INDIAN WOODS:

A LOST RESERVATION

by

GERALD W. THOMAS

© 2017

In April 2017, Dr. Larry E. Tise, Department of History, East Carolina University, contacted me regarding my interest in being a presenter at a conference to be held at Hope Plantation, Windsor, North Carolina, in October 2017, on the history of the Indian Woods reservation. Dr. Tise advised me that interest existed among various parties regarding expanding the knowledge about the individuals who leased lands from the Tuscarora Indians and gained control, and eventual ownership, of the reservation. I advised Dr. Tise that, while I had completed several volumes on Bertie County during certain of the nation’s wars, I had not researched the Tuscarora Indians and knew little details about the Indian Woods reservation’s history. Since I (a resident of Maryland) had a forthcoming trip planned to Bertie County, I committed to research land and probate records at the Bertie County courthouse to ascertain if I could derive sufficient information to prepare a paper and a potential presentation for the October conference. This paper is the result of my efforts. It presents an overall history of the Indian Woods reservation and documents numerous persons who obtained leaseholds of Tuscarora land in Bertie County.

* * *

In the mid-1710s King Tom Blount, chief of the North Carolina Tuscarora Indians, desired that the members of his tribe live peacefully and securely without the risks of attacks from rival Indian tribes of the Carolinas and encroachments and pandering by English colonists. The Tuscarora and other Native American tribes of eastern North Carolina had, for six decades, experienced European immigrants, or “settlers,” steadily expanding their areas of occupation from the Albemarle region of the northeastern section of the province. The first permanent settlement of whites was situated east of the Chowan River during the 1650s, by the English. The settlement eventually extended along the Albemarle Sound. By the early 1660s the King of the Yeopim Indians sold and granted to the English land situated on and near the Perquimans River and Roanoke Sound. Additionally, Virginia’s leaders had granted land in the region to the settlers. Methodically, the Europeans continued to expand southward, past the Moratock (present-day Roanoke) and Pamlico rivers to the Neuse. In 1690 a group of men from the French settlement on the James River in Virginia settled on the Pamlico River. Settlers had reached the Neuse River by 1706 and passed it the next year, leading to another lodgment of the French between the Neuse and Trent rivers. In early 1707 a group of Germans arrived along the Neuse, followed during the middle of the year by Swiss immigrants. New Bern was established in 1710.¹ The Tuscarora Indians were being pushed off their ancestral lands and being treated harshly by the Europeans. The Indians’ frustrations and animosities toward the whites were reaching a breaking point by the early 1710s.

The Indians’ most favorable opportunity to strike the colonists arose in 1711. Political turmoil among the whites permeated the colony, breaching the peace in May 1711, when Dep. Gov. Edward Hyde led an armed force to Bath intending to capture the former chief executive, Thomas Cary. Hyde, who had displaced Cary, opposed Cary’s Anglican governmental affiliations and pressured the fledgling legislature to overturn various Cary-induced policies and statutes. Cary influenced Bath County residents, who generally opposed the policies of Hyde’s Albemarle government, to arm themselves and aid in his defense against Hyde. Cary and his supporters successfully thwarted Hyde’s assault, prompting Cary to counter and sail an armed brigantine into Albemarle Sound in June intending to overthrow Hyde at Edenton. Gov. Alexander Spotwood of Virginia sent troops to reinforce Hyde, curtailing Cary’s dissenting efforts and prompting him to flee from North Carolina in July 1711.² Hyde and his followers had prevailed; however, the civil conflict divided and seriously weakened the colony.

The Tuscarora Indians, the predominant tribe in eastern North Carolina, were generally aligned into two factions. The southern or lower towns and villages of the tribe followed King Hancock. The northern faction, led by King Tom Blount, resided mostly to the north of Pamlico River and along the Roanoke River. The southern Tuscarora, led by Hancock, and Indians of several other allied tribes viciously struck the colonists along the Neuse and Pamlico rivers on September 22, 1711. For three days, war parties raged against the settlers, indiscriminately killing dozens of men, women, and children. The bloodshed was horrific—130 people were killed within mere hours. According to one historian, the massacre of September 22-24 came close to wiping out the colony.³ The settlers and southern Tuscarora were at war.

Blount, who was friendly with the colonists, did not thrust his band into the conflict. He allied himself and his followers with the English, but overall the settlers did not trust the “friendly” Indians, fearing success by Hancock’s warriors might encourage Blount’s followers to join in the fight against the colonists.⁴

Hyde, desperately requiring military assistance to sustain the colony, appealed to the governors of Virginia and South Carolina. Spotwood sent Virginia militiamen to the North Carolina-Virginia border to prevent Indians from his province from journeying southward to join King Hancock’s forces. Robert Gibbes, governor of South Carolina, raised an army of thirty white men and approximately five hundred Indians (comprised of tribes indigenous to the South Carolina region), who marched to North Carolina under the command of a militia colonel, John Barnwell. The South Carolina contingent first engaged Hancock’s warriors about thirty miles from New Bern, capturing an Indian fort after about thirty minutes of fierce fighting. Marching north through Tuscarora country, the South Carolinians reached Bath on February 10, 1712, where they were joined by more than five dozen North Carolinians. The augmentation was timely and direly needed since desertions among the South Carolina Indians had left Colonel Barnwell with fewer than 150 Indians. From Bath the expedition marched for Catechna, Hancock’s town on the Neuse River. Arriving at Catechna, the colonists found the town deserted, but across the river lay a strongly constructed fort in which Hancock’s Indians had taken refuge with a number of white captives. On March 5, 1712, Barnwell attacked the fort but soon agreed to a truce when the Indians began torturing white prisoners. Barnwell agreed to lift the siege for twelve days if twelve captives were immediately allowed to leave the fort, with remainder to be released on the twelfth day (March 17), at which time the Tuscarora headmen and Barnwell would discuss peace terms. On March 17 Hancock’s Indians neither released their captives nor came to meet with Barnwell. Barnwell besieged Hancock’s bastion for the second time on April 7. Fighting lasted for ten days, when Barnwell, on the verge of defeating the Indians, curtailed the action and made peace with the Tuscarora. The resulting treaty called for, among other things, all white and negro captives to be released by the Indians. All horses, plunder, and stores were to be surrendered, and King Hancock was to be turned over to Barnwell, but by the conclusion of the negotiations, Hancock had already slipped away from the fort and fled toward Virginia. Barnwell’s peace treaty with the Tuscarora was consummated without Hyde’s (by then, the Governor of North Carolina) knowledge or authorization. The treaty was not well received by the North Carolinians.⁵

The defeated Tuscarora maintained peace with the colonists for only a few months. By the summer of 1712, North Carolina was again seeking assistance from Virginia and South Carolina to quell the Indians. A force of more than 340 men, whites and Indians, was dispatched by South Carolina in September 1712. The force marched into North Carolina, reaching Fort Barnwell in Craven County, in November. Due to lack of provisions, the South Carolinians did not engage the Tuscarora until the spring. Fort Neoheroka, the Tuscarora stronghold near present-day Snow Hill (Greene County), was attacked on March 20, 1713. The fort surrendered after three days of intense combat. More than 950 Indians were killed or captured. Hundreds of captured Tuscarora Indians were enslaved by the English and sold to colonial planters. Many of the Indians who escaped traveled to New York and joined the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederation. The defeat at Fort Neoheroka ended the hostile Tuscarora’s quest to oust the colonists from their ancestral lands, although contingents of Indians carried out guerilla attacks from sanctuaries in the Great Alligator Swamp until about February 1715, when North Carolina concluded a peace treaty with the survivors and placed them on a reservation in Hyde County.⁶ The Tuscarora War had lasted almost three and a half years, with the predominant hostilities occurring from September 1711 through March 1713.

Soon after the war North Carolina leaders made a separate treaty with the friendly Tuscarora from the northern section of the province and recognized King Tom Blount as their chief. The leaders allotted land situated between the Pamlico and Neuse rivers as the site for a future settlement for Blount’s people. The Indians were to relocate to the site as soon as the war ended. Hostilities between British settlers and various Indian tribes had erupted in South Carolina during the spring of 1715 and Blount’s tribe feared that they might be attacked by their southern brethren should they remain at the Pamlico-Neuse location. King Blount appealed to North Carolina leaders for his members to be allowed to settle along the Moratock River. Gov. Charles Eden, with the advice and consent of the governor’s council and in recognition of the service and cooperation provided to the government by Blount and his tribe, mutually agreed with Blount that the Tuscarora be given a tract of land on the north side of the Moratock River (subsequently, the Roanoke River). On June 5, 1717, the council formally conveyed to King Blount, for the “better support of himselfe and his Indyans,” a tract lying between a Mr. Jones’s land and Quitsney (present-day Quitsna) Swamp. The conveyance did not divulge specific boundaries for the tract, nor the number of acres to be encompassed. The council stipulated that King Blount must agree to “remove” all his followers from other lands and settle them on the Moratock River tract by Christmas, 1717.⁷

The council’s conveyance to King Blount also stipulated that the Indians were not to molest or disturb the English inhabitants who already owned land in the region. Blount’s members were not to hunt outside the bounds of the land set aside for them and were not to claim any right to any other land on either side of the Moratock River.⁸

The English leaders and the Tuscarora Indians agreed to articles of peace that called for a perpetual peace between the parties. The articles stipulated that:

● matters of differences between the English and the Indians were to be settled by meetings between their leaders;

● servants and slaves who ran away from their white owners and sought security and protection with the Tuscarora were to be expeditiously turned over to English leaders;

● any Indian who was injured or abused by the English could appeal to governmental leaders for remedy and receive “Satisfaction” upon proving the injury or abuse;

● any Indian who stole from, injured, or murdered a white inhabitant was subject to being prosecuted according to English law;

● Indians were not to construct any cabins or quarters within a half-day’s travel of any English plantation;

● should the Tuscarora engage in war with any other Indian nation, the English would not assist the other nation; and

● should the English engage in war with another Indian nation, the Tuscarora would not assist the other nation and, “if required” by the government, would assist the English.⁹

A month later, on July 8, King Blount’s son (unnamed) visited Thomas Pollock, president of the council and a former governor. The King had dispatched his son to alert Pollock that members of Blount’s tribe had discovered about “twenty strange Indians” beyond Catechna Creek. Blount surmised that the unknown Indians were preparing to assault his members at the Pamlico-Neuse site (the members having not had sufficient time to relocate north of the Moratock River) or the English. Blount desired that Pollock act to protect Blount’s people. Further, the son conveyed that his father was daily expecting the Saraw or other Indians to attack the friendly Tuscarora. Reportedly, one of Blount’s men had recently been captured by enemy Indians.¹⁰

Pollock was skeptical that attacks might be imminent. Nevertheless, he relayed the information to Governor Eden so that he could take whatever measures he felt necessary to have the inhabitants prepare themselves until further information arrived.¹¹ No attack ensued, but the episode portrayed both the concern with which King Tom Blount labored in ensuring the safety of his tribe and his perception that the Tuscarora’s overall security required protective assistance from the colonial leaders.

At this time the province of North Carolina was still under the overall direction and control of the Lords Proprietors. In 1663 and 1665 King Charles II rewarded eight men who had helped him regain the English throne by granting them an enormous expanse of land in colonial American which included present-day North Carolina. The provisions of the two charters authorized the Lords Proprietors to grant land to colonists by means of land patents. Two types of patents were issued: (1) purchase patents, for which the patentees paid fees for land; and (2) headright patents, wherein patentees were granted specified acres of land for transporting (or paying the transportation costs of) persons brought to the province. The latter type of patent authorized a specified number of acres for each person transported to the New World. The land patents were issued for areas open for settlement. The governor’s council issued warrants (orders) to the provincial surveyor to set apart the subject land. The surveyor would prepare a detailed description and plat (map) of the land. Next, the council would issue a land patent, which was recorded in the pertinent land records of the colony.¹²

During the 1710s North Carolina leaders were actively issuing land patents for the settlement and cultivation of thousands of acres on the western side of the Chowan River. That region was part of Chowan Precinct and encompassed areas contiguous to the Tuscarora’s reserved lands. Soon, Englishmen began obtaining patents and came to settle on the lands adjoining the to-be-called “Indian Woods” reservation.

One Englishman who maintained a close affiliation with King Tom Blount was William Charleton, who served as an Indian interpreter and messenger for colonial officials from as early as 1701. He was often detailed by Thomas Pollock to the Tuscarora to convey information to and from Blount, especially during the Tuscarora War. On April 1, 1713, Charleton received a patent from colonial officials for 1,900 acres of land on the Moratock River.¹³

By November 1717 an undetermined number of Blount’s band had arrived at the allotted lands along the Moratock River. Eventually, approximately eight hundred individuals relocated to the lands. Thomas Pollock reported to Governor Eden on November 13 that Charleton had returned from meeting with King Blount and that he (Charleton) apparently intended to personally apprise Eden of the results of the meeting. Col. William Maule, surveyor general for the province, may have also accompanied Charleton during his visit with Blount. Maule informed Pollock that the Indians who had been at Blount’s “upper town,” Uneroy, had departed, but he was not aware where they had gone.¹⁴

About April 1718 Pollock apparently had heard rumors that North Carolina Indians might be planning to confront settlers. Pollock dispatched Charleton to King Blount’s town under false pretenses in order to have him discover whether the Tuscarora or Seneca held “any evil design” against the English. Charleton returned to Pollock in late April and reported that he could not find, nor perceive, that Blount’s followers entertained any nefarious intentions toward the white inhabitants. Charleton conveyed that Blount “was very kind” and even contemplated sending a dozen or so of his men “against Enemy Indians at [the] Neuse [River].”¹⁵

While King Blount and the Tuscarora maintained “friendly” relations with the provincial leaders, an undercurrent of tension existed between the two sides. Following the Tuscarora War, various English men coerced captured Indians into slavery. Slaves were considered personal property of the slaveowners, not to be treated as equal humans. In the fall of 1718 Thomas Worley sought to regain a runaway Indian slave from the Pamlico region. The slave, Pompey, had allegedly committed some undefined rogue acts, which in Worley’s opinion deserved punishment. On November 11, 1718, the matter was brought before the governor’s council, which ordered that “all possible means be used” to apprehend the Indian slave—“Dead or alive.” The council also stated that should Pompey be taken alive, Governor Eden desired that he be brought to “speedy” justice. The colonial leaders obviously had received information that one of King Tom Blount’s tribal members had been involved “in the affairs of Pompey.” The council ordered William Charleton to journey to Blount’s Town immediately and provide the king an account of the “discovery made” that “one of his Indians named Johnny” was implicated in Pompey’s evasion from his owner. The council also advised Blount, “[T]he Governor from time to time informs him [King Blount] of occurrances [sic] as they happen [and] that this Board [governor’s council] expects the same from him.” It further conveyed to Blount that he should “encourage any of his Indians to scout out to apprehend the s[ai]d Pompey [and] that they shall have a sufficient reward for the same.”¹⁶ North Carolina colonial officials had put King Tom Blount on notice that they did not expect the “friendly” Tuscarora to harbor fugitive Indian slaves. Additionally, they fully expected Blount and his followers both to cooperate with the English on and to accept English priorities regarding Indian affairs.

In less than four years after the establishment of the lands for the Tuscarora, tensions concerning land ownership and rights arose between the English inhabitants and the Indians. By late March 1721 white settlers had complained to Governor Eden that John Gray, deputy surveyor, had made surveys and entries for land along the Moratock River in proximity to Blount’s town, Uneroy. Those individuals who had been granted land along and near the north side of the Moratock River were concerned that “Feuds and disturbances” with their Indian neighbors would, “in all likelihood,” develop At least some settlers anticipated that living near the Tuscarora would inevitably lead to problems. The extant records do not convey any accounts or details of events that prompted the complaints to the governor. But obviously the white residents held biases toward the “friendly” Tuscarora, despite their previous “service” to the colony and abstention from hostilities during the Tuscarora War.¹⁷

Governor Eden desired to thwart any developing conflicts between settlers and the Indians. In response, the governor’s council summoned King Blount, William Maule, and John Gray to appear before Eden on April 12, 1721. Maule and Gray were instructed to bring with them any warrants and entries which they had made for lands near the town of Uneroy. The governor intended to provide directions to the surveyors to prevent any future conflicts between grantees and Blount’s Tuscarora. In the meantime, Gray was instructed to forebear making any further surveys or entries for land within five miles of Uneroy. Furthermore, the council would not disseminate any additional warrants for lands to be granted on Moratock River. Finally, Col. Frederick Jones, chief justice of the colonial court, was directed to “lay out” the Tuscarora settlement in accordance with an agreement made with King Blount.¹⁸

The leaders’ proactive measures apparently resulted in little sustained effects. A year later (April 1722) King Blount again informed the council that the Tuscarora Nation was experiencing “difficulty” from encroachments made upon their settlements along the Moratock River by the English. Blount earnestly pleaded with the council to ascertain the bounds of the Indian lands to “prevent future contests” with settlers. Reactively, the council ordered that William Maule and Col. Robert West “at some convenient time repair to Blounts Town … and lay out the Bounds pursuant to the agreement with Blount [consummated] in May 1719.” The council directed William Charleton, “the interpreter,” to attend with Maule and West and “have the matter settled.”¹⁹

By 1723 it was clear that the matter was not settled. In late March of that year, William Downing petitioned the governor’s council concerning a 640-acre tract of land he owned on the Moratock River that was in the possession of the Tuscarora Indians. He appealed to the council that his patent not lapse (since, by colonial law, he was liable to pay quitrent [i.e., taxes] for the property). Land records indicate that Downing had received a patent dated August 10, 1720, for 640 acres on the south side of the Moratock River, the side opposite the Tuscarora Indians’ reservation.²⁰

Altercations between Tuscarora Indians and white inhabitants residing near the Moratock reservation routinely transpired. Luke Mizell, Indian commissioner, in the spring of 1722 assaulted a member of King Blount’s tribe near Quitsna Swamp. According to an account of the incident, Mizell and two other men were in the woods near the swamp when they heard a gunshot. All three headed in the direction of the gunfire and came upon a Tuscarora Indian who had just killed a deer and was reloading his firearm. Mizell “bid” the Indian to go hunt on the other side of the swamp. The Indian’s responding with “some answer” prompted Mizell to snatch away the Indian’s gun and, using it as a club, strike him in the head. Mizell’s dog, agitated by the affray, came at the Indian and bit him on the leg. On June 14, 1722, Mizell was brought before the governor’s council, which, in hearing the complaint submitted by the Indian, ordered a constable to hold Mizell in custody and transport him to King Blount’s town on Tuesday, June 16, where John Lovick, Thomas Pollock, and Robert West (members of the governor’s council) were to examine the Indian’s complaint and render a judgment. No account of the proceedings of June 16, 1722, seems to have survived. Incidentally, Robert West was subsequently appointed as a Tuscarora Indian commissioner.²¹

Less than two months later, on Saturday night, August 4, John Cope, a member of King Blount’s tribe, broke into the lodging room of Thomas Pollock in Edenton. Pollock’s son, Cullen, was reposing in the room at the time. On August 8 Pollock informed the governor’s council (of which he was the president) of the incident, and the council ordered Christopher Gale, the colony’s chief justice, to call a special Court of Oyer and Terminer for Tuesday, the 14th, to try Cope. On the day of the trial, twenty men were sworn in as a grand jury and, upon considering the “fact[s]” of the case, formally charged Cope with felonious breaking and entering, and burglary. A jury of twelve men was impaneled, who upon hearing and considering the evidence found Cope not guilty of the charges.²²

By 1722 the number of English inhabitants residing in Chowan Precinct on the west side of Chowan River had increased to such an extent that the colonial assembly established Bertie Precinct. During the legislative session in October, the lawmakers passed an act that defined the eastern boundary of the new precinct as the Chowan River; the northern, as the North Carolina-Virginia border; the southern, as Albemarle Sound and the Moratock River, including both sides of the river and its tributaries; and the western as extending “as far as the limits” of the government. The region encompassed by Bertie Precinct was immense—covering areas wholly or partly included in the present-day counties of Edgecombe, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Northampton, and Tyrrell.²³ The Tuscarora Indians’ reserved lands situated to the north of Moratock River were included in the precinct, an area in which the white population had increased dramatically during the past decade.

