Culpeper's Rebellion
III. Prelude to Disorder

In the three years following Samuel Stephens' death, Albemarle's factional problems had persisted. Peter Carteret, who in December 1664 had been named by the Lords Proprietors to the post of Assistant Governor of Albemarle County, was named acting governor by the council on 10 March 1669/70 to succeed Stephens. The council's action was permitted by Stephens' instructions from the Lords Proprietors.⁸² The governor and council in a May 1671 letter to the Lords Proprietors objected to the new rules of the Fundamental Constitutions relating to laying out land in squares of 10,000 acres, increased quitrents, rules against engrossers of lands, and the inability of those representatives chosen by the people to make proposals in the assembly. They also mentioned continuing disorders in the county.⁸³

Several years of major setbacks in agricultural production, included major August hurricanes in 1667, 1669, and 1670, and three months of drought, followed by a full month of rain in August 1668, had caused considerable difficulty for the agrarian economy of the county.⁸⁴ The combination of the agricultural difficulties and the disagreeable new rules imposed by the Fundamental Constitutions led in April 1672 to the Grand Council instructing Governor Peter Carteret and John Harvey to go to London and present the colony's case to the Lords Proprietors. At least seven of the nine members of the council who took that action were later to be involved on the same side as Culpeper in the 1677 disturbances.⁸⁵ Carteret was praised by the Grand Council for "more unity & tranquility than ever before",⁸⁶ but those are comparative terms indicating that not all the controversy had been resolved.

Parker in her analysis of the documents cited above and of the instructions of the Lords Proprietors in their letter forwarding the Fundamental Constitutions, concludes that on the departure of Carteret "the government was organized as the Lords Proprietors had directed and was complying with the Lords Proprietors' instructions, although it was protesting against those instructions."⁸⁷ She also contends that the negotiations of Berkeley for sole ownership of Albemarle meant that even before leaving the colony, Carteret's mission was doomed to failure. John Harvey travelled only to New York with Carteret before "more then Ordinaire accident & Ocassion of busisynes ne^cesitated to returne."⁸⁸

In December 1671 Thomas Eastchurch wrote from Virginia to Governor Carteret to complain about "som^e mens madness" and several persons pretending that he was in debt to them so that they could attack and otherwise spoil his estate. He confirmed receipt of letters to Carteret from the Lords Proprietors via a Mr. Holden and stated that in the same delivery he had also received his own appointment as Surveyor-General for Albemarle County.⁸⁹ The background for Eastchurch's complaint probably is found in the record of the General Court held 27 September when the governor granted a warrant to Captain Thomas Cullen to take possession of "several goods of Mr. Thomas Easthurt". It was before this same court that a John Culpeper had appeared in three actions related to the settlement of the Stephens estate.⁹⁰ John Willoughby, a member of the Council, was also in that court with an order against Herman Smewin for bringing a Mr. Thomas Easthurt to the Court. Parker believes Easthurt and Eastchurch to be the same person.⁹¹

Prior to his departure for England, Governor Carteret appointed "Leftenant Collonell John Jenkins" to be his deputy to act for him with full authority until his return or other directions from the Lords Proprietors. Jenkins was one of a group of relatively longtime residents who were given land grants on 25 September 1663 by Berkeley. Others of that group included John Harvey and William Jennings, both members of the Council in 1672.⁹²

Carteret's failure to return to Albemarle, whether because of knowledge of the negotiations with Berkeley or for other reasons such as a possible appointment of Eastchurch as governor, is not known, but no available documentation of guidance from London for about four years exists. Parker points out that the commissions of the Lords Proprietors issued in October 1670 expired in October 1674, under the terms of the Fundamental Constitutions. Thus the legal basis for the government ended at that time.⁹³ John Jenkins was still serving as governor as late as 12 March 1674/75 and probably as late as 26 July 1675, when he took depositions for the trial of Thomas Miller for blasphemeous utterances.⁹⁴

Thomas Eastchurch had begun his political maneuvering as he sought the post of governor of Albemarle County prior to the 1673 death of his relative, the Lord Treasurer Clifford, and several of the Lords Proprietors had promised that he would have it.⁹⁵ At the Albemarle County elections held in September 1675 in conformance with the terms of the Fundamental Constitutions, Eastchurch and his faction acquired control of the assembly, and Eastchurch was elected its speaker. It appears that after Eastchurch gained control of the assembly, he arranged to have the deputy governor, John Jenkins, arrested and imprisoned for several unnamed misdemeanors.⁹⁶ In the short time that he was in control of the government, Eastchurch apparently used only the title of speaker, and not that of governor.⁹⁷ Parker speculates that Eastchurch may have been emboldened to take the reins of government on the basis of the earlier promises that he would be appointed governor, but this seizure of power was premature.⁹⁸

