Pasquotank County, North Carolina
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“Way Down Yonder on the Pasquotank
Where the Bullfrogs Jump From Bank to Bank”
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Brief Sketch of Pasquotank County
By John Elliott Wood
It is likely that the first Englishmen who set eyes upon what is now Pasquotank County were those comprising the reconnaissance party of fourteen men sent by Captain Ralph Lane from Roanoke Island to explore the inland waters in 1584. These men went as far as Chowan River and apparently mapped what they saw. The DeBry map dated 1585 which appeared in London shortly after that date shows the land on the north side of the main water as “PASQUENOKE,” and the shore outline while crude as would be expected of surveys of that nature is recognizable and remarkably faithful considering the method employed.
Seventy years were to pass before settlers occupied the land and established a permanent in this particular area. The beginning was no mass migration which can be fixed in a historic event like the landing at Jamestown in 1607 but rather the chance wandering of pioneers seeking unoccupied land, hunters in search of meat or furs, refugees in need of asylum, explorers, or just plain adventurers. By 1650 the land of Tidewater Virginia was pretty well taken up, some of it already exhausted by intensive cultivation. Settlers were moving upland to the westward while some preferred to remain near seaboard; and these latter chose to go southward where there were numerous rivers emptying into the sounds and the ocean. They were English who had never lived more than thirty miles from blue water, and they were reluctant to leave tidewater. It was the most natural thing in the world for them to follow one of the two Indian trails leading across the Great Dismal to the south, which would bring them to one of the four main streams flowing south-easterly towards the ocean. The area was not unknown to colonists at Jamestown for the Secretary John Pory had explored the upper Chowan River as early as 1623 and published his optimistic findings in London in 1625.
It is probable that individuals began filtering into the area of Pasquotank as early as 1650, some using it as headquarters for foraging expeditions, others occupying it with the idea of staying permanently. Certainly by 1663 there were numerous settlers scattered hereabouts, for in that year Governor Berkeley of Virginia issued patents for twenty-eight tracts varying from 250 to 3300 acres each. These grants may have been confirmation of holdings already occupied. This was the year when Charles II rewarded eight of his principal supporters by establishing for them the Proprietary of Carolina which included “Pasquotank Precint.”
The Lords of Proprietors named the northern portion of their domain “ALBEMARLE” after one of their number, General George Monck, First Duke of Albemarle. This area extended from the Virginia border to what is now Albemarle Sound, from the Atlantic Ocean westward without limit. No time was lost in establishing a government. Governor Berkeley of Virginia who was one of the proprietors appointed William Drummond governor of Albemarle, and the first General Assembly of Carolina was held 6 February 1665 at Halls Creek about a mile from Nixonton (the spot is marked by a modest monument). The Assembly at first consisted of one councilor for each of the absentee lords proprietors which formed the upper house or governor’s council, and all freemen who owned land. Later, the lower house was limited in number to five from each of the four precincts, elected by property owners. Pasquotank was not designated as the capital; it merely was a central location at a time when there were no public buildings, and the general court as well as legislature met at or near the home of some official, by arrangement.
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