Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-12-27
Am Interesting Incident OF the Revolution
Of I7T6


al of the surrounding counties, many dis
affected persons, particularly among the
Scottish population, whose conduct as To
ries was very embarrassing to the State
authorities. 1t was thought necessary tc
suppress this spirit, especially as these
men were known to be in constant commu
nication with that daring, but infamous
miscreant, Col David Tanning, of Ran
dolph then Chatham county, In pursu-
ance of this purpose of dispensing these
Tories, General Griffith Rutherford was
sent to Elizabeth Town in Bladen, and as
the call for this service was sudden and I'm
expected, no commissariat was appended to
the forces under the Generals command.
He had, therefore, to improvise one from
day to day. he small detachments which
were sent out to forage, were ordered also
to arrest and bring to camp any of the sus-
pected. One morning there was brought
before the General, tall and Nenerable old
man, who, though very plainly clad, had an
air of superiority in his bearing which
struck all present. Soon after he was
ushered into the presence of General Ruth
erford he was asked by that officer, who
he was and why lie was there p With
that calm self-possession which marks
the demeanor of Il gentleman, even
in the most embarrassing situations, he re-
piled My name is Duncan iStewa1t, I am
50 from Scotland--the fortunes of my fami-
g ly were cloven down in the disastrous
8. battle of CoAzoden, in which I and all
& who were loyal to their King and coun-
" try land could be present. were engaged,
" and you know the issue of that fatal day.
" Being very nearly allied by blood to my
- King, and SO known to the usurpers who
90 were then and are now in possession of
s the Crown, had no hope of safety to
20 life or property, if I remained in Scot
" land. and therefore left it with my family
SO for this Province of North Carolina. All
'E my feelings are Nth the Colonies in their
sc resistance to those base lsurpers the
SO Guelphs, but you see by my age, | can
&c do no more than acish them success. -
sc To the other question why | am here?'
''perhaps those who seized an aged and
sc helpless man can better tell you than
" can-they asked r@s no questions and
60 permitted no explanations. Much
interested by his history and appearance,
Gen. Rutherford apologized to him for the
mistake of his men, and directed one of his
officers to accompany Mr.. Stewart to his
home and see that he was treated with pro-
per respect. He asked Mr.. Stewart to show
the officer where he could obtain such sup
ply of provisions as was needed. This Of
ficer, who was Captain in the Continen-
tai army and at home on furlough, had
agreed to accompany the General in this
sudden visit to Bladen, under the hope that,
being kown there, he might exert some in
fuence Oh the disaffected. He was we'll
and the story of Mr.. Stewart had
deeply affected him. He knew the fate of
that unfortunate race, and finding that
even in the wilds of America their destiny
still pursued them, he employed the first
hour of the journey towards Mr.. Stewards
home in conversation relating to his fami
ly in Europe. While thus occupied, the Of
fcer observed that they passed several
well stocked farms, but he did not stop,
as Mr.. Stewart had promised to show him
where he could be supplied. After riding
several miles, Mr.. S. halted ir front of
very humble dwelling, and where the APP
pearances were most unpromising for a
supply of what they needed Struck with
tbo oop+roc+ ho4uoo,, this otl,o, fo,,,,c
they had passed, the officer asked Mr.
Stewart why he had brought him so far
md to SO mcagre a looking place when he
might have supplied himself amply without
travelling third of the distance. Mr.
Stewards reply deserves to be written in
etters of gold-it was" The farms you
passed, Sir, belonged TO my neigA6ors this |
IS my O,cn, | bid you aceIconae to echdtere1' is
teTe"--! The officer, bowling to him, |
said, eff fortune has frowned on your
amily it seems unable to deprive them of
he loftiest and most generous sentiments"
It may not be interesting to our readers
o know that the officer here alluded to
was Alfred Moore, subsequently Attorney
State Courts, and an Associate Justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States -
And we may add that the family of Stewart
continued to reside for many years in Bla-
len-that one of the sons of the venerable
gentleman mentioned in this incident, was
for several sessions a member of the Legis-
ature of North Carolina, removed to Mis-
sissippi, of which State he died Lieut.. Gov
ernor, and we have pride and pleasure in
stating that two of the most conspicuous
junior members of the Wilmington bar,
(Messrs. Devane,) are direct descendants of
this illustrious exile of Scotland. and who
are worthy of such descent.
Passage of Rail Road Bills.
It affords us pleasure to record this morn
ing the passage of the bill for the relief of
the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford
by the Senate on last night. Our
paoDle and those on the line of said road will