|
BALFOUR, Col. Andrew Though a foreigner by birth, he had made this his adopted country,
and showed himself, from the
first, a warm and decided advocate for the rights of man. He was
a native of Edinburgh, in Scotland,
and came over to America about four years before the Declaration
of Independence. Like many
others, he was an adventurer to the New World, but proved to be
of kindred sprit with those who
resolved to be free or die.
Nearly all we know of him is gleaned from a family correspondence
which was carried on, for several
years, between him and his friends, both in Scotland and in this
country. From this correspondence
it appears that his family was in good circumstances, and had a
respectable standing in the city of
Edinburgh. In a country where the distinctions of birth and the
gradations of society are so
scrupulously observed as they are in Scotland, a man who could be,
as it appears incidentally from
these letters, Andrew Balfour was, on terms of social equality with
such families as the Erskines,
the Huttons, the Montcriefs, and others of equal notoriety, must
have belonged to the same class;
and that he was in good circumstances, may also be inferred from
another fact casually mentioned
in the freedom and confidence of this familiar correspondence. When
his son, John Balfour, who had
been, for a few years in this country, engaged in business, returned
to Edinburgh, merely on a visit
to his friends, the old man, as he himself tells Andrew in a letter,
gave him 200 pounds, or a
thousand dollars, to enable himto carry on his business here more
in accordance with his wishes;
and to his daughter Margaret, who was coming over to this country
with him, to bring her brother
Andrew's motherless and only child, he gave 400 pounds, or two thousand
dollars; but a man who
could thus give, at one time, three thousand dollars to two of his
children, for their accommodation
and without inconvenience to himself, if not wealthy when compared
with many others in the
far-famed metropolis of Scotland, he must have been very independent
in his circumstances, or
engaged, at the time, in a very lucrative business; for he seems
to have been a very prudent man,
and would not have heedlessly embarrassed himself to accommodate
his children, who were doing
a respectable business for themselves in a foreign land.
When Andrew arrived to maturity, he engaged, for a time, in mercantile
business with Robert Scott
Montcrief, and then set up on his own footing. About this time he
married Miss Janet McCormick,
a lady who had been well educated and accustomed to move in the
first circle of society. He thus
became connected by affinity, as he had probably been before by
blood, with some of the most
influential families in the city; but the fair prospects with which
he commenced life were not to be
of long continuance, whether it was owing to the want of a sufficient
acquaintance with the details
of business, or to those losses which mercantile men so often sustain
or to the misconduct of
others who were in his employ, does not appear; but he soon found
it necessary to close his
business and make some other arrangement. In this juncture of his
affairs, so trying to one of his
temperament and connexions in society, he was impelled, by his great
sensitiveness and by his
high-toned feelings of honor, to take a step which he soon regretted
and which was quite unfortunate
both for him and for his friends. Without trying to do the best
he could, or even waiting to know the
worst, he set sail for America, leaving his young wife with an infant
child to the care of his and her
friends, and his property, including his notes and papers of every
description, to his creditors. He
did not even let his wife or anybody else know he was going away;
but left a letter for her and
another for his friend Robert S. Montcrief, informing him of the
fact that he had just sailed for the
American shore; that he had done so because he could not bear the
shame of bankruptcy and
poverty at home; and that his keys, books and papers of every description
would be found in such
a place. This was exceedingly unfortunate; for , as they informed
him afterwards, if he had remained
and settled up his business himself, they would not have lost one
shilling in the pound, or one
twentieth if the whole, which said, they would have borne without
a murmur; but having gone off
without leaving his property in the care of any one, or duly authorizing
any of his friends to act for
him, so much of it was lost by the peculations of servants, the
costs of legal processes and in
various ways, that in the final settlement, they did not realize
more than one third the amount.
By this step, however, he did not lose the confidence of his friends;
and his creditors imputed it to
his having too high a sense of honor, or too great a sensitiveness
in regard to his character. The
following extract from a letter addressed to him by Robert S. Montcrief,
a merchant of Edinburgh,
and the gentleman with whom he had first been engaged in business,
and now one of his creditors,
bears an explicit and honorable testimony to his character. It is
dated, Edinburgh, July 2d, 1773;
and after such matters and things as are usually most prominent
in letters of friendship, he says,
"I should be happy to hear that you are successful in business.