On several occasions King Blount was pressed to deal with colonial leaders regarding runaway Indian slaves who sought refuge on the Tuscarora lands in Bertie Precinct. In late July 1724 William Maule petitioned the governor’s council to intervene with Blount to have one of Maule’s Indian slaves returned to him. The slave, a male, had gone to Blount’s town and was “detained from his Master by the Indians.” The council ordered Blount to “deliver up” the slave to Maule in accordance with Blount’s articles of agreement with the government. Should Blount not comply with the council’s order, he was directed to appear before the council in October to explain why he detained the slave from his master. Four months later John Royal notified the council that one of his Indian slaves, a man named March, was being detained by King Blount “at the Tuscarora Town.” The council ordered the Tuscarora chief to appear at its next meeting to answer Royal’s complaint and to bring the slave with him to the meeting.²⁴

King Blount appeared before the council on August 3, 1725, regarding the matter of March, the Indian slave. By that time John Royal had sold or transferred ownership of the slave to Francis Pugh. Blount did not bring March with him to the meeting, arousing the council members to query him why the slave was not attendant. Blount responded that March had “gone quite away from his Towne with the Sennecca [sic] Indians,” but assured the members that he would “secure” March the first time he could “light [up]on him” and submit him to the council for its judgment.²⁵ It seems quite plausible that King Blount conveniently allowed March to slip away from the Tuscarora lands and seek refuge in a location away from the reach of the North Carolina colonial leaders and Francis Pugh. Regardless, twenty months later (April 1727) Pugh again brought the matter before the council, which referred it to the General Assembly for its consideration.²⁶

Tensions between King Blount’s Tuscarora and the white inhabitants residing about the low grounds of Moratock River again pitched during the summer of 1725. Provincial leaders began receiving reports from inhabitants of the area that the Indians were daily making threats of war. The Indians were reportedly constructing forts “to annoy the English.” The governor apprised the council of the reports, prompting it to order Col. Robert West of Bertie Precinct to designate an individual to assemble “some white men” and two or three “Trusty Indians” to go onto the Tuscarora lands and ascertain whether forts were being built. If forts were found, the appointed party was to inquire of the Indians why they were being constructed. The head of the party was to submit a written report to the council on the results of the discussions with Blount’s Indians.²⁷ It is not known whether forts were discovered, as the colonial records are silent on the matter. Clearly, though, a perpetual state of uneasiness existed between the area’s white residents and their Tuscarora neighbors.

English colonists held a disdainful, prejudiced, and discriminatory attitude toward Indians, including mixed-blood persons. Indians were not given the same rights and privileges in colonial North Carolina as those available to citizens of English descent. The Native Americans were largely excluded from English society and were statutorily not allowed to vote. North Carolina law also stipulated that “Indians, Mulattoes, and all mixed Blood, descended from … Indian Ancestors to the Third Generation, Bond or Free, shall be deemed and taken to be incapable in Law to be Witnesses in any Cause whatsoever, except against each other.” In other words, Indians had virtually no legal rights in the eyes of the colony’s judicial system. Equally discriminatory were additional laws related to mixed-blood relationships and the children (mulattoes, quadroons, mustees (octoroons or, more generally, people of mixed ancestry), etc.) born therefrom. Colonial legislators had enacted laws “for Prevention of that abominable Mixture and spurious issue” of white persons intermarrying with “Indians, … Mustees, or Mulattoes.” Laws stipulated that any “white Man or Woman, being free,” who intermarried “with an Indian, … Mustee, or Mulatto . . . or any Person of Mixed Blood, to the Third Generation, bond or free,” was required to pay a sizeable fine to the county in which he or she resided. Personal relationships between whites and any minorities, including mixed-blood individuals, were strongly condemned from a societal point of view.²⁸

While King Blount dealt with issues between his tribal members and white inhabitants, turmoil surfaced among his followers. About the fall of 1725 an undetermined number of Tuscarora became disorderly and disobedient toward Blount as their leader. As he had done on previous occasions during the past decade, Blount appealed to the English, his long-time “allies,” for assistance in keeping the peace and control on the Moratock reservation. The council desired that Gov. Sir Richard Everard grant a new commission to Blount reaffirming him as the chief of the North Carolina Tuscarora Indians. The council further wanted a proclamation issued commanding the Indians to render obedience to Blount or be considered enemies of the North Carolina government.²⁹

In April 1731 another Indian slave escaped from his master, Isaac Hill, a Bertie Precinct justice of the peace and member of the General Assembly, and sought refuge among Blount’s Tuscarora. And once again, the governor’s council directed King Blount to “deliver up” the slave to Justice Hill. William Charleton was ordered to visit Blount and “demand” that he relinquish the Indian. Charleton was to summon Blount to appear before the council if he refused to return the slave to Hill.³⁰ It is not known whether the chief complied with the council’s directive.

About late winter or early spring 1731 an undetermined number of King Blount’s Tuscarora travelled to South Carolina, where they allegedly killed livestock, stole property belonging to white citizens, and lured away slaves. Capt. William Waties, a South Carolina militia officer, journeyed to northeastern North Carolina in early May seeking retribution and payment for the damages purportedly committed by the Indians. Gov. George Burrington summoned William Blount, the intended successor to Tom Blount as King of the Tuscarora Indians, Captain George and several other Indians to appear in Edenton on Monday, May 10, 1731, to meet with him, other colonial officials, and Captain Waties. On that day Waties, with the assistance of the interpreter William Charleton, questioned William Blount and his associates regarding their tribal members’ involvement in the South Carolina raid. The Indians, subjected to accusatory questioning by Waties, refused to answer most of the questions but contended that the raid was carried out by Seneca Indians. Waties advised them that he knew their response was false because witnesses and other evidence had attributed the affair to the Bertie County Tuscarora. Several times the Indians huddled together to talk amongst themselves before replying to Waties’s queries, steadfastly contending that Seneca Indians had committed the acts of aggression. Waties, obviously irritated by the Indians’ stonewalling, attempted to intimidate them, stating that they would be considered enemies of the government of South Carolina and the government would send Catawba and Cherokee Indians to attack them. The Indians responded that the Catawba and Cherokee were at war with each other, and they did not believe those two tribes would come against the Tuscarora. Waties replied that the South Carolina militia would be sent against them “to bring them to reason.” Blount and the others indicated that they did not want war and would not commit any acts of war.³¹

Governor Burrington sent a letter the next day to Robert Johnson, governor of South Carolina, in which he conveyed his exasperation with the Indians during the previous day’s episode. Burrington wrote, “We are all very certain in this country that the Tuscarora Indians are very great scroundrells [sic],” and that during Waties’s interrogation “most of the facts charged” were fully proved, yet they absolutely refused to admit their involvement. The governor further declared that the “good people in this Province are far from likeing the vile Practises of these fellows and will not assist them on any occasion but rather favour any men you send against them.” Finally, Burrington conveyed that he had used his “endeavors” to achieve reasonable satisfaction for the South Carolinians, but to no avail.³²

King Tom Blount disappeared from the colonial records after July 2, 1731, when Governor Burrington mentioned him in the present tense in correspondence. At the time Blount’s tribe reportedly consisted of only about two hundred “fighting men”³³ Blount’s date of death is not known, nor his approximate age. He had functioned as the chief, i.e., king, of the northern branch of the Tuscarora Indians in eastern North Carolina for more than two decades. During his lifetime Blount saw his people subjected to the onslaught of Europeans, predominantly English, into his ancestral lands in eastern North Carolina. Hundreds of Indians had been killed in war. The Tuscarora had at one time been powerful, but their numbers were drastically reduced by combat deaths and members’ relocating to the north. King Blount and his people were forced off their wide-ranging territory and the tribal remnants sent to the reserved lands along the Moratock River. The Tuscarora’s lifestyle and culture were largely destroyed, despite Blount’s assistance and cooperation with colonial leaders. King Blount and his Tuscarora followers were victims of the global expansion and authoritarian control of the British Empire—expansionism and colonization that began in the sixteenth century.

King Blount’s successor, although not revealed in extant records, may have been William Blount, the “intended” King in May 1731. Logically, William most surely was a close relative of King Tom.

Contentions between the Indians and whites continued to arise, apparently because the boundaries of the Tuscarora lands had not been definitely delineated and marked. On January 20, 1732, Thomas Pollock informed the governor’s council that various patents had been issued to whites for lands lying between Roquist Swamp and Moratock River, lands claimed by the Tuscarora Indians. According to Pollock, the individuals (including Pollock) who had received the patents were reluctant to settle on the lands since it was not known whether the Indians had rights to the real estate. Pollock and the other patent holders were legally bound to settle and cultivate the lands and pay quitrents thereon. Should the lands not be settled and cultivated, the patents would lapse, and the lands could be claimed by other people, who would be allowed to obtain their own patents. Pollock appealed to the council to issue an order authorizing patent-holders to settle the lands or to otherwise decree that the current patents would not lapse and quitrents would not be charged. The council opined that it could not forego the collection of His Majesty’s (King George II) quitrents for any patented lands; however, if the lands were indeed situated within the bounds “claimed” by the Indians, then the council members opined that the lands should not be “elapsed” until the petitioners were “allowed to quietly possess” them. The council ordered that no patents be lapsed for the subject lands.³⁴

The governor’s council, during the session in which Pollock petitioned regarding the questionable land patents, appointed five men as Commissioners for the Indian Trade. They were Col. Robert West, Francis Pugh, Thomas Bryant, John Spiers, and Thomas Kearney.³⁵ All five were justices of the peace for Bertie Precinct.

Relations between the Indians and their white neighbors continued to be strained. In March 1735 Gov. Gabriel Johnston visited the Tuscarora’s “Indian Town.” The Indians complained to the governor that white people living near them were selling rum to tribal members, implying that the consumption of the liquor was impairing the Indians in carrying out their daily functions. The Indians also alerted Johnston that their white neighbors were preventing them from hunting, an activity necessary for the Indians to subsist on their lands. Further, the Indians were impeded from utilizing white-owned ferries across area waterways since the ferry operators charged them more than white passengers and often refused to transport them for any price.³⁶

In October 1736 the governor’s council renewed Robert West’s and John Spiers’s appointments as Indian commissioners and appointed two new commissioners, Thomas Whitmell and John Gray, both Bertie justices of the peace. The council ordered the four commissioners to ensure that in the future, individuals who traded with the Indians “do not presume to trust or give any credit” to the Indians.³⁷

In early March 1739 members of the Tuscarora Nation appealed to colonial officials to be allowed a choose a king. The governor’s council authorized the Indians to hold an election on the third Tuesday in June 1739. The Indians were instructed to inform Gov. Gabriel Johnston of their choice so that he could approve the individual.³⁸ Presumably, the tribal members elected James Blount (although William Blount had a few years earlier been referenced as the “intended” king).

By the spring of 1741 the Tuscarora Indians had been restrained to existing on the lands allotted to them in Bertie County (previously Precinct) for almost a quarter of a century. Inexplicably, the boundaries of the reservation had apparently never been precisely marked. On April 2, 1741, the governor’s council directed the province’s surveyor to settle the bounds of the Tuscarora land. Firm boundaries were necessary to help prevent encroachments and disputes with the white inhabitants who resided near the reservation. The surveyor was to submit a “return” (descriptive plat) to be recorded in the secretary’s office under official seal, with a copy provided to the Tuscarora.³⁹ Despite the council’s directive, the boundaries were not definitely settled. More than seven years later the General Assembly would address the issue in legislation.

King James Blount on October 1, 1748, presented a petition to the governor’s council on behalf of the people of the Tuscarora Nation. The contents of the petition are not divulged in colonial records, but the council decided that it was of such importance as to be presented to the General Assembly for its consideration.⁴⁰ Likely, Blount’s appeal dealt with encroachments of English inhabitants onto Tuscarora lands and the pressing need to have the boundaries of the reservation clearly marked.

In October 1748 the General Assembly passed a law for ascertaining the bounds of the Bertie County reservation. The law was intended to prevent further encroachments by English inhabitants on the Indians’ lands. The provisions of the act were to be in effect so long as any of the Indians occupied and lived upon the land. Continuous complaints and appeals by the Indians made to colonial leaders during the more than three decades that the reservation had existed had failed to curtail abuses by the Indians’ white neighbors. The statute stipulated that the lands allotted to the Tuscarora Indians “by solemn Treaty” lying on the Moratock River in Bertie County were “confirmed and assured” unto James Blount, chief of the Tuscarora Nation. The law described the general boundaries of the tract as beginning at the mouth of Quitsna Swamp, running up the swamp 430 poles (1.34 miles) to the head of the swamp by a great spring, then north ten degrees east 850 poles (2.65 miles) to Roquist Swamp, then along the swamp’s and pocosin’s main course north fifty-seven degrees west 2,640 poles (8.25 miles) to the east side of Falling Run or Deep Creek, down the various courses of the run/creek to Moratock River, and then down the river. The boundaries had recently been “laid out” and newly marked by George Gould, surveyor general of the province. The law provided that individuals who had previously obtained land grants within the boundaries of the Indian lands could re-enter the lands should the Indians desert or leave the lands. Quitrents would not be due for any granted lands within the Indian reservation so long as the Indians remained resident thereon. Further, the law explicitly stipulated that no person –for any consideration (money or otherwise)—would be allowed to purchase or lease any land claimed or in the possession of any Indian. All sales of land from the Tuscarora to other parties were deemed null and void, and of no effect. Furthermore, individuals who had acquired land from the Tuscarora Indians were to “forfeit” £10 for every one hundred acres they purchased. Additionally, all non-Indians dwelling within the stipulated bounds of the Indian lands were to vacate and leave the lands by March 25, 1749. Individuals who failed to depart, or who subsequently moved onto Indian lands, were to be fined twenty shillings for each day that they occupied the lands. Finally, the law provided that non-Indians who had livestock (horses, cattle, sheep, or hogs) ranging on the Indian lands were liable and subject to the same penalties and forfeitures as if the animals were ranging on the land of white persons.⁴¹

By the 1750s the Tuscarora Indians who resided in Bertie County were struggling to continue their existence. Their numbers had dwindled drastically from the 1710s, and they lived in impoverished conditions. Their relations with their English neighbors were not cordial—the English treated them with “great contempt.” During early autumn 1752 Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg of the Moravian Church of North Carolina visited the Tuscarora Indians living along the Roanoke River. Thomas Whitmell, interpreter (and Indian commissioner), accompanied the bishop during the trip. Spangenberg noted that the Indians had no king, only a captain whom the English selected from their midst. Some of the Indians on the reservation were regarded as “chiefs.” The number of Indians residing on the land was reportedly “small,” and Spangenberg characterized them as “very poor.” He noted that they were “oppressed by the whites,” but Thomas Whitmell was their advocate, and they “much respected” him. The bishop further noted that the white citizens of the area feared the Tuscarora. It “is difficult when people live alone in the woods about here; they are in danger of getting into unpleasant relations with the Indians.” Spangenberg attributed the tense relations between the English and the Indians to the war four decades earlier. He observed, “North Carolina waged war with the Indians, in time the latter became worsted & in consequence lost their land. This created a bad feeling not only among those tribes immediately concerned but with all the rest. This feeling of animosity will not speedily die out.”⁴²

Thomas Whitmell, reportedly one of the wealthiest men in Bertie County, maintained a close, interactive relationship with the Tuscarora Indians. He traded with them, understood their language and spoke it fluently. He owned land located within the boundaries of the Indian Woods reservation, and at some point he resided on the reservation. On October 26, 1769, he sold five hundred acres “within the Indian line” to John Allen. The tract was situated near Quitsna and Chewatock Swamps. Allen paid £50 for the land. Also, a site called Whitmell’s Island was situated on the reservation. Further evidence of Whitmell’s respected association with the Indians is the fact that the chief and headman of the Bertie County Tuscarora in 1778 was named Whitmell Tuffdick. Surely, the chief was named in honor of Thomas Whitmell and may have been a relative.⁴³

King James Blount, in violation of the 1748 law intended to eliminate English encroachments on Tuscarora lands, sometime between the enactment of the statute and early 1753 secretly leased a parcel of reservation land to John McCaskey Sr. of Martin County. Tribal members, once learning of the lease, appealed to the governor’s council on March 29, 1753, for redress. The council directed Thomas Whitmell, William Taylor, and John Hill to inquire into the matter and report back to the council. The three men met with McCaskey and the Indians in May, at which time McCaskey confessed that he held a tract by lease from the Indian King. Whitmell, Taylor, and Hill, in accordance with authority vested in them by the governor’s council, ordered that McCaskey quit his claim and all pretention to the leased land. The lease had been made in violation of the provisions of the 1748 law. McCaskey appealed the judgment and appeared before the council on September 26, 1753. Upon considering Whitmell, Taylor, and Hill’s report, and hearing from the appellant, the council ordered that McCaskey “remove his effects” from the Indians’ lands.⁴⁴

Despite the 1748 statute and various directives over the years from the provincial government, the English settlers continued to take advantage of the Tuscarora Indians by coming onto their lands. Once again, in fall 1757, the Tuscarora king appealed to North Carolina leaders for help. King James Blount, on September 25, petitioned the governor’s council for a patent “or some better title” for the Tuscarora’s lands in Bertie County. Blount noted that white inhabitants confronted the Indians, tauntingly telling them that their documentation of ownership of the reserved lands was “good for Nothing.” The whites were continuing to trespass and settle onto the Indian lands, fell trees, and drive and range livestock. Blount earnestly concluded his petition: “We hope Care will be Taken to protect us in Quiet Possession of Our Lands and from the White People Abusing us.”⁴⁵

The next year Blount complained to the council that Humphrey Bates of Bertie County had settled on the Indians’ lands without their consent and in violation of the 1748 law. On November 29, 1758, the council ordered the province’s attorney general, Robert Jones Jr., to prosecute Bates unless he quit the land. On the same day, John Campbell, a Bertie County representative to the General Assembly, presented Humphrey Bates’s petition to the assembly that he (Bates) was entitled to three hundred acres of land situated on the Tuscarora reservation. According to Bates, the land was part of a six-hundred-acre tract that had originally been “granted” to William Charleton in November 1723 by King Tom Blount and other chieftains of the Tuscarora Indians. George Charleton, grandson of William, had supposedly sold the three hundred acres to Bates. On December 19, Thomas Barker of Edenton presented George Charleton’s petition to the lawmakers in which the younger Charleton affirmed that his grandfather had obtain a land warrant with the consent of the governor’s council, King Tom Blount, and other Tuscarora chieftains. The warrant was dated November 7, 1723, and the Indians sold the subject land to William Charleton. North Carolina’s lawmakers were not persuaded; they sided with the Tuscarora Indians and rejected the petitions.⁴⁶

Yet Bates did not vacate the Indian lands, and the Tuscarora, in May 1759, appealed to Gov. Arthur Dobbs. The governor referred the matter to the lower house of the General Assembly for the lawmakers to inquire into matter. Dobbs desired that justice “be done” on behalf of the Indians. Within a few days the lawmakers responded to the chief executive that the attorney general had already addressed the issue with Bates.⁴⁷ Essentially, no additional action was taken to resolve the Bates issue.

