"An Angel has Fallen!"
The Glasgow Land Frauds and the
Establishment of the North Carolina Supreme Court

by
Russell Scott Koonts
russell.koonts@duke.edu

Table of Contents

• Abstract
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Biography
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Ascent of an Angel
• Chapter Two: Speculation and Corruption
• Chapter Three: The Angel becomes the Principal
• Chapter Four: The Accused and the Court
• Chapter Five: The Accused and the Court after the Trials
• Conclusions
• End notes
• Bibliography

KOONTS, RUSSELL SCOTT. (Under the direction of JAMES A. MULHOLLAND)

On January 4, 1819 the North Carolina Supreme Court meet for the first time as an independent body. The law that established the state's highest tribunal had been passed by the General Assembly during the previous year. However, the court's evolution can be traced back to a court established to try men accused of land fraud at the expense of former Continental Line soldiers.

In 1782, in an attempt to supply the requested number of troops for defense of the newly independent states, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an act allowing soldiers bounty land at the completion of their military service. The methods employed in securing a bounty claim soon led to abuses by greedy speculators. As Secretary of State, James Glasgow's position aided these speculators in defrauding the former soldiers of their rightful claims.

In December 1797, the activities of the men came to the attention of North Carolina officials, and steps were quickly taken to stop the abuses and to ensure that they could not happen again. Chiefly involved in the frauds was James Glasgow, North Carolina's Secretary of State from 1777 to 1798. Over the next two and one half years, North Carolina and Tennessee quarreled over the ownership of the records and the apprehension and return of some of the accused.

To assist in the prosecution of the accused, the General Assembly passed a court law in December 1799 that created a special tribunal to try the men. In June 1800, five of the twenty-one men originally accused of fraud came to trial. Of those tried, only three, James Glasgow, Willoughby Williams, and John Bonds, were ever found guilty. Having accomplished the goal for which it was created, the court continued in existence for the remainder of its original two year commission.

When the court law expired in 1801, it was extended for three additional years and named the Court of Conference. Next, in 1804, the court became a permanent court of record. In 1805 it was renamed the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Additional changes to the court's structure and composition occurred in 1806 with the addition of another judge, and in 1810 with the creation of the office of Chief Justice. Finally, in 1818, in an attempt to correct all the problems in the existing judicial system, the Supreme Court was established as an independent body.

"An Angel has Fallen!": The Glasgow Land Frauds and the establishment of the North Carolina Supreme Court

by
RUSSELL SCOTT KOONTS

A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Raleigh

1995

APPROVED BY:
James A. Mulholland [signed]
Chair of Advisory Committee
Jerry C. Cashion[signed]
David J. Olson [signed]

© 1995 by Russell Scott Koonts

The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude to several persons who have provided support, suggestions, and their time and efforts to insure the completion of this thesis. The chairman of the author's graduate committee, Dr. James A. Mulholland, and committee member, Dr. Jerry C. Cashion, deserve special thanks for their reviews, editorial guidance, advice, and patience during the research and writing of this thesis. Additional appreciation is extended to Mr. David J. Olson for serving on the committee and offering direction in the minor field of study.

The author would also like to thank Mr. C. Edward Morris and Mrs. Catherine J. Morris for proof-reading the numerous drafts of the chapters; Mrs. Louise Stafford, Supreme Court Librarian, for assistance in locating rare source materials; Dr. Thornton W. Mitchell for assisting the author in locating sources; the staff at the North Carolina State Library for tirelessly retrieving books on a continuous basis; and, Mr. John Oden for providing the author with materials.

A special note of gratitude is expressed to Dr. A. Bruce Pruitt for instilling the interest in the Glasgow Land Frauds in the author, for proof-reading and editing drafts, and for providing invaluable assistance during the study.

The author also wishes to thank his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Darrell W. Koonts, Rebecca L. Koonts, his sister, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy D. Koonts, Megan and Taylor, his brother's family, and Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Lassiter, his grandparents for the support they have offered through out his life and career. Most of all, the author wishes to thank his wife, Sarah E. Koonts for her patience, assistance, support, and encouragement, without which this study would not have been possible.

The author also wishes to dedicate this work to his wife, Sarah E. Koonts. Without her understanding, compassion and support, this effort would not have been possible.

Russell Scott Koonts was born October 31, 1966, in Lexington, North Carolina. He received his elementary and secondary education in the community of Churchland and graduated from West Davidson High School in 1985.

In 1985 he entered North Carolina State University at Raleigh, North Carolina, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1989. He entered the Graduate School at North Carolina State University in the Spring of 1992, majoring in history, minoring in public history.

In 1988, while an undergraduate at North Carolina State University, he joined the Reference Staff of the North Carolina State Archives, Division of Archives and History of the Department of Cultural Resources, as a part-time records clerk. In April 1990, he was promoted to the position of Archivist I eventually being named the Senior Reference Archivist in the State Archives Search Room. In March 1996, he was promoted to the position of Archivist II, Special Projects Archivist. Between July 1996 and October 1997, he was employed as the Reference and Information Access Archivist for the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History at the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. In October 1997, he accepted an appointment as the University Archivist at North Carolina State University, a position, he currently holds.

On January 4, 1819, judges John Louis Taylor, John Hall, and Leonard Henderson met together for the first time as the North Carolina Supreme Court. The high court, established by law in December 1818, had its foundation laid in 1799 when the General Assembly passed a law establishing a court to try men accused of fraudulent activities arising from abuses in the North Carolina secretary of state's office. Reaping the benefits from land reserved for former Continental Line soldiers, Secretary of State James Glasgow and several other men abused North Carolina's land grant system for over fifteen years before being caught in 1797. In the aftermath of the frauds, Glasgow, a post colonial leader in North Carolina, lost his place of honor, and dramatic changes occurred in the state's judicial system.

In the nearly two hundred years that have elapsed since the discovery and prosecution of the Glasgow Land Fraud cases, many short studies have been presented. These examinations have been presented in three main categories: 1) the impact of the frauds on the political career of James Glasgow; 2) the frauds as a background to the establishment of North Carolina Supreme Court; and 3) a general examination of the frauds and the methods employed by the speculators. The purpose of this thesis is to show how the events affected not one or two of the first three categories, but played a major role in all of them.

Although the majority of the historiography comes under the second category, those that fall into the first prove to be the most interesting in their accounts of James Glasgow's life. The mere fact that the events have come to be termed the Glasgow Land Frauds serves to show that he was intimately involved. Although not the first to report on the frauds, Marshall Delancy Haywood's 1907 sketch of Glasgow in the Biographical History of North Carolina was the first to examine his rise to power and eventual fall. This biographical sketch, while providing valuable information on Glasgow's education, vocations, political involvement, Masonic ties, and military background, presented some controversial facts that are continued by later historians.¹ Haywood is the first historian that stated that Governor Samuel Ashe remarked "An Angel has fallen!" upon calling the Council of State together to report Glasgow's involvement in fraudulent activities. Additionally, Haywood felt that the court established in 1799 passed out of existence in 1803 and had no connection to the 1818 supreme court.

The next such accounting of the frauds occurred in 1924. Throughout the years, Masonic journals have contained many sketches of Glasgow and the frauds that bear his name. The first such article appeared in The Orphan's Friend and Masonic Journal. In "An Angel Has Fallen -- Story of James Glasgow," Fred A. Olds gave a rambling account of the events.² As a result, Olds' version proves difficult to follow because he moved from episode to episode in the frauds without establishing time or sequence. In several instances, he reported that events occurred before they actually took place. For example, Olds reported that William Terrell did not flee North Carolina until after the trials. He also reported that Terrell sent his slave to break into the State House after the trials. Additionally, Olds offered no information on Glasgow's life other than that of being convicted of fraud and of being removed from political office.

Another account in a Masonic journal appeared sixteen years later. Where Haywood and Olds reported the impact of the events on Glasgow's political career, Earley W. Bridges examined how the frauds affected Glasgow's standing in the Masonic Order.³ Bridges briefly, but adequately, followed Glasgow's ascent in the Masons from his joining the Order, around 1764, to his being elected Deputy-Grand Master of the North Carolina lodge in 1789, to his suspension on December 3, 1799, and, finally, his expulsion in 1800. Bridges also mentioned the 1785 founding of the Davie-Glasgow Lodge Number 26, named in honor of William R. Davie and James Glasgow, in Dobbs County.

Unfortunately, Bridges' account also contains some erroneous information. For example, he named John Armstrong, not Martin Armstrong, as being in charge of the land office in Nashville, Tennessee. He further stated that Glasgow was found guilty of fraud and impeached, when, in actuality, he resigned his office to defend himself of the charges levied almost two full years before being found guilty.

Finally, the most recent description of the frauds and James Glasgow's life appears in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Like Marshall Delancy Haywood's account, Charles Holloman's sketch deals more with the personal and political life of Glasgow than other historians' versions. Holloman's account is significant for the information it contains on the inter-marrying of Glasgow and his children with other key players in the frauds and with leading families in early North Carolina politics.⁴

Another important facet of Holloman's sketch is the demonstration of Glasgow's rise in prestige. He shows how Glasgow arrived in North Carolina in the early 1760s with very little, and that by 1769, he owned three slaves and 250 acres of land. By 1780, his estate was valued at over £26,150. In March, 1800, just weeks before his trial, he owned twenty-two slaves and lived on a plantation of nearly 3,000 acres.

Although sketches of James Glasgow's personal life and the impact the frauds had on his career are of the utmost importance, the majority of the historiography relating to the frauds falls into the category pertaining to the supreme court. In fact, the earliest portrayal of the frauds was done to illustrate the court created to try the accused, not to recall the events or players.