You will derive some advantage
from past experience, and learn from that not to be too sanguine
in your expectations, nor too
forward in depending on the honesty of others. There never was a
time that called for more caution
and circumspection than the present. I sincerely wish you may meet
with many of as honest
principles as yourself; for, notwithstanding all that has passed,
I never could call in question your
integrity. I had great confidence in it while we used to do business
together. I have not changed
my opinion of your heart, though I regret your too great sensibility
and sense of honor, whereby I
am persuaded, you were led to the step you took." In his answer
to the above letter, dated Newport,
R. I., Nov. 12th, 1773, Colonel Balfour, after expressing his gratification
at receiving such a kind
and consoling letter from one who had sustained a considerable loss
by his failure, says, "It gave
me the greatest sorrow to hear of the bad effects my leaving the
country has had upon the
interests of my friends. I had too little experience in business
to know or forsee the bad
consequences of such a step, and too little firmness of mind to
support the disgrace of a failure,
perhaps the reproaches of friends, and all the melancholy consequences
of poverty and
dependence. This weakness, which your humanity and friendship are
pleased to soften with the
pleasing appellations of too great sensibility and a high degree
of honor, was the chief cause of
my flight. Indeed , my dear friend, the greatest consolation, and
comfort I have under all the
revolutions of fortune, is in the reflection that I never had, have
not, and, I hope in God, never
shall have the smallest disposition to any thing that is in the
least dishonest, or even dishonorable."
All his letters, written about this time, to his wife, his father,
and others, with whom he had been
in habits of intimacy, are in the same strain; and it appears to
have been his earnest desire, if he
could be successful in business, to make up all the losses which
his creditors and friends had
sustained by his failure.
This was his sole object in coming to America, and he appears to
have made every possible
exertion for the accomplishment of his purpose. His father, who
was also a merchant in Edinburgh,
and who appears, from all his letters to his son, to have been a
man of piety and sound discretion,
thus commences a letter to him, dated, Edinburgh, Feb. 20th, 1773,
"Dear Andrew:-- I received
your very agreeable letter, which gave me a great deal of comfort,
as I see much of God's good
providence in it, for which we ought to be thankful. As it is plain
it was not by your own conduct
or imprudence it happened, so I hope you will ascribe the praise
to him." A high-minded young
Scotchman, raised in affluence, and honorably related, both by blood
and affinity, could not brook
the idea of a failure in business, and the untold evils to which
it would subject him-the scorn of
enemies, the mortification of friends, and the taunts and sneers
of rivals. To escape from it, all at
once, in the agonized state of his feelings, and without ever thinking
of the consequences to
himself, or anybody else, he abruptly left the country, and sailed
"for the land of promise."
He sailed from Grenock, in Scotland, May 20th, 1772, in a ship
called the Snow George, and arrived
at Boston on the 18th of July, intending to go by water, via Philadelphia,
to Charleston, in South
Carolina, where his brother, John Balfour, was already engaged in
business; but while waiting for a
vessel to sail, he accidentally became acquainted with a man by
the name of John Thompson, a
merchant in the city of New York, who had gone to Boston in his
gig, with a single horse, and
having transacted his business, was now ready to return. Being desirous
of company, and having
met with a countryman, an adventurer like himself, with whom he
professed to be well pleased, he
readily offered him a seat in his gig, and the offer was as readily
accepted. Thompson was from the
south of Scotland, and had been only a few years in America. Being
a man of liberal education,
Balfour says, he was very companionable and prepossessing in his
manners, a member of the
Presbyterian church, strictly moral in his deportment, and very
popular in New York. As they
were from the same country, they contracted a great intimacy and
friendship as traveling
companions; and, on their arrival in New York, he invited Balfour
to stay with him at his boarding
house until his trunks should arrive which being too heavy to bring
with them, he had left in Boston
to be sent round by water.
During this time, which was thirteen days, they became such boon
companions, that Thompson
proposed to take him in as a partner, and to give him a full third
of the profits, provided he would
put in what little money he had, and give his whole attention to
the business. The partnership was
soon formed, and they commenced business with flattering prospects.
Thompson was, at this time,
a young man, or a single man; but soon after married a Miss Robbins,
the daughter of a clergyman
in Connecticut. He stood high in the public confidence, and was
doing an extensive business, having three country stores and a
ship or two, at sea. By submitting his bonds, book accounts,
etc., to Balfour's inspection, he made him believe that he had a
clear capital of five thousand
pounds sterling; and that there were no claims against him which
were due, or which he could not
promptly meet. Balfour, with his characteristic frankness and honesty
of intention, told him at once
that he had been unfortunate in business, and that he had no capital,
except two hundred pounds,
or about a thousand dollars, which he had brought with him to be
prepared for any emergency that
might arise, or, for any casualty that might befall him in a strange
land. From such a beginning he
had high expectations of success, and there was apparently no ground
for apprehension.
