John Lawson
North Carolina'» earliest historian lived
back in the 1600's an<l his tale of life in the
colonies is still in print. Lawson was the
first man to advance a theory as to the fate
of “The Lost Colony.”
Earliest of North Carolina
historian* was the Englishman,
John Lawson, whose auaint and
curious work was first published in
London in 1711, was translated into
German in 1712 after Lawson's death;
and has been several times reprinted
in this State. His work is still in print,
and contains some information that
is both interesting and valuable. What
he wrote is really not a history al¬
though he calls it that, as there is
little in it of the civil or political life
of his day; and it contains little in¬
formation regarding the early settlers
of the Colony. It is just such n primi¬
tive work ns might bo expected from
a man who was n surveyor by pro¬
fession and who was travelling through
an unknown and unbroken wilder¬
ness. What be accomplished, however,
makes very interesting reading and
falls naturally into three divisions:
His account of hi' journey of a thou¬
sand miles through the Indian coun¬
try; his discretion of North Caro¬
lina; and a particularly interesting
account of the Indian tribes which
then inhabited the eastern section of
our State, with whom he came into
intimate contact.
John Lawson, signing himself
“Gentleman," traveller, explorer, pro¬
fessional surveyor and pioneer fron¬
tiersman, was probably liorn in York¬
shire, England, but nothing is known
of his early life save the few state¬
ments contained in his introduction
to his history. There he tells us that
in 1700, when he was a young man,
he desired to travel, and having been
assured that Carolina was the best
country he could visit, he took passage
on a vessel then lying in the Thames,
finally reaching New York in mid¬
summer. There he remained two weeks
when he again sot sail and after a
journey of fourteen days lie reached
Charleston, then the capital of the
Carolina*.
He remained at Charleston until the
following December and then set
forth u|>on his “thousand miles of
travel" through the Indian country.
Hi* party consisted of six English¬
men, accompanied by Indian guides.
They ascended the Santee and then
By R. C. LAWRENCE
struck out inland, wandering here
and there, but trending generally
Northward, trying to push their way
through an utterly unknown wilder¬
ness in an effort to reach the English
settlements in North Carolina. Finally
they struck the great Indian trail
known to Virginia traders ns the
Oconecchi or Catawba trail. Lawson's
party struck this about where it
crossed the Catawba River not far
from the boundary between North and
South Carolina. Their subsequent
route followed the approximate route
of the North Carolina Railroad, con¬
structed a century and a half later,
leading them through what are now
Charlotte. Salisbury and Greensboro
as far as Hillsboro. This was the first
party of whites to visit much of this
vast section. The Lawson party left
the Indian trail at Hillsboro, and
following the Eno reached the Ncuse,
which they followed into what is
now Wayne County. Here tliov turned
Northward again and crossing Con-
tentnea Creek near the present site of
Grifton, they reached the Tar in the
vieinitv of Greenville, proceeding
down that stream until they reached
the English settlements on the “Pamti-
cough" ( Pamlico) River. Lawson had
accomplished what he had undertaken
to do — find a route between Charles¬
ton and the North Carolina settle¬
ments.
To Lawson belongs the distinction
of having been the first to advance
the theory, later widely held, of the
fate of the Lost Colony of Sir Walter
Raleigh. His theory was that the
Colony amalgamated with the Tint-
terns trilie of Indians; and lie based
his theory upon the statement made
to him by members of that tribe that
some of their ancestors were white*
who could "talk in a book,” and by
his own observation that members of
that trilie had grey eyes, which were
to be found in no other Indian tribe.
Lawson has the further distinction
that he was one of the incorporators
of Rath, the oldest town in our State,
which he assisted in founding in 1705.
He was evidently n man of education
and some scientific training, as he
had learned surveying liefore he left
England, and soon after his arrival
in North Carolina was named as
deputy surveyor-general. In 1 70S he
was promoted and became surveyor-
general. This office required skill,
courage and resourcefulness; for it
was a position which brought him into
intimate contact with the leading men
in the Colony; required constant
travels into the unknown interior;
and gave him an excellent oppor¬
tunity for preparing his account both
of the Eastern Indian tribes and his
description of the natural resources
of the Colony.
He left the Colony to make a visit
to his former home in England in
1709, and while on this visit ho was
appointed to assist Edward Moseley
in surveying the dividing line be¬
tween North Carolina and Virginia.
The following year an effort was made
to begin this work, hut nothing could
be accomplished because the Vir¬
ginians insisted upon coining further
South than the Carolinians would
permit. It was not until some years
later that the most of this line was
actually run, Chief Justice Christo¬
pher Galsc being the head of the Caro¬
lina Commissioner*, and William
Byrd heading the Virginia Commis¬
sion. Byrd's sarcastic work “The
Secret History of the Dividing Line"
is still in print, and contains nothing
of a complimentary nature about
either North Carolina or its people.
While on his visit to England Law-
son became interested in the colony
of Palatines which Baron De Graffen-
rcid was undertaking to settle in North
Carolina, and lie became one of the
directors in this enterprise. Lawson
returned to the Colony on the first
ships that brought the Palatines, and
it was he who fixed their settlement
on the site of the present city of
New Bern. Lawnon boasted that this
was the only effort successfully made
where a Colony from one country
had been introduced into another
(Continued on page eight)
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