In 1867, at the dedication of Tucker Hall, a theater on Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, former Governor David L. Swain delivered an address entitled "Early times in Raleigh."⁵ Swain introduced the frauds to show how the court established in 1799 evolved into the supreme court nineteen years later. Most later historians who examined the frauds for the impact they had upon the state's judicial system expanded upon Swain's speech. Some, however, disagreed with him on the connection of the two courts.

Since subsequent historians built upon Swain's work, it is unfortunate that he presented episodes that have been difficult to verify. Swain stated that Superior Court judge John Haywood, while on his way to Raleigh to meet his fellow judges for the trials, accepted a fee of one thousand dollars to resign from the bench and defend James Glasgow. The records show, however, that Haywood's resignation was submitted nearly two weeks prior to the trials. In his resignation, Haywood stated his high regard for some of the accused and that his inclination toward resigning from the bench had been known for nearly two years.

Nearly two decades passed before another account of the frauds appeared. In 1889, in celebration of the Supreme Court's seventieth anniversary, Kemp Plummer Battle prepared a history of the court. Using Swain's facts as a basis, Battle expanded on the court's history between 1799 and 1819. He also touched briefly on Glasgow's Masonic ties. He was the first historian to report that the "black lines of expulsion" were drawn around Glasgow's name in the order's books.⁶ Battle repeated Swain's assertion of a one thousand dollar fee being presented to John Haywood.

In 1903, Battle presented another article that dealt with the frauds and the court. Again, the majority of the article dealt with the 1799 court and the courts that followed. He did, however, provide additional information on James Glasgow and the frauds beyond that in his earlier account. However, in his expansion of facts, some discrepancies arise.⁷

Battle reported that the plot to burn the State House was hatched in a room in a lodge adjacent to a room shared by judges John McNairy and Howell Tatum. The judges, having overheard the plot, dispatched a messenger to Raleigh where Governor Samuel Ashe hired a guard for the State House. This guard captured Phil Terrell, a slave of William Terrell, breaking into the building. In truth, Terrell's slave was captured in a January 1798 break-in at the State House, while the judges did not learn of a plot until February 1798. This information they received from an informant who had been present at William Blount's house when the plan originated.

In 1930, a Masonic journal carried an account of the frauds and their impact on the state's judicial system. Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire's version followed the outline of events established in Fred A. Olds' account. Although Cheshire explained in more detail some of the methods used by the speculator, his rendition contained numerous inaccuracies.⁸ Like others before him, he combined the plot to burn the State House and the attempted break-in. He also continued the notion of John Haywood being induced to resign from the bench by a large sum of money. However, he reported that Glasgow approached Haywood in the dead of night at his summer home in Franklin County and paid him one thousand Spanish milled dollars. He further stated that Haywood moved for arrest of judgment on fifteen counts when he only moved for arrest on five counts.

The most recent examination of the frauds for their relationship to the Supreme Court occurred in 1984. Judge Cecil J. Hill used the frauds to introduce the court established in 1799 as a forerunner of the 1818 court. Hill's brief account of the court from 1799 to 1818 is used as a background for the later court and the judges' attempts to acquire a new, more permanent meeting place. As such, Judge Hill's account offers no new insight into the early court or the frauds.⁹

The final category of examination is, without a doubt, the most helpful in tracing the series of events and placing the frauds in the correct scheme. Where the other categories show how the series of events altered political careers, as well as political and judicial systems, this category shows how the fraud occurred and how the accused were pursued. The first general examination occurred in 1928. Albert Lincoln Bramlett devoted one chapter of his dissertation, "North Carolina's Western Lands," to the land frauds.¹⁰ Even though he did not examine the court or its evolution, and is mistaken on some small details, Bramlett's examination, although brief, should still be considered among the best for showing the speculators' methods.

Sixty years passed before another individual took interest in the frauds from this view. In 1988, A. Bruce Pruitt prepared a transcription of the reports prepared by the boards of inquiry and the court. In the introduction to his book, Pruitt presented a brief, yet detailed account of the frauds after the discovery in 1797.¹¹

In 1993, Pruitt published a second volume relating to the frauds. This volume contains an even more in-depth account of the frauds by subject and date than his previous volume.¹² Where his first volume dealt only with the reports used to try the individuals accused of fraud, this volume attempts to chronicle all the records that Pruitt could locate in various repositories relating to the frauds. These two volumes are indispensable in the examination of the Glasgow Land frauds.

Next, in 1992, Daniel Jansen published an article in The Journal of East Tennessee History. Jansen's exposition gives a good general description of the activities of some of the men accused of fraud and the conditions that allowed the fraud to occur.¹³ Unfortunately, a majority of his article is given to land policy in general which prevents him from delving into the frauds in great detail. Furthermore, Jansen give little attention to the trial and convictions of some of the accused.

Finally, one account of the frauds attempted to show the impact of the frauds on North Carolina's political scene at the time. A portion of James H. Broussard's The Southern Federalists deals with the fraud cases. Broussard mistakenly placed Glasgow in the Antifederalist party and concluded that the frauds delayed the Antifederalist party's rise to power. However, since Glasgow's beliefs were Federalist, and from 1799 to 1820 Antifederlists controlled the state's political structure, Broussard's assumptions are unfounded.¹⁴

Beginning with David L. Swain and concluding with Daniel Jansen, nearly a century and a half worth of examination into the Glasgow Land Frauds had occurred. Swain's account proved to be the first in a long line of examinations into the frauds for their connection to the 1818 law that created the North Carolina Supreme Court. Jansen's article fits into the genre of the studies that have viewed the frauds for the methods employed by those accused. In the nearly two hundred years that have passed since the discovery and prosecution of the frauds, several accounts of the frauds and the repercussions have been prepared. None, however, have attempted to examine the methods employed by the accused, the prosecution of those charged, the consequences upon James Glasgow's career, and the impact upon North Carolina's judicial system in one examination. This thesis will attempt to do that.

Between September 1774 and December 1776, the Revolutionary leaders of North Carolina met in a series of five provincial congresses that dissolved the colony's ties with the crown and established a newly independent state. Many men who played important roles during those meetings would lead the state during its formative years. Furthermore, the provincial congresses laid the ground work that the early leaders built upon in forming the first state government.

Aside from concentrating on winning the war, many important tasks faced North Carolina after the state declared independence. The first, and most important, concerned the establishment of a governing body to lead the newly created state. Another, but slightly less important, concerned the establishment of a judicial system for the state to operate under. The first state constitution, ratified December 18, 1776, provided the environment under which North Carolina's early leaders operated.

After declaring the reason for the new constitution, the leaders proceeded to create the framework for the leadership of the newly independent state. The first matter of business centered on the creation of a legislature. The model chosen consisted of two distinct chambers, a senate and the house of commons. Next, the framers established basic qualifications for service in both chambers.¹ After fixing requirements for voting, the framers created the offices that would lead the state.

At the first meeting after the annual elections, both chambers, meeting in joint session, would jointly elect a governor for a term of one year. Again, the constitution specified minimum qualifications, and also limited eligibility for the office to three years in any six successive years.² To advise the governor, the assembly would elect seven individuals to serve as a council of state. The constitution limited the council's term to one year and mandated that four members be a quorum and that all proceedings be recorded in a journal.³ In addition, the constitution also established the office of state treasurer, a one year appointment, and the office of secretary of state, a three year appointment.⁴

The 1776 constitution made no specific provisions for a judicial system. The only mention in relation to the judiciary came in relation to the election of judges by the assembly, the judges' and the attorney general's commission by the governor, and the ability to hold office "during good behavior."⁵ The leaders assumed the courts would continue to operate under procedures established during the colonial period.

At the start of the revolution, North Carolina's court operated under a law passed in 1767. However, this act was the last in a series of laws dating back to 1760 that created the court system the state operated under when she declared her independence.⁶ In the 1760 court law, the colony was divided into five districts. The courts, named Superior Courts of Pleas and Supreme Court, met in Edenton, Halifax, New Bern, Salisbury, and Wilmington, and acted as independent and co-equal courts. This law, however, was disallowed by the King and later repealed in the colony.⁷

In 1762, in an attempt to circumvent the King, the colonial assembly enacted a new court law for a period of two years. This law kept the same basic framework established by the 1760 law, but changed the name of the courts to "the Superior Court of Justice for that District in which the same shall be held." In 1764, the assembly continued the courts' existence for an additional two year period.⁸

In 1767, the colonial assembly passed a court act that empowered the superior courts for five additional years. The law repeated the provisions of the 1762 law and established an additional district court at Hillsborough. When this law lapsed in 1772, Governor Josiah Martin allowed the assembly to end without the passage of a new law. For the remainder of the colonial period, North Carolina's courts met under royal commission. In 1773, in an attempt to try criminal cases, Governor Martin issued commissions to hold Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery in the colony's thirty-six counties.⁹

This attempt proved to be too expensive and, in 1774 and 1775, Governor Martin issued commissions to hold courts of Oyer and Terminer in the six superior court districts. Arguments were made over the legality of the commissions since the 1767 law that created the districts had lapsed in 1772.¹⁰

In 1776, the Fifth Provincial Congress passed an ordinance that allowed the governor to issue new commissions for the Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery. In 1777, courts were held in each of the six districts under these new commissions.¹¹ Additionally, in November 1777, the General Assembly passed a law establishing the six superior court districts in the state and named the districts after the most populous towns in each area. The Superior Court Districts for the new state were: Halifax, Edenton, New Bern, Wilmington, Salisbury, and Hillsborough. With the addition of Morgan District, named for Revolutionary leader General Daniel Morgan, in 1782, and Fayetteville District, in 1787, the total number of superior court districts reached eight.¹²