For a time their mutual friendship and confidence were unimpaired;
and they seemed to be
doing a safe and profitable business. In the midst of it, however,
he received the sad intelligence
that his wife, whom he had left behind, with an infant at the breast,
and who had gone to live with
her brother, Robert McCormick, at Preston Pans, had died of inflammatory
fever, June 17th, 1773;
and, while the object of his fondest affection, for whose welfare
he had been most solicitous, was
now taken away, he felt all the bitterness of separation. In about
a year after, he married Miss
Elizabeth Dayton, of Newport, in Rhode Island, a most estimable
young lady, and of a very
respectable family. By her he had two children, a daughter whom
he named Margaret, for his
mother and sister; and a son whom he called Andrew, for himself
and his father. As Thompson
had the most experience in this line of business, and was regarded
by Balfour as owning the
principal part of the stock, he either assumed the management, or
it was conceded to him, as a
matter of courtesy, and with full confidence in his integrity; but
within eighteen months after the
partnership was formed, he exploded and became insolvent to a considerable
amount.
Although Colonel Balfour, had discernment enough to see that a
storm was coming, before it burst
upon them, and in time to secure the greater part of what was due
to him, yet, he sustained a
considerable loss. What little money he advanced was, at his own
request, so fixed that Thompson ould, in no event, be liable for his debts; and, at Thompson's
suggestion, was so secured that his
creditors could not take it from him, during the two or three years,
for which the co-partnership was
formed. Of course, he was not in strict justice bound for Thompson's
debts, and would not in law,
be held liable to his creditors. The firm was in fact, a mere nominal
one; and the creditors, though
much chagrined at their loss, acquitted Balfour of any fraudulent
or dishonest conduct. In a letter
written to his father on this subject, and dated Newport, R. I,
January 3d, 1775, he says, "I have
got it from under the hand of my creditors, that I have behaved
in an honest and honorable manner
towards them. It gives me particular satisfaction that, disposed
as they were to use me with rigor
and severity, I have not afforded them the least opportunity to
refuse me an honorable testimony
to my character."
We feel tempted here, to give an extract from a letter of his pious
old father, written when he first
heard of these disasters; and we give it as illustrative of the
old man's Christian character, and
consequently, of the religious instruction and training, which we
suppose he had given to his
children. It is dated -
Edinburgh, Oct., 20th, 1774
"My dear Andrew - - I received your very melancholy letter
of the 23d of May, and we all sincerely
condole and sympathise with you, and hope you will bear your afflictions
patiently, as from the
hand of a good and merciful God, who afflicts us only for our good;
and believe in our Lord and
Saviour, and pray for the forgiveness of your sins in, and through
his merits and sufferings for us.
Then I hope God will make the remaining part of your life, as prosperous
as the by-past part of it
has been troublesome, (full of trouble,) but though our whole life
were troublesome, we ought not
to repine, as we are promised eternal happiness, when we perform
our duties sincerely, and repent
of our sins. Read the first and last chapters of Job; and I hope
you will observe the many comforts
you have, of which he was deprived. You have good health, friends
who sincerely condole with, and
pity you, and a wife who sympathises with you- - so you have no
reason to despair of God's
goodness. Read also the 15th chapter of the first Epistle to the
Corinthians, which gives a
description of the Deity, and the history of our Saviour; and especially
the 13th chapter of John's
Gospel to the end of the book."
About the beginning of 1777, he went to Charleston, in South Carolina,
where his brother John had
been for some years engaged in a profitable business; and there
were several things which now
induced him to visit the south. The north being the seat of war,
business of every kind was at a
stand; manufactures had not yet commenced; foreign commerce was
cut off; and merchandising,
the occupation in which he had hitherto been engaged, was out of
the question; but the south,
being comparatively tranquil, presented a better prospect of providing
for a family. In addition to
these considerations, his maiden sister, Margaret, and his little
daughter, Tibby, the only child he
had by the wife of his youth, were there, and had been for a year
or more. It was natural that he
should wish to see them both, but especially his daughter; and leaving
his wife and her two children
in the care of her friends until he could make some comfortable
or safe arrangement for them in the
south, he travelled the whole or most of the way to Charleston by
land. His brother, John Balfour,
was a royalist; but it does not appear that he had taken any active
or prominent part in the contest.
As I infer from some incidental remarks of allusions, in the letters
now before me, Andrew was,
from the first, a Whig in principle and feeling; but, like many
others who wavered, or rather
remained inactive for a time, not from any hesitancy in regard to
the principle, but from the
condition of their families, which seemed to have, for the time
being, an imperious claim on their
attention, he became more decided and active as the struggle advanced.
Whether he took part in the civil or military operations of the
north, is not known, but his main object
in coming south was evidently to make better provision for his family;
and there seemed to be a
necessity for doing something. Not only were the difficulties then
great, but they were every day
increasing; and to show the distressed condition of the country
soon after he left, it may not be
amiss, in passing, to notice the great scarcity and high prices
of provisions, during the next year.
