Mecklenburg! continued....

Sidenote***Although my mother referred to her  mother’s Potts clan as "Dutch" , I am convinced that the Dutch bloodline, if it existed, mingled with, and was overtaken by Scotch-Irish (Irish who fled to Scotland and intermarried).

Also, we hear the term "Pennsylvania Dutch" used. Because the early  German settlers of that colony came from what they referred to as "Deutschland" many were  mistakenly called "Deutsch or Dutch"....jfh.

                                                             Part Three

From 1760 to 1780 brothers James and John Potts became land barons.  They bought land  and accepted land grants east of the Great Smoky Mountains. James acquired almost 2,000 acres in Anson and  Mecklenburg Counties ( and even more that he gave to his sons)...prime land near waterways connected to the Catawba River at Coddle Creek, Rocky River, Six Mile Creek in New Providence (adjoining Indian lands ). It was here that the Potts family helped establish the New Providence Presbyterian Church in 1767. James, always  business minded,  built  a grist mill by the river where the community's wheat and corn was ground. He became a pillar of the Piedmont.

Providence Church 1767

After apparently befriending the Catawba Indians, James was surprisingly  granted some of their land on the condition that he settle it and farm it.... according to legal documents. (It is likely the Natives were expecting a return in the form of corn and tobacco and hunting rights.) Over the course of a few years James built and maintained three plantations: Minevess, Rocky River and one he referred to in his will as "the plantation we live on now" (in reference to the place where  he and Margaret spent their last years.)

Trading with friendly Catawbas

It was far better for the Catawbas to deal with James  than the British government, which usually attempted to limit settlers’ territory. At other times, Great Britain changed its mind when the colonists would benefit and  sided with Native Americans on the issue of land ownership. The Catawbas had shriveled  in number due to smallpox and measles epidemics and  white man's liquor ; they lost heart and  went from one colonist's home to another asking for gun powder, blankets and tobacco. Yet the proud Cherokee tribe remained strong and ready to retaliate as the  land hungry settlers pushed father west,  trickling into their  sacred territory in the Smokies.

Surprise attacks on isolated settlers began as the Cherokees caught women and children alone with the men in the fields. Although many preferred peace, the outlaws of the tribe became barbaric and sickeningly cruel. A small unidentified group kidnapped young boys, bashed infants against trees and tortured and scalped mothers and daughters in one single incident. Although the attacks were few, they struck terror in the hearts of helpless women and children. The men armed themselves day and night since Fort Dobbs of the French and Indian War days was shut down tighter than a tomb.

Cherokee attacks

We can feel the terror that Margaret surely felt during these times as her neighbors suffered horrifying attacks. We can imagine her fear for the safety of  William, John and baby Jean. We can hear her questioning James' obsessive desire for more land at the expense of his family and his efforts to protect them. Was their new pampered lifestyle on those rolling green plantations worth this risk? Perhaps there were times when Margaret wanted to take the children and run north. We will never know her thoughts. Like most women of her era, she left us little insight into her emotions. A woman's lot was to follow her husband's lead. We know from his comments within his will that James did indeed love and care for each member of his family.

During those turbulent years during the 1760s and 70s, James' old business acquaintance, Tory Col. Edward Fanning, collected excessive taxes and fees on the colonist properties while  conspiring with corrupt  government agents and other land speculators to snatch  settlers' lands. The heartless Col. Fanning even shot and killed  his fellow colonel, John Bryan, for refusing to pledge allegiance to the King... (nothing like making an example of someone to keep control.)

I like to think James saw the writing on the wall and sided with other Piedmont backwoodsmen as they formed the “Regulators”... activists for colonists' rights.  I want to believe that James realized where his loyalties lay...for these events became the pre-labor pains of the birth of the American Revolution in the South.

"White Man build great and fine houses as if they were to live there always, but White Man must die as well as Red Man"....Cherokee warrior.