An existing record reveals that Humphrey Bates had surely moved onto the Tuscarora Indians’ lands illegally. He and George Charleton consummated an after-the-fact deed to document Bates’s “ownership” of the contested real estate. On December 27, 1759, more than a year after the Tuscarora Indians complained to the governor’s council regarding Bates, George Charleton of Craven County sold three hundred acres to Bates for £290,. The tract was described in the deed as a place called Quitsney Meadow joining Chuotoik [Chewatock] Swamp. According to the deed, the land was originally purchased from the Tuscarora Indians and confirmed by the Lords Proprietors’ deputies on November 7, 1723, as a grant to William Charleton. Ann Bates, Henry Bates, and Joseph Ballard Jr. witnessed the deed, which was proved in Bertie County court in October 1760. By that time Humphrey Bates had died. The remaining part (three hundred acres) of the patented land, “commonly called Indian Island, had been sold by William Charlton to Thomas Norcum on June 1, 1748.⁴⁸

Despite the disrespectful, and at times vengeful, attitudes exhibited toward the Tuscarora Indians by their white neighbors, North Carolina legislators sought to convince the Indians of Bertie County to march with state troops to assist Virginia during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). On May 4, 1758, the General Assembly resolved that Governor Dobbs “endeavor to prevail with a number of the Tuscarora Indians to march with the Troops of this Province” and join British forces in Virginia. The lawmakers sought to induce the Indians into military service by paying each man a bounty of forty shillings. The Indian warriors were also to be rewarded upon their return according to their “merit” while in service. Furthermore, the lawmakers authorized £40 to be withdrawn from the State treasury and provided to William Williams and Thomas Whitmell for purchasing provisions for the wives and children of those Tuscarora men who went to Virginia. The number of Tuscarora warriors who trekked to participate in action against the French is not evident in extant records, but some certainly participated in a large-scale campaign led by Gen. John Forbes to drive the French out of the upper Ohio River Valley. British forces, which included Indians, attacked Fort Duquesne (near present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) on September 14, 1758, but were repulsed. In May 1759 the North Carolina General Assembly resolved that £105 be given to the Tuscarora Indians as a bounty and reward for their services on the expedition against Fort Duquesne.⁴⁹

The Tuscarora Indians had been living on the Bertie County reservation for more than four decades. During that residence their numbers steadily declined, and their white neighbors’ land abuses continued unabated. About three hundred Indians reportedly resided on the reservation in 1754, a reduction of more than sixty percent in less than forty years. According to Governor Dobbs, by 1761 only about one hundred “fighting men” were present among the tribal members. Dobbs further reported to officials in England in June 1763 that the Tuscarora were yet more “reduced.” Additionally, the persistent issues of encroachment and depredation of natural resources by English settlers had not been resolved. As further illustration, John Allen of Bertie County encroached upon the lands in the 1760s. During the April 1769 session of the North Carolina colonial court, the attorney general filed a motion against Allen for illegally occupying the Indians’ lands.⁵⁰ The Indians’ resolve to live amongst and deal with the ever increasing numbers of white inhabitants was diminished. Their spirits were broken.

By the early 1760s a considerable number of the Indians who remained on the Bertie County reservation desired to leave and join their kinsmen in the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation in New York. Being extremely poor, the Indians did not have the funds needed for the extended trip. Wagons, carts, haul animals, provisions, cooking utensils, and sundry other items needed to be acquired. To raise the necessary money, the tribe’s chieftains decided to lease a substantial part of their lands to four white men: Thomas Whitmell (Indian commissioner, interpreter, and advocate), Thomas Pugh Sr. (Bertie County legislator, justice of the peace, and militia officer), William Williams (Halifax County, subsequently Martin County, legislator, apparent Indian agent, and militia officer), and John Watson (Bertie County planter). In November 1764 a bill was introduced in the General Assembly to confirm an agreement between the chiefs of the Tuscarora Indians and Whitmell, Pugh, Williams, and Watson, but it did not pass during the legislative session, and no law ensued. (Pugh was one of Bertie County’s representatives to the assembly during the session).⁵¹ Nonetheless, the Tuscarora moved forward with their plan to lease the land.

On May 17, 1766, the Sachem of the Tuscarora Indians of the Susquehanna River region met with Gov. William Tryon to discuss relocating members of the Bertie County Indians to New York. The Sachem appealed to Tryon for assistance in raising money to finance the Indians’ trek northward. The governor informed the chief that since the tract of land upon which the Tuscarora resided in North Carolina was granted to them by the provincial legislature, the legislature’s approval was required in order to obtain the sought-after funding. The next assembly was scheduled to begin in New Bern on October 30, at which session Tryon assured the Sachem that he “would give him all the assistance in … [his] power” to obtain legislative approval to lease as much of the land as was necessary to bear the traveling expenses of those Tuscarora who were “willing to quit” the province and march to join the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation. The Sachem was at first reluctant to remain in North Carolina until the General Assembly convened, but upon consideration he decided to stay and live among his kinsmen on the Bertie County reservation.⁵²

A month later Governor Tryon wrote to Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northern District of the British Indian Department, and conveyed the results of his meeting with the Sachem. Tryon also noted that he had recently received correspondence from John Stuart, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Southern District, in which Stuart stated that Johnson had sought Stuart’s assistance in convincing the Bertie County Tuscarora Indians to remove to the Six Nations. Tryon assured Johnson that he would assist the Indians who desired to leave, noting that about 220 to 230 men, women, and children wanted to remain on the reservation along the Roanoke River.⁵³

The Sachem, assured of Governor Tryon’s assistance in lobbying the General Assembly on behalf of Tuscarora Indians, most likely was involved in arranging an agreement for the Indians to lease a sizable portion of their lands. On July 12, 1766, twenty-seven chieftains of the Tuscarora Nation consummated an agreement with Robert Jones Jr. (the North Carolina attorney general), Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams to lease a reported eight thousand acres. Jones, Pugh, and Williams paid the Indians £1,500 “proclamation money.” Reportedly, the members of the tribe who were to remain on the reservation and those who were to depart made “a Division” of the lands, designating the portion to be leased. The term of the lease was 150 years (until July 12, 1916). The tract leased by the Indians covered an area from the mouth of Deep Creek, otherwise called Falling Run, up the creek to the Indian boundary line, then along a course parallel to the run of Deep Creek to Roanoke River, and up the river to the mouth of Deep Creek. The agreement stipulated that the lessees were entitled to all trees and timber “being and growing” on the leased tract. The agreement further noted that Jones, Pugh, and Williams were entitled to the money and profits arising from their use of the lands. Finally, each year the trio was liable to pay to the Tuscarora “one pepper corn if demanded or upon the fear of Saint Michael, the arch angel.” The agreement was proved in Bertie County court in September 1767. Purportedly, “a gratuity [was] given to those [individuals] who remained for their consent to the Division” of reservation lands.⁵⁴ The agreement, to which the province’s attorney general was a party, violated the 1748 law.

By early August, reportedly 130 Indians of the Bertie County reservation were preparing to leave for the Six Nations. Jones, Pugh, and Williams had, according to Governor Tryon, “advanced” £1,200 to the Indians so that they could purchase wagons, provisions and other items needed for conveyance and subsistence during the forthcoming trip. The Indians, 155 in number, likely departed the reservation before August 10. On August 2 Tryon wrote to the Board of Trade of Great Britain that the money had been loaned to the Indians on credit of some of their lands until the General Assembly could reimburse them for their expense. The assembly would have to pass a law for the sale of Indian lands to raise the funds. Tryon also informed the Board of Trade that only fifty or sixty Tuscarora remained on the reserved lands. A few months later he reported that 104 men, women, and children remained.⁵⁵ Regardless, most of the Tuscarora Indians departed from Bertie County, leaving a small remnant of the tribe residing on the reservation.

The governor, true to his promise to the Sachem, appealed to the members of the General Assembly on November 4, 1766, to assist the Indians. By the time the legislative session convened, Robert Jones Jr. had died (October 2, 1766). On Friday, November 7, William Basket and ten other chieftains of the North Carolina Tuscarora delivered a “speech” to Tryon: “We come to assure you of our loyalty to the great King over the water [Atlantic Ocean] and to desire your friendship and protection; in token whereof we present you with these Deerskins; Poverty must excuse the smallness of the present, for we are mostly old men, unable to hunt, our young men having gone to the Northward with the Northern Chief, Tragaweha. Many years ago a certain Tract of Land in Bertie County, was given by treaty to King Blount and his Subjects, for their fidelity to the English[.] Part of this Land we have leased to Messrs. Jones, Williams, and Pugh and we desire the lease may be confirmed, and the penalties of the Act, of 1748, repealed, so far as relates to the Land that is leased. We are by education and custom, unable to acquire a livelihood otherwise than by hunting; and as ill[-]natured persons frequently take away and break our guns, and even whip us for pursuing game on their Land, we beg of your Excellency to appoint Commissioners (as heretofore) to hear our complaints, and redress our grievances.” Tryon immediately forwarded a copy of the speech to the members of the General Assembly. By November 10 a bill had been introduced in the upper house of the assembly to confirm the lease consummated between the Tuscarora Indians and Jones, Pugh, and Williams.⁵⁶

The General Assembly passed the act confirming the lease. The law affirmed that Robert Jones Jr. had died and left a last will and testament in which he bequeathed his share of the leased Indian tract to his sons, Allen and Willie Jones. The law affirmed that Allen and Willie Jones would receive the same rights and privileges related to the leased land to which their father was entitled. Additionally, the law exempted Allen and Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams from the penalties of the 1748 law concerning leasing or purchasing land from the Tuscarora Indians. The new law further provided that grants and purchases of land within the bounds of the reservation prior to October 15, 1748, were still invalid. Finally, the statute mandated that the Joneses, Pugh, and Williams pay to the province annually, on March 21, a quitrent of four shillings per one hundred acres of leased land.⁵⁷

The Tuscarora Indians who remained on the reservation were existing in dire, destitute conditions. Apparently, the vast majority of the money generated by the lease of the reservation lands was used for the benefit of those persons who departed to join the Six Nations. According to Chieftain Thomas Basket, the individuals “left at home” were “old men and children, incapable of providing for themselves, if cold weather should come on.” The Indians needed the colonial government to render “services” to them. And despite their pitiful existence, white people still took advantage of them by living on their lands, including Sarah Bates, whom Basket requested the colonial leaders to “eject” from the land. Sarah was the widow of Humphrey Bates, and she resided within the Indian bounds on the “William Charleton” land to the north of Chewatock Swamp. By April 1802 Sarah was an elderly woman and still resided on a 150-acre parcel within the Indian lands. On April 2, 1802, Sarah’s grandsons, Humphrey and Henry Bates, sons of James Bates, sold 150 acres that had originally been owned by William Charleton.⁵⁸

On February 1, 1767, Allen Jones of Northampton County sold to his brother, Willie Jones (also of Northampton), his share of their father’s interest in the leased Tuscarora lands. Willie Jones paid £600 for the undivided one-third part.⁵⁹ The transaction yielded an effective monetary profit of £350, a seventy percent gain in less than seven months. (Robert Jones’s share of the lease cost was £500 [1/3 of £1,500], and this cost equally divided between Allen and Willie Jones was £250 per person.)

Two and a half months later (April 18, 1767), Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams sublet 1,080 acres of the Tuscarora lands to Henry Eustace McCulloh for £100. The term of the sublease was 150 years (July 12, 1766 to July 12, 1916). The tract was commonly known as Green Pond and was situated along the back line of the Indians’ lands.⁶⁰ McCulloh was the son of Henry McCulloh, formerly of Middlesex, England, the largest land speculator in North Carolina. The younger McCulloh was born in England in 1737 and by education an attorney. Since 1761 he had served as collector of the port of Beaufort, a member of the governor’s council, a surveyor, and a justice of the peace in Orange County. By 1766 he had been appointed collector of the port of Roanoke at Edenton, a position he held when he subleased the Tuscarora land. He departed North Carolina in 1770 to return to England and never came back to North Carolina.⁶¹

Jones, Pugh, and Williams’s transaction with McCulloh was the first of fourteen agreements that these men made with other individuals over the next seven-plus years to sublet the Tuscarora lands. The three men sublet more than 5,850 acres (73 percent) of the reported eight thousand acres covered in their July 1766 lease. They received £1,596 for the subleases, more than recouping the initial cost (i.e., investment) of £1,500. Furthermore, three of the subleases, totaling 1,537 acres, were made by William Williams to his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, John Johnston, and to his son, Samuel Williams, for “love and affection” and pittances in monetary consideration (a total of fifteen shillings for the three transactions).⁶²

By January 1773 Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams decided that they needed to partition their leased lands among themselves, obviously for better accountability and control. In three separate agreements (dated January 1, 10, and 15), they defined eighteen specific parcels that, according to the documentation, totaled 11,890 acres—3,890 acres, or an astounding 48.6 percent, more than the acreage noted in their 1766 lease with the Tuscarora. Apparently, the Indians, not versed in surveying skills and methodologies, unknowingly leased to Jones, Pugh, and Williams, far more of their lands than documented. The Indians most surely knew the topography of the lands on which they had resided for almost a half of a century when they leased the lands to the three men. Such an amazing difference in the recorded acreages is not readily explainable, except that Jones, Pugh, and Williams deceptively took advantage of the chiefs. Table 1 presents the parcels and acres allocated to each man.

Table 1

Allocations of Leased Lands by Willie Jones,

Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams – January 1773⁶³

Willie Jones		Thomas Pugh Sr.		William Williams
Tract	Acres	Tract	Acres	Tract	Acres
Rich Neck	565	Quiraroca	615	Sap [Sapona] Town	540
Whitakers	400	Upper Sarah Walker’s	632	Tony’s Old Field	589
Indian Pasture & Broad Neck	1,085	Lower Sarah Walkers	452	Jemmy’s Neck	475
Back	800	Caesar’s Island	219	Duck Gut	470
Island	1,000	Back	840	Island	1,000
		Island	1,000	Blount Neck	408
				Back	800
Totals	3,850		3,758		4,232 [4,282]*

* The subject deed notes that Williams’s total allocation was 4,232 acres, whereas the individual tracts sum total was 4,282 acres (as computed by the author).

In December 1775 the Tuscarora Indians of Bertie County consummated two leases, one of which was a second lease to Jones, Pugh, and William Williams. On December 2 twenty chieftains leased 1,700 acres to the trio for ninety-nine years. The overall tract encompassed 2,000 acres, but the agreement specifically excluded three hundred acres that were being cultivated by an Indian named Watking. The Indians received no monetary consideration for the lease which stipulated that Jones, Pugh, and Williams annually remit “rent” of eighty “oznatrig” (osnaburg) shirts, eighty Duffield blankets, eighty pairs of boots, fifty pounds of black powder and 150 pounds of shot.⁶⁴ Eleven days later, on December 13, the Indians leased to William King a tract of undisclosed acreage. The agreement was for a ninety-nine-year term with annual rents of £15. Whitmell Tuffdick was noted as the “the King Indian” in the deed.⁶⁵

The consideration noted in the Jones-Pugh-Williams lease, clothing, blankets, powder, and shot, clearly indicates that the Tuscarora, living in poverty, direly needed items of clothing for comfort and warmth and ammunition for hunting (and subsistence). Also, the annual payment of eighty shirts, pairs of boots, and blankets would imply that about eighty individuals still resided on the Bertie Count reservation. The “consideration” was absurdly meager for the leasehold rights to so great an amount of fertile and productive real estate. Jones, Pugh, and Williams were affluent men, while the Tuscarora were likely the poorest and most stressed people in Bertie County. The Indians were not educated to, or sufficiently versed in, the white men’s business practices. Yet they were dealing with highly-educated men whose desires to obtain wealth were clearly driving motivations in their financially-related transactions with the Tuscarora. Jones, Pugh, Williams, their heirs and the individuals who were awarded subleases stemming from the original Indian leases achieved huge profits in subsequent years by selling and reselling leases, along with incalculable income derived from agricultural activities and harvesting of natural resources on the “Indian Woods” lands.

During the five-month period from February 10, 1777, through July 7, 1777, the Tuscarora chieftains consummated six lease agreements with various individuals. On February 10 the Indians agreed with Zedekiah Stone that Stone would be permitted to occupy a “certain quantity” of their lands for ninety-nine years. The Indians were “desirous” that Stone clear the land but not disturb Joseph Lloyd, Thomas Smith, and Sarah Hicks (presumed Indians). On February 26 the Indians leased to John McCaskey Sr. and Thomas Hunter (both of Martin County) a tract of undisclosed acreage. McCaskey and Hunter were to pay yearly rent of £8 (On January 24, 1786, Hunter assigned his right, title and interest in the lease to McCaskey for £50). On March 18 the chiefs leased to John Johnston a tract containing two hundred acres for a term of ninety-nine years. Johnston was to pay £10 in rent annually. Ten days later Thomas Pugh Sr. acquired a ninety-nine-year lease on one hundred acres for annual rent of £8. On April 7 the Indians leased to William King a tract of undisclosed acreage. The Indians desired that King clear the land, but having no money to pay King for his labor, they agreed that he could “occupy, possess and enjoy the land.” Three months later (July 7) Titus Edwards received a lease with similar terms. Edwards was permitted to occupy and possess a sixty-acre tract that the Indians desired to have cleared.⁶⁶

The Tuscarora, by their long-term leases of 1766 and the 1770s, had transferred stewardship of the vast majority of the “Indian Woods” reservation to white planters and officials. The Indians, impoverished and desperately seeking money, proved to be highly vulnerable to manipulation by affluent whites seeking greatly valuable lands. By the decade of the 1780s, the reservation had become a conclave of some of the wealthiest men in the Roanoke River valley. The remaining Indians were relegated to existing on the land (estimated at less than 5,000 acres) that had not been leased. Moreover, the Tuscarora were not sufficiently savvy in the white men’s business operations to effectively monitor and manage leases whose terms covered multiple generations.