In a letter written to him by his wife, and dated South Kingston,
R. I., Oct. 23d, 1778, she tells him
that corn was then selling at five and six dollars per bushel; in
another, dated Feb. 13th, 1779,
she says it was then selling at ten dollars, and in another dated
the 1st of June, following, it was
selling at twenty to thirty dollars per bushel, which was equivalent
to saying that it was not to be
had at all; and although she had procured enough for her family
in good time, many poor families
had to subsist almost entirely without bread. Whether this extreme
scarcity was owing to the
drought or the ravages of war, is not stated-probably to both; but
from the enormous prices of
bread stuffs, and the extreme severity of the winter, which she
says was greater than usual, the sufferings of all classes, except
the most provident and forehanded,
must have been immense.
The South being free from war and comparatively tranquil, the two
brothers, though belonging to
opposite parties in the great conquest which was going on for freedom
and Independence, might
have prosecuted their business in harmony together, as was often
done by brothers similarly
situated and with good success; but no such partnership was formed
by them and perhaps was
not designed. The object of Colonel Balfour in going to Charleston
was part to pay his brother a
visit, having never seen him since they came to America; but mainly
to see his daughter and
take her under his own care, for we find him soon after at Georgetown,
or in the vicinity of it,
engaged in making salt. As none of his letters to his wife and other
friends, during this period,
have been preserved, or if they have it is not known by whom, we
gather these facts from the
incidental allusions which she makes in her answers to what he had
written. Thus in a letter,
dated March 31st, 1778, she says, "I rejoice at your success
in making salt, though I am not very
sanguine in my expectations; for I have resolved not to be disappointed
with respect to riches."
Under what circumstances he engaged in this business and with what
results, I have not learned,
but probably he and some other public spirited and enterprising
gentlemen, of that region, had
been induced to undertake it by the pressing wants of the country
and by the encouragement
which the legislative authorities had repeatedly given. However
this may have been, either they
did not succeed as they expected, or else a supply was obtained
from some other source; for
we find him, in a little time, at Chevau, to which place his brother
John also removed either in
company with him or soon after, and remained there until his death.
How long the Colonel
remained at Chevau we know not; for there are long intervals between
the letters of his wife, at
least so far as they have been preserved. Many letters were written
by him and as many by her
which were never received. At this period, the transmission of letters
or papers of any description
especially to such a distance, was a very uncertain business, sometimes
the mail was captured
by the enemy, and often from carelessness or other cause, letters
were lost by the way, so that
it was frequently months and even a year or two, before a communication
sent either way, though
not lost by violence or carelessness, arrived at the place of its
destination.
Of this she complained bitterly, and adopted the expedient of sending
to some man who was high
in office, or so distinguished in other ways, that his name would
command respect:--sometimes
they were sent to the care of Mr. Marshall in Wachovia, or to the
Moravian settlement; sometimes
to the care of Governor Nash from Dr, Stiles, President of Yale
college. The first notice we have of
Colonel Balfour, in North Carolina, is in a letter to his wife,
dated Salisbury, N. C., July, 1778, in
which he tells her that he was sometimes there, and sometimes at
his plantation; but he intended
to remove, in a short time, to the plantation. He did remove to
it, and with the intention of making
such improvements, as would render it a comfortable home for his
family. It ultimately became their
residence; but the sovereign Disposer of all things did not permit
him to enjoy it with them. At this
time, he had a considerable quantity of land in this state, some
in the neighborhood of Cheraw,
and a number of servants. Had he lived, they would all have been
independent in their
circumstances, and happy in the enjoyment of their social comforts
and relations.
In this year, 1779, he wrote to his wife that he would be ready,
in a short time, to go for her, and
bring her to her new home in this country. When replying to this,
in a letter already referred to,
she says, "It is impossible for me to express the joy I feel
at hearing that you are well , and that
you have fixed upon a time when you will visit your family. I earnestly
pray that nothing may happen
to disappoint us. After an absense of more than two years and a
half, to meet will be a pleasure
beyond the power of words to express. * * * * I have always understood
that to be a sickly country,
and have been anxious on account of your health ever since you went
there. I have been reading
the history of the European settlements in America, and the author
recommended it, not only as
one of the most pleasant, but one of the most healthy places in
the world; from which I am led to
think that the inhabitants being sickly is owing to their high living;
but, be this as it may, I shall
never have an objection to living there, or any where else that
may be most agreeable to your
circumstances." The anticipations which were now so flattering
and so fondly indulged, some of
which were quite as sad as they were imperative.
During this year, Randolph county was formed, and he was chosen
as one of the first
representatives. This is noticed in a letter from his wife, and
his name stands on the records of
the State as a member of the Assembly for 1780. Another reason was,
that before the adjournment
of the Assembly, or very soon after, the British army had taken
Charleston, and were advancing
through South Carolina toward this State; and it was not deemed
expedient to remove his family
here, when every thing seemed to indicate an approaching time of
great and protracted distress,
while the Eastern States were not comparatively tranquil. When the
country of his adoption was
thus invaded, or threatened with invasion, he felt it his duty to
share all their dangers with his fellow
citizens, and sacrifice his life, if need be, in the common cause.