In 1790, attempting to relieve the burden of the state's judicial officials, the General Assembly passed a law dividing the court districts into an eastern and western riding circuit. Furthermore, the law raised the number of superior court judges from three to four and stipulated that two of the judges, in rotation with either the attorney general or the solicitor general, were required to ride each circuit. The judges also rotated so that one judge from each circuit traded places for the ensuing court term.¹³ Since each judge could possess different opinions on legal issues, the two circuits and the division of the judges led indirectly to the lack of consistency in judicial decisions. The division also hindered the judges' ability to confer with one another in trials of a difficult nature. Without this consultation, each judge had to render an opinion based on his own readings and interpretations of the law. Since the 1790 law made no provisions for appeal, a judge's decision was final.¹⁴

On December 20, 1776, the Fifth Provincial Congress passed "An Ordinance for appointing a Governor, Council of State, and Secretary, until the next Assembly." Through this ordinance, a temporary administration consisting of Richard Caswell, governor; Cornelius Harnett, Thomas Person, William Dry, William Haywood, Edward Starkey, Joseph Leech, and Thomas Eaton, members of a Council of State; and James Glasgow, as secretary of state, was elected to lead the state. Many of these men had previously provided the state with invaluable service during her early struggle for independence. Before being appointed governor, Richard Caswell, in addition to other services, acted as speaker of North Carolina's Fifth Provincial Congress and as an officer in the state militia. Prior to his appointment, James Glasgow served as a colonel in the Dobbs County militia, a delegate to the Third Provincial Congress, an assistant secretary to the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Provincial Congresses, a secretary to the North Carolina Council of Safety, and as a member of the Committee of Safety for New Bern District.¹⁵

As secretary, Glasgow wielded the same powers and was "intitled to the same Fees, Priviliges and Emoluments, as the provincial Secretary heretofore held and enjoyed." The Provincial Congress assigned him to the office for one year, or until the "End of the next Session of the General Assembly, and no longer."¹⁶

When the General Assembly met in April, 1777, Glasgow again received the nomination for the office he had held since the previous December. On April 18, "by the Unanimous Votes of both Houses," he was elected "Secretary of State for three years."¹⁷ In December, a joint committee organized by the General Assembly to establish yearly allowances to the various state officials set his salary and schedule of fees. The next seven assemblies reelected him for the same term set forth by the legislature of 1777.¹⁸

The issuance of land grants consumed a great part of Glasgow's time as secretary of state. Duties associated with land grants greatly increased in November, 1777. In an attempt to promote settlement on and dispersal of the vacant lands once held by the crown and by Earl Granville, the North Carolina legislature passed a law establishing land offices in each county to enter land for grants. This area also included the part of the state west of the Appalachian Mountains where settlement previously had been forbidden.¹⁹ Under the law, a person could claim vacant land according to the following schedule:

Tracts were limited to 5,000 acres. However, a person could purchase as many 5,000 acre tracts as they chose. In 1780, with the passage of an act intended to compensate soldiers who served in North Carolina's Continental Line, the General Assembly added an additional way to grant land in the "western lands."²¹

The passage of "An Act for raising men to compleat the Continental Battalions belonging to this State, and for other purposes," resulted from the state's inability to supply the number of troops requested by the Continental Congress. Raising the troops for defense of the newly formed country proved to be a difficult task for the North Carolina government. Moreover, inflation was high and desertion was rampant among existing troops. Because of sagging morale and nearly worthless currency that soldiers rarely received as pay, North Carolina never came close to the quotas requested by Congress.

Attempting to improve recruiting, as well as to compensate the soldiers for depreciated or nonexistent pay, the legislature passed a law in 1780 that called for an immediate draft of three thousand men to serve for a period of three years. According to the law, the state would arm, clothe, and pay the men five hundred dollars annually.²³ At the completion of service, the state would allow each soldier one prime slave between the ages of fifteen and thirty, or the monetary value of the slave, and two hundred acres of land. To insure adequate land was available to meet this allowance, the assembly reserved a tract

situated between the Virginia line and the rivers Tenasee and Holston, as far up as the mouth of the French Broad river; thence a direct course, to the mouth of Powell's river; thence a direct course, to great gap in Cumberland mountain, about twenty miles south west of the Kentucky road, where it strikes Cumberland mountain, thence a north course to the Virginia line,²⁴

In 1782, the legislature passed an additional law aimed at enticing more men to enlist. This act established bounty acreage based on rank and set forth the method by which a soldier obtained land. As a "permanent Reward ...[for] Bravery and preserving Zeal," each soldier already in the service of the Continental Line who continued in that capacity until the end of the war or who became unfit for duty because of a wound or illness could apply for a designated acreage of land accordingly:

Surviving heirs of men who died in service received equivalent amounts.

The 1782 act also appointed three commissioners, Absalom Tatom, Isaac Shelby and Anthony Bledsoe, any two of whom were to examine and superintend the laying off of the land allotted to the soldiers. Prior to this appointment, Tatom had served in the North Carolina House of Commons. Later he would serve and as a Auditor for Hillsborough District in settling Revolutionary War claims; Shelby had played an important role in settling part of present day Kentucky and had aided Nathanael Greene after the fall of Charleston in 1780; Bledsoe, a surveyor by profession, had lived in the western lands since around 1760, had established outposts on the Holston River, and represented Sullivan County in the 1782 North Carolina General Assembly. The law empowered the commissioners to appoint surveyors and chain carriers to lay off the Military District and to hire a guard for the surveying team. Finally, the law placed limits on the number of men employed in each capacity. As payment for their services, these men were to receive land in the following manner.

A special provision in the 1780 law soon caused problems for the soldiers. Under the 1780 act, inhabitants already located in the area set aside as the military district were allowed to remain and apply for grants as one would in any of the state's other counties. Unfortunately for the soldiers, the area set aside for bounty land claims contained many inhabitants and a small amount of cultivable land. In 1783 the General Assembly attempted to alleviate this problem by passing a law that set aside another tract of land for the men who had served in the Continental Line. Section VII of this act reserved a tract of land in the sparsely populated area of present-day north central Tennessee and set the boundaries of the new military district as follows:

Beginning in the Virginia Line where Cumberland River intersects the same, thence South fifty-five Miles, thence west to the Tennessee River, thence down the Tennessee to the Virginia Line, thence with the said Virginia Line East to the beginning.²⁷

The law also established allotments of land, on a proportional scale, for any soldier who served less than three years. Although the assembly gave preference to men who served at least two and a half years, a claim could be made on service of at least two years. Finally, the legislature appointed Colonel Martin Armstrong chief surveyor for the military bounty district.²⁸

In 1784, the legislature established a land office in Nashville for the registration of bounty lands warrants and chose Armstrong to head that office. His duties included hiring the surveyors and returning the completed surveys to the secretary of state. William Polk, William Terrell Lewis, and Stockley Donelson were elected by the legislature as surveyors for the middle, western and eastern districts respectively.²⁹ Donelson and Lewis, along with William Terrell, a clerk in the Glasgow's office and uncle to William Terrell Lewis, soon became central figures in speculation in the military district.

To secure a claim in the bounty land district, a soldier first received a warrant from the secretary of state based on proof of his length of service. Upon receiving his warrant, the soldier delivered it to the land office in Nashville. Colonel Armstrong then appointed a surveyor to locate, survey, and plot the appropriate amount of land. The completed plats were then returned to the secretary of state. Glasgow then prepared a grant for the governor's signature, which was witnessed by Glasgow, or Willoughby Williams, a deputy secretary of state who was also Glasgow's son-in-law. Once signed and sealed, the soldier had a completed grant to land in the military district.³⁰

Variations in the steps in this process eventually caused problems. One concerned verification of the soldier's service. Instead of proving his service or having the secretary prove service by checking vouchers and muster rolls, former officers could produce a list of former soldiers. Officers proved to be the most qualified to know service records, and such lists often gave a soldier's length of service and listed events such as death, wounds, promotions, capture, or discharge. These lists, instead of a soldier's individual affidavit of service, could then be submitted to the secretary's office. The men named on the lists, their heirs, or assignees had the proof of service to claim bounty warrants. The process of producing such lists was later abused as unscrupulous speculators coerced drunken officers to sign lengthy lists.³¹

Another method used by speculators centered on the ability of a soldier or his heirs to assign warrants. Many soldiers, released from service without adequate food, clothing, or pay quickly sold their rights to these lands for a paltry sum.³² Assignments constituted one such method by which a soldier or his heirs could sell their right to the land. Through this process, a person obtained a warrant and assigned or sold it to whomever he chose. The remote location of the bounty land district discouraged many people from claiming their grants. A lack of money also persuaded some soldiers to use their land rights for settling debts. Those who received warrants but chose not to travel such a distance often assigned their warrants to others. This ability to assign land later aided greedy land speculators in the area.³³

To assign his bounty, a soldier or his heirs endorsed the warrant to another interested part. Warrants were often assigned several time before the land finally was surveyed. A typical assignment read:

Mr. James Glasgow Secretary of State
I have received of William Blount valuable and full consideration for my Right, Title, Interest & Claim in and to the land within mentioned to whom you will please issue the Grant accordingly - May 23d 1784
Isaac Rollston

Witness
Enoch Ward³⁴

Many of these assignments, as will be seen, were forged.

At this point, two acts passed by the North Carolina legislature in subsequent years deserve mention. The first was passed in 1789 when North Carolina ceded its western lands to the federal government. This act placed restrictions on the lands already reserved as payment for the officers and soldiers who served in the North Carolina Continental Line. The General Assembly retained the state's right to the

Lands[,] laid off, or directed to be laid off, by any Act or Acts of the General Assembly...for the Officers and Soldiers thereof, their Heirs and Assigns...[for] the Use and benefit of the said Officers, their Heirs and Assigns respectively.³⁵

This law also stipulated that if the military reserve did not contain adequate cultivable land to fulfill the military warrants issued, suitable land elsewhere in the ceded territory had to be allotted as compensation for the officers and soldiers.³⁶

Although not related to the issuance of land grants or the bounty land office, the second law served to bestow an honor upon James Glasgow. In 1791, the North Carolina legislature passed an act dividing Dobbs County into two distinct counties. One county formed by this act was named in honor of Secretary of State James Glasgow.³⁷ The establishment of Glasgow County further displayed the admiration and esteem that Glasgow's peers held for him.

