs. Wilson
proves.
IN the early days. North Caro¬
lina had no Department of
Conservation and Development,
no Chambers of Commerce, and no
magazine like The State, to ‘‘sell"
her various splendid features.
However, at that time, expert
salesmanship was by no means
lacking. In fact, records show us
that the first Carolina folk adver¬
tised this new country by means
of delightful descriptions, quaintly
expressed and abounding in super¬
latives.
Our first publicity agents were
the experienced sea captains,
Philip Amadas and Arthur Bar-
lowe, who came over in 1584 to
explore the land for Sir Walter
Raleigh. After about six weeks
here, they returned to England
with colorful stories. "The soil,”
they said, “is the most plentiful,
sweet, fruitful, and wholesome in
all the world.” There was "very
plentiful of fruits, and other nat¬
ural increases.” Especially out¬
standing to these explorers were
the grapes which grew “on the
sand and on the green soil, on the
hills as in the plains, as well on
every shrub, as also climbing to¬
wards the tops of high cedars.” In
the forests were “divers sweet
woods”; in the waters were "the
goodliest and best fish in the world
and in great abundance."
From such an account it is not
surprising that Queen Elizabeth
was greatly pleased, and Raleigh
was more determined than ever to
colonize this fair land.
Hariot's Description
Soon Thomas Hariot of the John
White expedition was telling the
Queen and Raleigh of the many
THE STATE. April 3. 1948
By EDDIE W. WILSON
"merchantable commodities” he
saw growing in Carolina. Among
these was "grass-silk” from whose
blades could be stripped “very good
silk." What plant he had in mind is
still a mystery. His next division
of products consisted of "commodi¬
ties known to yield for victuals.”
Among these was tobacco to which
he ascribed a medicinal magic: it
"opens all the pores and passages
of the body and preserves it." Not¬
withstanding Hariot’s amusing
praise of tobacco, little did he
dream that it would one day be of
such great commercial importance
to North Carolina!
Next, we find the Lords Proprie¬
tors as shrewd salesmen issuing
pamphlets to attract more settlers
to Carolina in order that they
might draw a larger income from
their holdings. One such booklet
printed in London in 1666 calls at¬
tention to the “Healthfulness of the
Air; the Fertility of the Earth, and
Waters; and the great Pleasure and
Profit will accrue to those that shall
go thither to enjoy the same."
The Proprietors’ surveyor-gen¬
eral, John Lawson, went into more
detail: Carolina "lay fairly to be a
delicious Country, being placed in
that Girdle of the World which af¬
fords Wine, Oil, Fruit, Grain, and
Silk, with other rich Commodities,
besides a Sweet Air, Moderate Cli¬
mate, and Fertile Soil; these are
the blessings . . . that spin out the
thread of life to its utmost extent,
and crown our days with the
sweets of Health and Plenty, which
when joined with Content, render
the Possessors the happiest Race
of Men upon Earth."
Better Than Virginia
Quite a rivalry existed between
Virginia and North Carolina at this
time. Arguments often arose. In
one of these Francis Yeardley
wrote: “South Virginia or Caro¬
lina has a most fertile, gallant rich
soil, nourishing in all the abun¬
dance of nature ... a place unac¬
quainted with our Virginia’s nip¬
ping frosts, no winter, or very lit¬
tle cold to be found there."
Moreover, when planters from
the island of Barbados with coloni¬
zation in mind, sent William Hil¬
ton in 1663 to explore the Carolina
coast, he described the land along
the Cape Fear River as a "park . . .
full of grass ... in many places as
hifh as a man's shoulders." The
county of Clarendon was the result
of this description.
Then, in 1710, when Baron de
Graffenried led a band of Swiss
and Germans to settle on lands
bought from the Lords Proprietors,
his decision had been largely in¬
fluenced by a treatise on these new
lands written by P. Hennepin.
This exploited "the Benignity of
the Climate, the Healthfulness of
the Country, the Fruitfulness of the
Soil. Ingenuity and Tractableness
of the Inhabitants, Variety of Pro¬
ductions."
Spangenberg’s Report
Forty years later, when Bishop
Spangenberg had a survey made
on Muddy Creek as a permanent
home for the Moravians, he re-
( Continued on page 24)
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