He was appointed colonel: and,
with a heroic and magnanimous sprit, engaged in the military operations
of the day; but to what
extent is not known. In view of such perils and sufferings throughout
the entire south, as he would
be much from home, and his life would be all the time exposed to
the most imminent dangers, he
deemed it best to let his wife and children remain, for the present,
with their friends in Rhode Island,
and leave to Providence the ordering of their lot for the future.
That he determined to risk his life in the military defense of
the country, as we are informed by a
letter from Mrs. Balfour, dated June1st, 1779, and written in answer
to one from him. After noticing
some other things in his letter, she says, "I have been anxious
about the enemy's being in Georgia
ever since I heard they were there; but your resolution of exposing
yourself raises a thousand
melancholy thoughts. I can only say, I am unhappy and shall be so
until I see you." From this I
would infer that he went, or at least he intended going with the
unfortunate expedition to Georgia,
and under the command of General Ashe: but of this we have no certain
information. How he was
employed, or what he accomplished, during this period, we have no
means of knowing; for he had
become very obnoxious to the Tories. In the fall of 1780, he and
Jacob Shephard, father of the Hon.
Augustine H. Shephard, who was also a prominent Whig, were captured
by a party of Tories, from
the Pedee, under the command of Colonel Coulson, who were carrying
them as prisoners to the
British at Cheraw, but were attacked by Captain Childs, from Montgomery,
who completely
dispersed them, and set their prisoners at liberty to return home.
On their return, Shephard left the neighborhood and went into one
of more security, but Balfour
remained and met an untimely fate. In the narrative of Judge Murphy,
furnished for the University
Magazine, by Governor Swain, we have the following account of this
most barbarous and
disgraceful affair. "In one of his predatory and murderous
excursions, he (Fanning) went to the
house of Andrew Balfour, which he had plundered three years before.
Stephen Cole, one of Balfour's
neighbors, hearing of his approach and apprised of his intentions,
rode at full speed to Balfour's
house and gave him notice of the danger that threatened him. Balfour
had scarcely stepped out of
his house before he saw Fanning galloping up. He ran, but one of
Fanning's party, named Absalom
Autry, fired at him with his rifle and broke his arm. He returned
to the house and entered it, and his
daughter and sister clung to him in despair. Fanning and his men
immediately entered and tore
away the women, threw them on the floor and held them under their
feet until they shot Balfour.
He fell on the floor, and Fanning taking a pistol, shot him through
the head." These are the most
important facts in the case; but we have the details more fully
and minutely given in letters written
soon after by his sister and others, who, being present at the time,
and treated with most barbarous
cruelty, felt what they wrote.
As Col. Balfour was the most prominent and influential man in that
region, Fanning, in this
murderous excursion up the river, made him the first victim, and
accompanied the act with almost
every degree of barbarity that was possible. It was on Sabbath morning,
March 10th, 1782; when it
might be expected that the sacredness of the day would have had
at least, some mitigating
influence on the ferocity of these banditti; but we will let Miss
Margaret Balfour give the account of
this transaction in her own language. It was some months, however,
before her feelings were
sufficiently composed and tranquil to write an account of a scene
so distressing, and in the
meantime, Mrs. Balfour, who, from all her letters, appears to have
been most affectionate and
devoted wife, had received intelligence of the fact by another hand.
Mr. Marshall, of Salem, N. C.,
had communicated a notice of Colonel Balfour's death to his friend,
the Rev. Mr. Russmeyer, in
Newport, where she lived, and he had made it known to her. Owing
to the difficulty of transmitting
letters, this was a little over two months after the event; and
she immediately wrote to Miss
Margaret for a particular account of the whole affair. Her letter,
from which the reader will, no doubt,
be pleased to see a short extract, is dated
Newport, R. I. , May 22d, 1782.
"My Dear Peggy:
With the utmost grief and sorrow of heart, I sit down to write to
you, having eight days ago,
heard the unhappy news of my dear husband's death. I had the day
before, received two very
affectionate letters from him, which raised my hope to a height
to which I had long been a stranger.
I had flattered myself that, with my dear little ones, I should,
in a short time, be happy under the
protection and guidance of the best of husbands and fathers. My
fond imagination had painted an
addition of happiness in the society of an affectionate sister who
, though personally unknown to
me, I had ever thought upon with love and esteem, and of my dear
Tibby, to whom I had considered
myself as under particular obligations of friendship; but I was
soon roused from these pleasing
thoughts by the most distressing account of his being killed by
a company of villains in his own
house. My dear Peggy, it is not in the power of language to express
what I feel on the present
occasion, and I shall not attempt it. It is some consolation that
there is a way open through
which I may hope to hear from you, and I embrace this, the first
opportunity of entreating you not
to delay writing, and let me know every thing which you think can
afford consolation. I wish to
know the particulars of your brother's death; and, O, I wish to
know more than it is possible for me
to express in my present distress."