The Tuscarora Indians, unable to collect all the rents due to them and incapable of efficiently managing their affairs, appealed to Gov. Richard Caswell for assistance. During the General Assembly’s legislative session in December 1777, the House of Commons resolved that “all persons [were] … prohibited from making entries in the Tuscarora Lands in Bertie County.” The House further resolved that William Williams, Thomas Pugh Sr., Zedekiah Stone, and Simon Turner be appointed commissioners for the Tuscarora Indians with the authority to superintend and “take care” of their affairs. (Clearly, Williams, Pugh, and Stone were not independent of the Indians’ affairs since they each held leases with the Indians.) The lawmakers were concerned that the Indians might not be paid their due rents in accordance with the terms of leases to which they had agreed with the whites. The House’s resolutions provided that the commissioners could demand and receive any rents then due, or which might become due, to the Tuscarora. In cases of default of payment, the commissioners were authorized to issue “warrants of distress” against individuals indebted for rents, and cause the warrants “to be delivered and applied … to the proper use and behoof” of the Indians. Finally, the commissioners were authorized to implement measures to prevent ill-disposed persons from selling liquors on the Tuscarora’s lands. The Senate concurred with the House resolutions.⁶⁷

The General Assembly, during its session in the spring of 1778, passed an act for “quieting and securing” the Tuscarora Indians. The law characterized the Indians as “by Nature ignorant and strongly addicted to drinking, thereby rendering them easily and unwarily manipulated by scheming persons intent on depriving them of their lands.” It mandated actions to be taken to address various issues negatively impacting the Indians on the Bertie County reservation. The law also affirmed that Whitmell Tuffdick, chief, and the Tuscarora Indians then living in Bertie County on lands allotted to them “by solemn Treaty” and confirmed to them by the act of Assembly in 1748 were forever exempt from paying any poll tax. The law provided that no person, for any consideration (monetary or otherwise), would be allowed to purchase or lease any tract or parcel of land claimed or possessed by the Tuscarora Indians. No person was to settle on or cultivate the Indians’ lands in his or her own right or under the pretense of acting as an overseer for the Indians. Any person who subsequent to enactment of the law purchased or leased, settled on or cultivated any Indian lands in any capacity, was to have all relevant purchases and leases declared “null and void.” Also, each person was to be fined £300 “current money” for every one hundred acres purchased, leased, settled on or cultivated. One half of all fines was to be provided to the Tuscarora Indians for their benefit. The statute also provided that the Tuscarora Indians could sell or dispose of their lands, or any part thereof, only with the prior consent of the General Assembly. The act further provided that all persons entitled to claim land pursuant to the July 12, 1766, lease to Robert Jones Jr., Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams and the 1766 law confirming that lease (including valid subleases) would be allowed to hold, occupy, possess, and enjoy the lands in “full, free, and absolute” manner. Such persons were to be afforded the same legal privileges as Jones, Pugh, and Williams, subject to relevant taxes. Fair and bona fide leases, without elements of fraud, entered into by the Indians prior to December 1, 1777, were deemed to be not vacant and subject to pertinent taxes.⁶⁸

The legislators noted in the law that the Tuscarora Indians had been victims of unfair dealings with white inhabitants who acquired leases. The Indians had no means for obtaining redress in such cases. Therefore, the act stipulated that Indian commissioners (appointed by the act, namely Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., William Williams, Simon Turner, and Zedekiah Stone) would be authorized to investigate Indian complaints against their lessees. The commissioners were authorized to convene courts or meetings to ascertain whether any individuals had unfairly or fraudulently obtained leases from the Indians. Any person against whom the Indians had made a complaint was to be summoned to the court to answer the complaint before a jury of twelve freeholders (landowners) of Bertie County who did not reside upon, or who had not acquired (i.e., leased), any lands of the Tuscarora Indians. The Bertie County sheriff was authorized to execute resulting writs and warrants. Proceedings and verdicts of the courts were to be entered into to the records of the Bertie County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.⁶⁹

Additionally, the statute recognized that the Indians often suffered damages, such as breaking of enclosures and pens and destruction of crops, from livestock driven onto their lands by white people. Because of the deprivation of property, the law provided that the Indians could demand restitution and rents for the losses. The Indian commissioners were authorized to collect the rents and amounts for damages suffered by the Tuscarora Indians at the hands of white inhabitants. The justices of Bertie County were authorized to appoint commissioners to fill the positions of any who died or resigned. Finally, the act stipulated that the lands leased by Robert Jones Jr., Thomas Pugh Sr., William Williams, and other persons were to revert to, and become the property of, the state of North Carolina at the expirations of the terms of the leases, if the Tuscarora Nation was then extinct. Lands belonging to, and possessed by, the Tuscarora were also to revert to the state whenever the Nation became extinct, or the Indians entirely abandoned the lands or removed themselves from them.⁷⁰

As had been the case during the French and Indian War two decades prior, two Tuscarora Indian brothers served militarily during the Revolutionary War. Both enlisted in the Fifth North Carolina Regiment. The men, John and James Hicks, enlisted in 1777 for two and one-half years. They served in Capt. John Pugh Williams’s company, in which other Bertie County men served. John Hicks was “Slain in Battle”—the battle and date are not disclosed in his service history. Apparently, John Hicks also died while serving, since he was “omitted” from the rolls in February 1778. Captain Williams was obviously known to the Hicks brothers since he was the nephew of Col. Thomas Pugh Sr. (lessee of Tuscarora Indian lands) and had witnessed a lease agreement in December 1775 between Pugh and the Indians, including the Hicks brothers. Both John and James Hicks signed (acknowledged with their marks) the agreement. (Williams also witnessed a 1773 sublease between Willie Jones, William Williams and John Johnston.)⁷¹

Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams entered into five subleases on March 23 and 24, 1779. The 1778 law allowed leaseholders of the Tuscarora Indians’ lands to sublet the properties. The five subleases included almost 850 acres and yielded Jones, Pugh, and Williams a total of £3,695. The subleases were granted to David Standley, John Allen, James Bates, Simon Turner, and Jeremiah Pearce.⁷²

By subletting the Tuscarora lands, Jones, Pugh, and Williams had easily recouped the initial “investment” of £1,500 (July 12, 1766, lease). They had not been required to commit any up-front money for their December 1775 agreement (consideration being to annually provide clothing, ammunition, etc. to the Indians). In less than thirteen years, the three men, already significant wealthy, were amassing huge profits from the Indians’ fertile reservation lands.

The 1778 statute was deficient in that it did not provide a penalty to be assessed upon persons who failed to appear as jurors once summoned. By 1780 the issue was of such significance that Whitmell Tuffdick and other Tuscarora chiefs complained to state lawmakers that “not enough jurors will show up to hear a trial due to artful persuasion by the people who contend with the Indians.” Therefore, the General Assembly during its April–May 1780 session passed an act to amend the earlier law. The amendments authorized the commissioners to levy a fine of £100 on anyone who, being duly summoned as a juror or witness, failed to attend court. The fines were not to be imposed on persons who could convince the commissioners that they had a “sufficient excuse” for not attending.⁷³

The number of complaints that the Tuscarora Indian commissioners handled is not evident in extant records. For one such complaint a trial was held on February 24, 1781, at William Blount’s residence on the Indian lands to try a matter involving a dispute between the Indians and William King’s executors (King’s wife, Elizabeth, and son, William Jr.). In 1777 the Indians had complained to North Carolina leaders that King obtained a lease for a large tract of land and “wickedly & perfidiously contrive[d] … an agreement” with William Cain, an Indian chief, for another lease intended to “Cheat & defraud” the Tuscarora. King provided liquor to the Indians and, once they were intoxicated, presented to them a “Ready Drawn [long-term] Lease.” The previously prepared document indicated that King intended to lease one hundred acres, but the described tract actually contained at least one thousand acres. According to the account of the trial, King’s executors claimed rights to land that King had leased from the Tuscarora. Commissioners Pugh, Turner, and Stone presided over the proceedings. A jury of twelve men, upon hearing and considering the evidence, declared that William King during his lifetime had no rights to the land in dispute, nor did his executors. The commissioners directed that the “verdict” be entered into Bertie County’s court records. King had died prior to November 1778, when his will (undated) was proved in Bertie County court.⁷⁴

On March 24, 1779, Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams allocated among themselves the lands that they leased from the Indians in December 1775. As the men had previously done in January 1773 (for their July 1766 leasehold), they divided the total acreage into parcels. The men allocated the lands into ten parcels, ten in this instance, that totaled 7,849 acres, approximately 6,150 acres more than the number of acres noted in their 1775 agreement with the Indians. The disparity between the acreage stipulated in the men’s agreement with the Tuscarora and the acreage they allocated among themselves six years later is incredible. Table 2 presents information on the parcels and acres allocated to each man.

Table 2

Allocations of Leased Lands (December 1775) by Willie Jones,

Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams – March 24, 1779⁷⁵

Willie Jones		Thomas Pugh Sr.		William Williams
Tract	Acres	Tract	Acres	Tract	Acres
1	667	1	645	1	667
2	1,000	2	1,000	2	170
3	900	3	900	3	1,000
				4	900
Totals	2,567		2,545		2,737

According to pertinent land records, Jones, Pugh, and Williams had leased approximately 9,700 acres of reservation lands from the Indians per the agreements of July 1766 and December 1773. Yet the men allocated amongst themselves more than 19,739 acres, almost twice the acreage they reportedly leased. Such grand disparities between the quantity of lands leased and subsequently allocated by Jones, Pugh, and Williams indicate that the Tuscarora had unwittingly given rights to substantially more acreage than they acknowledged. Most likely the Indians agreed to general bounds of the leases by noting landmarks, geographic details swamps, runs, etc. Obviously, no formal surveys were made of the lands covered by the leases to clearly define the acreages to be noted in the resulting documentation.

On February 11, 1782, Zedekiah Stone entered into a bond with Whitmell Tuffdick and seven other Tuscarora chieftains. Stone committed to annually pay £12 specie (coinage) to the Indians for the right to cultivate a “certain tract of land in the [Indian] boundary known as Coniot.” The bond indicates that Stone had already rented the land from the Indians. Stone’s security to ensure performance under the bond was £20,000 specie, an astounding amount. (It is not known why Stone’s bond was so exorbitant.) Thomas Pugh Sr. and William Benson signed the document as securities for Stone.⁷⁶

William Williams died prior to August 1782, when the presiding justices of Bertie County court appointed Williams’s son, Samuel, to fill his father’s position as a Tuscarora Indian commissioner. The younger Williams held two subleases for almost 1,000 acres and received leased Tuscarora land as a legacy in his father’s will.⁷⁷ With Williams’s death, only Thomas Pugh Sr. of the original three lessees of the Indian lands along Roanoke River was still living.

Williams, a resident of Martin County (formed in 1774 from Halifax and Tyrrell Counties) prepared his will on December 22, 1778. He bequeathed his “Indian lands” in Bertie County to his sons, William Williams Jr. and Samuel Williams, and daughter, Elizabeth Johnston, the wife of John Johnston. Williams’s will was proved in Martin County court in August 1782.⁷⁸

During the 1780s and 1790s holders of leases and subleases for Tuscarora Indian lands entered into at least twenty-one agreements, further distributing lease rights. The agreements consummated during the two decades encompassed an undetermined number of acres since various recorded agreements did not disclose the acreages. Additionally, seven men, Titus Edwards, John Hinton, John Johnston, David Standley, John McCaskey Sr., John Allen, and Thomas Bond, died during the period and through their wills devised to their heirs and legatees various tracts of leased Indian land. In all cases the wills did not disclose the number of acres included in the bequests.⁷⁹ The Indians who remained on the lands during the latter part of the eighteenth century would surely have had difficulties in ascertaining all the people who held lease rights and, by law, were authorized to come onto the reservation and clear lands, establish residences, cultivate fields, and consume natural resources. In addition to the leaseholders, family members, laborers hired by the leaseholders, and slaves came onto the reservation. The few Tuscarora Indians still residing in Indian Woods had, by 1800, essentially lost control of their lands and the ongoing activities thereon by others. The Indians, who had strived to prevent white settlers from squatting on their reserved lands, had fallen victims to the ultimate “encroachment,” leased occupation of the “Indian Woods.”

The Tuscarora petitioned North Carolina legislators in 1798 to appoint additional commissioners to assist in handling Indian affairs. During its November–December 1798 session the General Assembly passed an act that added two other commissioners to those appointed per the 1778 law. In conformity with the Tuscarora’s recommendation, William Williams Jr. (son of William Williams, who leased land from the Tuscarora Indians in 1766 and 1775) and Samuel Johnston (son of John Johnston and grandson of William Williams) were appointed.⁸⁰

By the early nineteenth century, the Tuscarora Indians of Bertie County teetered on the verge of losing their reservation. In late 1801 a deputation of the Tuscarora Nation in New York arrived in North Carolina to open negotiation with state leaders for the cessation or sale of the Indians’ right to the “Indian Woods” lands. The Indians intended to derive funds from the sale of the Bertie County lands to purchase lands in New York. During the fall of 1802, two chiefs, Sacarusa and Longboard of the Tuscarora Nation in New York, arrived in North Carolina to intervene and assist their Bertie kinsmen. The Tuscarora Nation “duly authorized” the two leaders, along with Samuel Smith (a chief residing on the Indian Woods reservation), to act on behalf of the North Carolina Tuscarora. The Tuscarora were willing to relinquish their claim to the “Indian Woods” lands at the expiration of the 150-year lease made in July 1766 with Robert Jones Jr., Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams. The Indians also desired that the terms of the 99-year leases be extended to expire on July 12, 1916. Further, the chiefs pushed for the enactment of a law to allow them to lease the “undemised” part of their lands. Finally, they sought statutory assistance in collecting rents due on their leases.⁸¹

The Tuscarora’s situation was so desperate that they sought the intervention of the United States government. Pres. Thomas Jefferson nominated, and the United States Senate confirmed, William R. Davie, a North Carolina Revolutionary War army officer and founder of the University of North Carolina, as Indian commissioner to arrange a treaty with the Tuscarora. Under Davie’s superintendence, a treaty was concluded with the Tuscarora Nation on December 4, 1802. Davie presented the document to President Jefferson, who submitted it on February 21, 1803, to the United States Senate for ratification. The treaty noted that the Tuscarora Nation of Indians had an interest in lands situated in North Carolina, but that they resided at so remote a distance from the lands that they were unable to derive any benefit from them. The use of the lands had been granted to them by the North Carolina legislature so long as the Indians occupied and lived upon the lands. The state, “in directing the use of the said lands, had … permitted certain leases to be made … and difficulties [had] arisen in the payment and receipt of the rents … due.” Therefore, to prevent disputes that might arise respecting the future use and occupancy of the Indians’ lands, the treaty provided that the North Carolina General Assembly:

● by legislative act(s), would facilitate the collection of rents due, or that would become due, on the leases;

● would pass an act or acts authorizing the Tuscarora Nation, or chiefs thereof, to lease on terms they deemed proper, the un-demised lands in Bertie County, and the terms of such leases could extend to July 12, 1916; and,

● by act(s)—to the extent that could be done by interposition—remove any difficulties or disputes that might arise respecting the future occupancy of the Indians’ land until July 12, 1916.

The treaty further provided that:

● leases made under the act(s) of the state legislature pursuant to the treaty, would—“in all cases, whatsoever”—be deemed the occupancy and possession of the Tuscarora Nation, as if the Nation or Indians thereof physically resided on the land; and,

● the chiefs of the Tuscarora Nation would stipulate and agree that from and after July 12, 1916, all right, interest and claim of the Nation or any Indian thereof to the lands in Bertie County would cease and “be held and deemed extinguished forever.”

The treaty was considered a “final and permanent adjustment and settlement of all differences, disputes, and claims” between the state of North Carolina and the Tuscarora Nation (upon condition that the North Carolina General Assembly passed the stipulated act[s].)⁸²

During its November–December 1802 session the North Carolina General Assembly formally concurred with the treaty. The lawmakers also passed an act “for the Relief of the Tuscarora Nation of Indians.” The law noted that the Tuscarora Nation, through Chief Sacarusa and others, had regularly requested the concurrence of the General Assembly to allow them to lease the “residue” of their allotted lands in Bertie County in such a way that all outstanding leases, and leases to be consummated in the future, would expire on the same date. Therefore, the lawmakers included in the act a provision that authorized the three chiefs, Sacarusa, Longboard, and Smith, or any two of them, to lease and farm-let the undemised residue of allotted lands in Bertie County to expire on July 12, 1916, the date of expiration of the 1766 lease to Robert Jones Jr., Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams. The chiefs were further authorized to extend the terms of other leases made for shorter terms (i.e., ninety-nine years) to expire on the 1916 date. The law also provided that three commissioners were to be appointed to superintend the Indians’ affairs, including making and modifying leases and collecting rents. The commissioners were explicitly to “promote the interest and convenience of the Tuscarora Nation.” Subsequently, John M. Binford (long-serving state senator from Northampton County), William Hawkins (future legislator and governor of North Carolina from Granville County), and Jeremiah Slade (lawyer, militia officer, and state legislator from Martin County) were appointed commissioners. Additionally, the law provided that after July 12, 1916, the “whole of the lands allotted to the Indians by the 1748 law” were to revert to, and become the property of, the state of North Carolina. All Indian claims to the lands from that time were “deemed forever extinguished.” After the lands reverted to the state, any vacant lands were not to be entered upon by any person or persons without an express act of the General Assembly.⁸³

William Hawkins and Jeremiah Slade arrived at the “Indian Woods” reservation on April 6, 1803, and immediately set about conducting their legislatively-mandated duties. Foremost, they had surveys completed of the overall lands allotted to the Indians and of each lease consummated between July 12, 1766, and December 1, 1777. W. H. Boyce conducted the surveys. Slade and Hawkins’s objectives were to ascertain the “exact number of acres” in every existing lease and the number of acres within the total allotted lands (41,113 acres, according to the survey) that had not been leased. The commissioners quickly concluded that all the subject leases contained substantially more acres within their bounds than stipulated in the corresponding lease agreements. Specifically, the commissioners reported the following variances and anomalies with certain leases.

