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Sir Robert Heath came to Carolina territory in 1629, but did not make
any effort to colonize the area. In 1663 Charles II granted the region
to eight proprietors. The region later was divided into two; North
Carolina and South Carolina. Cape Fear is located on the coast of North
Carolina. In the upper Northwest of Cape Fear River, the Highlanders
began to settle as early as 1732. There were reported three Highlander
names to be the first settlers; James Innes, William Forbes and Hugh
Campbell. Each received a land grant of 640 acres in 1733.
James Innes became the justice of peace in
1734 and Cape Fear rapidly populated over the next forty years. Innes,
Forbes and Campbell agreed to transport Highlander families to Cape Fear
making Cape Fear majority Highlanders and Gaelic the dominant language.
Many families farmed the land, but there
were also numerous other trades, stores, mills, and even a doctor, but
Highlanders faced many hardships as well, the climate was tough for them
and a lot of people suffered from illness such as “Yellow Fever” and
“Malaria.”
There was not a church established so it
made weddings and funerals difficult. Duncan Campbell went back to
Scotland to request for a “Gaelic speaking” minister to come to Cape
Fear. The minister never made it to Cape Fear. Therefore, a minister by
the name of Hugh McAden came to Cape Fear, but he did not speak Gaelic
and made it difficult for both he and the congregation to communicate.
Over half of Cape Fear was settled by Gaelic
speaking Highlanders, which in turn the slaves learned the language. The
language was the dominant language until well into the mid nineteenth
century. Unfortunately today there is no evidence the language ever
existed.
One fourth of Highlanders owned slaves or
indentured servants. Innes, Campbell, and Forbes would bring Highlanders
who could not obtain land grants to work as indentured servants for
those Highland families who had established plantations. There were
black slaves who worked right next to indentured servants, so the slaves
learned Gaelic. There was an account by Charles W. Dunn of a Highland
Lady who had just landed on the shores of Cape Fear;
So she disembarked at the wharf, she was
delighted to hear two men conversing in Gaelic. Assuming by their speech
that they must inevitably be Highlanders, she came near, only to
discover that their skin was black. She knew her worst foreboding about
the climate of the South was not unfounded and cried in horror. “A Dhia
nan fras, am fas sinn vile, mar sinn?” (O God of mercy, are we well
going to turn black like that?)
Last but not least, our famous Jacobite,
Flora McDonald came to Cape Fear and lived in Cameron’s Hill, she
attended Barbeque Church, but her stay was short due to her husband
being arrested for being a Loyalist on the brink of the Revolutionary
War. Flora and her children went back to Scotland.
Written by Stephanie Cruz
Taken from The Highlander Scots of North Carolina 1732-1776 By Duane
Meyer |