In 1795, however, evidence of improper action on James Glasgow's part began to appear. In June, John Sevier, a Revolutionary hero, an Indian fighter and, later, the first governor of the state of Tennessee, wrote Glasgow concerning land transactions in which he, Sevier, and Landon Carter, entry taker for Washington County, participated.³⁸ Sevier said that in 1779, under legislation passed by the General Assembly, he and Carter purchased nearly 128,000 acres of confiscated land located mostly in Washington County (now Tennessee). This land had been seized from individuals accused of being loyal to the king. According to the law, such lands had to be entered at the rate of fifty shillings per one hundred acres in the county where the land was located.³⁹

Subsequent legislation greatly modified the confiscation acts; many Tories reclaimed their land. In an attempt to compensate those who had purchased land only to have it reclaimed, the General Assembly allowed them equivalent acreage elsewhere within the same county. According to Sevier, since adequate amounts of desirable land in Washington County were not available, the matter lay dormant for several years.⁴⁰

In a second letter dated November 11, 1795, Sevier offered a solution to the problem. Noting a land act of 1783, which required lands to be entered at a rate of £10 per hundred acres, Sevier proposed to "have ten pounds inserted in the room of fifty shillings" on the warrants he had purchased. If Glasgow allowed him to make this change, it would appear that Sevier had obtained the lands under the act of 1783 instead of 1779. For this consideration, he offered to give Glasgow "a plat of the amount of three 640 acres . . . in case you can conceive that the three warrants will be adequate."⁴¹ Instead of paying £12,800 for the lands that he had gotten as it appeared, Sevier, in reality, had paid only £3,200, a difference of £9,600.

If Glasgow granted the favor Sevier realized that more measures needed to be taken before he could secure the land. Since many of Sevier's warrants contained numbers that had already been recorded on the entry books in Washington County and had resulted in grants, something had to be done to rectify this situation so he could secure his lands. Sevier planned to use a 1784 law to help acquire his land. The law stated that if two grants conflicted or overlapped, the person who entered the later, or supernumerary entry, "shall be at full liberty to remove his or their warrant to any other land on which no entry or entries have been previously specially located."⁴² Since entries were numbered sequentially, no two could have the same number.

All that could prevent Sevier from gaining his lands were the land books housed in Landon Carter's entry office in Washington County. If he tried to claim lands on his warrants, the entry books would prove his warrants fraudulent. As long as these books existed, he could not claim his land. Subsequently, the books conveniently disappeared, Sevier claimed that his warrants were supernumerary, Glasgow granted the favor, and, under the 1784 law, Sevier claimed land elsewhere in the western lands.⁴³

Others, later accused of speculation, were also deeply involved in activities by this time. In early 1796 Stockley Donelson corresponded with William Terrell concerning their activities. In a February 24th letter, Donelson berated Terrell concerning events that occurred in the secretary's office. Donelson informed Terrell that:

a circumstance of a Serious nature has appeared. Col^o Glasgow in Examining the Return have discovered that of those of mine their is twenty one missing you Shurely must have taken them away through mistake it prevents me from getting the grants. pray if you have got the warrants Send them back to the Secretary . . . These above mentioned you must not fail to Send back immediately to Col^o Glasgow as much depends thereon let nothing prevent you from doing so you Surely did forget. and neglect leaving the warrants out to be and must be had. it has been a painful thing to me indeed that such a thing should happen--I repeat again that you do not neglect this Business.⁴⁴

A few months later, a letter concerning another problem passed between the two. This time Donelson asked Terrell why the warrants from a recent transaction had been taken out in Terrell's name instead of both of their names. Donelson then proceeded to warn Terrell not to make mention of a deed of conveyance of a Parson Boyd's lands around Colonel Martin Armstrong. If he did, Donelson felt it "would do an injury and destroy all confidence" and "would cause [Armstrong's] jealous mind to rise up against us both."⁴⁵

Donelson also indicated that suspicion had already risen concerning their activities. Near the end of the letter, Donelson warned Terrell that "the eyes of Numbers of people are Strictly watching our conduct they will catch at any word that might fall . . . ungardedly." He warned Terrell to "Stear as clear of Censure or Clammor of the people as possible and make as many Strong friends as possible."⁴⁶

Another early warning of impending danger occurred in a letter between Jesse Speight, a clerk in the Secretary's office, and William Terrell. Speight warned,

I think Billy it might not be proper for you to have any more grants issued in your name or at least very few. My reason for that I had reather communicate to you when present than upon paper . . . but at any rate I would not in my next returns make many in my own name if I was you. My reason why I will give you when I see you and I think will be as well convince you that it might be better to let your letters come out in other names.⁴⁷

Terrell, as illustrated in an August 16, 1796 letter from James Glasgow, did not heed Speight's advice. At this time Glasgow conveyed the impression of running a clean office by informing Terrell that he had countersigned several of the military and service right grants that Terrell had sent him. However, he would not sign several others because the appropriate affidavits had not been filed. He further stated that until these necessary affidavits were filed, the grants "cannot leave the Office."⁴⁸

In 1797 evidence of the fraudulent activities became known. The disclosure of the land frauds is generally credited to Andrew Jackson. Some historians have surmised that Jackson used this episode to gain revenge against his brother-in-law Stockley Donelson. Jackson blamed Donelson for informing him that Rachel Donelson's divorce from her first husband had been granted by the Virginia legislature. In reality, the divorce had not been approved when Jackson married Rachel Donelson. This episode caused Jackson a great deal of embarrassment throughout his career.

In December, Jackson reported his knowledge of the frauds to a representative of North Carolina. Elected as a United States senator from Tennessee, he arrived in Philadelphia and related information about the frauds to Alexander Martin, a senator from North Carolina. The information, Jackson stated, had been relayed to him by a John Love of Virginia. Martin encouraged him to put this information in writing, and Jackson complied.

On December 7, 1797, Martin wrote North Carolina Governor Samuel Ashe informing him of fraudulent activity in North Carolina's military bounty district. Martin told Ashe that he would get a statement and affidavit from Love when he arrived in Philadelphia. Enclosed in Martin's letter was Jackson's statement.⁴⁹ His testimony, dated December 6, 1797 read:

In October last I received Information from Mr. John Love a respectable Citizen of Virginia, to the following effect: Viz--That he the said Love being in the Town of Nashville in September 1797--took his lodgings at the House of W. Tyrrell Lewis, at which time and place, he heard William Tyrrell request Major John Nelson to sign a number of Certificates, to entitle certain officer & soldiers to receive from the Secretary of N. Carolina Military Warrants--That at that period, Majr. Nelson was very much intoxicated, and William Tyrrell producing a long List with a County Certificate annexed, and much persuaded by William Tyrrell and William Tyrrel Lewis, Nelson in this State of Intoxication, signed nearly five hundred; This being done, William Tyrrell Lewis sent out of Nashville for a Captain Phillips who soon attended, when Mr. Lewis furnishing the Table with old Peach Brandy & Loaf Sugar, (which Mr. Love had never before seen in that House), a large Bowl of Apple Toddy was made, and Phillips pressed to drink, which he did very freely. At length Phillips was informed by W. Tyrrell & W. T. Lewis, that they had sent for him to sign certain Certificates which Major Nellson had just signed, to enable a number of Soldiers to obtain their just Rights, which would be lost, unless some Captain could be got to countersign the papers; Phillips declared his wish to do the Soldiers justice, but that he would sign a Certificate in favor of no one, who was not entitled to it. The List produced by Tyrrell contained a few Names that Phillips recollectd. which was immediately signed; the Brandy further press'd., & Phillips becoming very much intoxicated, he was induced by the persuasions of the men above mentioned to sign nearly five hundred, He at length refused to sign any more, when W. Tyrrell damned him & left him. Mr. Love astonished at these proceedings, made some enquiries of a man (I think of the Name Turner) whom he knew to be in Wm. Tyrrell's employ, & Turner jocosely informed him that he had drawn nearly all of them: Meaning the certificates.
This is a concise Statement of the information I received from Mr. John Love.⁵⁰

Governor Ashe wasted no time in moving on the situation. On December 18, 1797, he notified the General Assembly, then meeting in Raleigh, that he needed to communicate information "respecting fraud committed upon our office in obtaining Military Grants." From "the continual buzzing of these flies about the Office," he continued, "my suspicions have been long awake. I hope the Honble Houses will adapt such measures as will prevent future frauds and bring to condign punishment the perpitrators of past."⁵¹

Upon receiving the Governor's message, the General Assembly acted promptly on the matter. The house passed a resolution requesting William Hinton, a Wake County justice of the peace, to issue a warrant for the apprehension of William Terrell. The resolution also called for the secretary of state to suspend the issuing of military land warrants and hold in his office any undelivered grants that were already made out, pending further legislative action.

Finally, the House appointed John Skinner, Major Samuel Ashe (son of Governor Samuel Ashe), Jesse Franklin, William H. Hill, Edward Graham, and Jonas Bedford as members of a committee to examine William Terrell's actions and the papers from his trunk which was seized in the secretary's office. To assist these men, the Senate appointed James Holland, Henry Hill, Joseph T. Rhodes, William Person Little, and Joseph Riddick. For examination of Terrell's records, the legislature empowered the committee to call any persons or to confiscate any papers that it deemed necessary.⁵²

With the creation of the committee to investigate the frauds by the General Assembly, examination of the materials began in earnest.