In reply to this sorrowful request, Miss Margaret wrote a letter,
of which we will give the greater part,
because it contains a fuller and more authentic account of Colonel
Balfour's murder, and of the
treatment which she and little Tibby received from these savages,
than can be got elsewhere;
because it gives an affecting view of the disorder, recklessness
and Heart-rending distress which
then prevailed in the country, for this was one of the almost numberless
cases of a similar kind,
and differing from it only a little in degree, and because the writer
was not only an eye-wittness,
but a deep sufferer in the scenes which she describes. When we read
such accounts, it seems
difficult to say whether the men or the female portion of the community
were the greatest sufferers;
for the revengeful and infuriated sprit, which reigns in a state
of civil war, has very little respect for
age or sex; but it might not be amiss for the present and all coming
generations, while living at
their ease and enjoying all the luxuries which wealth and ingenuity
can furnish, to remember the
toils and privations, perils and sufferings, which were the price
of our liberties and all our blessings.
It is neither duty nor policy to forget the lessons of the past;
but we return to the letter; it is dated
Swearing Creek, Sept. 24th, 1782
My Dear Eliza,
I have just now received your very kind but sorrowful letter, dated
May 22d; and it gives me a
great deal of both pleasure and pain. I am extremely happy to hear
from you; but as sorry, that it
is on such a melancholy subject. You desire me to give you a particular
account of your husband's
death. My Dear Eliza, imposes on me a hard task; for the very thought
of it throws me into such
nervous fits, that it is with the greatest difficulty, I can hold
the pen. Besides, I have not yet quit
the bed of a long and dangerous fever, occasioned, I believe, by
grief and vexation. However, to
show that I really love you; I will comply with your request, but
in as few words as possible. On
the 10th of March, about twenty-five armed ruffians came to the
house with the intention to kill my
brother. - - Tibby and I endeavored to prevent them; but it was
all in vain. The wretches cut and
bruised us both a great deal, and dragged us from the dear man before
our eyes. The worthless,
base, horrible Fanning shot a bullet into his head, which soon put
a period to the life of the best
of men, and the most affectionate and dutiful husband, father, son
and brother. The sight was so
shocking, that it is impossible for tongue to express any thing
like our feelings; but the barbarians,
not in the least touched by our anguish, drove us out of the house,
and took every thing that they
could carry off except the negroes who happened to be all from home
at the time. It being Sunday,
never were creatures in more distress. We were left in a strange
country, naked, without money,
and what was a thousand times worse, we had lost forever a near
and dear relation. What added
to our affliction, was the thought of his poor, helpless family
left destitute, and it was not in our
power to assist them. I wish his two families were united together,
We would be a mutual help
and comfort to each other; but whether it would be best that you
should come to us, or that we
should go to you, is out of my power to determine 'till I hear from
you. Until then, I shall hire out
my negroes, and go to Salisbury, where we intend to try the milliner's
business. If there is good
encouragement for that business with you, please let me know it,
as soon as possible. If there is
not, I beg you will come to us; and while I have a sixpence, I will
share it with you. We are at
present about tem miles from Salisbury, at Mr James McCay's, where
we have made a crop of
corn. We remained only a few days on our own plantation, after the
dreadful disaster, having been
informed that Fanning was coming to burn the house and take the
negroes. I will write you soon
again, and let you know how we succeed in business, and I pray you
will write immediately. Let
me know how you are and whether you will come out or not. If you
will not come to us, I will
endeavor to sell out and go to you; for I cannot be happy, "till
I see my dear Andrew's beloved wife
and little innocent children, of whom I have often heard him speak
with a great deal of pleasure. I
had a letter from my brother John's widow, who is at Charleston.
It informs me of my father's death;
and that his will remains in the same way it was when I left home.
As it will be of some advantage
to us: I propose going home as soon as circumstances will permit.
Tibby joins me in love and
compliments to you, and the dear little remains of our best friend.
She will write to you by the first
opportunity.
I am, my dear Eliza, with great sincerity, your affectionate and
loving, but distressed sister,
MARGARET BALFOUR.
The following letter from Major Tatom to Governor Burke, is both
interesting and reliable; it is
appropriate in conexion with the above. It is copied from the communication
of Governor Swain to
the University Magazine, for March, 1853; and it confirms, not only
the main facts respecting the
murder of Colonel Balfour, but what we have said about the general
state of things in that part of
the country, during the period in which the South was the theatre
of war. Major Tatom, it appears,
was a member of the House of Commons, from Hillsboro', about the
year 1802; and, having died
there, while a member, he was buried in the cemetery of the late
Comptroller Goodwin, in the
Raleigh grave yard. The letter is dated,
Hillsboro', March 20th, 1782.
