# North Carolina General Assembly of October 1784

The North Carolina General Assembly of October 1784 met in New Bern from October 25, 1784 to November 26, 1784. The assembly consisted of the 116 members of the North Carolina House of Commons and 55 senators of North Carolina Senate elected by the voters on August 20, 1784. As prescribed by the 1776 Constitution of North Carolina the General Assembly elected Richard Caswell as Governor of North Carolina and members of the Council of State.

## Councilors of State

As prescribed by the 1776 Constitution of North Carolina, the General Assembly elected the governor and the following members of the North Carolina Council of State:
* Joseph Leech, Craven County (President)
* James Kenan, Duplin County (President pro tempore)
* Winston Caswell, Dobbs County (Clerk)
* James Armstrong, Pitt County
* John Hawks, Craven County
* Robert Burton, Granville County
* Thomas Eaton, Warren County
* Abraham Sheppard, Dobbs County
James Glasgow continued as North Carolina Secretary of State (served 1777–1798). The assembly elected Memucan Hunt (served 1784–1787) as first statewide North Carolina State Treasurer. Alfred Moore continued (served 1782–1791) as North Carolina Attorney General.

## Assembly membership

There were 55 counties in North Carolina in 1784. Each county was authorized to elect two representatives to the House of Commons and one delegate to the Senate. In addition, the six districts were authorized one delegate each. (Sullivan, Washington, Davidson, and Green counties would later become part of Tennessee in 1796.) Richard Caswell was elected Governor of North Carolina by this General Assembly but did not take the governor's office until 1785. According to a book by the Secretary of State edited by Cheney and published in 1974, this assembly had a second session that concluded in June 1784.

### House of Commons members

The House of Commons delegates elected a Speaker (William Blount), Clerk (John Hunt), Assistant Clerk (John Haywood), Doorkeeper, and Assistant Doorkeeper. The following delegates to the House of Commons were elected by the voters of North Carolina to represent each county and district:
| County/District | Delegate |
| Anson | James Terry |
| Anson | John DeJarnett |
| Beaufort | Thomas Alderson |
| Beaufort | John Gray Blount |
| Bertie | Zedekiah Stone |
| Bertie | Andrew Oliver |
| Bladen | Samuel Cain |
| Bladen | Peter Robeson |
| Brunswick | Jacob Leonard |
| Brunswick | David Flowers |
| Burke | Joseph McDowell |
| Burke | Waightstill Avery |
| Camden | Benjamin Jones |
| Camden | Abner Harrison |
| Carteret | John Easton |
| Carteret | Eli West |
| Caswell | Edward Clay |
| Caswell | William Moore |
| Chatham | Elisha Cain |
| Chatham | Joseph Stewart |
| Chowan | Clement Hall |
| Chowan | Michael Payne |
| Craven | William Bryan |
| Craven | William Blount |
| Cumberland | Edward Winslow |
| Cumberland | James Emmett |
| Currituck | Joseph Ferebee |
| Currituck | Dr. James White |
| Davidson | Elijah Robertson |
| Davidson | Ephraim McLean |
| Dobbs | William Caswell |
| Dobbs | John Sheppard |
| Duplin | Robert Dickson |
| Duplin | Thomas Gray |
| Edgecombe | Robert Diggs |
| Edgecombe | John Dalvin (Dolvin) |
| Fayette | William Rand |
| Fayette | Alexander McAllister |
| Franklin | Thomas Sherrod |
| Franklin | Durham Hall |
| Gates | Joseph Riddick |
| Gates | Seth Riddick |
| Granville | Thomas Person |
| Granville | Thornton Yancey |
| Greene | Alexander Outlaw |
| Greene | Unknown |
| Guilford | John Hamilton |
| Guilford | John Leak |
| Halifax | Benjamin McCulloch |
| Halifax | John Baptista Ashe |
| Hertford | William Hill |
| Hertford | Thomas Brickell |
| Hyde | John Eborne |
| Hyde | William Russell |
| Johnston | Joseph Boon |
| Johnston | Kedar Powell |
| Jones | William Randall |
| Jones | Abner Nash |
| Lincoln | John Sloan |
| Lincoln | Daniel McKissick |
| Martin | Nathan Mayo |
| Martin | Thomas Hunter |
| Martin | John Ross |
| Mecklenburg | Caleb Phifer |
| Mecklenburg | David Wilson |
| Montgomery | Mark Allen |
| Montgomery | William Kendall |
| Moore | John Cox |
| Moore | William Seals |
| Nash | Micajah Thomas |
| Nash | John Bonds |
| New Hanover | Timothy Bloodworth |
| New Hanover | James Bloodworth |
| Northampton | James Vaughan |
| Northampton | William Richardson Davie |
| Onslow | Edward Starkey |
| Onslow | Daniel Yates |
| Orange | Alexander Mebane |
| Orange | John Butler |
| Pasquotank | Thomas Reading |
| Pasquotank | John Smithson, Jr. |
| Perquimans | John Reed |
| Perquimans | Robert Riddick |
| Pitt | John Jordan |
| Pitt | Richard Moye |
| Randolph | Joseph Robbins |
| Randolph | Aaron Hill |
| Richmond | Robert Webb |
| Richmond | Charles Robertson |
| Rowan | William Sharpe |
| Rowan | James Kerr |
| Rutherford | Richard Singleton |
| Rutherford | James Withrow |
| Sampson | David Dodd |
| Sampson | John Hay |
| Sullivan | William Cage |
| Sullivan | David Looney |
| Surry | Joel Lewis |
| Surry | James Martin |
| Tyrrell | Benjamin Spruill |
| Tyrrell | Nathan Hooker |
| Wake | Tignal Jones |
| Wake | John Humphries |
| Warren | John Macon |
| Warren | James Payne |
| Washington | Charles Robertson |
| Washington | Landon Carter |
| Wayne | William Alford |
| Wayne | John Handley |
| Wilkes | Benjamin Herndon |
| Wilkes | Jesse Franklin |
| Edenton District | Stephen Cabarrus |
| Halifax District | Henry Montfort |
| Hillsborough District | Archibald Lytle |
| New Bern District | Spyars Singleton |
| Salisbury District | Spruce McCoy (McCay, McKay) |
| Wilmington District | Archibald MacLaine |

