Upheaval in Albemarle: The Story of Culpeper's Rebellion

The Echoes of Rebellion

The information of Timothy Biggs threw the Lords Proprietors into apprehensive confusion. These were dangerous times for everyone engaged in colonization. Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia had almost seemed to set a pattern for revolts. The Davyes-Pate Rebellion in Maryland, although little more than a Sunday afternoon affair, had been considered so serious that its leaders suffered death by hanging. And in London there were whispers that the King’s Government were mentioning proprietary colonies in the same breath with Quo Warranto, the legal writ sometimes employed to revoke charters.

Biggs spent his time filing a flurry of petitions, affidavits, and depositions. He was loud in his denunciations of George Durant, who, he asserted, was the real promoter of the rebellion. Nor was he sparing in his criticism of John Culpeper. The Proprietors, seemingly hopeful that the trouble would go away if they left it alone, suggested to Biggs that he forward his grievances to the King in Council, and he had gone so far as to deliver his documents to the Lord High Treasurer. Perhaps the talk of Quo Warranto was repeated too often, for before the time appointed for Biggs to present his case, the Proprietors held a meeting “& for some Reasons best known to themselves Commanded & ordered me [Biggs] to desist.”

Possibly to get Biggs out of London, where his presence constantly reminded the royal officials of the trouble in Albemarle, the Proprietors commissioned him as Comptroller and Surveyor-General in September, 1678, and sent him back to the colony. One John Taylor was named his deputy.

The selection of a Governor to replace Eastchurch was a more serious matter. It was necessary that the new appointee be a person who had not been in “any way Concerned in the late Disorders [and] will be soe impartial as those that had not att all any hand in them.” Captain Henry Wilkinson was issued a commission and instructed to hasten to Albemarle and there to establish an impartial court to hear all complaints and other actions arising out of the rebellion. But Wilkinson himself was a schemer of sorts, and even as he was making his final arrangements before sailing, he was arrested for political intrigue.

Wilkinson was not easily replaced, “it being a very difficult matter to gitt a man of worth and trust to go thither.” Among the Proprietors, however, was one considered by them “a very sober discreet gentleman,” and in “no way concerned in the factions and animosyties” of Albemarle. Seth Sothel, a Proprietor by virtue of his purchase of the share held by the Earl of Clarendon, was expected to bring about a peaceful settlement of the troubles, for the latest word from Albemarle (probably that of Willoughby) was that “all is now quyett & peaceable.” Not only was he to exercise the functions of executive, but Sothel was in addition placed in control of the customs. Robert Holden, then in London, was made his deputy, possibly a conciliatory measure towards the anti-proprietary men.

No sooner had the Proprietors arrived at what they felt to be a solution than they discovered themselves right back at their point of departure. Sothel, sailing for America, was captured on the high seas by Turkish pirates who carried him to Algiers to be held for ransom. Until such time as he could be redeemed, it was necessary to appoint a temporary governor. John Harvey, who seems to have taken little part in the rebellion beyond the arrest of Edward Wade, was issued a commission as interim governor, to serve in that capacity until Sothel’s arrival in Albemarle. This appointment and blank commissions for deputies were given to Holden before his departure for Carolina.

In the meantime, Timothy Biggs, accompanied by John Taylor, arrived in Albemarle. Upon the news of his return, the “rabble” met at Durant’s house, “their usual rendezvous,” and issued a warrant for Biggs to appear before them. Not only was he to answer the old charges against him, but also was to present all public and private papers that he had brought with him from England. Biggs, not one to be easily frightened, appeared as directed, but refused to do more than publicly read his commission. In his audience sat Zachariah Gillam, who to John Taylor “seemed to carry ye greatest sway & superintence over them.”

Boldly asserting his authority, Biggs went so far as to nail a paper on the courthouse door, announcing that inasmuch as he was the only duly appointed officer of the King in the colony, he would perform all official duties, including the collection of customs. This was too much for John Culpeper. Ripping down Biggs’s announcement, he replaced it with a similar document with his own name signed as Collector, forbidding all persons “to meddle with the Customs besides himself.” When Biggs protested, Culpeper retorted that if he so much as interfered with even the smallest proceeding, “he would have him secured and clapt up again.” His companions strengthened this stand with “insolent threats & surly behaviour.” And Biggs knew their antagonism was genuine. From this time on, he slept with a loaded musket at his side, and took turns with Taylor and the members of his family in standing guard every hour of the day.

The arrival of Robert Holden did little to ease the tension. He had stopped in Boston to examine the smuggling situation at its source. There his investigations revealed that Culpeper had “played such notorious pranks,” that both the people and the customs “were never more infatuated, cheated and exhausted.” If these conditions continued, he warned, “trading must become Bostoniz’d,” and the spirit of revolt would linger in Albemarle.