At about this time commissions were also sent to Albemarle County for two collectors named Copeley and Birch, who were to gather the pence per pound tobacco duty imposed by the Plantation Duty Act of 1673. Neither of these men were in the country, and their commissions directed than in their absence, the governor to assign others to that task. When the governor set about executing the commissions, he was opposed "underhand or clandestinlie" by William Crawford with other local inhabitants, plus some New England men who were then there trading. Valentine Bird was appointed collector despite the opposition of the county's inhabitants to having any collector. Bird collected the duty until the Indian war broke out in 1676. Then George Durant, Valentine Bird, and a man named White persuaded the rest of the inhabitants, who were then in arms, to force the governor to reduce the duty from one pence (four farthings) to one farthing per pound on tobacco for the New England traders. Timothy Biggs, of the opposite faction, charged that George Durant, one of the original settlers and a prominent planter, had at that time a considerable quantity of tobacco to be shipped to New England.⁹⁹

In breaking their four year silence the Lords Proprietors by their letter of 21 October 1676, acknowledged letters from the government in Albemarle County, dated 17 November 1675 and another dated 28 March 1676, both of which were delivered by Thomas Miller. They also commented on their discussions with Eastchurch and commended the government for its procedure with Lieutenant Colonel Jenkins. From the tone of the Lords Proprietors' letter one has the impression that as late as 28 March Jenkins was still in prison; however, other evidence shows that on 29 March he was signing a statement which was sworn in court concerning the blasphemous words of Thomas Miller.¹⁰⁰ Miller apparently was prone to drink to excess; and when under in influence of alcohol, he spoke out with treasonous words against the king and blasphemous words against the church. Jenkins regained the governor's seat after having been released from prison by "a party of riotous persons in armes and these with some others vote him Generalissime." Jenkins turned out the Lords Proprietors' deputies and dissolved the assembly, but it appeared to one anonymous observer that Durant was really governing, since he was the most active and uncontrollable.¹⁰¹ In view of the fact that Durant called himself a mariner and that we have evidence of a number of his voyages, it seems unlikely that he was frequently available in the county. In fact, he gave a power of attorney to his wife, and she used it to appear in court, taking actions against others in financial matters.¹⁰² Henry Hudson, a friend of Miller's, testified that in July 1675 he was at the home of John Jenkins when he overheard Jenkins' wife, John Culpeper, and Thomas Willis conspiring to charge Thomas Miller with speaking treasonable words.¹⁰³ Miller was brought before the Assembly of Albemarle County in March 1676. Following that hearing Jenkins committed Miller in irons as a prisoner, and in May 1676 Miller was sent as a prisoner to Virginia for trial before Berkeley and the Virginia Council. Despite any influence Culpeper may have had with Berkeley, the Virginia Council acquitted Miller of the charges. Timothy Biggs, who attended the Virginia trial, brought this news back to Albemarle County.¹⁰⁴ Culpeper was also in Jamestown at the time of Miller's trial, and he was seen several times in town with Miller after the trial. He made an enemy in Thomas Miller by this testimony and this would probably be a major contributing factor in Miller's charges which led to Culpeper's trial in 1679 for high treason. In July 1676 Miller embarked in the ship Constant for England, where he met with the Lords Proprietors to explain what had happened.¹⁰⁵

The Lords Proprietors were obviously uncertain about who was in charge in Albemarle County when they addressed their letter of 21 October 1676 "To the present Government and Assembly of the County of Albemarle." In that letter the Lords Proprietors assured the colonists that there was no intention to relinquish control over their grant of Albemarle County. Yet, they recognized the apprehensions the colonists had of Sir William Berkeley having become the sole proprietor and thus thinking it reasonable to take Thomas Miller to Berkeley for trial. Objection was raised by the Lords Proprietors to anyone being tried in Virginia for crimes committed in Albemarle County since such action would prejudice their authority under the king's grant. The Lords Proprietors further stated their dislike of trying and condemning any person in either criminal or civil cases without a jury.¹⁰⁶

Unfortunately, little documentation is available for the period between 1672 when Governor Carteret left the colony and July 1677 when Thomas Miller arrived and claimed his appointment as surrogate governor for the officially appointed Thomas Eastchurch. The dates of the travel of Eastchurch to England and who was in charge of Albemarle County's government between March 1676 and July 1677 are not known. Nor is it clear when George Durant talked to the Lords Proprietors in England and "declared to some of y^e Prop^rs that Eastchurch should not be Governo^r & threatened to revolt."¹⁰⁷ Durant's threat could have been made any time between the backing of Eastchurch for governor by the Lord Treasurer in or before 1673 and Durant's October 1677 departure from England on the voyage with Captain Zachariah Gillam.