Sir: - - On Sunday the 11th inst., Col. Balfour, of Randolph, was
murdered in the most inhuman
manner, by Fanning and his party, also a Captain Bryant and a Mr.
King were murdered in the
night of the same day, by them. Colonel Collier's and two other
houses were burned by the same
party.
Colonel Balfour's sister and daughter, and several other women,
were wounded and abused in a
barbarous manner.
There, sir, are facts. I was at that time in Randolph- -saw the
Tories and some of their cruelties.
Without a speedy relief, the good people of that county must leave
their habitations, and seek
refuge in some other place.
I am, sir, your o'bt serv't,
A. Tatom.
It is not strange that his friends, especially his widow and sister,
should wish to have such a
monster as Fanning, and all his accomplices, brought to punishment;
and we have an extract
from another letter of Miss Margaret, to her sister-in-law, as illustrative
of the feelings that existed,
and of the course of conduct pursued at that period of civil conflict.
In a letter to Mrs. Balfour, dated June 6th, 1783, a little more
than a year after the death of her
brother, she says: "Some time last February, having been informed
that my horse was at one
Major Gholson's, I got Mr. John McCoy with me, and we went to the
Major's, where we found the
horse, but in such poor condition, that it was with great difficulty
that we got him home. However,
he is now so much recruited, that he is fit for a little service.
When I was after the horse, I heard
that one of Fanning's men was in Hillsboro' jail; and, as the court
commenced on the 1st of April,
I went to Hillsboro', and witnessed against him. The crime was proved
so plainly, that not one
lawyer spoke a word in his favor, though he had three of them employed.
My story was so affecting,
that the court was willing to give me every satisfaction in their
power; and in order to do this, they
broke a little through the usual course, for they had the villain
fried, condemned and hung, all in
the space of the court. While the judge was giving the jury their
charge, I heard several gentlemen
of my brother's acquaintance wishing to God the jury would not bring
him in guilty, that they might
have the pleasure of putting the rascal to death with their own
hands; and if the jury had not brought
him in guilty, I am sure they would have killed the wretch before
he had got out of the house. If it is
an inexpressible happiness for one to know, that his dear friends
are much beloved, we have that
happiness; for I believe, that there has not a man fallen since
the beginning of the troubles, who was
more sincerely and generally lamented, than our dear Andrew.
My brother gave the rights of the land that is in the neighborhood
of Georgetown to Mr. Randolph
Hays, a gentleman who lives in that town, to dispose of it; but
he could not do so at that time.
According to the last accounts, my brother had of him, he was a
prisoner in Charlestown; but
since my brother's death, I have seen General Harrington, who tells
me that Mr. Hays is now in
Georgetown.
My dear Eliza, I am infinitely obliged to you, and I sincerely
thank you for your kind and friendly
advice. I shall use every method in my power to drive the horrid
scene from my thoughts, as my
life may be of some service, both to my dear Andrew's family, and
to the avenging of his innocent
blood. I have not had the pleasure of the letter you wrote in October.
The distance between
Salisbury and the plantation, is 42 miles, and 30 between Salisbury
and Salem.
I am, my dear Eliza, your sincere friend, and affectionate sister.
MARGARET BALFOUR.
Miss Balfour, in the letter just quoted, does not give the name
of the man against whom she
witnessed; but we have it in the following extract from the records
of the court at which she
attended as a witness. We give the indictment as drawn up by Alfred
Moore, the Attorney General;
and then the simple statement that a "true bill" was found.
At the same court, some half a dozen
others were tried and condemned, but to notice them here would be
foreign to my purpose.
