Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-04-05
THE ISLANDERS or THE
HERALD REFUTED I
ROBES ON AND HER
PEOPLE INDICATED
A BLOODY RECORD !
ARGYLE, robson COUNTY, \. c.,
AIn,-nl, 90

DEAR SIR: In compliance with the re-
quest contained in your letter of the 22d
instant, to be furnished with such informa-
ton as I possessed, relating to the LoWreys
and others Of this county, l herewith fur
nish such facts as ] have been able 70 gath
er during q residence Of six years in tie
county, regIetting, at the same time, the
irapOssibility of obtaining other than tradi-
tional accounts Of ScuitietoWn and its popu-
latiOn.
The mulattocs Of Scuffletown are un-
doubtedly descendants OF the abOriglnes,
probably Tuscaroras or Cherokees; many
of them, direct descendants Of their
Indian forefathers, bear decided Indian
features and characteristics. There are
among them goodly number Of half
breeds crossed with the WhiteS-rarely ever
with the negroes, and they never have
been, as Mr.. Townsend in his letters to the
New York Herald, would seem to indicate,
slaves, but always free. Many Of the
grandfathers or great grandtathcrS Of the
present stock owned large bodies of land,
and in some instances slaves, and were
generally respected by the better class Of
white farmers in the county. Such was
especially the case with the LOwreyS. The
grandfather Of Allen LOwrey owned both
land and slaves, and is said to have been
country schools afford. Allen Lowrey, the
father of Henry Berry Lowrey, had ten
sons, George, Patrick, William, Purdy,
Sinclair, Murdoch, Calvin, Stephen, Tom
and Henry Berry. The latter the young
est. Several of them moved off to other
States as they grew up. Allen has twice
married, or rather once married, and getting
into some difficulties about land suits, or
lawsuits of some kind, moved to South
Carolina, where he remained about two
years, during which time his wife married
some other man, and he, on his return,
married another woman. Marriage, In
those days among free mulattoes OF negro
slaves, was not considered very binding
obligation. The above named SONS,
think, are the progeny of the second wife
or woman, Among these, and with old
Allen himself, lawsuits, taxes, &c, de-
spoiled them of most Of their lands; and
they, like Indians generally, believing their
cause Just i'll all cases, could not clearly
recognize the rights of the courts to sell
their lands, and claimed that they had been
defrauded OF them. Probably in some
cases they were oUtWitted or defrauded by
sharper mcn-such has been the fate of the
Indian ever since this country was first
settled by whites. What is here stated of
the LoWreyS may we'll Apply to most oil OF
the inhabitants of Scuffetown who were
formerly large land owners, and though
nearly every family now hold small home
steads, they do not own lands to the eX-
tent they did in former years.
[ am disposed to think, from what
have heard here, that the ScutlietOnians
have degenerated rapidly in the last twenty
five or thirty years. Previous to about
that time they were allowed to vote, were
required to bear arms and muster, and
we're more generally mixed with the
whites on terms Of equality. Being found
useful as voters they were tolerated by the
! whites. In 1885 the Convention withdrew
the right of suffrage from all free men OF
color, aud also the right to bear arms; and
being no longer useful to the whites as
voters, and no longer allowed to mix with
! them as militia men, they were generally
degraded to the level of negro slaves; or,
. in fact. in many instances, came to be
! looked down upon by the slaves as beneath
! them. This, OF course, incenSed them, and
| they began to look upon the whites as
| their enemies, and taught their children to
despise them; and though policy dictated
, apparently good will, many Of them
! being dependent upon the whites for en-
| ployment, they We're generally ready to
| aid with any cause that afforded them
! a safe chance Of retaliating on their white
| increase their enmity. During the War
! they We're made subject to detail, and as
| slaves, were made to work on the fOrtitica-
tions, and from all l can gather, they were
| hunted and prosecuted by some of the
| home guard and conscript officers. l am
glad to be able to say that the majority OF
! the home guard officers We're humane, and
| had due regard to the condition Of these
men and their families i'll making their de-
| tails. The opposite cases were exception al;
! still, the whole system Ouly served to in
cense then. the more, and hence they were
| found ready and willing tools in the hands
| of General Shcrnan'S soldiers, IN thciI
| passage through this county, as pilots in
| their raids upon the white settlers. And
| hence, also, when the right to vote was
| accorded 30 them after the war, they were
| found by the leaders of the Republican
! party, rs the freedmen We're, ready and
| willing to join them in anything that
| would strike at the interests or standing OF
! their white eighboGS-seizing upon the
| hue and cry of Rebel. ku-kluN, &c, to in
cite their leaders to more stringent mea-
sureS to ipiure them, and, unfortunately,
! finding some few degenerate white natives
| who were ready and willing to take up the
cudgel with them, to inflict injury on their
| former neighborS and friends. These are
|
Henry Berry Lowrey and his gang against
the white people OF the county, and the
reasons why the balance of the population
| of ScutfletOHn are i'll sympathy with him
and his gang. 1t remains now for me tC
trace, as far as l am able, the early career
| of LOwrey and his gang, promising that
the members of his band are pearly related
to him by blood or marriage.
Some time in the fall or winter of 1868
Henry Berry LoWrey or one Of his broth
ers, William, think, fed to the swamps
to escape detail to the forts at the mouth
of the Cape Fear River, and while hiding
out were joined by some three or four es-
capped Federal prisoners from Florence, s
| &. They established a camp in the back
swamp near the plantation of James P.
Barnes and committed various deprcda-
tons on stock, killing some of Barnes hogs
and sheep. Some time in January OF Feb
rllary, 1864, the exact date do not recol-
lect, Jas. p. Barnes, while out turkey
hunting in the swamp, came upon tbciI
camp and charged them with the killing OF
his stock, threatening to inform the home
guard officers of their whereabouts if they
did not leave his neighborhood. Shortly
afterwards Barnes was shot from an am
bush on the side Of the road by the two
Lowreys while he was passing on his way
home from the POstCflice reading a news
paper. Barnes fell, though lot killed, and
FL. B. LoWrey and his brother William and
one of the escaped prisoners came out Of
the ambush and walked up to Barnes, and
II. L. Lowrey, finding that he was not
dead, kicked him and cursed him fol
threatening to set the home guard officers
! after them, aud afterwards placed the nluz.
gle of his gun to his face and fired, tearing
nearly half of one side Of his face of. They
then left, and strange to say, Barnes lived
until his brother, DIR. John Barnes, who
was attracted by the firing, came to his re.