The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-29

The Meckabug Declaration Of Independence.

not a declaration of independence; bur.
from a reading OF them it may easily
be inferred that they were being pre-
pared in pursuance OF a decisive step
previously taken. AS for the matter
OF that, however, a statement like this
is really a declaration of independence:
THAT whatever person shall here
after receive a commission from the
crown, or attempt to exercise any such
commission heretofore received, shall
be deemed an enemy to his country"
The Declaration of independence
was actually adopted on May 20, l775.
The secretary of the assembly, John
McKnitt Alexander, kept the records
of its proceedings, including the origi-
nal declaration, at his home, which
was destroyed by fire in the year
1900. He declared. however. that he
had made several copes Of the declara-
ton, one of which was for DR.. Hugh
Williamson, who was writing a his
tory Of North Carolina; and William
sons History is one of the sources OF
information as to the text of the Daper
Alexander was an elder in the Pres
bytarian church. and for many years
treasurer of the Synod of the Caro-
linaS; and, further, DIR. Hawks, in the
lecture referred to, quotes the verbal
and written testimony Of many repu-
table men who were present at the
adoption of the declaration.
The recent doubts cast upon what
purported to be a copy Of the Cape
Fear Mercury, published at the time.
in which Governor Josiah Mrtin, OF
the Province Of North Carolina, hurl-
ed his d~enunciatiOns against the in
famous and traitorous" action of he
people Of M~ecklenburg county, are
more than cOunterbalanced by indis-
putable contemporary evidence, which
has just discovered; viz, a para
graph in the records of the Moravian
Church Bethania, North Carolina,
which has had an unbroken existence
since 1859. 1t was written by the Mir
lister then in charge, and in its Ger
man text is exactly as follows:
Itch kan ~ Ende des 1875 stem
aires NIGHT unagemerkt lassen dasZ
schon i'm SOmmer selbigen Jahres das
ist in May, Juny oder July die county
Mecklenburg in Nord Carolina SIGH
fur SO frey und independent Won Eng
land declarirte und solche Einrichtung
zur VerWaltung der Gesetza unter SIGH
machte, ais jemalem der Continental
Congress hernach ms Came gethan.
Dieser Congress aber sahe dieses Yer
fahren ais zu fruhzeitig an
A translation into English would be:
L cannot allow to go unmentiOned
at the end of this year 1775) hat al
ready in the summer of this same year,
in May, June or July the county Of
Mecklenburg in North Carolina declar-
ed herself free and independent from
England and amongst themselves
ministration of the laws which later
the Continental Congress did for the
whole. But Congress looked upon this
proceeding as too ~premature.'
These MOravian records have always
been prepared and preserved with the
most scrupulous care; and their &C
curacy cannot be mentioned. They
form an intelligent resume, written by
educated ministers, not only of the
affairs of the particular congregation
and of the MOravian church at large
but Of cOntemporaneOus events in the
state, the nation and the world. The
papers are read annually from tne
pulpit at u special service at the close
of each year; and the reading consti-
tutes a part Of the worship of the
church, The manuscript in question
has been lying in it's place in the
church archives all these years. prog
ably unread until it was recently
brought to light by Mr.. o. J. Lehman,
a member of the Bethania congrega-
ton.
From the paragraph qnoted, 1t is
learned that, at the time it was
known that All actual separation from
the mother country was declared, and
there is also confirmation as to other
particulars connected with the event.
There is, therefore, the best of evil
derce to show that the people of
MeckieDburg county, in North Carolina
made the first formal declaration of
independence in the British colonies
of America; and that, too, nearly
fourteen months prior to the great
Declaration of July 4, 1776.