(To Next Chapter)

⁸² Peter Carteret's Appointment as Councillor and Assistant Governor for Albemarle. 3 December 1664. and Appointment by Members of the Council of Peter Carteret to be Governor of Carolina. 10 March 1670 in Powell, Y^e Countie, 3-4 and 39-41.  (Return)

⁸³ Governor and Council Letter to the Lords Proprietors. 16 May 1671 in Powell, Y^e Countie, 51-53.  (Return)

⁸⁴ Peter Carteret's Account of the Years 1666-1673 in Albemarle. 3 December 1674 in Powell, Y^e Countie, 61-64.  (Return)

⁸⁵ Grand Council's Instructions to Governor Peter Carteret and John Harvey. 27 April 1672 contained signatures of John Jenkins, Richard Foster, John Willoughby, James Blount, Thomas Jarvaise, William Jenins, and Valentine Bird, Speaker. In Powell, Y^e Countie, 46-48.  (Return)

⁸⁶ Grand Council's Letter to the Lords Proprietors. 27 April 1672 in Powell, Y^e Countie, 49-50.  (Return)

⁸⁷ Parker, Higher-Court Records, xxxix.  (Return)

⁸⁸ John Harvey Letter to the Proprietors, 11 July 1672 in Powell, Y^e Countie, 48.  (Return)

⁸⁹ Thomas Eastchurch Letter to Governor Peter Carteret. 11 December 1671 in Powell, Y^e Countie, 43-44.  (Return)

⁹⁰ Parker, Higher-Court Records, 4-6.  (Return)

⁹¹ Ibid., 480; Mattie Erma E. Parker, "Thomas Eastchurch (Esthurt)," in Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, vol. 2, ed. William S. Powell (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1986), 129.   (Return)

⁹² Butler, "Governors of Albemarle," 283.  (Return)

⁹³ Parker, Higher-Court Records, xli.  (Return)

⁹⁴ Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:315; Cain, 355.   (Return)

⁹⁵ Sir Peter Colleton's Summary in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1: 315; Parker, Higher-Court Records, xlin.  (Return)

⁹⁶ "Representation to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina Concerning the Rebellion in that Country to be made use of in further examinations," undated and without indication of author in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:259.  (Return)

⁹⁷ Affidavit of Timothy Biggs of the County of Albemarle in or about May 79 in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:292.  (Return)

⁹⁸ Parker, "Thomas Eastchurch," 129.  (Return)

⁹⁹ Affidavit of Timothy Biggs of the County of Albemarle in or about May 79 in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:292.  (Return)

¹⁰⁰ Diana Harris' deposition in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:316 and Cain, 356.  (Return)

¹⁰¹ "Representation to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina Concerning the Rebellion in that Country to be made use of in further examinations," undated and without indication of author in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:259.  (Return)

¹⁰² J. Bryan Grimes, North Carolina Wills and Inventories Copied from Original and Recorded Wills and Inventories in the Officer of the Secretary of State (Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton Printing Company, 1912), 165; Parker, Higher Court Records, 8, 14, 398.  (Return)

¹⁰³ Affidavit of Henry Hudson, February 16, 1679/80 in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:289-290.  (Return)

¹⁰⁴ Ibid.  (Return)

¹⁰⁵ Deposition of Henry Crokly Shipwright in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:234-235.  (Return)

¹⁰⁶ Letter of 21 October 1676 from the Lords Proprietors to the Present Government and Assembly of the County of Albemarle in Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:229.  (Return)

¹⁰⁷ "The Case between Thomas Miller Collecto^r of His Maj^ts Customes & Capt. Zachariah Gilham Culpeper Durant Craford & Others Principal Autors & Actors in y^e Late Comotion and Disturbances that were in the Northern Part of the Province of Carolina" in Saunders, Colonial Records, I:287-288.  (Return)