● Jones, Pugh and Williams’s 150-year lease contained 21,753 acres; the lease called for 8,000 acres (a difference of 13,753 acres);

● Jones, Pugh and Williams’s 99-year lease contained 12,534 acres; 2,000 acres [actually a net of 1,700 acres] called for (difference of 10,534 acres);

● Johnston’s lease contained 478 acres; two hundred acres called for (difference of 278 acres);

● Edwards’s lease contained 117 acres; ten acres called for (difference of 107 acres);

● Col. Pugh’s lease contained 547 acres; one hundred acres called for (difference of 447 acres);

● Stone’s lease contained 670 acres; one hundred acres called for (difference of 570 acres);

● McCaskey’s lease contained 1,934 acres (no quantity disclosed in the corresponding agreement); and

● David Stone’s undemised claim of 151 acres.

The commissioners determined, based on the surveys, that only 3,411 acres of the reservation had not been leased.⁸⁴

On Thursday, May 26, 1803, Commissioners Binford, Hawkins, and Slade met on the “Indian Woods” reservation with Tuscarora chiefs and leaseholders to confirm leases that were obtained from the Indians subsequent to July 12, 1766, and prior to December 1, 1777. The commissioners also commuted rents arising from the leases, resolved issues with acreages, and negotiated settlements for arrearages of rents. The meeting was apparently successful in collecting a portion of delinquent rents, since on June 17 the commissioners provided $770.50 to Chiefs Sacarusa and Longboard, and their government-appointed agent, Capt. Ezra Lunt of the United States Army. The sum represented “part of the money arising from the leasing [of] their lands.”⁸⁵

David Stone, son of Zedekiah Stone (a former Indian commissioner), was specifically invited to attend the May 26 meeting “to negotiate respecting” his lease dated February 10, 1777. The ninety-nine-year lease had been acquired by Zedekiah Stone and stipulated that Stone was to “clear a certain quantity of land” (Zedekiah Stone had died in late 1796). As determined by the surveys, the commissioners had noted discrepancies between David Stone’s actual leased lands and the related supporting documentation. Both Stones were influential men and highly respected members of Bertie County’s upper social order. Indeed, in 1803 David Stone was serving as a United States Senator and was not pleased that the Indian commissioners had called into question his dealings with the Bertie County Tuscarora. Writing from Washington, D.C., on December 4, 1803, Stone told Gov. James Turner that Hawkins and Slade had “much misrepresented” him and he was “induce[d] to correct the impression.” Stone wrote, “I do not hold or claim one foot of land under a Lease made by the Indians to me.” He asserted that his father had leased land from the Indians in 1777, supposed to be five hundred acres, and he had purchased the lease from his father in 1793. He stated that the bounds of the tract were “natural ones” that had not changed and were well known by individuals residing in the “neighborhood.”⁸⁶

During early June, the “Indian Woods” reservation was the scene of bustling activity. Over a period of several days, the three commissioners oversaw the public sale of leases for the Indians’ unleased acreage. Attendees included Chiefs Sacarusa and Longboard, Captain Lunt, Senator Stone, Gen. William R. Davie, Col. Thomas Pugh Sr., William Williams Jr., current leaseholders, and various other individuals who desired to bid for leases. Eight leases were sold and formally consummated: six on June 11, one on June 15, and one on June 16. Seven individuals, Thomas Pugh Sr., John Hill Pugh, William Williams Johnston, Samuel Williams Johnston, William Williams Jr., Thomas Speller, and John Griffin Jr., purchased the leases, which sold for $20,967. Additionally, Titus Edwards’s lease was extended and brought an additional $180 into the commissioners’ “hands.” All sales were conducted under the “inspection” of General Davie, acting as an agent for the United States government. Chiefs Sacarusa and Longboard signed (acknowledged with their “marks”) the lease documents. Additionally, on June 13 Sacarusa and Longboard appointed Jeremiah Slade as the Tuscarora Indians’ lawful attorney.⁸⁷

With the sale of the leases in June 1803, the Tuscarora effectively released complete stewardship of the “Indian Woods” reservation to affluent white planters, state and local government officials, and entrepreneurs. The last of the Tuscarora departed North Carolina for New York to join other members of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation.⁸⁸ For more than three-and-a-half decades the Indians’ allotted lands had largely been occupied by wealthy white men who built stately homes and established working plantations with slave labor. The Indians had lost their reserved lands to manipulative and callous white land grabbers.

On August 18, 1804, Sacarusa and Longboard, through their attorney Jeremiah Slade, entered into two transactions to sell lands previously leased. The first was an agreement with Samuel Williams Johnston whereby the chiefs sold a parcel of land formerly leased by Johnston’s father, John Johnston. The younger Johnston agreed to pay $500 (“secured”) for 528 acres that the Indians were authorized to sell in accordance with the 1802 law. Jeremiah Slade, attorney for the Indians, proved the transaction in Bertie County court in February 1805. The second sale was to Col. Thomas Pugh Sr. for a tract previously leased by Pugh at the head of Black Gut. Pugh submitted a secured bond and agreed to pay $650 for ownership of the tract.⁸⁹

Sacarusa and Longboard next leased Indian land to John McCaskey Jr. of Martin County, six hundred acres for $236 on January 15, 1805. The tract adjoined land that McCaskey’s father had left to him in his will (recorded in Martin County). McCaskey held the lease for less than seven weeks before he transferred it to Thomas Speller for $2,220, a “profit” for McCaskey of $1,984, or 840 percent.⁹⁰ (The profit, at an annualized rate, was equivalent to almost 6,400 percent.)

Throughout the remainder of 1805, the Indians entered into three additional lease agreements through their attorney, Jeremiah Slade. The leases were made with Thomas Pugh Sr. and Willie William Jones and Robert Allen Jones, sons of Willie Jones. The elder Jones died on June 18, 1801.⁹¹

Thomas Pugh Sr. died in Bertie County, most likely during late summer or early fall of 1806. He was eighty years old. His will, dated January 1, 1804, was proved in Bertie County court in November 1806. Pugh bequeathed to his son, William Pugh, “the first tract” and “part of the second tract” that he had leased from the Tuscarora Indians. Pugh also devised to his son, John Hill Pugh, a parcel of his Indian land.⁹²

During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, numerous people who held leases and subleases for Tuscarora Indian lands in Bertie County transferred ownership of those instruments to other individuals. Dozens of agreements were sold and resold, accounting for thousands of acres. Indeterminable profits were made by leaseholders to the detriment of the Tuscarora Indians.

Jeremiah Slade continued to serve as the Indians’ attorney until 1816, handling their business affairs in Bertie County, collecting rents due on leases, and periodically transferring money to the Indians. On an undisclosed date in 1816 prior to November 10, the Tuscarora Nation appointed John Cain, an Indian who as a lad had remained in North Carolina in 1803 and resided in Jeremiah Slade’s household, as their attorney for affairs related to the “Indian Woods” reservation. Specifically, the chiefs empowered Cain to collect “back rents due” from the holders of leases that were originally granted to William King, John McCaskey, and Zedekiah Stone. On July 11, 1817, though, in Niagara County, New York, Chiefs Sacarusa and Nicholas Cusick revoked Cain’s power of attorney due to improprieties in collecting rents from leases and properly remitting the funds to the Indian Nation. On October 22, 1817, leaders of the Tuscarora Nation appointed Chiefs Nicholas Cusick and Solomon Longboard as their attorneys for affairs in North Carolina. (Jeremiah Slade died during late summer 1824.)⁹³

James G. Mhoon, a Bertie County justice of the peace and a member of the House of Commons during the General Assembly session of 1824-1825, held a lease for Tuscarora lands that had descended to him through the settlement of his father’s (John Mhoon) estate in 1816. During that legislative session Mhoon moved that a select committee be appointed by the House to inquire into the expediency of passing a law for the sale of the leased Indian lands in Bertie County. Representation had been made to the General Assembly that individuals holding lands under long-term leases from the Tuscarora Indians were “subject to great inconveniences from their estates being mere chattel interest.” The leaseholders sought remedy. The lawmakers passed an act that provided that the estates in land held by individuals under leases from the Tuscarora Indians were to be considered real estate. Such real property could descend to heirs of persons who died intestate and was subject to the state’s dower laws and other pertinent statutory provisions. The “same rules” were to be prescribed for the leased lands as in the case of real property held in fee simple. The law did not grant leaseholders any rights to the lands past the termination date of their leases (July 12, 1916). Furthermore, the statute failed to give the leaseholders any rights that by the state’s constitution were “exclusively confined to freeholders” (i.e., landowners).⁹⁴

By early 1827, efforts were initiated to enact a law for the sale of the Bertie County reservation. On February 2, 1827, Nicholas Cusick, Solomon Longboard, and William Chew, chiefs of the Tuscarora Nation, appointed Alfred M. Slade of Martin County as their lawful attorney. Slade was the son of Jeremiah Slade, Indian commissioner and former attorney for the Tuscarora Indians in Bertie County. Within less than two weeks the General Assembly requested Gov. Hutchins G. Burton to receive proposals for determining the state’s reversionary interest in the lands. The legislators further requested the governor to appoint commissioners to ascertain the “quantity and quality” of each tract of land encompassed by the reservation.⁹⁵

During the 1828-1829 legislative session the North Carolina legislature passed a law “concerning the lands formerly occupied by the Tuskarora [sic] tribe of Indians, lying in Bertie county.” The lawmakers included language in the act stating that for more than a century the Tuscarora Indians had been “firm and undeviating friends of the white people.” The act appointed three Indian commissioners, William R. Smith of Halifax County, Simmons J. Baker of Martin County, and William Britton of Bertie County, to advertise and sell the Tuscarora Indian lands in Bertie County that were to revert to the state at the end of the terms of the outstanding leases. The commissioners were to advertise the planned sales in local newspapers and at five of the “most public places” in Bertie, Martin, and Halifax counties, including the courthouses. A sale of the lands was slated for Tuesday, March 17, 1829, at the Bertie County courthouse in Windsor. The commissioners were directed to oversee and manage the sale, during which the highest bidder of each offered tract would be awarded the land. Each highest bidder was to deliver “good and sufficient security.” The statute provided that if the commissioners perceived that the lands placed for sale were likely to be sold “greatly below their real value,” then they could discontinue the sale. Proceeds from the sale were to be remitted to the North Carolina treasury.⁹⁶

Forty-two parcels of the reservation lands, totaling 17,983 acres, were subsequently sold at the Bertie County courthouse. The sales brought $2,264.44, an average of only 12½ cents per acre. William Hill, the North Carolina Secretary of State, began issuing deeds for the properties on January 6, 1830. He issued the final deed on January 5, 1832.⁹⁷

On November 19, 1831, seven chiefs of the Tuscarora Nation in Niagara County, New York effectuated a deed transferring ownership of the Tuscarora Indian lands in Bertie County to the state of North Carolina. The chiefs, William Chew, Nicholas Casie [Cusick], George Warchief, Jonathan Printup, Matthew Jack, William Johnson, and Isaac Miller, accepted $3,250 for the lands from the State of North Carolina. The deed was recorded in the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office on November 20, 1832.⁹⁸

The Tuscarora Indians’ efforts to live and persevere on the lands allotted to them in Bertie County had concluded. The reservation was now lost to them. During their tenure on the “Indians Woods” reservation, the Indians struggled to maintain the culture and way of life that their ancestors had sustained for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. The Tuscarora witnessed a tremendous influx of settlers into the Roanoke River region during the first half of the eighteenth century, as more and more Englishmen sought lands to own and cultivate. The white settlers often did not recognize the bounds of the Indians’ land and encroached upon their lands, leading to confrontations, abuses, and ill-treatment of the Indians. The Tuscarora were subjected to constant pillaging and depredation by their white neighbors. Token measures taken by North Carolina leaders and lawmakers were largely ineffective in curbing encroachments and abuses. Seemingly, the white inhabitants felt that they would not be punished to such a severity as to impede them from squatting on the Indians’ fertile and highly productive lands. The English, by their history,[] were conquerors who for more than a century had colonized various lands around the world. The English and the Indians had two vastly contrasting cultures with different attitudes for the appreciation and use of land. The Indians lived on the land and sustained themselves from the crops and natural resources the land yielded. The English sought to attain wealth from the lands, consuming vast quantities of natural resources, oftentimes generating inordinate waste and destruction.

Ownership of large acreages was indicative of one’s wealth and social standing in the colonial and early state eras of North Carolina. Evidence clearly indicates that documented lease agreements consummated between the Tuscarora and whites [not English after Revolutionary War] during the second half of the eighteenth century related to the “Indian Woods” lands grossly understated the acreages. Undoubtedly, the leases were prepared by the whites and presented (oftentimes under suspicious conditions) to the Indians for their concurrences and signatures (“marks”). Logic and human nature suggest that the misleading and erroneous provisions did not occur by happenstance, but through purposeful actions by the whites. The Indians were disadvantaged in dealing with the whites: they had no leverage or advantageous bargaining positions; they were impoverished and needed money and life-sustaining commodities. The Tuscarora became victims of the unmitigated greed of the affluent whites, who treated Indians with disrespect and scorn, desiring to interact with the Native Americans only when necessary. The “story” of the Tuscarora Indians of the Bertie County reservation resembles the stories of numerous other Indian tribes across America—they became a conquered and down-trodden people who lost their native lands to white immigrants and descendants of immigrants from across the Atlantic Ocean.

APPENDIX 1

BIOGRAPHICAL ABSTRACTS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO LEASED

LANDS FROM THE TUSCARORA INDIANS IN BERTIE COUNTY

Various published histories note that the Tuscarora Indians lost their Bertie County lands to devious and unscrupulous individuals. For example, historian Alan D. Watson said that the lands were taken in “callous fashion.” F. Roy Johnson referred to the individuals who gained control over the lands as “land-hungry whites” and “scheming whites.” Arwin D. Smallwood wrote that “large plantation owners … through a series of leases … conspired to confiscate” much of the Tuscarora’s land.⁹⁹ While making the point in general terms, the historians provide no biographical information on the individuals who obtained control over the lands. Who were they? What were their positions in the province (subsequently, state) of North Carolina? What were their stations in life? This appendix presents biographical abstracts regarding the men who directly leased lands (i.e., lessees) from the Tuscarora Indians from 1766 to 1805.

Most of the lessees held considerable influence and wealth during the eighteenth century. Generally, they were educated, opportunistic, and enterprising.¹⁰⁰ The year(s) in parentheses following each person’s name indicates when he leased land from the Tuscarora Indians.

Robert Jones Jr. (1766)

Robert Jones Jr. was born in 1718 in Surry County, Virginia, the son of Robert Jones, a lawyer and member of Virginia’s House of Burgesses. Robert Jr. was educated at Eton College in Berkshire, England. He returned to Surry County, where he practiced law until he relocated to Northampton County, North Carolina, in the early 1750s. Jones served as a member of the General Assembly from Northampton County, 1754-1761. He also served as collector of quitrents in the Granville District for Earl Granville. He was appointed attorney general for the province in 1756, a position he held until his death. Jones acquired vast tracts of land, becoming one of the largest landowners in the Roanoke River region. On July 12, 1766, he, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams leased a reported eight thousand acres along the Roanoke River from the Tuscarora Indians. Jones died less than three months later, on October 2, 1766. His portion of the leased Indian lands, in accordance with provisions of his will, descended to his sons, Allen and Willie Jones. Allen subsequently transferred his right and interest in the lands to Willie. In 1775 Willie also leased lands directly from the Tuscarora Indians in Bertie County.

Thomas Pugh Sr. (1766, 1775, 1777, 1803, 1805)

Thomas Pugh was born in 1726 in Nansemond County, Virginia, the son of Francis Pugh and Pheribee Savage, who later relocated to Chowan Precinct. During the 1700s the Pughs became a large and prominent family in Bertie Precinct (subsequently, County). Thomas Pugh married Mary Scott in the 1740s. He relocated to Bertie County, where during the 1750s he began acquiring land, eventually becoming a substantial landowner. He served as a justice of the peace for more than three decades (1757–1789). Pugh served as Bertie County sheriff from 1761 to 1763. He represented Bertie County in the General Assembly, 1764-1765. He served as an officer in the Bertie County militia, first noted as a captain in 1765. He was a delegate to the Fifth Provincial Congress of November 1776 in Halifax. During the Revolutionary War he was appointed lieutenant colonel under Col. Thomas Whitmell in 1775. Upon Whitmell’s resignation in 1780, Pugh was appointed colonel. H leased land from the Tuscarora Indians on several occasions. At his death in 1806 at the approximate age of eighty, Pugh bequeathed his leased Indian lands to his sons, William and Francis Pugh, and to his grandsons Joseph, Francis, William, and John Hill Pugh. His son, Thomas Pugh Jr., was deceased when Thomas Sr. prepared his will (January 1, 1804).

William Williams (1766, 1775)

William Williams was born ca. 1725 in Chowan County to Samuel Williams and Elizabeth Alston. William married Elizabeth Whitmell, daughter of Thomas Whitmell Sr., who had died in Bertie County in 1735. Thomas Whitmell Jr., the Indian commissioner and interpreter, was William Williams’s brother-in-law. Williams became a resident of Halifax County, in which he lived until a part of that county was detached and included in Martin County in 1774. Thereafter, Williams resided in Martin County. He was a delegate to the Third Provincial Congress (August 1775) in Hillsborough; the Fourth Provincial Congress (April 1776) in Halifax; and the Fifth Provincial Congress (November 1776), also in Halifax. In 1775 he was appointed colonel of the Martin County militia, a position he held until he resigned to take a seat in the North Carolina Senate. He was elected to the state Senate in 1777 and 1778. Williams died in Martin County sometime after December 22, 1778 (the date of his will) and before August 1782. His leased Indian lands were devised to his children, Samuel and William Williams Jr., and Elizabeth Johnston (wife of John Johnston, clerk of Bertie County court, who also leased and subleased Tuscarora Indian lands). Williamston, the seat of Martin County, is named in Williams’s honor.

William King (1773, 1777)

William King, a resident of the Roquist Pocosin area of Bertie County, was likely born in the 1720s. His parents were Charles King and Mary (maiden name undetermined). In 1748 he gave land situated in Roquist Pocosin to his brother, Charles King. William King died prior to November 1778, the date his will was proved in Bertie County court. His leased Indian land, described in his will as “all the land that I leased in sesawnecks,” was devised to his son, Michael King. In 1815, approximately thirty-seven years after William King died, Sacarusa and Longboard, chiefs of the Tuscarora Nation, sued King’s heirs for unpaid rents on the leased lands. The court held that the rents were to be paid. King’s heirs filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied, and they appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court. In January 1816 the Supreme Court reviewed the case and rejected the motion for a new trial, confirming the lower court’s judgment for the plaintiff. William King’s home, the King-Bazemore house, is situated on the grounds of the Hope Plantation. The house was built in 1763 and has been restored and furnished with items consistent with the 1778 inventory of King’s estate.