Despite these overtones of outrage in his report to the Proprietors, Holden was received without recorded protest in Albemarle, and he became the first Collector in the colony ever to send back custom receipts to England. John Harvey, as President of the Council and acting Governor since February, 1679, was “Quyetly & cherefully obeyed,” probably because of his prudence in retaining many of the anti-proprietary faction in office.

With a government approved by the Proprietors in office, the way was open to dispose of the case of Thomas Miller. Once again the old charges of blasphemy and treasonable words, some dating back to 1673, were revived. Additional depositions were recorded by Robert Holden, including a new statement by John Nixon of the proprietary faction, who swore to the accuracy of the blasphemy charge. Miller was brought before Harvey’s court, whose members included Durant, Anthony Slocum, James Hill, and Timothy Biggs. The signatures of Harvey and Durant were on the warrant committing the prisoner to the care of Marshal Thomas Lepper, a Quaker and a member of the proprietary party. Miller, aided by Timothy Biggs, James Hill, John Taylor, and Henry Hudson, made his escape, pursued by hue and cry into Virginia. Virginia’s acting governor, Sir Henry Chicheley, issued a special warrant for the apprehension of Miller, but the fugitive made his escape with the collusion of Anthony Fen, a ship captain.

With the flight of Miller, the troubles of Timothy Biggs seemed to multiply. Although he had appointed Samuel Pricklove, an anti-proprietary man, as deputy, he gained no influence with the opposite faction. In fact, Biggs complained that “It is a vary hard Case that I Cannot imploy any Ingenious man in his Majesty’s service—but he shall be for one false pretence or other be deplact by Arrests or otherwayes.” This observation was borne out when Pricklove was arrested as Biggs sent him to investigate the operations of Robert Holden. Although Biggs stormed that not one acre of land would be surveyed in Albemarle until Pricklove was released, it amounted to little more than shouting into the teeth of a gale. Biggs made himself an irritant, digging away for evidence of wrongdoing at the least sign of deviation from the letter of the law. Among his complaints was one that John Willoughby, the Public Register, refused to answer his communications. He was loud in his accusation that Edward Wade, former High Sheriff, had been banished from the colony to prevent his giving evidence against the anti-proprietary faction. He threatened never again to set foot in Durant’s house, which had become the unofficial seat of government; and from this moment on, his complaints would be dispatched directly to London. In a fit of pique, Biggs withdrew from his place on the Council, and persuaded James Hill, Deputy for the Duke of Albemarle, to do the same, hoping that this would create enough disturbance to overthrow the government. He urged the Proprietors to send a light warship to calm the troubles in Albemarle, for the prospects were that the situation would only be worsened by the swarm of “servants, Slaves & Debtors flying thither.” Such actions could no longer be tolerated by the government in power, and once more Biggs fled to Virginia.

Harvey died in August, 1679. Jenkins, elected President of the Council, once more assumed control of the government as acting governor, supported by a Council that included Richard Foster, John Willoughby, Anthony Slocum, and Robert Holden. Holden immediately drew up indictments against Miller and those who had aided him in his escape so that they might be tried in absentia. And with the flight of Miller, it had been felt proper to dispatch John Culpeper to England to counter the charges that were sure to be levied. Almost immediately he sailed for Boston with Benjamin Gillam, and from there to London with Zachariah Gillam.

By the time Culpeper landed in London, Biggs had managed to inform the Commissioners of the Customs that 58,392 pounds of tobacco had been collected as customs duties during Miller’s imprisonment, not a pound of which had been sent to England. In November, 1679, Culpeper was arrested and after a hearing gave his bond for £500 along with other security to deliver the tobacco within one year to Sir Peter Colleton, who would produce a certificate to that effect. With everything apparently settled to everyone’s satisfaction, Gillam and Culpeper boarded the Carolina and dropped down the Thames to begin the voyage to America.

In early December, Thomas Miller, accompanied by Henry Hudson, arrived in London penniless, sick, his heart filled with bitterness and rancor. Hurriedly submitting additional evidence to the Commissioners of Customs, he charged that in addition to the tobacco confiscated by Culpeper and his group, some £1,242 of His Majesty’s customs receipts and fines had likewise been embezzled. Informed that Gillam’s ship was still awaiting a favorable wind in the Downs, the great roadstead in the English Channel, the Admiralty was instructed to order the commander-in-chief in the Downs to search all ships, including men-of-war, bound for Virginia. A similar order was dispatched to the western ports of England. Culpeper was soon apprehended, and along with Gillam, was brought back to London and kept in custody by order of the King in Council.

Near the middle of January, 1680, Culpeper petitioned for his release, arguing that Miller’s charges against him were “very vexatious & malitious.” Detention would mean his ruin, he fumed, as the complainant well knew that he was far from home, without financial resources or friends to aid him. At the very least, Miller should be placed under bond or forced to give security for damages to Culpeper if the charges were not substantiated. This was but whistling in the wind. The end result was that both Culpeper and Gillam were charged as “being two of the Principall Contrivers & Promoters of the said Rebellion.”

