A Minister Preaches War | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This article appeared on John Hood's daily column in the Carolina Journal, which, because of Author / Publisher Hood, is linked to the John Locke Foundation.

    RALEIGH  -  On October 18, 1772, a 200-ton ship named James and Mary arrived at the port of Charleston, South Carolina. But its passengers, settlers from Northern Ireland, were not allowed to disembark. Charleston authorities believed that the ship was infested with smallpox and had it quarantined for 52 days.

    The James and Mary was one of five ships transporting a Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) congregation from Londonderry, Ireland to new homes in the Carolinas. The congregation's leader, Rev. William Martin, had convinced his friends that their personal, economic, and religious freedom depended on their willingness to leave Ireland behind.

    The incident that precipitated the exodus of Rev. Martin's congregation occurred in late 1771. Two young congregants, the Becks, were expecting their first child. The day that Mrs. Beck went into labor, a rent collector appeared at the door of their house. He came in and demanded that the Becks either pay all rent due on the spot or exit the premises. With his wife in the midst of labor, Mr. Beck lost his temper and bodily threw the rent collector out of the house, breaking the man's neck. During the ensuing turmoil, Mrs. Beck and the infant perished. Mr. Beck disappeared.

    This wasn't merely a rental dispute, handled poorly by both parties. Many of the Covenanters of Northern Ireland - originally a mixture of Presbyterian émigrés from Scotland and the north of England, plus native Irish converts  -  lived in a state of destitution, subjugation, and constant fear. The English authorities restricted their property rights and choice of occupations. Anglican authorities questioned the validity of marriages performed by Presbyterian ministers, which in turn questioned the legitimacy of children and sometimes subjected Presbyterians to fines, jail time, or worse. Knowing that English courts would nearly always side with them in legal disputes, English merchants stiffed Presbyterian farmers, English landlords jacked up their rents, and English authorities jacked up their taxes.

    The fate of the Becks enraged Rev. William Martin and his congregation. On January 3, 1772, Martin posted a notice on his church door that promised a "favorable opportunity" to relocate to the Carolinas, where Scotch-Irish Presbyterians could expect to "enjoy life in abundance with the free exercise of their religious sentiments."

    Beginning on August 5, 1772, five ships left Northern Ireland for Charleston, carrying thousands of members of Rev. Martin's congregation. The passage was difficult for all of them, but the first to sail, the James and Mary, suffered the worst of it. Being quarantined in Charleston harbor for 52 days was a miserable experience. Finally, in early December, the passengers, many sick and undernourished, were allowed off the ship.

    The new arrivals didn't stay in Charleston for long. Most of them headed west and north, settling communities and founding churches in the Carolina Piedmont. Rev. William Martin himself ended up in Rocky Creek, on the road between present-day Chester and Lancaster, SC. Others settlers went further north, settling in what are now the North Carolina counties of Mecklenburg, Union, and Cabarrus counties. Among them were William Simpson and his wife Martha Orr - my 4th-great grandparents - along with other members of the Simpson and Orr families. The group eventually settled near Mint Hill, NC.

    A few years later, when the Revolutionary War broke out, the settlers who had fled English oppression with Rev. Martin were, not surprisingly, strong supporters of the Patriot cause. Hundreds of them served in Carolina militia units during the early stages of the war, at the Charleston battles of 1776 and 1780, and in guerilla action against Lord Cornwallis's troops. William Simpson, for example, fought at the battle of Camden.

    Rev. Martin strongly espoused the Patriot cause. He reminded his congregation of the passage in Ecclesiastes that describes a time for every purpose under heaven, including "a time for war and a time for peace." This, he preached in a particularly fiery sermon, was a time for war. In retaliation, the British burned his church to the ground and took Martin prisoner.

    It didn't deter him or his followers. Soon, the British discovered it was a time to mourn  -  and for the Americans, a time to dance.