When the committee created to investigate the purported land frauds first met on December 18, 1797, the participants in, and the magnitude of, the frauds were unclear. Over the next two days, however, both became painfully obvious.

On December 20, 1797 the committee members issued their first report stating, "that . . . from the discoveries they have made are with out doubt that the frauds charged have been committed." However, they could not report the names of the conspirators or the extent of the fraud at that early date due to the multiplicity of the papers and the number of the people involved. The committee related the serious nature of the frauds already uncovered and proposed to continue examination of the papers until the full scale of the frauds was discovered. Then, and only then, the committee reasoned, could the legislature "remedy the evils already incured and prevent the like in [the] future."¹

The committee, in its second report on December 22, 1797, shed light on the methods used by the conspirators, named several of the men involved in the frauds, and made several proposals to remedy the problems. The committee's findings and recommendations follow:

- 1. Forged certificates and assignments of warrants constituted the means by which speculators generally used to affect the frauds;

- 2. Due to the magnitude of the frauds, the short amount of time remaining in the current session of the General Assembly, and the inadequacies of the present committee, a Board of Enquiry should be created and given full power to examine the frauds committed;

- 3. The General Assembly should pass a law to repeal earlier acts that authorized the Secretary of State to issue warrants for military service and to suspend the issuing of grants on military warrants for a limited time;

- 4. In many cases, the Secretary had been unmindful in his duty and negligent in his office, and, as a result, was guilty of a misdemeanor;

- 5. The committee did not undertake to say whether enough information was available to support articles of impeachment, however, the Secretary should be immediately suspended from office;

- 6. Since the matter of forging assignments was not confined to a few men, the committee reported that William Tyrrell, Stockley Donelson, Redmon Dillon Barry, and John Medearis were materially involved in the frauds. Sterling Brewer, Allen Brewer, John Conroy, John Mann, William Lytle, Robert Young, and Joseph Adams were also involved, but only acted as instruments of those materially involved;

- 7. The Solicitor General would determine which of the accused could be used as witnesses, and should also bind over Captain Gee Bradley and Colonel William Polk to provide testimony as material witnesses; and

- 8. Martin Armstrong's land office should be immediately closed and all the books and papers be given to the Board of Enquiry.²

In addition to approving the report and passing the proposed bill, the General Assembly approved two of the three resolutions put forth by the committee. The resolutions to have the Solicitor General bind over witnesses, and the closing of Martin Armstrong's office met no resistance in the legislature. The only resolution that failed concerned the committee's call to suspend James Glasgow from his duties.³3

Acting on the resolution to create a Board of Inquiry, the General Assembly elected Francis Locke, Edward Graham, and Basil Gaither to serve as members. In subsequent resolutions and bills, the Board members are also referred to as the commissioners. Finally, the House requested that Wake County justice of the peace William Hinton bind, in sufficient recognizance, the men accused of fraud as well as Bradley and Polk until the April 1798 term of the Hillsborough District Court.⁴ After taking these steps, the General Assembly referred the matter back to Governor Ashe.

Many of the men accused by the committee of participating in the frauds were Federalists. Governor Ashe, an Anti-Federalist, wasted little time in acting. In December, he commissioned James Holland, James Milbourne, James Britton, and William Britton to travel to Tennessee to secure the papers from Armstrong's office. Realizing the importance of an immediate response, Ashe sent an express to Governor John Sevier of Tennessee to inform him of the General Assembly's resolutions concerning Martin Armstrong's office. Subsequent correspondence indicates that Sevier related the information concerning the books and records from Martin Armstrong's office to judges Howell Tatum and John McNairy. The judges contacted Martin Armstrong, who, upon the advice of Tatum and McNairy, deposited the papers from his office with Judge Tatum.

On January 13, Martin Armstrong informed Ashe that he had been notified of the General Assembly's actions by Tatum and McNairy. Armstrong further stated that the "papers that were the object, [had been] delivered into the hands of Judge McNairy & Judge Tatum."⁵ Armstrong also stated that his office, unlike the secretary's office, did not have the means to detect fraudulent warrants or transfers. He did, however, pledge his services and cooperation in the investigation into the frauds.

At this same time, however, some men accused in the conspiracy attempted to break into the State House and destroy the records. On the night of January 18th, between the hours of nine and ten o'clock, three men broke into the comptroller's office and carried off a trunk that was said to be the property of William Terrell. The thieves also threw a large chest belonging to Glasgow from the window.⁶ Peter Bird, a slave of Treasurer John Haywood, came by the capitol during the robbery. He confronted the robbers, but they replied only by throwing bricks and stones. Fearing for his life, Bird fled and quickly notified a group of men celebrating the second marriage of Treasurer Haywood at Mr. Cassos' inn at the corner of Fayetteville and Morgan Streets.

The men quickly returned to the State House, and the robbers fled. Phil, or Phillimon, a slave of William Terrell, was the only perpetrator caught, and both Terrell's trunk and Glasgow's chest were recovered. After a trial in the Wake County courts in which Phil was found guilty, Governor Ashe consulted the council of state to determine if the sentence should be executed. Ashe hoped that Phil would admit the name of his accomplices. The council, however, felt that the sentence should be carried through and Phil was hanged.⁷ After this attempt to destroy the records, Governor Ashe ordered the hiring of a guard to protect the State House.⁸

On January 29, Armstrong wrote Governor Ashe, that he discovered,

many thousand acres of Land Grants as Service Rights [for surveyors], Two grants are for the same tract, and a large quantity covered by the line run by the late commissioners appointed by Congress all which are Charged to the Surveyors.⁹

Armstrong also told Ashe that he issued a public notice calling for all the deputy surveyors to come in and make account for their claims to lands. When the surveyors accounted for their service rights, Armstrong would be able to see who had received too much land, and he would then rectify the situation. Once compiled, he promised to forward a copy of his report to Ashe.¹⁰

In early February, the commissioners arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, and a controversy soon arose as to the ownership of the materials from Armstrong's office. Judge Howell Tatum wrote Governor Ashe on February 8 and 9 concerning this problem. In the February 8th letter, Tatum explained that, after conferring with federal Judge John McNairy, the judges compelled Armstrong to deposit the records from the land office with some trusted, impartial official. Armstrong agreed and chose to deposit the books with Judge Tatum.¹¹

Tatum then stated that on Monday February 5th, the commissioners visited him to collect the records with a letter from Governor Sevier of Tennessee requesting that Tatum deliver the papers in his care to North Carolina's representatives. Tatum remarked to Ashe that

This application and address, I must confess created in me some degree of Surprise, as I did not suppose it could be conceived upon legal principles, that an office of Record, established by law at a particular place and for such important purposes, could be removed from its destination, in the manner contemplated or that the State of North Carolina, unconnected with us, as our individual rights, could claim the perogative of making such a removal.¹²

He further stated that, as a protector of the rights of the people of Tennessee, he "positively refused to permit the Records & Documents of [Armstrong's] office [to] be delivered up."¹³

Tatum felt that the following basic questions had to be resolved before releasing the records.

- 1. Does the legislative body on any state have the right to remove a record from any place that the legislature had fixed by law?

- 2. If such power does exist, is the mode pursued by the North Carolina legislature a proper one?

- 3. Are the documents the property of the state of North Carolina or the state of Tennessee?

- 4. What was the true interest that the state of North Carolina held in the office of Martin Armstrong?

- 5. What are the proper modes to be pursued by either persons or states with the benefit of testimony founded on the Records of that office?¹⁴

Tatum concluded that, since many frauds had been committed by those entrusted as record keepers, he could not release the records for fear that they might be altered. He also felt that official records could not be transferred from place to place to satisfy a private purpose. However, he proposed to allow the commissioners to copy the records and have their copies certified by Martin Armstrong. The commissioners refused Tatum's proposal.

On February 9th, Tatum, having reviewed the books, described the improprieties that he found in another letter to Ashe. According to Tatum, the majority of the frauds fell into three categories. First, entries made and recorded by one person were erased and replaced by the name and warrant number of another person. Secondly, the conspirators recorded a large number of blank locations in the deed books. Carried forward, in some instances for several years, a warrant number and name were later affixed to the location. By doing this, a person could claim choice land and carry it until he received a warrant.¹⁵

Finally, he noted the large quantity of entries for surveyors. According to Tatum, there were more than double the amount of acres of land already located as surveyors' rights than would pay for surveying every "legal and fraudulant warrant now in being, or issued." He offered Ashe his assistance and, if needed, he would "expose . . . such a scene of fraud and impropriety that would astonish any reasonable person."¹⁶ A quick study of the military land warrants at the North Carolina State Archives shows that Howell Tatum either received grants or money through the assignment of over seventy-five warrants.

On February 10th, Governor Ashe received a letter from Andrew Jackson concerning the land frauds and the testimony of Charles J. Love. Jackson said that he had been mistaken when he earlier stated that Love was present at the time Major Nelson signed the certificates. However, he assured the governor that Love's deposition would point to impropriety and "a great deal of criminallity" in Terrell's and Lewis's modus operandi. Love's deposition stated

[O]n the subject of Wm Terrell and William T. Lewis, having obtained a number of Certificates, unjustly, I mentioned to you while I was in Tennessee that I had detected Wm. Tyrrell in that business. the certificates were Signed in the house of Wm. T. Lewis, and he was in the room and during the time Phillips was signing and appeared to be anxious he Should Sign but they all appeared to belong to Wm. Tyrrell, for he took them out of his Portmanteau, and when Phillips was so drunk that he could sign no more he took them away himself.¹⁷

While Martin Armstrong wrote Governor Ashe on February 13th to report that the surveyors had made their returns and that he had processed a report which he would soon forward, Governor Sevier, unsure of the legality of North Carolina's request for the books, contacted Tennessee's attorneys general. The attorneys, John C. Hamilton and John Lowry, advised Sevier that the governor of North Carolina had no legal authority to make such a request. Since the office had been established by law, only an amendment to that law could remove the office or its records.

