- Title
- William Byrd's histories of the dividing line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina
-
-
- Date
- 1929
-
-
- Creator
- ["Byrd, William, 1674-1744."]
-
- Place
- ["Virginia, United States","North Carolina, United States"]
-
- Series
- Publications of the North Carolina Historical Commission
-
-
William Byrd's histories of the dividing line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina
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Introduction
xvn
governments of North Carolina and Virginia. Its origin is found
in the tenns of the Carolina charters. That of 1663 declared
the northern boundary of the colony to be 36°, but by the second
charter the boundary was declared to run “from the north end
of Currituck river or inlet upon a strait westerly line to Weya-
noke Creek which lies within or about the degrees of 36 and
thirty minutes northern latitude; and as far west, in the direct line,
as far as the south seas.” Thus a strip of land approximately
thirty miles wide was added to Carolina. Living therein were
people holding land grants from Virginia; in fact the region in¬
cluded all of the Albemarle section of Carolina. Until the bound¬
ary was officially established in accordance with the provisions of
the second charter, a conflict of jurisdiction between North Caro¬
lina and Virginia was inevitable. That conflict began in 1680
when certain people on the border lands refused any longer to
pay the Virginia quit rents, although their titles were from the Vir¬
ginia land office; thereupon the Sheriff of Lower Norfolk County
was ordered by the Virginia Council to collect the rents. Tire
matter came to the attention of the Lords Proprietors and in 1681
they petitioned the Committee for Trade and Plantations that
Virginia be instructed to appoint a commission to act with repre¬
sentatives of North Carolina in establishing the boundary as
described in the charter of 1665. To this petition no reply is ex¬
tant. Doubtless none was made, for at that time the question of
vacating all the proprietary charters was under serious consider¬
ation by the British authorities.
In 1688 there is again evidence of conflicting jurisdiction. The
people around Currituck Inlet complained to the Virginia au¬
thorities that North Carolina officials were distraining on their
properly for taxes. Thereupon the Virginia Council informed His
Majesty’s Government that North Carolina was extending its juris¬
diction beyond the line 36°, the boundary named in the first
charter, so manifesting ignorance regarding tire boundary des¬
cribed in the second charter. Again there is no record of any
action by the British authorities, and conflicts over jurisdiction
continued. In 1697 the Lords Proprietors sent to Deputy Gov¬
ernor Harvey a copy of the charter of 1665, which they hoped
would enable him to convince the Virginia authorities of the
legality of North Carolina’s jurisdiction over the area in dispute.
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