On January 31, 1680, depositions were taken from Thomas Miller, Timothy Biggs, Henry Hudson, John Taylor, and Solomon Summers. This weight of evidence overwhelmed any proof that Culpeper could offer of his innocence, and he took the precaution of throwing himself upon the mercy of the King. If not pardoned by His Majesty, he begged that his trial be conducted in Carolina, where the fact had been committed. This plea, however, was nullified by the report of the Commissioners of Customs, who stated that no mercy should be shown Culpeper unless he satisfied all outstanding claims against him, estimated at this time to be around £3,000 sterling.

On February 8, 1680, a hearing was conducted by the Committee of the Lords of Trade and Plantations. The Lords Proprietors were represented by Lord Shaftesbury, the Earl of Craven, and Sir Peter Colleton. Shaftesbury, whose devotion to his “darling Carolina” was well known, and whom Charles II referred to as “Little Sincerity” and “the wickedest rogue in England,” assumed the role of spokesman for the Proprietors of Carolina. The Proprietors were resting uneasy, for not only were they required to answer the complaints relative to Carolina, but also to present “an authentick Copy of their Charter,” which could well mean the first step in the revocation of that document. And it was also because of this same fear that Culpeper’s actions, though not endorsed, were defended by the Proprietors as partially justified. Miller, they said, had been responsible for goading Culpeper and his compatriots into retaliatory action. They also argued that at the present time Albemarle was quiet and peaceable, with no evidence of rebellion. No decision or recommendation of the Committee was made public immediately, but on February 11 the Privy Council declared “that John Culpeper is guilty of Treason in abetting and encouraging a Rebellion in Carolina.” On the following day the prisoner was committed to Newgate Prison.

A week later Zachariah Gillam was called before the Lords of Trade and Plantations. In answer to testimony given by Miller and others, Gillam defended himself with vague, yet skillful, words, lending the impression that he was no more than an innocent ship captain, caught up in the whirlpool of a rebellion with which he had nothing to do. There being “no direct proof against him,” Gillam was placed under the obligation of future attendance should new evidence be presented, although he might go to sea if his business demanded. Gillam saw to it that such a demand arose.

Culpeper’s case dragged on, often delayed for the most trivial of reasons. Miller continued to bombard numerous government agencies with petitions and depositions. When his address to the King in Council received no action, he sent another, discreetly chiding the Council for their neglect of the King’s business. Not until November 20, 1680, and then upon the direction of the King, did the Lords of Trade and Plantations bring John Culpeper to trial on a charge of treason. They advised the Proprietors that it had been “declared to be Treason for any man to take up Armes against our Government, it being Levying warr against our King,” when a government established under a charter granted by His Majesty was overthrown.

Culpeper was brought before the Court of the King’s Bench. Miller, Biggs, Summers, Taylor, and Hudson all testified against the accused, emphasizing that the uprising in Albemarle must be classed as rebellion in every phase, and “in all which proceedings ye said Culpeper was a notorious Ringleader.” Miller was convinced that the final verdict would be one of guilty, for in their examinations in the past the Proprietors had implied that they were convinced that the upheaval in Carolina had been nothing less than a “notorious Rebellion.” Lord Shaftesbury, who “had been ye mouth of ye Lord Proprietors in ye whole affair,” once again spoke for them at the trial. His testimony was, to say the least, surprising, for he became a witness for the defense.

In the opinion of the Proprietors, he stated, the rebellion had resulted when Thomas Miller, “without any legall authority,” had managed to gain control of the government of Albemarle. Inasmuch as he had been obeyed quietly for the first five months, it would seem that his excessive drinking habits, his loose tongue, his threats, and his arbitrary procedures had given rise to resistance when the people discovered there was no legal basis for his seizure of government. Not only was he overzealous in his governmental operations, said Shaftesbury, but Miller had, by his “divers unjustifyable actions,” left himself open to law suits by those whom he had injured.

Culpeper’s claim that his authority was derived from the Assembly of the people, said the Proprietor, was not without basis. Under their constitution the people had been granted the privilege of electing delegates to the legislature every two years even without the issuance of a formal writ of election. Therefore Albemarle’s “pretended Parliament” was in itself a legal body. In conclusion, Shaftesbury felt that the so-called rebellion was little more than a feud between the planters, and should be termed at worst only a “riot.”

The verdict was acquittal for John Culpeper. To ease possible protests by the Commissioners of Customs, the Proprietors gave assurances that restitution would be made for the confiscated customs, although in their opinion the chief offenders should be made to bear the burden. Miller and his deputies, they promised, would be compensated for their injuries, and the Proprietors would “use their utmost powers to secure them from vexatious suits.”

Everyone except Thomas Miller and his fellow complainants seemed relieved and a little happy to rid themselves of what might become a rather sticky affair. On the surface, it seemed that at last the ruffled waters had been calmed, but rebellion died hard in Albemarle.