Removal of the documents under the resolution as it stood constituted an infraction of the laws of North Carolina. Therefore, to remove the records under the existing resolution would abolish the office. As a result of this opinion, on February 17, Sevier asked North Carolina's commissioners to return the books that they were examining to the office of the Tennessee secretary of state, William Maclin. Sevier would, however, allow the commissioners to make copies and transcriptions to be authenticated by Armstrong if they so chose. Again, they declined to accept the offer.¹⁸

Apparently, the commissioners did not feel that Tatum was as helpful as he portrayed himself. In an undated letter, James Holland and James Britton related their experiences to Governor Ashe. They stated that they arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee on January 28, 1798 and soon met with Governor Sevier. Sevier informed them that he would aid their mission in any way possible, and that, according to Governor Ashe's wishes, the books and papers of Armstrong's office had been deposited with a trusted official, Judge Tatum.¹⁹

The commissioners then journeyed to Nashville and arrived on February 5th and met with Judge Tatum the next day. When they applied for the records from Armstrong's office, Tatum informed them that, although their commission was good in North Carolina, it was no good in Tennessee. Holland stated that an argument of some heat and length ensued and Judge McNairy joined in on the side of Judge Tatum. However, upon being reminded that the question might soon come before him in an official capacity, he withdrew from the debate.²⁰

The next day, the commissioners invited Judge Tatum to join them at their lodgings. When Tatum arrived, the argument again arose. This time, however, Tatum agreed to allow the commissioners to take the warrants provided enough time was allowed to copy them. When they pressed on about the books, Tatum again denied their request. Soon after, the commissioners left for Knoxville.²¹

On their way to Knoxville, the commissioners received a letter from Governor Sevier expressing a change in his attitude toward assisting the commissioners. James Holland concluded by stating that "the reasons are more spurious than solid and that Judge Tatum is unwarranted in his conduct." In closing, he apologized to Governor Ashe for the failure of their mission.²²

In North Carolina matters proceeded rapidly. In Raleigh, two of the members of the Board of Inquiry met to begin their review. Although work on the records was not scheduled to begin until March 1, commissioners Basil Gaither and Francis Locke met on February 15 at the comptroller's office, took possession of the records therein, and started work. They sent a letter to Edward Graham, the third member, to inform him that work had begun. He arrived in Raleigh on March 1. Recognizing the vast amount of paper work before them and noting that the comptroller's office lacked sufficient security to protect the records, Gaither and Locke took some of the records to Salisbury with them when they left Raleigh.²³

In April, Ashe called together the Council of State. He laid before Thomas Brown, Henry Watters, Ransom Southerland, and Thomas Hill copies of two letters from Judges Tatum and McNairy concerning a grave matter. The judges wrote Ashe on February 13 to inform him of another plot to destroy the records in the State House. The judges warned Ashe of impending mischief respecting the records from the secretary's office. The judges stated that they received this information during a discussion with a man, already implicated as a conspirator, on the subject of the frauds.

During the conversation, the man said that he wished to relate knowledge of an imminent crime. As the man feared for his life if his name were made known, he spoke only on the condition of anonymity. He stated that, some time around February 11, he had been at the house of William Blount and had overheard plans made by Blount and Terrell concerning the records in Raleigh. The men planned to travel to the capital and destroy the records located in the State House. If they could not get through the door, the offices would then be burned. Tatum reported that the informant would be in Raleigh in April at which time he would speak freely with the state officials concerning his knowledge of the plot and of the frauds. Acting upon this information, the Council of State appointed a guard of six men and an officer to replace the guard Ashe had hired previously.²⁴

In referring the matter to the Council, Ashe professed that the villains possessed the "minds and hearts equal to the blackest crimes" and that the "black and hellish scheme" had been concocted in the "House of a person, who seems to be in the character of a fallen angel." The Council sent information of this impending plot to the members of the Board of Inquiry in Salisbury. As a safety precaution, the Board members hired an armed guard of six men to accompany them when they returned to Raleigh with the records.²⁵

Toward the end of March, the Board of Inquiry's clerk contacted Ashe and reported that they would be ready to submit their findings on the last day of the month. Owing to the amount of paper and the number of volumes included with the report, the members requested that he, Ashe, attend the presentation. In their report the board stated that an adequate amount of time required to study the quantity of materials had not been allotted. This, along with the non-compliance in Tennessee, prohibited the board from completing the investigation to the fullest extent. To maximize their time, the board members decided to examine the materials located in the trunk confiscated from William Terrell and the materials in the secretary of state's office. The Board concluded, with regard to the military land warrant frauds, seventeen types of infractions had occurred. These were as follows:

- 1. That Warrants have issued to persons who do not appear either from the Muster rolls, or from any Voucher found in the Secretary's Office to be entitled by law to the same.

- 2. That more than One warrant has issued in several instances for the same claim.

- 3. That it has been almost the practice of course with the Secretary to deliver these warrants to any person who applied for them on behalf of the claimant, without requiring the applicant to show his authority to draw the warrant.

- 4. That many warrants have consequently been drawn, and compleat titles effected to a stranger without the owner's consent.

- 5. That many warrants have been drawn from the Secretary's Office by forged Powers of Attorney.

- 6. That many warrants have been obtained on false Certificates, or in other words, on Certificates from Officers in the late continental line of this State, setting forth, that men served as soldiers who never did actually serve--that they served for a longer period that they did actually serve--that they died in service, when in truth they deserted the service--they died in service, when their warrant is assigned by a signature purporting to be their own name, and in their own hand writing.

- 7. That four hundred and four Certificates to procure Military Land warrants were found in the possession of William Tyrrell, and many of them in his hand writing. One list containing two hundred and twenty-five names sworn by John Tipper, and certified by Gee Bradley--thirty-two signed by Major Jn^o Nelson & Captⁿ Joseph Phillips--of which twenty-seven were inclosed in blank powers of Attorney to draw the warrants, One hundred and seven by Joseph Phillips, Nelson, Medeares, Graves & Armstrong--thirty-five unsigned. On these four hundred and four Certificates, warrants have not issued but were intended to be obtained. Few of these names are found on the Muster rolls, and those few with but two exceptions have already drawn their warrants.

- 8. That when by such, or Similar means, warrants have been drawn, they have been fraudulently assigned in a variety of ways.

- 9. On some warrants, an assignment has been forged in the name of the Soldier.

- 10. On others, in the name of his Heirs, or supposed Heirs; on others by persons who assign themselves the Attornies of the Soldiers, or their Heirs.

- 11. Many are assigned at one and the same time by the same person as Attorney for a number of different claimants.

- 12. Such assignments are in several instances made to the same person who signed as Attorney.

- 13. A common course pursued in these assignments, has been to forge a transfer to a real person, and for that person to actually assign to another in the presence of witnesses.

- 14. Several persons whose names are subscribed as witnesses to forged assignments, have made Oath before magistrates of the due execution of said assignment.

- 15. Several warrants which had been duly drawn and fairly assigned, but which by some accident, or by their office as Surveyors have fallen into the hands of these persons, have been erased and so altered as to divest the fair assignee of his right, and vest the same in the person whose name they insert.

- 16. Though many of these assignments are left blank, the Surveys which accompany them are filled up, on many of such grants were found filled up, in the possession of William Tyrrell but not executed.

- 17. Surveys have been returned and grants made out on assignments of the above discription in every instance.²⁶

In April 1798 Hillsborough District Court, indictments were issued against "William Tyrrell, Stockley Donelson, Raymond D. Barry, & others." The court also ordered the papers and books relating to the case against the conspirators to be returned to Raleigh by Colonel Samuel Benton, deputy clerk of the court, under the guard of six armed men.²⁷

On June 10, Ashe received a letter that contained a list of the men indicted.

Although this list has not survived, Ashe wrote to Sevier on June 18 and requested that Stockley Donelson, William Terrell, John Ferguson, James Crishholm, Abraham Swagherty, John Grisham, Thomas Williams, John Nelson, John Horton, and John Hadley be arrested and secured agreeable to an act of the United States Congress dated February 12, 1793.²⁸ "William Tyrrell and Stokley Donaldson," Ashe reported, "appear to be principals, and scoundrals of the first magnitude . . . Donaldson was retaken and again bailed, [but] Tyrrel still continues a fugative."²⁹ It should be noted that Redmond D. Barry was still in North Carolina at this time, so Ashe did not need to request his extradition from Tennessee.

When the General Assembly met in November, Governor Ashe forwarded the Board of Inquiry's report. After reviewing the report, the legislature quickly set about to rectify the frauds, to punish the culprits, and to ensure that such frauds should not occur again. On Tuesday, November 20, 1798, before the legislature could act on the Board's report, James Glasgow sent an address to the General Assembly in which he resigned as secretary of state to prepare his defense.³⁰ After some deliberation, William White was elected to replace Glasgow. As a direct result of the frauds, White had to enter into bond in the sum of $10,000 current money. Prior to this, the office of secretary of state required no bond. After accepting Glasgow's resignation and electing White, the General Assembly passed a resolution requiring the trunks and papers of the Board of Inquiry to be deposited in the Secretary's office and that no further examination of the materials occur until ordered by the governor or the General Assembly.³¹

Next, the General Assembly passed two laws in reaction to the frauds. Angered over the findings described in the Board of Inquiry's report, the legislature passed a bill that established a court to bring the accused to justice, to examine the validity of grants, and, to give jurisdiction to the superior courts.³²

At this point in time, North Carolina law made no provisions for the convening of the superior court judges. However, as early as November 26, 1787, the judges of the superior court met during a session of the New Bern District Superior Court to confer upon the legal precedence in the case Bayard vs. Singleton³³ Although not directly related to the Glasgow case, this conference provided a precedence for the court the General Assembly created in 1798.