Willie Jones (1775)

Willie Jones was born on May 25, 1741, in Surry County, Virginia, to Robert Jones Jr. and Sarah Cobb. Willie attended Eton College in Berkshire England, his father’s alma mater. He left the college in 1758 and returned to America, where he subsequently married Mary Montfort, the daughter of Col. Joseph Montfort of Halifax County. In 1767, at age twenty-six, he represented Halifax County in the House of Commons. He again represented the county in the House in 1771. The citizens of Halifax County elected him to attend each of the five provincial congresses, but he did not attend the fourth congress because he had been appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the southern colonies. He instrumentally served on the committee of the Fifth Provincial Congress that drafted the state constitution. He represented the borough of Halifax in the House of Commons in 1777 and 1778 and the county of Halifax in 1779 and 1780. He served as a state senator in 1782, 1784, and 1788. He also served in the Continental Congress (1780). Willie Jones became an aristocratic planter in Halifax County; by 1790 he had accumulated more than 9,900 acres of land and owned 120 slaves, making him one of the largest slaveowners in the state. He and his brother, Allen Jones, received all their father’s leased Indian lands through their father’s will. Allen sold his right, interest, and title to the Tuscarora lands to Willie. Willie leased land from the Indians in 1775. His health declined rapidly during the spring of 1801, and he died on June 18, 1801, at sixty years old, a man of great wealth and influence. His leased lands were devised to his sons, Willie William and Robert Allen Jones (both minors in 1801). The will stipulated that should Willie W. die before reaching age twenty-one, the Indian lands devised to him were to go to Robert Allen (four years old at his father’s death).

Zedekiah Stone (1777)

Zedekiah Stone, son of Samuel Stone, was born in Massachusetts and relocated to Bertie County, where he became a prosperous merchant and influential citizen. Zedekiah married Elizabeth Williamson, widow of Francis Hobson. They were the parents of David Stone (born February 17, 1770), who became the twelfth governor of the state of North Carolina. Zedekiah and Elizabeth owned the Hope Plantation. The land was originally granted to the Hobson family in the 1720s. Subsequently, Francis Hobson obtained possession of the land, and he married Elizabeth Shriver, who would marry Stone after Hobson’s death. Stone represented Bertie County in the Third Provincial Congress at Hillsborough (August 1775) and in the fourth at Halifax (April 1776). He served in the House of Commons in 1777, 1778, 1784, and 1785, and in the state Senate in 1786-1787. Stone acquired a significant amount of land along Roquist Swamp in Bertie County. In 1793 he deeded ownership of Hope Plantation to his son, David. David also purchased his father’s leased Tuscarora lands during that year. Zedekiah died in late 1796; his will was proved in Bertie County court in February 1797.

John McCaskey Sr. (1777)

John McCaskey, an affluent planter, resided in Martin County where he died during the spring or summer of 1787. In his will he bequeathed his Bertie County lands to his sons, Eli, Edward, John Jr., and Martin McCaskey.

Thomas Hunter (1777)

Thomas Hunter, the apparent son of William Hunter and Amelia Allen of Bertie County. (Amelia’s father, John Allen, subleased Tuscarora Indian lands from Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams in 1779, and from John Johnston Jr. and Samuel Williams Johnston in 1795.) Thomas Hunter purchased and sold land in Bertie County on a number of occasions. He relocated to Martin County on an undisclosed date, where he served as a justice of the peace during the 1770s. In 1779 Hunter consented to North Carolina lawmakers that seventy-eight acres of his Martin County land situated on the south side of Roanoke River be laid off for a town (“Squhawky,” more commonly known as Skewarkee). Subsequently, officials renamed the town Williamston (in honor of William Williams). Hunter served as a justice of the peace in Martin County and as a town commissioner for Williamston.

John Johnston (1777)

John Johnston was born ca. 1731 in Dundee, Scotland to Samuel Johnston and Helen Scrymsoure and emigrated as an infant with his family to North Carolina. John was the nephew of Gabriel Johnston, the second royal governor of North Carolina (who served from 1734 to 1752). John and his brother Samuel were instrumental in the Patriot cause in northeastern North Carolina during the Revolutionary Period. John represented Bertie County in the General Assembly of 1773-1775. He also represented the county in four of the five provincial congresses (the second – New Bern, April 1775; the third – Hillsborough, August 1775; the fourth – Halifax, April 1776; and the fifth – Halifax, November 1776). Johnston served in the House of Commons during the sessions of 1779, 1782, 1795, and 1798. He represented Bertie County in the state Senate for six terms – 1780, 1784, 1787, 1788, 1789, and 1800. Additionally, Johnston was a long-serving clerk of Bertie County court, first appointed to the position in April 1762. He resided on the Indian Woods reservation; his home and surrounding acreage were known as “Sapona Town.” Johnston died prior to December 7, 1790 (the date when his will was proved in Bertie County court). He bequeathed the land that he leased from the Tuscarora Indians to his son, Henry Johnston.

Titus Edwards (1777)

Titus Edwards resided in Bertie County as a farmer. He was likely born in the late 1710s or early 1720s. First appointed a constable in Bertie County in 1755, he variously served as constable, deputy sheriff, and patroller in the county from then until 1772. He acquired and sold land in Bertie on various occasions. Edwards died during the late summer or early fall of 1785. In his will he devised the land that he leased from the Tuscarora Indians to his sons, Isom and William Edwards. The tract adjoined the lands of Whitmell Tuffdick, an Indian chief.

John Hill Pugh (1803)

John Hill Pugh, born ca. 1778, was the son of William Scott Pugh and Winifred Hill of Bertie County and the grandson of Col. Thomas Pugh Sr. He married Elizabeth Gillam in Bertie County on January 5, 1803. John served as a justice of the peace in Bertie County from May 1804 until his death in 1807. John leased land from the Tuscarora Indians in 1803 and received another parcel of Tuscarora land from his grandfather as a legacy via Thomas’s will dated January 1, 1804, and proved in Bertie County court in November 1806. John Hill Pugh was deceased by November 1807, when his widow, Elizabeth, petitioned the Bertie County court to have her husband’s leased Indian lands divided so that she could obtain her legal dower. John and Elizabeth’s children were minors at the time.

Samuel Williams Johnston (1803)

Samuel Williams Johnston was the son of John Johnston and Elizabeth Williams. Samuel’s grandfather was William Williams of Martin County (lessee of Tuscarora Indian lands in Bertie County). Samuel was a businessman and planter who accumulated significant real estate holdings and personal property despite his death at a relatively youthful age, sometime between September 13, 1807, and November 1807. On September 13 he prepared a short, one-paragraph will, which was proved in Bertie County court two months later. He must have died rather quickly, of an undisclosed cause. He decreed in his will that the entirety of his property (real and personal) remain together until one of his children reached lawful age (twenty-one years). Settlement of his substantial estate took almost fifteen years.

William Williams Johnston (1803)

William Williams Johnston was the son of John Johnston and Elizabeth Williams. William’s grandfather was William Williams of Martin County (lessee of Tuscarora Indian lands in Bertie County). The younger William married Mary (maiden name undetermined), became a successful merchant in the town of Windsor, and served as a justice of the peace in Bertie County from February 1809 until his death. His end seems to have been brief; he died between November 12, 1818 (the date of his will), and the end of the month. His will was proved in Bertie County court in February 1819. Johnston owned a substantial amount of land in several areas of Bertie County. He bequeathed the lands leased from the Tuscarora Indians to his son, John G. Johnston.

William Williams Jr. (1803)

William Williams Jr., a resident of Martin County, was the son of William Williams and Elizabeth Whitmell (daughter of Thomas Whitmell, who died in Bertie County in 1735, and his wife Elizabeth Hunter Bryan.

Thomas Speller (1803)

Thomas Speller, the son of Henry Speller and wife Martha (maiden name undetermined), married his near-neighbor, Elizabeth Hyman, on April 24, 1797. Thomas served as a justice of the peace in Bertie County during the 1810s and 1820s. He accumulated a sizeable estate of personal and real property located along and near the Roanoke River in Bertie County. Thomas signed his will on August 18, 1833, and died by November 1833, when his will was proved in Bertie County court. His son, Thomas H. Speller, served as executor of the will. Thomas devised his substantial landholdings to his wife and children.

John Griffin Jr. (1803)

John Griffin Jr. was the son of John Griffin (a Martin County justice of the peace and Squwakey [subsequently Williamston] town commissioner. John Jr. died during the spring of 1827. In his will (proved in Martin County court in 1827), he gave two tracts of “Indian Woods” lands to his son, John Griffin [III]. He had purchased one from John McCaskey and Eli McCaskey; the other, he, Thomas Speller, and Ebenezer Slade had severally purchased from the Tuscarora Indians.

John McCaskey Jr. (1805)

John McCaskey Jr. resided in Martin County, where he was a planter.

Willie William Jones (1805)

Willie W. Jones was the son of Willie Jones. He and his younger brother, Robert Allen Jones, inherited Tuscarora Indian lands along the Roanoke River that their father had leased. By August 1812, when Willie W. Jones sold all his leased Indian lands along the Roanoke River to William Williams Jr., he had relocated from Halifax County to Logan County, Kentucky,

Robert Allen Jones (1805)

Robert Allen Jones, the youngest son of Willie Jones, was a minor when his father died in 1801. He and his older brother, Willie William Jones, inherited Tuscarora Indian lands along the Roanoke River that their father leased. Allen Jones, Robert’s uncle and court-appointed guardian, leased lands on Robert’s behalf from the Tuscarora Indians in 1805. Robert represented the town of Halifax in the House of Commons in 1820 and the county of Halifax in 1822 and 1823-1824. He purchased three tracts of the Indian land during the legislatively mandated sale pursuant to the 1828 act of the General Assembly. Those purchases encompassed 2,600 acres.

APPENDIX 2

ABSTRACTS OF LEASES AND SUBLEASES OF

TUSCARORA INDIAN LANDS IN BERTIE COUNTY

The Tuscarora Indians of Bertie County consummated twenty-two long-term leases of their lands during the thirty-nine-plus-year period from July 1766 to November 1805. The leases were granted to nineteen individuals. (See Table 3.) Those lessees, in turn, entered into twenty-two subleases, including four leases given to close relatives generally for “love and affection.” (See Table 4.) Furthermore, the lands were subleased more than seventy-five times (Table 5) while rights to leaseholds were passed through legacies in wills and by divisions of estates by administrators (Table 6).More than 130 individuals, at various times from 1766 through 1828, possessed leaseholds of lands on the Bertie County reservation.¹⁰¹

No assurance can be obtained that all subleases were recorded in Bertie County’s land records in accordance with North Carolina statutes. Although colonial and state laws stipulated that deeds were to be presented to the county court, proved or acknowledged, and recorded in county land records within one year of the transaction, many individuals living in the backwoods of the county in the 1700s and 1800s did not always travel to the courthouse to have their deeds proved and recorded. To illustrate, Henry Johnston died intestate and possessed of a sizeable tract of leased Tuscarora Indian land. The Bertie Count court appointed Johnston’s son, Alexander S. Johnston, to administer his father’s estate. Alexander sold about five hundred acres of the leased Indian land to his brother, William Williams Johnston. The Johnston brothers did not prepare a written document of the transaction. In turn, William sold 140 acres of the land to Joseph S. Pugh. The tract was “marked,” and Pugh remitted $859 to Johnston, also without a deed being prepared. William subsequently died, and his heirs were without a deed documenting his ownership of the leased lands. Additionally, Joseph S. Pugh was left without any legal documentation to the parcel of Indian land he had purchased. (Pugh then sued Henry Johnston’s administrator. Complaints and suits regarding the leased Indian lands were tied up in the Bertie County Court of Equity until the early 1830s.) In a similar occurrence John Peter Rascoe conveyed a parcel of leased Indian land to his son, William H. Rascoe, but “failed” to execute “proper deeds and conveyances.” William subsequently died intestate (prior to his father’s death). William’s undocumented leased lands were divided among his children (heirs at law). John Peter addressed the issue in his will.¹⁰²

Ownership and disposition of leases of the Tuscarora Indians’ lands were matters of various lawsuits. In most cases the suits were filed as matters of settlement related to administration of estates.¹⁰³

Table 3 presents information relative to the leases made by the Tuscarora Indians from 1766 through 1805.

Table 3

Lease Agreements by the

Tuscarora Indians of Bertie County

	Date	Lessee(s)	Acreage	Consideration £/$	Deed
1	1766, July 12	Robert Jones Jr., Thomas Pugh Sr., William Williams	8,000	£1,500	L-56
2	1775, Dec. 2	Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., William Williams	1,700	clothing, etc.	M-316
3	1775, Dec. 13	William King	Not disclosed.	£15 annually	M-317
4	1777, Feb. 10	Zedekiah Stone	Not disclosed.	Land to be cleared	M-314
5	1777, Feb. 26	John McCaskey Sr., Thomas Hunter	Not disclosed.	£8 annually	S-679
6	1777, Mar. 18	John Johnston	200	£10 annually	S-676
7	1777, Mar. 28	Thomas Pugh Sr.	100	£8 annually	M-315
8	1777, Apr. 7	William King	Not disclosed.	Land to be cleared	M-318
9	1777, July 7	Titus Edwards	60	Land to be cleared	M-319
10	1803, June 11	John Hill Pugh	200	$1,266	S-718A
11	1803, June 11	William Williams Johnston	61	$122	S-721
12	1803, June 11	Samuel Williams Johnston	2,000	$1,200	S-737
13	1803, June 11	Thomas Pugh Sr.	977	$8,918	S-792
14	1803, June 11	William Williams Jr.	796	£3,000	T-68
15	1803, June 11	William Williams Jr.	200	$1,576	T-69
16	1803, June 15	Samuel Williams Johnston	10	$75	S-690
17	1803, June 16	Thomas Speller, John Griffin Jr.	409	$1,717	S-797
18	1805, Jan. 15	John McCaskey Jr.	600	$236	T-313
19	1805, June 17	Thomas Pugh Sr.	Not disclosed.	$1,500	T-413
20	1805, June 18	William Williams Jr., John D. Williams	Not disclosed	$1,500	T-253
21	1805, Oct. 29	Willie William Jones, Allen Jones guardian to Robert Allen Jones	Not disclosed.	$1,589	T-303
22	1805, Nov. [day not disclosed]	Willie William Jones	Not disclosed.	$2,000	T-304

Table 4 presents abstracts related to subleases consummated by Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams and recorded in the land records of the Bertie County Register of Deeds Office. The subleases were made severally by Jones, Pugh, and Williams, and individually.

Table 4

Sublease Agreements by

Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams

	Date	Sublessor(s)*	Sublessee(s)	Acreage	Consideration £/$	Deed
1	1767, Apr. 18	JPW	Henry E. McCulloh	1,080	£100	K-482
2	1769, Nov. 16	JPW	Solomon Williams	640	£70	L-292
3	1770, July 1	WW	Noah Hinton	300	£225	L-216
4	1770, Sep. 25	JPW	George Weir	100	£35	L-218
5	1770, Dec. 22	WW	John Johnston and wife, Elizabeth**	540	love & affection, 5 shillings	L-221
6	1771, Mar. 22	JPW	Samuel Harrell	300	£120	L-240
7	1771, Mar. 22	JPW	Henry Everitt	519	£326	L-314
8	1771, Apr. 3	WW	Thomas Bond	400	£300	L-287
9	1773, Jan. 5	WW, WJ	John Johnston	450	£250	M-53
10	1773, May 12	JPW	William Turner	177	£50	M-110
11	1773, May 12	JPW	William Bryan	217	£50	M-119
12	1773, May 12	JPW	William Pugh	133	£70	M-217
13	1774, May 27	WW	Samuel Williams	589	love & affection, 5 shillings	M-114
14	1774, June 10	WW	Samuel Williams	408	love & affection, 5 shillings	M-115
15	1779, Mar. 23	JPW	David Standley	219	£125	M-400
16	1779, Mar. 24	JPW	John Allen	400	£3,000	M-402
17	1779, Mar. 24	JPW	James Bates	115	£500	M-405
18	1779, Mar. 24	JPW	Simon Turner	100	£50	M-406
19	1779, Mar. 24	JPW	Jeremiah Pearce	15	£20	M-407
20	1785, Feb. 26	TP	Samuel Carter	100	£80	M-733
21	1793, Mar. 1	TP	Zedekiah Stone, Moses Gillam (Commissioners of public school)	1	Gift (for construction of school)	P-402
22	1795, July 17	TP	William Scott Pugh (aka William Pugh Scott)	632	love & affection	Q-338

A sublessor is a person(s) who leases or rents a property from a person(s) and then leases or rents all or part of the property to a third person(s), a sublessee.

* Legend: TP – Thomas Pugh Sr.; WW – William Williams; WJ – Willie Jones; JPW – Jones, Pugh, and Williams.

** Elizabeth Williams, daughter of William Williams, married John Johnston.

Table 5 presents information related to further subleases either consummated by individuals who had obtained subleases from Willie Jones, Thomas Pugh Sr., and William Williams or through purchases at court-ordered sales of land by the Bertie County sheriff.