 

Part Four

Note***  Col. Edward Fanning returns to the story. Some accounts give the name "Edmund Fanning". It is unclear if this is  the wrong name /same man or two different individuals ( if so, they were double trouble.) To avoid confusion, I will refer to him as simply Col. Fanning,

(not to be confused with Fannin of Alamo fame)...J.F.H.

After the Cherokee skirmishes simmered down, the crises between the British government and the colonists boiled over. The greedy  Col.  Fanning became the Registrar of Deeds as well as the tax collector for Mecklenburg County and others.  You can imagine how that worked out: unfair taxes and seized property . Working with corrupt sheriffs and deputies, Fanning amassed a fortune of 10,000 British pounds  taken, as one observer wrote "all out of the people." Out of their hide he wanted to say, maybe?

Colonel Fanning, land speculator

The New Providence Presbyterian congregation , both faithful members and backsliders alike, could finally agree on something: they had to regulate government taxation. Men from other western North Carolina counties met July 14, 1768. The "Regulators" were born. Apparently, the Potts clan  was among the Mecklenburg organizers and part of the leadership... although not all colonists were brave enough to go against The Crown.  I feel certain that James  had taken the colonist side against the same Fanning who sold him that first 443 acres ...acreage that now  numbered into the thousands. To Col. Fanning and his gang it must have looked like a pretty plum ready for the picking.

Well-to-do or not, James still was one of his own people. He either made his decision out of  loyalty to the clan....or to avoid  scathing remarks from his fellow backwoodsmen. I, for one, believe he was the type of man who  stood on the principle of fairness at some point...(as much as one person's opinion can be counted...but then since he is my ancestor, my opinion may be somewhat biased).

At any rate, lines were clearly drawn by October; but  Governor Tyron's people felt the clan was no real threat. After all, they kept to themselves and ignored everyone else!  One writer of the time described the "Scotch Irish Presbyterians" as "reserved", "cold" "unemotional". Governor Tyron  and Col. Fanning were shown the other side of the coin:

Unemotional are we? Well here's your emotion! Cold are we? Here's the fire! ...You can almost hear their reactions.

The Regulators marched up  to Governor Tyron and his government and, according to some reports,  rioted, demanding fair treatment  and a voice in their own taxation.  A  letter written   in October of that year describes the backwoodsmen of  North Carolina's western counties as...  "a dangerous mob, a number of armed men, calling themselves Regulators, refusing to pay any debts and taxes."

Meanwhile, back at the big house at Minevess Plantation, it is a typical Autumn day. During this decisive year of 1768, our great great great great grandfather John is 15. His voice has probably started to change, and his father has, no doubt, begun grooming both him and William to be planters...whether they like it or not. Margaret and Jean are sheltered from the upheaval of the day. "Febe", Margaret's good right hand,  goes about overseeing the household. On Rocky River plantation, by the river bottom, rice plants mature in the rich soil, and across the  higher savanna flows an endless sea of tobacco and indigo.

Cauldrons of hearty stews and  porridge simmer on the fire overnight to be taken out to the fields come morning...for the backwoods tradition is that slaves  eat first and family second. Inside the kitchen there is the constant aroma of baked goods: corn bread and wheat loaves from grains freshly  ground at the Pott's public grist mill. There are many mouths to feed and much work to be finished. On this extraordinary little day in history, life is quite ordinary  in this haven...even as musket smoke drifts across the plantations, as the government men fire into the crowd of Regulators. I can imagine Margaret trying not to think of it, knowing James is attending matters as men have done since the beginning of time. A good Irish woman she is, this Margaret Mckee Potts.

Tobacco farming

I can hear her sigh of relief as James storms through the door, unharmed but incensed that the Regulators have not yet won. Now the smoke of a  "flame of rebellion" floats above them, no longer at  a distance. Today will not be the end of their problems with Col. Fanning, Gov. Tyron and before long...the British Crown itself.

To be continued...