Many fraudulent activities and infractions occurred in several districts, some of which, by this time, came under the jurisdiction of the state of Tennessee. Well aware that the existing judicial system provided no precedent for a trial of this nature, members of the Assembly introduced legislation that created a special court, a Court of Patents. This court, which had to be called by the governor, had the authority to try the accused in a centralized location instead of the various district courts.³⁴ The bill provided the court with the authority to examine the validity of certain patents, to try the culprits, and, in other cases, to give jurisdiction to the superior courts.³⁵

The court's guide lines were set as follow. The court had to contain at least three of the superior court judges, meet twenty days before the start of the fall circuit, and sit and hear cases at the court house in Raleigh for ten days. The legislature gave the court jurisdiction over every grant issued since July 4, 1776 with notices of any questionable grant published in the gazettes of the state. The secretary of state was instructed to produce authenticated copies of any grant that the court may need.³⁶

The judges of the court were empowered to appoint a clerk, who entered into a bond of £2,000, for the term of court. The law also specified that the twenty-four jurors called for such a court were to be called in the following form: From Orange, Randolph, Chatham, Person, Caswell, and Granville Counties, three men each; from Wake County, six men.³⁷ The law also mandated that the sheriff of Wake County attend the court at the rate of 20 shillings per day. Finally, if business was completed before the allotted ten days, the court could adjourn. Although this act became law, its validity and necessity came into question.

A second law suspended the land acts passed in 1780, 1782, 1783, 1784, and 1787 until the end of the 1799 session. This, in effect, continued the closing of Martin Armstrong's office. The bill also established another Board of Inquiry to meet the following March to continue examination of the books and papers in the secretary's office. To this board, the General Assembly elected Basil Gaither, Edward Graham, and Samuel Purviance.³⁸

Another event occurred during this session that had an impact on the prosecution of the frauds. Since the constitution of North Carolina only allowed a governor to serve three one-year terms in a six year period, Samuel Ashe, having already served three terms, was succeeded by William Richardson Davie. On December 18, the General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Governor Davie to commission officials to travel to Tennessee for another attempt to acquire the books from Martin Armstrong's office.³⁹

With these events, the first full year passed since the frauds were reported to North Carolina's officials. Only a few men had been brought into court and entered into bond. No person accused of the frauds had been tried or convicted. North Carolina's agents failed in their quest to acquire the books from Martin Armstrong's office, but they succeeded in obtaining the soldiers' warrants. A new governor was elected, and whereas Ashe proved relentless in pursuing the accused, Davie soon began to procrastinate in seeking the indicted.⁴⁰

As 1798 drew to a close, nearly a year had elapsed since the discovery of fraudulent activities on the part of James Glasgow, Stockley Donelson, William Terrell, and others. Although the legislature tried to take steps to ensure that the accused were captured and punished, the governor proved to be the official that would spearhead the pursuit of those charged. During the first year of the investigations, Governor Samuel Ashe exerted a great deal of effort in obtaining the records relating to the frauds and attempting to capture those named in the Board of Inquiry's report. However, in 1798, William Richardson Davie was elected governor. Where Ashe acted quickly, Davie began to drag his feet.

Many actions occurred at the 1798 session of the General Assembly as a direct result of the frauds. The legislature accepted the board of inquiry's report; passed a law establishing a court to try the accused; accepted James Glasgow's resignation; continued the closing of Martin Armstrong's office, and passed a resolution calling for the papers and books from Armstrong's office to be recovered from Tennessee.

To recover the books and papers, and noting their importance in the impending trials, the General Assembly, wishing to "do the utmost Justice to all its Citizens, to the Citizens of the State of Tennessee, and every other person that hath been injured by the frauds," resolved that the governor empower commissioners to travel to Tennessee in another attempt to acquire the records.¹ It took nearly three months for Governor Davie to act.

On March 1, 1799, the governor sent John Willis and Francis Locke commissions as agents for North Carolina to travel to Tennessee to procure Martin Armstrong's books. To assist the men in their endeavor, Davie enclosed copies of Judge Howell Tatum's letters regarding the first attempt to acquire the records, the opinions of Tennessee's attorneys general with respect to the records, and the correspondence of Tennessee Governor John Sevier.²

Davie also reminded the men of the earlier failed attempt of North Carolina's commissioners to get the records. To assist the men in their endeavor, he enclosed a copy of the resolution empowering the men as North Carolina's agents. He then stipulated that if Tennessee's officials would not surrender the records, the commissioners were to transcribe the records and have their transcription certified by an official of Tennessee. Finally, he requested that the men proceed as soon as possible and correspond with him at their earliest convenience upon their arrival in Tennessee.³

Recalling the difficulties encountered by North Carolina's first commissioners, Governor Davie sent three additional letters to Tennessee with Locke and Willis. First, Davie wrote Martin Armstrong requesting that he render his assistance to North Carolina's representatives, and, if necessary, to certify any copies that the men may need to make.⁴

Next, Davie wrote Governor Sevier and thanked him for acting immediately in response to Governor Samuel Ashe's request concerning the records of Armstrong's office. Davie then informed Sevier that, as a result of the sudden change in his, Sevier's, attitude and subsequent non-compliance on the part of officials in Tennessee, the North Carolina General Assembly again acted on the subject of the records in December 1798. He informed Sevier of Francis Locke's and John Willis' appointments as North Carolina's commissioners and requested that Sevier assist the men in obtaining the books. Then, and only then, Davie reasoned, could North Carolina "discharge a duty she conceives she owes to her own Citizens as well as the Citizens of Tennessee."⁵

After requesting the assistance of the Tennessee officials, Davie wrote an additional letter to Martin Armstrong. Noting Armstrong's letters of January 24, and February 13, 1798 which promised a report of the deputy surveyors' service rights, Davie requested that Armstrong forward the report as soon as possible since the surveyors' rights "have been . . . considerable sources of fraud and imposition."⁶

Another step taken by the General Assembly in 1798 concerned the establishment of a second Board of Inquiry, to which they elected Basil Gaither, Edward Graham, and Samuel Purviance as members. On March 20, 1799, Gaither and Purviance met. Although Graham was absent at this first meeting, the other two members began their examination. In mid April, the board informed Davie that they would be prepared to issue a preliminary report on June 1. Before ending their examination on April 19, Gaither and Purviance agreed to meet again on May 15, hoping that Graham would be present.

On April 22, Davie wrote Attorney General Blake Baker and Solicitor General Edward Jones seeking their presence at the June 1 presentation to determine "some decided and effectual measure for supporting those accusations."⁷ He further requested that Baker, as principal law officer of the state, study the materials submitted by the board and issue an opinion on the expediency or necessity of Davie's commissioning a court of Oyer and Terminer.⁸

On May 24, 1799, Davie received the first letter from commissioner John Willis. Willis stated that the men had been delayed in departing North Carolina and did not arrive in Knoxville, Tennessee until April 30. However, upon their arrival, they immediately applied to Governor Sevier, presented their commission and informed him of their mission. He stated that Sevier "appeared to be quite unprepared for the application of the books & papers in Martin Armstrong's office," and a lengthy conversation ensued.⁹ Finally, Sevier stated that he would apply to Tennessee's attorneys general to seek their advice. Locke and Willis agreed to return the following day.

When Willis returned the following day, Sevier informed him that he had not made up his mind and would delay a decision until Tennessee's General Assembly met. Sevier informed Willis that shortly after North Carolina's first commission left, a group of men from Mero District met and requested that Sevier not relinquish the books. Therefore, he would not permit the records to be removed without further permission. Willis, realizing that any further attempt to obtain the original records would be in vain, suggested that the commissioners be allowed to make copies of the originals. Sevier readily agreed to this suggestion.¹⁰

According to Willis, the first book of entries was in a mangled state and many of the earliest entries had original names erased and new names inserted. However, the commissioners were making "literal Transcripts of every entry on the books, making the Erasures and interliniations, Comparing them with the Original files of location, noting the differences of words, names and number in the margin."¹¹ As such, the transcriptions would probably not be completed until July.

In addition to removing names and inserting new names, Willis reported many blank locations were entered on the books, and names were later affixed to these locations. An additional method of fraud that he reported centered on the first one hundred fifty pages of the first original book. Someone had removed these pages at some time, kept them hidden, and started a new book. This way, locations were taken from the old book as needed. Although sharing exact locations, the numbers on the entries in the new book varied from fifty to sixty in some places than the same entry on the new book. Though this method, in excess of five hundred fraudulent entries had been entered on the books.¹²

Like many others in the General Assembly, Willis stated that he owned none of the land in question, bought none of the warrants, had no interest in any of the titles, and did not care if the titles were good or defective. The frauds, Willis felt, occurred because the business of the Nashville land office had been long ignored by officials in North Carolina. As such, the General Assembly had been negligent in its duties.¹³ "This Laziness," Willis stated, "prevailed while a Combination of men Capable as designing, laid and executed their plans, while the rights of the State & the property of Individuals were Swallowed in the Vortex."¹⁴

The board of inquiry, meeting since the agreed date of May 15, issued its preliminary report on June 6, 1799. Basil Gaither and Samuel Purviance commented on the continued absence of Edward Graham at their meetings. They also stated that the examination would probably have been completed by this time if Graham had been present. The body of the report dealt with actions occurring in John Armstrong's office and listed thirteen methods by which the state had been defrauded in that office. In concluding their report, Gaither and Purviance promised to continue their examination until the whole investigation was completed.¹⁵

