NEWS

John Brevard’s History of Mecklenburg County from 1740 to 1900 provides a vivid description of what the area looked like before its settlement around 1740, “the whole country was covered with tall grass, the wild pea vines  and the flora that was indiginous [sic] to the soil, disturbed only by the wild Indian and the great herds of buffalo and deer, and such wild animals and fowls as found a congenial home in so temperate a climate. At this period every branch, creek, and river was alive with fish…In 1740 this part of the State was wholly unorganized, with only here and there an immigrant or settler. A school house or a house of worship was then not dreamed of.”

John Lawson, who had come through the area in 1700, described the lifestyle of the “wild Indians” mentioned by Alexander. They were living in small villages of bark houses along the area’s rivers and growing corn in fertile soil “red as blood.”

The gradual improvement of the Native American path that would become the Great Wagon Road resulted in an increasing number of Scots Presbyterian and German settlers bent on claiming the cheap, fertile land. Soon small communities of Scots-Irish began to settle around their newly formed churches. Farmers began to plow the prairies and girdle the trees to grow their crops. Their lives, however, were far from “settled.”

When the Royal Governor of North Carolina, Arthur Dobbs, came to present-day Mecklenburg County, he noted that most of its residents lived in poverty; families included many children, all barefoot, and the mothers were poorly clothed. Anglican minister Charles Woodmason, accompanied by C. W. Clerk, also visited during this time. He described local residents as “vile, leveling commonwealth Presbyterians,” and “profligate, audacious Vagabonds . . . Hunters going Naked as Indians.” Clerk added that they were “Rude – Ignorant – Void of Manners, Education or Good Breeding.”

When Rev. Alexander Craighead arrived in the area in 1758, he found a raucous, frontier society. According to historian Dan Morrill, “The great majority of people were illiterate. Squabbling and fighting were routine. Men purposely allowed their thumbnails to grow long so that they could more easily gouge out the eyes of their adversaries in a brawl. Drunkenness and fornication were widespread. Modern concepts of hygiene, derived largely from the advent of the germ theory of medicine, had no place in 18^th century life. The most common house form was the log cabin, sometimes with three walls. Typically, the only opening in the exterior wall was for an entry door. The floors were dirt. A permanent fire in a large fireplace at the end of the main room billowed smoke into the cramped living quarters, frequently turning the air into an acrid cloud. Privacy, even for the most intimate acts, was virtually unattainable.”

Although built in 1790, James K. Polk’s birthplace in Pineville provides some idea of what the settlers’ homes may have looked like.

The rebellious character of the residents was manifested in 1765 in what is called the “Sugar Creek War.”  It stemmed from a conflict between settlers and Henry McCulloch, Governor Dobb’s partner in land speculation, and another absentee landowner, Lord George Augustus Selwyn. Selwyn and Dobbs sent McCulloch to survey the boundaries of their land in Mecklenburg County with the intent of charging resident settlers, who they considered squatters, the rent they owed. A group of settlers warned McCulloch to stop or to be “tied Neck and heels and be carried over the Yadkin.”  McCulloch persisted, but the settlers, with blackened faces, attacked his men. Lawlessness triumphed, and McCulloch retreated to New Bern.

The settlers’ rebelliousness continued, and Mecklenburg County militias were active in the Revolutionary War. Once the war ended, area farmers returned to their usual mundane agricultural ways. They cleared land to make way for corn, some of which was made into whiskey. Some also had livestock, which they later sold at coastal markets.

However, according to Dan Morrill, “most settlers knew nothing about commercial agriculture. They were poor and malnourished. Infectious diseases like measles, influenza, whooping cough, and dysentery could easily take anyone away…The ‘good old days’ were not so good.”

There were, however, a few wealthy people living in the county during the colonial period. They included Hezekiah Alexander, who had a lucrative trade of cash crops to Pennsylvania in exchange for manufactured goods. His 1774 stone house still survives. Others included planter Thomas Polk and Hugh Torrance, a prosperous merchant, whose store also survives. Some entrepreneurs also built mills and ferries and opened taverns.

Despite these advances, after George Washington visited Charlotte in 1791, he described it as a “trifling place.” Things would soon change, however, when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793 and it became feasible to grow and market large quantities of cotton, and in 1799 when gold was discovered locally, leading to a thriving market. These provided increasing wealth and development to the area, leading to the gradual disappearance of the hardscrabble days.

For additional information:

John Brevard Alexander. The History of Mecklenburg County from 1740-1900. Available at this website.

Dan Morrill. “History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg  County.”  Available at this website.