Table 5

Additional Sublease Agreements by Individuals Who

Had Subleased Tuscarora Indian Lands

	Date	Sublessor(s)	Sublessee(s)	Acreage	Consideration	Deed
1	1774, Nov. 9	Solomon Williams	Samuel Williams	640	£750	M-168
2	1786, Jan. 24	Thomas Hunter	John McCaskey Sr.	Not disclosed.	£50	S-679
3	1789, Sep. 4	William Williams Jr. Samuel Williams	John Johnston	400	£5	P-60
4	1793, Feb. 11	Samuel Carter	Thomas Cone	100	£70	P-396
5	1793, July 31	Samuel Williams	Samuel Williams Johnston	Not disclosed.	Not disclosed.	T-294
6	1793, Aug. 1	Samuel Williams Johnston	Samuel Williams	100	£100	P-414
7	1794, Mar. 2	Thomas Cone	Thomas Pugh	100	£70	Q-30
8	1794, Nov. 11	Samuel Williams	John Young	12	£20	Q-384
9	1794, Dec. 1	Samuel Harrell	David Canady	300	£180	Q-57
10	1795, May 11	John Johnston Jr., Samuel Williams Johnston	John Allen	400	£160	Q-304
11	1795, July 16	David Canady	Samuel Williams Johnston	50	$100	Q-449
12	1796, Jan. 29	Jeremiah Pearce	Abner Eason Jr.	Not disclosed.	94 silver dollars	R-83
13	1796, Aug. 13	Jeremiah Pearce	Simon Turner	37	$312	R-329
14	1797, Mar. 20	William Edwards	Isaiah Smith	60	£60	R-392
15	1797, Apr. 28	Moses Gillam, guardian to Mary Edwards (daughter of Titus Edwards)	William Edwards (son of Titus Edwards)	Not disclosed.	$60	R-356
16	1797, Apr. 28	Sarah Edwards (daughter of Titus Edwards)	William Edwards	Not disclosed.	$60	R-357
17	1798, Jan. 8	Noah Hinton	Noah Thompson	60	300 silver dollars	R-514
18	1798, Oct. 12	Malachi Oliver & wife, Mary Edwards Oliver	William Edwards	Not disclosed.	$60	S-69
19	1799, Jan. 10	Isaiah Smith	Cullen Cook	60	$535	S-83
20	1801, Mar. 29	Samuel Williams, William Williams Jr., Thomas Pugh Sr.	Willie Jones	2,500	£5	S-296
21	1802, Feb. 6	William Williams Jr.	Blake B. Wiggins	20	200 silver dollars	S-434^104
22	1802, June 5	Lewis Bond	William Williams Jr.	Not disclosed.	£1,665	S-439
23	1803, June 14	Cullen Cook	William Williams Jr.	130	£300	T-73
24	1803, July 22	David Canady	Thomas Pugh Sr.	250	600 silver dollars	S-790
25	1804, Feb. 20	John Johnston Jr.	William Williams Johnston	1,080	$7,000	T-139
26	1804, Apr. 15	William Hinton	Lewis Thompson, William Thompson, Samuel Williams Johnston	Not disclosed.	Maintenance and support.	V-296
27	1804, Apr. 15	Zedekiah Stone	David Stone	500	$1,000	X-354
28	1805, Jan. 15	Jonathan Standley	John Mhoon	219	£875	T-236
29	1805, Mar. 4	John McCaskey Jr.	Thomas Speller	600	$2,220	W-6
30	1806, Apr. 12	George Weir and wife, Ann	Samuel Williams Johnston	68	$450	T-442
31	1806, May 13	Micajah Powell	Lewis Thompson, William Thompson, Samuel Williams Johnston	Not disclosed.	$1,500	V-284
32	1806, May 29	Samuel Williams Johnston	Ann Chamberly	Not disclosed.	£100	T-452
33	1806, July 6	John Bate Allen	John Bond	350	$7,500	V-230
34	1807, Mar. 4	Samuel Williams Johnston	Hardy Boyce	68.5	$450	U-6
35	1807, Apr. 6	Francis Pugh	Joseph Pugh	100	£454	T-534
36	1807, Aug. 13	Joseph Pugh	William Pugh	30	£125	U-99
37	1807, Aug. 21	Edward McCaskey	Ebenezer Slade	200	$2,000	U-532
38	-	Edward McCaskey	Ebenezer Slade	Not disclosed.	$200	W-359
39	1808, Aug. -	John Hill Pugh’s land division	Elizabeth Pugh	414	N/A	V-30
40	1810, Jan. 4	John McCaskey Jr.	John Griffin Jr.	153	$1,200	V-295
41	1811, Jan. 1	Whitmell H. Pugh, Augustin Pugh	John Mhoon	419	£1,712	V-414
42	1811, Jan. 9	Elizabeth Pugh	John Mhoon	200	$1,300	V-413
43	1811, Mar. 8	Jonathan Spivey	James Bate Allen	200	$1,000	V-518
44	1811, May 1	William Pugh, Whitmell Pugh, Augustin Pugh	John Mhoon	419	$500	V-503
45	1812, Aug. 29	Willie William Jones	William Williams Jr.	Not disclosed.	$25,000	V-804
46	1814, Aug. 4	James Bate Allen	William H. Green	450	£2,000	W-394
47	1815, Jan. 1	Augustin Pugh	William Pugh	200	$4,000	W-266 (1)
48	1815, Jan. 1	Whitmell Pugh	Augustin Pugh	1,133	$4,000	W-266 (2)
49	1815, Jan. 24	William Edwards	Hardy Boyce	20	$60	W-438
50	1815, May 13	Eli McCaskey	John Griffin Jr.	189	$1,134	W-358
51	1815, May 27	Eli McCaskey	John Griffin Jr.	310	$1,138	AA-133
52	1815, May 26	James Bate Allen	John Mhoon	215	£1,500	W-396
53	1815, May 27	James Bate Allen	John Mhoon	450	£1,500	W-395
54	1815, Oct. 25	James Bate Allen	William McGruder	N/A	$790	W-409
55	1816, Jan. 24	William H. Green	John Mhoon	450	Not disclosed.	W-456
56	1816, Feb. 6	John D. Williams	Joseph Williams	100	$1,200	X-165, X-167
57	1816, Aug. 12	Ebenezer Slade & wife, Peggy Pugh Slade	Joseph S. Pugh	340	$1,078	X-92
58	1816, Nov. [complete date not disclosed]	John Mhoon’s land division	James G. Mhoon, William S. Mhoon, John Mhoon [Jr.], John Peter Rascoe, Mary Ann Rascoe, William Rascoe, Mary Mhoon	1,227	Not disclosed.	X-191
59	1817, Mar. 1	James Glover	John Mhoon [Jr.]	400	$1,440	X-379
60	1819, May 12	William Britton, executor for William Williams Johnston	Thomas Ruffin	Not disclosed.	$1,904	Z-43
61	1819, June 5	Augustin Pugh	William M. Clark	1,000	$2,000	BB-723
62	1819, June 5	Augustin Pugh	William M. Clark	1,000	$10,000	BB-724
63	1819, June 19	Augustin Pugh & wife, Elizabeth	William M. Clark	2	$500	BB-725
64	1819, [complete date not disclosed]	Whitmell Pugh & William Pugh, attorneys for Augustin Pugh	William Britton	640	$2,400	Z-51
65	1821, Jan. 13	Edward McCaskey	Jeremiah Slade	Not disclosed.	£100	AA-196
66	1821, Mar. 20	Thomas Ruffin, Sheriff (public sale – land descended to heirs of William Williams Johnston)	Thomas Thompson, Sarah Thompson, Samuel Williams	Not. Disclosed.	$12,000	BB-729
67	1821, Feb. 12	John Bond	Moses Gillam	392	$6,000	Z-325
68	1821, Apr. 26	Thomas Ruffin, Sheriff (public sale – Edward McCaskey’s property)	Benjamin F. Slade	Not disclosed.	$90	AA-250
69	1821, May 16	Thomas Ruffin, Sheriff (public sale – land belonging to William Williams Johnston, deceased)	William Williams Jr.	260	$2,500	AA-143
70	1821, May 20	Thomas Ruffin, Sheriff (public sale – land and tenements belonging to William Williams Johnston, deceased)	William Williams Jr.	1,012	$4,344	AA-144
71	1823, June 16	William Williams Jr.	Lewis A. Williams	Not disclosed.	$4,100	BB-225
72	1824, Mar. 1	Joseph S. Pugh	Thomas Ruffin	Not disclosed.	$1,000	BB-227
73	1825, Feb. 11	Thomas B. Slade, executor of Jeremiah Slade	Benjamin F. Slade	50	$50	BB-322
74	1826, Feb. 28	Simon Turner [Jr.]	John Bond	100	$1,700	BB-516
75	1827, Feb. 9	Thomas J. Pugh	Thomas Ruffin	Not disclosed.	$1,700	BB-797
76	1827, Aug. 15	Augustin Pugh & wife, Cynthia	Thomas Ruffin	345	$1,000	BB-722
77	1827, Sep. 10	Charles W. Jacocks, Clerk & Master in Equity (public sale – land belonging to Henry Johnston’s heirs)	William Britton	464	$67	CC-285
78	1828, Aug. 11	Lewis Bond, Sheriff (public sale – Benjamin F. Slade’s property)	William Pugh	300	$1,009	CC-146

In certain instances, ownership of leases was conveyed during the settlement of estates, both in accordance with stipulations in wills and through administration of estates for persons who died intestate. Table 6 presents information related to lease conveyances per execution of wills and administration of estates.

Table 6

Individuals’ Wills in Which Leases for

Tuscarora Indian Lands Were Devised and

Estates for Which Leased Lands Were Distributed

		Wills
Deceased (Testator)	Testatee(s)	Description	Date of Will	Court Session at Which Proved	County and Will Number
Robert Jones Jr.	Allen Jones Willie Jones	Per codicil – all residue of estate, both real [including leased Indian lands in Bertie County] and personal, to be equally divided between sons, Allen and Willie Jones.	1764, Apr. 6; codicil, 1766, Sep. 20	1766, Nov.	Northampton 1-135
William King	Michael King	Leased land in “sesawnecks.”	1778, May 28	!778, Nov.	Bertie, B-126
William Williams	Samuel Williams, William Williams Jr., Elizabeth Johnston	Land “rented” from the Indians.	1778, Dec. 22	ca. 1782	Martin, 1-90
Titus Edwards	Isom Edwards, William Edwards	Land adjoining Whitmell Tuffdick’s land.	1785, Aug. 28	1785, Nov.	Bertie, D-43
John Hinton	Noah Hinton	Land purchased from William Williams lying on Sandy Run in Indian land.	1789, -mber 2 [complete date illegible]	1791, Nov.	Bertie, D-192
John Johnston	Henry Johnston, John Scrymsoure Johnston [John Johnston Jr.]	Tract of land leased of the Tuscarora Indians; plantation known as Green Pond.	1790, Dec. 7	1791, Feb.	Bertie, D-158
Noah Hinton	William Hinton	Three hundred acres in the Indian Woods.	1794, Nov. 9	1803, Nov.	Bertie, E-196
David Standley	Jonathan Standley	Land rented from [Thomas] Pugh, [Willie Jones] and William Williams [Indian land].	1795, Jan. 17	1795, Feb.	Bertie, D-265
Thomas Bond	Lewis Bond	Four hundred acres in the Indian Woods.	1795, Feb. 27	1795, Feb.	Bertie, D-282
Noah Thompson	William Thompson	All lands in Bertie County [including Indian land], except forty acres.	1799, Feb. 11	1799. May	Bertie, E-68
Thomas Pugh Sr.	William [Scott] Pugh, William Pugh, John Hill Pugh, Joseph Pugh, Joseph S. Pugh, Francis Pugh, Augustin Pugh, Esther Pugh	First tract and part of second tract leased from Tuscarora Indians and parts of other leased Indian land, including the Sarah Walker tract, Island tract, land whereon Cullen Cook lives, Quitsney tract, and Town Swamp.	1804, Jan. 1	1806, Nov.	Bertie, F-26
John McCaskey Sr.	John McCaskey Jr., Edward McCaskey, Eli McCaskey	Land in Bertie County on Chewatock Swamp purchased of the Indians.	1787, Apr. 20	1788, Jan.	Martin, 1-130
John Allen	Ann Allen, James Bate Allen, John Bate Allen	Land lying between the great pond and branch, adjoining Bates’s line and Chewatock Swamp.	1788, Sep. 24	1797, Aug.	Bertie, E-18
Willie Jones	Willie William Jones, Robert Allen Jones	Land in Bertie County purchased of the Indians; Back land, High Island tract, Broad Neck and Indian Pasture.	1801, May 6	1801, Aug.	Halifax, 3-355
Noah Hinton	Noah Thompson’s children, William Hinton	Land on Village Swamp; land lying on Roanoke River at mouth of forked gut, dividing line between Williams [II] and myself. Land lying in the Indian Woods.	1794, Nov. 9	1803, Nov.	Bertie, E-196
Samuel Williams	John D. Williams, Lewis A. Williams,	Plantation lying in bend of town Swamp; Pasture tract; old Indian land; tract adjoining former [Henry Eustace] McCulloh land; plantation known as Toney’s old field; Blount’s [Neck]; and grist mill on Indian Creek.	1805, March 28	1805 [month?]	Martin, 1-426
William Pugh	Whitmill Hill Pugh, Augustin Pugh	Plantation in Indian Woods; mill on Indian Creek.	1808, Apr. 20	1809, Feb.	Bertie, F-101
William Williams Johnston	John G. Johnston	Lands purchased of Gen. William Williams and Willie Jones.	1818, Nov. 12	1819, Feb.	Bertie, G-51
Thomas Thompson	Hezekiah Thompson	Land lying in the Indian Woods purchased at the executor’s sale of William Williams Johnston.	1826, May 1	1827, Aug.	Bertie, G-167
John Griffin, Jr.	John Griffin [III]	All lands purchased of John and Eli McCaskey lying in Indian Woods; also, one-half of the one-third undivided tract of land purchased by Ebenezer Slade, Thomas Speller, and myself of the Tuscarora Nation of Indians.	1827, Mar. 24	1827, June	Martin, 2-127
William Williams Jr.	Henry G. Williams, Temperance Joyner, Martha Clark, David Williams	Various tracts known as Coniot, Caesar’s Island, Pasture land, Jemmy’s Neck, Jones tract, and land purchased of Lewis Bond.	1829, Apr. 23	1829, June	Martin, 2-152
		Estate Files
Deceased (Estate File of)	Individuals to Whom Land was Allotted	Description	Date Land Allotted
Henry Bates	Peter Rascoe	Unexpired lease on land.	1820, Dec. 20
Hardy Boyce	Cullen Casper & wife; William Boyce, Thomas Blackstone & wife, Elizabeth; Henry Calloway & child, Catherine Ann Calloway	Land in the Indian Woods on Town Swamp and Licking Branch.	1833, Sep. 9

It is probably impossible to “track” the total number of acres of leased Tuscarora Indian lands to all the individuals who purchased or were given subleases. Several factors impede the process. First, the actual number of acres leased by the Tuscarora cannot be definitely determined. As presented in this paper, the number of acres delineated in their original leases with the white inhabitants contrasts vastly with the acreages later noted in subsequent leases and allocations. Second, clearly some subleases were not recorded in the land records of the Bertie County Register of Deeds Office. The number of such “missing” documents cannot be determined. Third, the general descriptions of lands recorded in deeds for people who leased and subleased property in the Indian Woods area prevent the absolute determination that the pertinent documents relate to the Indians’ lands. Certain individuals who obtained subleases of Indian land also owned lands that adjoined the reservation or were situated in the general area of the reservation. Some of these lands became contiguous with the leased lands; in essence, boundary descriptions denoting the portions of land that were included in the leases were no longer recorded as such. Further, various deeds contain general land descriptions without specifying landmarks (line/corner trees, fences, etc.) and geographic features (swamps, creeks, runs, etc.). Some such deeds were likely subleases of Indian lands but cannot be absolutely confirmed as such.

Furthermore, various records and accounts provide vastly differing estimates of the size of the reservation. The precise number of acres that comprised the “Indian Woods” reservation is not documented. The minutes of the governor’s council meeting of June 7, 1717, do not disclose the acreage allotted to the Tuscarora. In April 1723 William Maule, surveyor general of the province, reported to the council that he had “laid” out 53,000 acres of land for the Tuscarora and Chowan Indians. The total acreage, while not reported as such, was for two tracts, one in Chowan Precinct for the Chowan Indians and the other in Bertie Precinct for the Tuscarora. In August 1714 the council, in August 1714, had allotted a tract “six miles square” (about 23,000 acres) to the Chowan tribe on the eastern side of Chowan River. If Maule’s survey in 1723 encompassed those lands, it may then be estimated that the lands surveyed for the Tuscarora Indians north of the Moratock River comprised about 30,000 acres. The 1748 act of the General Assembly defined the general boundaries of the reservation but did not specify acreage. Governor Arthur Dobbs reported to officials in London in 1761 that the Tuscarora had “by Law” 10,000 acres “upon and near” Roanoke River. The June 1803 surveys overseen by the Indian commissioners (John M. Binford, William Hawkins, and Jeremiah Slade) indicated that the overall reservation consisted of 41,113 acres, but various subtotals that the commissioners also reported did not reconcile to that overall total acreage. Finally, an article in a North Carolina newspaper in April 1911, noted that the Tuscarora Nation (New York) claimed reversionary title to about 126,000 acres in Bertie County.¹⁰⁵

APPENDIX 3

SALES OF FORMER TUSCARORA INDIAN LANDS IN BERTIE COUNTY

Pursuant to the act passed during the 1828-1829 session of the General Assembly, forty-two parcels of reservation lands were conveyed by public sales at the Bertie County courthouse. Deeds documenting the sales were issued by the Secretary of State and recorded in the Bertie County Register of Deeds Office. Eleven persons who acquired land at the sales had already possessed leases. Table 7 presents information related to the sales and pertinent deeds.

Table 7

Sale Deeds of Former Tuscarora Indian

Lands in Bertie County, 1830-1832

	Deed	Purchaser	Price ($)	Acreage	Date
1	CC-329	Silas Smith	13.16	658	Jan. 6, 1830
2	CC-348	William H. Rascoe	21.15	235	Jan. 7, 1830
3	CC-349	William H. Rascoe	3.20	213	Jan. 7, 1830
4	CC-350	James G. Mhoon	57.46	638	Jan. 7, 1830
5	CC-351	James G. Mhoon	1.98	44	Jan. 7, 1830
6	CC-355	Mary Mhoon	19.20	160	Jan. 7, 1830
7	CC-358	William S. Mhoon	48.00	640	Jan. 7, 1830
8	CC-359	William S. Mhoon	5.51	245	Jan. 7, 1830
9	CC-363	John S. Bryan	9.76	217	Jan. 7, 1830
10	CC-398	Francis Pugh	21.00	200	Mar. 9, 1830
11	CC-399	Francis Pugh	30.00	1,000	Mar. 9, 1830
12	CC-400	Alfred M. Slade	75.00	126	Mar. 9, 1830
13	CC-401	John Young	27.27	260	Mar. 9, 1830
14	CC-471	Jesse A. Powell	28.12	250	Jan. 7, 1830
15	CC-515	Lewis A. Williams	50.00	450	Dec. 3, 1830
16	CC-516	Lewis A. Williams	45.90	408	Dec. 3, 1830
17	CC-518	William Pugh	140.50	562	Nov. 18, 1830
18	CC-522	William Pugh	155.40	777	Nov. 18, 1830
19	CC-529	Lewis A. Williams	64.92	567	Dec. 31, 1830
20	CC-531	William Pugh	30.00	120	Nov. 18, 1830
21	CC-532	William Pugh	1.68	61	Nov. 18, 1830
22	CC-533	Joseph J. Williams	9.00	100	Dec. 31, 1830
23	CC-534	Joseph J. Williams	48.00	640	Dec. 31, 1830
24	CC-535	William P. Coggin	12.00	200	Dec. 16, 1830
25	CC-536	Hezekiah Thompson	102.50	500	Nov. 10, 1830
26	CC-537	Thomas J. Pugh	74.80	880	Nov. 18, 1830
27	CC-537	Lewis A. Williams, Joseph J. Williams	12.06	840	Dec. 31, 1830
28	CC-676	David Stone’s heirs	203.76	625	Jan. 5, 1832
29	CC-748	Thomas Casper	2.33	155	Feb. 22, 1831
30	CC-749	Francis Ward	17.01	162	May 20, 1831
31	CC-750	Robert F. Purrington	272.41	821	July 28, 1831
32	CC-827	Thomas Ruffin	92.50	1,550	Mar. 9, 1830
33	CC-875	John Critchlow	11.25	50	Sep. 16, 1831
34	CC-876	John Critchlow	24.60	100	Sep. 16, 1831
35	CC-876	John Critchlow	36.72	153	Sep. 16, 1831
36	CC-877	John Griffin [III]	73.60	360	Sep. 16, 1831
37	CC-878	John Griffin [III]	21.36	89	Sep. 11, 1831
38	CC-879	John Griffin [III]	42.00	175	Sep. 11, 1831
39	DD-134	Thomas Casper’s heirs	2.33	155	Feb. 22, 1831
40	DD-150*	Robert Allen Jones	94.50	700	Feb. 4, 1831
41	DD-150*	Robert Allen Jones	250.00	1,000	Feb. 4, 1831
42	DD-151	Robert Allen Jones	13.50	900	Feb. 4, 1831
		Totals	$2,264.44	17,983

* Two deeds are recorded in Deed Book DD, page 150.