On June 17, after reviewing the board's report, Blake Baker wrote Governor Davie. Baker stated that he had drawn a petition form that could be used in all the cases concerning fraudulent grants in the Court of Patents. However, he felt that the state should only seek to vacate grants that were procured on duplicate warrants. He further stated that he completed no petitions against anyone accused of fraud since he could not fully understand the board's remarks in some areas.¹⁶

Baker then stated he would have Samuel Purviance furnish the secretary of state with a list of grants to be duplicated for use in the prosecutions. Finally, he promised to forward the book of remarks created by Gaither and Purviance to Davie by the first of July. In the meantime, Baker planned to study the book so he could do his part "to heel the wound & even to wipe away the stain" the frauds had brought upon the state.¹⁷

On June 28, after sitting for sixty-three days, the board of inquiry finished its work and issued a final report. Gaither and Purviance explained the methods they employed in the examination of the military warrants. First, they checked to see if the soldier to whom the warrant was issued was entitled to the warrant. If the soldier was entitled, they then determined if he received the grant. In cases where the soldier's right was assigned, they examined the assignment to detect forgery. To assist their investigation, the board members created a book, which they labeled "A", where they entered any warrant that bore suspicion. They enclosed this book with their report.¹⁸

The board members stated that they found some instances of fraud that they could not be directly related to one individual. However, since the method employed was similar to that used on other warrants, the board members attributed these cases to the individuals who utilized the same procedures. Gaither and Purviance then indicated that James Glasgow was the principal conspirator in the frauds. Until this time, Glasgow had been accused of no more than malfeasance in office. The board then listed the following instances of Glasgow's involvement.

- 1. He has issued duplicate warrants, on the presumption of the originals having been lost, with out any evidence to that effect, and before the issuing of duplicates was authorized by any act of the Assembly.

- 2. He has issued two warrants to the same soldier without expressing either to be duplicate, and executed grants for both.

- 3. He issued warrants for the full bounty of Land, to persons who appear by the Muster roll to have been mustered only for nine months.

- 4. He has issued warrants to soldiers who appear by the muster roll to have deserted, and executed grants to others as the assignees of said soldiers.

- 5. He has issued warrants to soldiers who have deserted, and executed grants to himself as the Assignee of such soldier.

- 6. He has issued warrants to persons whose names do not appear on the Muster Roll, and in whose favor no certificates can be found.

- 7. He has issued warrants to soldiers, and grants on those warrants to speculators, without any assignment whatever.

- 8. He has issued grants on military warrants, where his own signature, as Secretary, to the warrant has been forged.

- 9. He has issued grants to himself and others, on forms of warrants without any signature.

- 10. He has issued grants to himself on such unsigned warrants, as the assignee of the soldier; which assignment we take to have been forged by him, or by his procurement.

- 11. He has issued grants without any warrant whatever.¹⁹

To support these allegations, the board prepared a separate report that dealt only with the warrants on which Glasgow was implicated.

Gaither and Purviance also reported that the secretary had not acted alone in defrauding the state of "between 600,000 and 700,000 acres" of military land. According to the board, the most abused method in obtaining the land was the forging of assignments on warrants. Although they were unable to report every instance of forgery and every person involved, they were certain that John McNees, Nathan Lassiter, Moses Shelby, Wynn Dixon, Mann Phillips, Benjamin Sheppard, Samuel Samford, Thomas Butcher, John Price, John Sheppard, Joshua Davie, William Faircloth, Joseph Ferrebee, John Bonds, Arthur Pearce, Willoughby Williams, Joshua Hadley, Stockley Donelson, and William Terrell were those most deeply incriminated.²⁰

In early August John Willis and Francis Locke returned from Tennessee and issued their final report. Following summation of the events communicated in Willis' earlier letter, the commissioners related their activities after arriving in Nashville. From May 9 to July 13, the commissioners and three clerks transcribed the books including every "erazure, alteration, interliniation or blotch."²¹ Stating that an attempt to describe every instance of fraud they observed would be as laborious as the transcriptions themselves, Locke and Willis described the most serious abuses they perceived.

The commissioners also noticed that, almost as soon as the office opened, a large number of blank locations were entered on the books without the name of an enterer. Most of these locations had been claimed in the intervening fifteen years, but they were still obvious since the names were entered in a different ink and a different handwriting. Additionally, several fair entries had the name of the enterer erased and the name of someone else inserted.

Furthermore, the conspirators would remove locations and claims from valuable land and then secure it for themselves. Since the men had access to the entry books at all times, they made such alterations as it suited their views. Locke and Willis also noticed many transfers on the books in which names of individuals appeared in different handwriting and ink than the transfer.

The commissioners then noted a large number of entries made without warrants. By doing this, prime land was secured and a warrant numbered, once secured, was later added. Next, many true entries were voided by crossing them off the books to indicate that no grant had been issued on the entry. Finally, they noted the extensive number of service rights claimed by surveyors and deputy surveyors.²²

Locke and Willis felt that the abuses occurred due to neglect and lack of judgment on the part of those appointed to supervise the office. "Such a variety of persons having access to the books as Deputy Entry takers, Locators, Surveyors and some Special friends," they reported, "that Martin Armstrong himself can give little explanation" of the condition of the books. To assist in any future trails on the subject, Locke and Willis created individual reports stating examples of each man's actions and offered their services to Governor Davie in the trials when the time came.²³

Additionally, in August 1799, while preparing for the trial, Attorney General Blake Baker insisted that James Glasgow be bound in recognizance in New Bern District Superior Court in the sum of £1,000 to appear at the March 1800 term of the New Bern District Superior Court. After entering into a recognizance bond at the March 1800 session, Glasgow was examined by Superior Court Judge, Alfred Moore.²⁴ After Glasgow was sworn, Moore began his questioning. On the stand, Glasgow was asked specific questions concerning his performance as secretary of state. During the examination Judge Moore asked Glasgow fourteen different questions concerning the land frauds. Moore's questioning touched on only three of the six eventual indictments handed down by the grand jury against James Glasgow. For the purpose of this paper, only the questions dealing with eventual indictments will be reported.

Of the three questions relating to later indictments, the first question Moore asked Glasgow concerned the issuance of a duplicate warrant to the heirs of James Roberts. Moore asked why the duplicate had been issued when the certificate that indicated the original warrant had been lost possessed a date several years later than the date on the duplicate warrant. Glasgow answered that he supposed the duplicate warrant had been antedated to agree with the original warrant. Next, Moore asked why Glasgow issued himself a land grant on a warrant to the heirs of James Harrison, who, it appeared, had never served, when the assignment by heir, Francis Harrison, was forged. Glasgow answered by stating that he had employed a gentleman named Samuel Hollady to purchase military warrants in his, Glasgow's, name. This was one of the warrants which Hollady had purchased, and the assignment on the back contained only an "X". Hollady had assured him that this was Francis Harrison's mark. Glasgow stated he then wrote "Francis" on one side of the mark and "Harrison" on the other side to validate the assignment. Finally, Moore asked why he had issued a grant to John Hacket on a warrant issued to James Hubbert without an assignment from Hubbert. Glasgow answered that he did not, as a matter of course, critically examine the returned warrants, but only checked to see if the warrant was valid.²⁵ Despite Glasgow's answers, indictments were issued relevant to these matters on charges of malfeasance in office.

By August 1799, pressure was growing from the public for Davie to convene the court for the trial of the accused. Well aware that the existing judicial system provided no precedent for a trial of this nature, and since the infractions had occurred in several different districts, some of which, by this time, came under the jurisdiction of the state of Tennessee, the General Assembly passed a law that created a special court that had authority to try the accused in a centralized location.²⁶ Entitled "An Act to establish a Court with jurisdiction competent to examine the validity of patents in certain cases and giving jurisdiction to the Superior Courts of Law and Equity in other or like cases," the 1798 court law's validity soon came under debate.

The law called for William Richardson Davie to convene the judges of the superior courts together to sit for the trials. Either Davie doubted the legality of the court, or his Federalist affiliation discouraged him from moving against a member of his own party, it took nearly nine months for him to act. However, in August 1799, with pressure growing from the public to call the special court and bring the accused to trial, Davie wrote Attorney General Blake Baker and Solicitor General Edward Jones for advice on the subject.²⁷ Also, in early August, Davie convened the Council of State to solicit advice on whether the court should be called.

On August 12, 1799 the Council met, and Davie presented a letter detailing his reservations on the General Assembly's act empowering him to call for a court of patents. He questioned the expediency of calling such a court and inquired whether the inculpated could be tried in the Superior Courts of Law and Equity and whether it was necessary to call the court at all. He also informed the council that he had asked the state's legal counsels for their opinions as to whether a court of Oyer and Terminer would simplify the proceedings.²⁸ The council began weighing the legality of establishing the court while waiting for the opinions of the attorney general and solicitor general.

Both Baker and Jones returned their opinions to the Governor on August 15, 1799. Baker called for the state "to proceed as soon as possible in the cases where the State may be particularly interested" and to have James Glasgow bound in recognizance and questioned before District Superior court judge Alfred Moore. However, Baker was of the opinion that the court, if called by the governor, would not have the legal authority to try the accused.²⁹ He believed the legislature should be the body to convene the court, as well as to empower the governor to create it. If, on the other hand, the trials were left to the regular courts, he felt that most of the violators would go unpunished since many of the accused had already fled to Tennessee.

Edward Jones, like his counterpart, did not feel it expedient to call for such a court. The main reason he gave was that the offenses had been committed in several different districts and would have to be tried in each of the particular districts. He also felt that the law, as then written, lacked the constitutional authority to bring the offenders to trial. He stated:

Such a measure is not expedient or necessary, that if such a court should be held the object intended could not be thereby effected, and that therefore it would be more for the credit and interest of the State to postpone it untill the next session of the Legislature.