State of North Carolina ) Superior Court of La
Hillsboro' District. ) And Equity, April
Term, 1783
The jurors for the State, upon their oath, present that David Fanning,
late of the county of
Chatham, yeoman, and Frederick Smith, late of the county of Cumberland,
yeoman, not having
the fear of God in their hearts, but being moved and seduced by
the instigation of the devil, on
the ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-two,
and in the sixth year of American Independence, with force and arms,
in the county of Randolph,
in the District of Hillsboro', in and upon one Andrew Balfour, in
the peace of God, and the said
then and there being, feloniously, wilfully and of their malice
aforethought, did make an assault,
and that the said David Fanning, a certain pistol of the value of
Five shillings sterling, then and
there charged with gunpowder and one leaden bullet, which pistol,
he, the said David, in his right
hand than and there had and held, to, against, and upon the said
Andrew Balfour, than and there
feloniously, wilfully , and of his malice aforethought, did shoot
and discharge, and that the said
David Fanning, with the leaden bullet aforesaid, out of the pistol
aforesaid, then and there, by
force of the gunpowder, shot and sent forth as aforesaid, the aforesaid
Andrew Balfour, in and upon
the head of the said Andrew, then and there with the leaden bullet
aforesaid,, out of the pistol
aforesaid, by the said David Fanning so as to aforesaid shot, discharged,
and sent forth,
feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did strike,
penetrate, and wound, giving to the
said Andrew Balfour, then and there, with the leaden bullet aforesaid,
so as aforesaid shot,
discharged and sent forth out of the pistol aforesaid, by the said
David, in and upon the head of
him the said Andrew, one mortal wound of the depth of four inches
and of the breadth of half an
inch, of which said mortal wound, the aforesaid Andrew Balfour then
and there instantly died; and
that the aforesaid Frederick Smith, then and there, feloniously,
wilfully, and of his malice
aforethought, was present, aiding, helping, abetting, comforting,
assisting and maintaining the
said David Fanning, the felonly and murder aforesaid, in manner
and form aforesaid, to do and
commit, and so the jurors upon their oath aforesaid, do say, that
the said David Fanning and
Frederick Smith, the said Andrew Balfour, then and there in manner
and form aforesaid, feloniously,
wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, did kill and murder
against the peace and dignity of the
said State.
ALFRED MOORE, Att'y Gen'l.
State )
)
vs. ) Indictment Murder.
)
Fred'k Smith. )
Hillsboro' Sup'r Court, April Term, 1783.
Margaret Balfour, )
Stephen Cole. ) Witnesses.
Sworn and sent.
P. HENDERSON, Clerk
A true bill.
JOHN HOGAN, Foreman.
As the letters of Miss Balfour, though written with great simplicity,
and in the freedom and
confidence of private correspondence, describe the deplorable state
of things at that period more
feelingly and more vividly than the present writer could possibly
do, the reader will no doubt be
gratified to peruse another from the same hand. Mrs. Balfour had
written her two letters, the first
of which had not been received, and in the second which had come
safe to hand, she had requested
her sister-in-law to relate fully the circumstances of her husband's
death. It appears that in writing
this letter, instead of beginning with "My dear sister,"
as usual, she inadvertently began with "My
dear Madam," and this will explain an expression in the first
of Miss Margaret's letter. The first
part of it relates merely to private matters which are unimportant
in themselves; but as they were
the consequences of Col. Balfour's death, we give the letter entire.
Salisbury, N. C., August 17th, 1783.
MY DEAR, DEAR SISTER: - - Two days ago I received yours of Oct.
13th. By your changing the
appellation at the top of your letter, I am afraid you imagine that
I am indifferent about my dear
brother's family; but I assure you it is one of my greatest afflictions
that I can do so little for them.
I wish from my heart you could come home. We might, by our industry,
make a decent and
independent living. I have had the negroes hired out this summer;
but as they sell very high at
present, I have some thoughts of selling them and going into trade,
if you would come and assist
us; for I cannot think that I will ever be happy on the plantation
where I have seen so much distress
and misery. Besides, I shall take every opportunity to bring to
justice all who had any hand in my
brother's death.
I do not think, therefore, that it would be safe for us to live
among their friends, as it is very possible
they would do us some private injury. That there was a time when
my dear brother was happy in his
family, I well know; and it was his constant and ardent wish, as
well as ours, to have his two families
united. A great deal of pleasure we promised ourselves from this
union; but fortune was pleased to
persecute him to the grave.
My dear Eliza, I beg you will not insist on all the particulars
of your husband's death, as every
circumstance strikes me like a clap of thunder. I held his dead
head in my bosom till a moment
before his death, when the ruffians dragged us from him; and then-
-O, Eliza! I can write no more.
I hope and pray that I may see you soon. Then, I will tell you all;
for I do not think that it is so
dreadful to repeat as to write, though the repetition of it in court
shocked me so much that I was
sick for three weeks. But whatever may be the consequences, I shall
attend all courts, and every
place where my presence is necessary, to bring the infernal villains
to condign punishment. Dear
sister, it grieves me to the heart that you should be dependent
even on your father. It was very far
from my brother's endeavor. Pray, come to us; and by the blessing
of God and your assistance,
we may make a comfortable living, and have it in our power to give
the dear children a proper
education. Tibby joins in kind compliments to you, to the children
and to all friends.
Adieu! My dear Eliza. I remain your affectionate, loving, perplexed
sister,
MARGARET BALFOUR.
Although the writer of the above letters has avoided any detail
of circumstances, and has no doubt
omitted the most cruel and revolting parts of the tragedy, nothing
more need be said.
For more information on Colonel Andrew Balfour and his family please
visit this site:
'COLONEL ANDREW BALFOUR' From THE OLD NORTH STATE IN 1776
This information is contributed by Shirley Weissmann
|