NOTES

1. William L. Saunders, ed., The Colonial Records of North Carolina, 10 vols. (Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886–1890), 1:ix-xi (hereafter cited as Saunders, Colonial Records).

The Roanoke River was originally known as the Moratock River. The river begins in Montgomery County, Virginia by the junction of North Fork and South Fork and flows southeastward to the Albemarle Sound. The Mosely map of 1733 shows the waterway as the Roanoke River. The Moratock Indians once lived along the river. The Wilmington [NC] Morning Star, August 18, 1883; “Roanoke River,” NCPedia, www.ncpedia.org. In this paper the author refers to the river as the Moratock in passages related to 1732 and prior, and as the Roanoke in passages related to 1733 and thereafter.

2. “Cary Rebellion,” NCPedia, www.ncpedia.org; William S. Powell, North Carolina: A History (Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1977), 30-31 (hereinafter cited as Powell, North Carolina History).

3. Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:xxx-xxxi; Powell, North Carolina History, 31; Ruth Y. Wetmore, First on the Land: The North Carolina Indians (Winston Salem: John F. Blair, Publisher, 1977), 35 (hereinafter cited as Wetmore, First on the Land).

4. Wetmore, First on the Land, 37.

5. Wetmore, First on the Land, 38-40. King Hancock was subsequently captured by his rival, King Tom Blount, and other Indians and turned over to North Carolina colonial officials, who had him executed.

6. Wetmore, First on the Land, 40-41. The Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederation were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes.

7. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:283. Charles Eden was sworn in as governor of North Carolina on May 28, 1714. The “Mr. Jones” to whom the record refers may have been William Jones, who owned land in the area.

The conflict between South Carolina settlers and various Indian tribes was known as the Yamasee War (1715-1717.)

8. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:283.

9. J. R. B. Hathaway, ed., North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register (3 vols.), 1900-1903, 2:218-219. Mr. Hathaway noted that the subject document was included among items relating to the colonial assembly at the Chowan County courthouse in Edenton. The document is undated and not signed. Hathaway presumed the document was a draft of the articles of peace agreed upon by the English and Tuscarora Indians. The present author observed that should the document be a draft and not the final agreed-upon articles, there was a formal document which included similar provisions (if not the same provisions) as contained in the document discovered by Hathaway. Referential information contained in other colonial records reviewed by the author indicates the existence of articles of agreement/peace between the English and Tuscarora Indians.

10. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:288-289; NCPedia, “Chronology of North Carolina Governors,” www.ncpedia.org. The Saraw were a Siouan tribe who lived in the piedmont region of North Carolina.

11. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:288-289.

12. Margaret M. Hofman, Province of North Carolina, 1663-1729, Abstracts of Land Patents (Weldon: Margaret M. Hofman, 1979), [i] (hereafter cited as Hofman, Land Patents).

13. Gov. Charles Eden’s statement to Treasurer, April 13, 1701, Colonial Court Miscellaneous Papers, Group 7, CCR 192, North Carolina State Archives; Saunders, Colonial Records, 1:894; Hofman, Land Patents, 54.

14. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:295-296: Alan D. Watson, Bertie County: A Brief History (Raleigh: North Carolina department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, 1982), 7 (hereafter cited as Watson, Bertie County History).

15. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:304.

16. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:314-315.

17. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:248-249.

18. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:248-249.

19. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:456-457.

20. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:485; Hofman, Land Patents, 153.

21. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:458; “West, Robert,” NCPedia, www.ncpedia.org.

22. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:459, 476-478.

23. Walter, Clark, ed., The State Records of North Carolina, 16 vols. numbered 11 through 26 (Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1895-1906), 23:98, 100 (hereafter cited as Clark, State Records); David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943 (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 1987), 25-27, 95, 114, 122, 145, 163, 206 (hereafter cited as Corbitt, North Carolina Counties).

24. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:532, 534, 536.

25. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:569-570.

26. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:674.

27. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:570-571.

28. Clark, State Records, 23:160, 25:433–449; Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:214-215.

29. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:571, 573.

30. Saunders, Colonial Records, 3:218.

31. Clark, State Records, 11:10-15.

32. Clark, State Records, 11:15-16.

33. Saunders, Colonial Records, 3:153.

34. Saunders, Colonial Records, 3:404.

35. Saunders, Colonial Records, 3:414.

36. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:45.

37. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:224.

38. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:345.

39. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:592. The North Carolina legislature, in March 1739, passed an act changing precincts to counties. Corbitt, North Carolina Counties, xx.

40. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:891.

41. Clark, State Records. 23:299-301.

42. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:1313-1314, 5:1.

43. Saunders, Colonial Records, 4:1313-1314; Bertie County Deeds L-208; W-359, AA-250, BB-322, CC-877; Clark State Records, 24:171. Thomas Pugh Sr., in his will dated January 1, 1804, and proved in Bertie County court in November 1806, bequeathed to his grandson, Francis Pugh, a parcel of land leased from the Tuscarora whereon Thomas Whitmell “formerly lived.” See Will F-26, Thomas Pugh [Sr.], Bertie County Office of the Clerk of Court.

44. Saunders, Colonial Records, 5:30-31, 35.

45. Saunders, Colonial Records, 5:785-786.

46. Saunders, Colonial Records, 5:994-995, 1046, 1082.

47. Saunders, Colonial Records, 6:101, 108.

48. Deeds I-440 and G-154, Bertie County Register of Deeds Office, Windsor, NC (hereafter cited as Bertie County Deed with deed number); various documents dated 1760 in Humphrey Bates’s estate file, Bertie County, North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979, State Archives. The author reviewed Hofman, Land Patents, and found no information related to a patent/grant made to William Charleton on November 7, 1723.

49. Saunders, Colonial Records, 5:839, 858, 861, 864, 1012; 6:90, 101.

50. Saunders, Colonial Records, 6:616, 989; Watson, Bertie County History, 7; Colonial Court Miscellaneous Papers, Group 7, CCR 192, State Archives.

51. Saunders, Colonial Records, 6:1232, 1234, 1284, 1287, 1294; John L. Cheney Jr., North Carolina Government, 1585-1979 (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, 1981), 49. Thomas Pugh Sr. was the son of Francis Pugh, who sought the return of an Indian slave from King Tom Blount during the mid-1720s and was appointed Indian commissioner in 1732.

52. Saunders, Colonial Records, 7:218-219.

53. Saunders, Colonial Records, 7:218-220.

54. Bertie County Deed L-56; Unidentified writer to Dear Sir [apparently David Stone], December 4, 1801, David Stone Papers, PC 82.1, Private Collections, State Archives. The chieftains who signed the agreement (mostly with their marks since nearly all of them could not write in English) were James Allen, John Wiggins, Billy George, Snipnose George, Billie Cain, Charles Cornelius, Thomas Blount, John Rogers, George Tuffdick, Isaac Miller, Harry Samuel, Bridgers Thomas, John Senicar [Seneca], Thomas Basket, John Cain, Billy Dennis, William Taylor, Owen John Walker, Billie Mitchell, Billie Netop, Billy Blount, Tom Jack, John Literwood [Lightwood], Billy Roberts, James Mitchell, Captain Joe, and William Pugh.

55. Saunders, Colonial Records, 7:247-249, 431. The validity of Tryon’s estimates of the number of Tuscarora who were leaving Bertie County and the number who were remaining cannot be substantiated. In June Tryon stated that 220 to 230 tribal members desired to remain, a number greater than the total he stated were leaving (130) and remaining (50 to 60) less than two months later. In January 1767 he noted that 155 Indians left for the Six Nations on the Susquehanna River and 104 individuals remained.

56. Saunders, Colonial Records, 7:293, 300, 360-361. The speech was signed (acknowledged) by Thomas Basket, Billy Dennis, William Taylor, John Cain, Whitmell Tuffdick, Billy Blount, Billy Roberts, James Mitchell, Lewis Tuffdick, Billy Owen and Thomas Blount.

57. Clark, State Records, 25:507-509.

58. Saunders, Colonial Records, 7:361; Bertie County Deed S-465.

On May 6, 1780, Henry Bates and his wife, Mary Ann, sold to James Bates, part of the land which had been granted to William Charleton on May 6, 1742. The tract was situated within the Indian lands at “Quitsney [Quitsna] Meadow.” Bertie County Deed M-481.

59. Bertie County Deed L-94.

60. Bertie County Deed K-482.

61. “McCulloh, Henry Eustace,” NCPedia, www.ncpedia.org.

With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War (1775), McCulloh tried to maintain friends on both sides (loyalists and Whigs, i.e., American Patriots). He professed his allegiance to the Loyalist Claims Commission in London while he routinely corresponded with North Carolina Whig leaders. His North Carolina lands, which he asserted totaled more than 800,000 acres, were confiscated by the State and sold due to McCulloh’s loyalist sentiments and affiliations.

62. Bertie County Deeds K-482, L-216, L-218, L-221, L-240, L-287, L-292, L-314, M-53, M-110, M-114, M-115, M-119, M-214.

63. Bertie County Deeds M-75, M-101, M-231.

64. Bertie County Deed M-316. The following chieftains signed (predominantly acknowledged by their “marks”): Billie Cain, John Hicks, John Rogers, John Owens, James Hicks, Billie Smith, Billie Mitchell, Billie Pugh, Wineoak Charles, James Mitchell, Billie Blunt Jr., Samuel Bridgers, Tom Roberts, Whitmell Tuffdick, Billie Roberts, West Whitmell, Wineoak Charles Jr., Lewis Tuffdick, John Smith and Billie Blunt.

65. Bertie County Deed M-317. The chieftains who signed the agreement were Whitmell Tuffdick (the King Indian), William Cane [Cain], William Blunt, Wineoak Charles Jr., Wineoak Charles Sr., Capt. William Blount, John Rodgers, John Owens, Tom Tommas [Thomas], James Hicks, James Wiggins, What [Walt/Walter] Gibson, and West Whitmell.

Although the Tuscarora entered into a lease with William King, two years prior Chief Whitmell Tuffdick had complained to the governor’s council that King “had entered upon and committed waste” upon the lands lying on the north side of Moratock River. According to the complaint, the lands had been granted to Col. Needham Bryan by the Lords Proprietors’ descendants “upon the failure of that nation [Tuscarora] of Indians.” The council opined that Gov. Josiah Martin should send correspondence to King to vacate the land and “shew cause” why he possessed it. (Needham Bryan received a patent dated March 30, 1721, for 640 acres on the northeast side of Moratock River.) Saunders, Colonial Records, 9:790; Hofman, North Carolina Land Patents 179.

66. Bertie County Deeds M-314, M-315, M-318, M-319, S-676, S-679.

67. Clark, State Records, 12:378, 427, 431.

68. Clark, State Records, 24:171-173.

69. Clark, State Records, 24:171-173.

70. Clark, State Records, 24:171-173.

71. Clark, State Records, 16:1075; State Military Papers, folders 1261.1, 1267.1; Bertie County Deeds M-53, 316. The men’s names are also shown as “Hix.” Several genealogical sources indicate that John Pugh Williams’s parents were John Williams and Ferabee Pugh, who was Thomas Pugh’s sister.

72. Bertie County Deeds M-400, M-402, M-405, M-406, M-407.

73. Clark, State Records, 24:334.

74. Weynette Parks Haun, comp., Bertie County, North Carolina County Court Minutes, 1781 thru 1787, Book V (Durham: the compiler, 1982), 8 (hereafter cited as Haun, Court Minutes, V); William L. Byrd III, For So Long as the Sun and Moon Endure: Indian Records from the North Carolina General Assembly Sessions & Other Sources (Westminister, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 2006), 44-45 (hereafter cited as Byrd, Indian Records); Will B-126, William King, Office of the Bertie County Clerk of Court; William King’s estate file, Bertie County, North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979, State Archives.

75. Bertie County Deeds M-509, M-512, M-550.

76. Bertie County Deed M-530; Haun, Court Minutes, 16.

77. Haun, Court Minutes, V, 24; Bertie County Deeds M-114, M-115; Will 1-90, William Williams, Martin County Wills, North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970, State Archives (hereinafter cited as William Williams’s will).

78. William Williams’s will, Martin County.

79. Bertie County Deeds M-733, P-60, P-396, P-402, P-414, Q-30, Q-304, Q-338, Q-447, R-83, R-211, R-356, R-357, R-392, R-514, S-69, S-83, T-294; Bertie County Wills – Titus Edwards (D-43), John Hinton (D-192), John Johnston (D-158) and Thomas Bond (D-282).

The author notes that there were very likely more than twenty-one subleases consummated during the 1780s and 1790s. He reviewed a number of deeds for leaseholders of Indian lands recorded during the period that transferred lands to other parties. In all cases the subject documents did not contain sufficient detailed information for him to confirm, without doubt, that the land transactions were related to the “Indian Woods” reservation. He further observed during his research that a number of the leaseholders for Indian lands also owned lands adjoining, or located near, the Tuscarora Indians’ reservation.

80. Laws of North Carolina, (publication facts missing, 1798), 10.

81. Byrd, Indian Records, 56-57, 60-61.

82. Charles J. Kappler, comp., Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1913), 701-704.

83. Byrd, Indian Records, 65-66; The Laws of the State of North Carolina Passed in 1802, published by the Public Printer, by order of the General Assembly, 6-7.

84. Byrd, Indian Records, 90-91.

85. Byrd, Indian Records, 85-86. The Secretary of War, per congressional directive, had purview of Indian affairs during the late 1700s and early 1800s.

86. Byrd, Indian Records, 85, 95-96.

87. Byrd, Indian Records, 98-99; Bertie County Deeds S-690, S-697, S-718A, S-721, S-737, S-792, T-68, T-69, T-184.

88. Watson, Bertie County History, 9.

89. Bertie County Deeds T-201 (two documents).

90. Bertie County Deeds T-313, W-6.

91. Bertie County Deeds T-303, T-304, T-413. The date of Willie Jones’s death was obtained from “Jones, Willie,” NCPedia, www.ncpedia.org.

92. Bertie County Will F-26, Thomas Pugh [Sr.]. Bertie County lands records included several Thomas Pugh “lessee” deeds with the Tuscarora Indians: M-315, 1777; M-316, 1775; S-792.

93. Byrd, Indian Records, 102-105, 108-113, 115, 122, 125, 132-133, 135-137; Martin County Will 2-100, Jeremiah Slade (dated August 13, 1824 and proved in Martin County court September 1824). Table 5 presents abstracts of pertinent information related to the subleases through 1828.

94. Free Press (Tarborough), December 10, 1824; Acts Passed by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina at its Session Commencing on the 13^th of November 1824 (Raleigh: Gales & Son, State Printers, 1825), 15.

95. Bertie County Deed CC-150; Free Press, February 17, 1827.

96. Acts Passed by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina at the Session of 1828-29 (Raleigh: Lawrence & Lemay, 1829), 11-13.

97. Table 7 presents abstracts of information related to the deeds resulting from the public sale of the “Indian Woods” lands.

98. Bertie Count Deed 163-418.

The following article appeared in the April 13, 1911, edition of the The French Broad Hustler (Hendersonville), relative to the Tuscarora Indians’ lost lands in Bertie County.

“Luther W. Jack, Secretary of the People's Rights Society, Lewistown, N.Y. has written Governor [Claude] Kitchin a detailed statement of the case for the Tuscarora Indians of New York, formerly of this State, and their claim to the reversionary title to the large body of lands in Bertie county, embracing about 126,000 acres that the Indians claim reverts to them after 1916, when a 150-year lease expires. The communication being turned over to Colonel [John Bryan] Grimes, Secretary of State, he has prepared a detailed statement of the Indian transactions that develops the fact that the Supreme Court ruled in 1816 that the Indians had a fee simple right to these lands and not an Indian title only. Then in 1831 and 1832 there was consummated a deal with the Indians, by which the State, in consideration of $3,250 paid to the Indians, obtained from them surrender of all title or color to the lands for all time including any reversionary interest that they would have at the end of the 150-year period in question.”

99. Watson, Bertie County History, 9; F. Roy Johnson, The Tuscaroras, 2 vols. (Murfreesboro: Johnson Publishing Company, 1967), 2:184-185; Arwin D. Smallwood, Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 61.

100. Information presented in the appendix was obtained from various sources, including, but not limited to, the author’s personal historical and genealogical files and records; Saunders, Colonial Records; Clark, State Records; John L. Cheney Jr., North Carolina Government, 1585-1979 (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, 1981); Bertie, Martin, and Halifax Counties’ land records, wills, and estate files; Haun, Court Minutes (6 vols.); NCPedia, www.ncpedia.org; and selected websites (historical and genealogical).

101. Statistics compiled by the author.

102. Clark, State Records, 23:185; Bill of Complaint by Joseph S. Pugh, Bertie County Superior Court of Equity, Spring Term 1820, Henry Johnston’s estate file, Bertie County, North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979, State Archives; Will G-360, [John] Peter Rascoe, Office of the Bertie County Clerk of Court.

103. The author did not attempt to identify and research civil suits filed and adjudicated in Bertie County courts related to Tuscarora Indian leases since such legal matters, while a corollary topic, were not the focus of his research for this paper.

104. Bertie County Deed S-434. The deed indicates that the land was on the south side of Village Swamp and was “a small part of the land [Williams] purchased of the turtles.” “Turtle” was a clan of the Tuscarora Indians.

105. Saunders, Colonial Records, 2:140, 283, 485, 6:616; Clark, State Records, 23:299-301; Byrd, Indian Records, 89-91; French Broad Hustler (Hendersonville), April 13, 1911.