### Senate members

The Senators elected a President/Speaker (Richard Caswell, Sr.), Clerk (John Haywood), Assistant Clerk (Sherwood Haywood), Doorkeeper, and Assistant Doorkeeper. The following Senators were elected by the voters of North Carolina to represent each county:
| County | Senator |
| Anson | Thomas Wade |
| Beaufort | John Smaw |
| Bertie | Jonathan Jaycocks |
| Bladen | Thomas Owen |
| Brunswick | William Walters |
| Burke | Charles McDowell |
| Camden | Isaac Gregory |
| Carteret | Enoch Ward |
| Caswell | Vacant |
| Chatham | Ambrose Ramsey |
| Chowan | William Boritz |
| Craven | James Coor |
| Cumberland | David Smith |
| Currituck | James Phillips |
| Davidson | Unknown / Vacant |
| Dobbs | Richard Caswell, Sr. |
| Duplin | James Gillespie |
| Edgecombe | Isaac Sessums |
| Fayette | Thomas Armstrong |
| Franklin | Vacant |
| Gates | William Baker |
| Granville | John Taylor |
| Greene | Unknown / Vacant |
| Guilford | James Galloway |
| Halifax | Nicholas Long |
| Hertford | John Baker |
| Hyde | Abraham Jones |
| Johnston | Benjamin Williams |
| Jones | Frederick Hargett |
| Lincoln | Robert Alexander |
| Martin | Whitmell Hill |
| Mecklenburg | James Harris |
| Montgomery | Samuel Parsons |
| Moore | Henry Lightfoot |
| Nash | Hardy Griffin |
| New Hanover | John A. Campbell |
| Northampton | Allen Jones |
| Onslow | Thomas Johnston |
| Orange | William McCauley |
| Pasquotank | Thomas Relfe |
| Perquimans | John Skinner |
| Pitt | John Williams |
| Randolph | Thomas Dougan |
| Richmond | Charles Medlock |
| Rowan | Matthew Locke |
| Rutherford | James Miller |
| Sampson | Richard Clinton |
| Sullivan | Unknown / Vacant |
| Surry | John Armstrong |
| Tyrrell | John Warrington |
| Wake | Joel Lane |
| Warren | Nathaniel Macon |
| Washington | William Cocke |
| Wayne | Burwell Mooring |
| Wilkes | William Lenoir |

## Legislation

This assembly approved an act to require county courts to conduct a census of white and black residents. Other acts concerned the following:
* public taxes
* taxes on imports
* sale of confiscated property
* regulation of superior courts,
* real estate
* sales of slaves
* appointment of county commissioners
* building public roads, ferries, and bridges
* providing for the safe keeping of the estates of idiots and lunatics
* repealing the act from the previous assembling concerning sale of western lands to the U.S. Congress,
* accurate accounting of war service for pensioners
* fraudulent claims for western lands
* prohibiting loyalists from holding public office and establishing an oath for those taking public office
* prohibiting paid public servants from holding office in the assembly
* establishing a court for dealing with foreign mercantile transactions and transient persons and maritime affairs
* prevention of horse stealing
* regulating county court of pleas and quarter sessions
* amending the act of the April 1784 assembly dealing with when the assembly would meet
* changing the start date of the assembly from the first Monday in October to the first Monday in November
* creation of the District of Morgan, which would include Burke, Lincoln, Rutherford and Wilkes Counties
* creation of the District of Washington, which would include Washington, Sullivan, Greene, and Davidson Counties
* encouraging learning in Salisbury District, which dealt with the former Liberty Hall academy, which was renamed Salisbury Academy in Rowan County
* levying a tax in Salisbury and Hillsborough Districts to repair district buildings
* building a gaol in Wilmington
* establishing principal streets in Fayetteville
* inspecting tobacco in Hillsborough
* disposition of the estate of Simon Cleary
* establishing a town in Jones County
* establishing the town of Morgan
* creating a local tax in Warren and Franklin counties for building public buildings
* changing taxes in New Bern District
* empowering Wayne County to establish a tax to pay for public buildings
* empowering Bladen County commissioners to purchase land for public buildings
* changing the location of public buildings in Mecklenburg County from Charlotte to a more central location
* clearing and opening the Tar River and Fishing Creek
* empowering commissioners in Northampton County to repair public buildings
* extending the dividing line between Tyrrell and Hyde counties
* several acts dealing with the estates of individuals
For additional details of the legislation of this assembly, see Legislative Documents