The fourth volume of the Colonial Records of North Carolina scrutinizes the long administration of Governor Gabriel Johnston in North Carolina (1734-1762), challenging his traditionally positive reputation. The text details his arbitrary and often manipulative methods in governance, such as attempting to pass legislation by preventing opponents from attending sessions and repeatedly clashing with the provincial assemblies over issues like quit rents and fair representation. While North Carolina experienced significant growth in population and wealth during his tenure, the source argues this prosperity was due to existing trends and immigration, not Johnston’s policies, highlighting his lack of practical management skills and his unwavering dedication to magnifying the King’s prerogative over the colonists’ rights.
Colonial Records of North Carolina, Volume 4
The Colonial Records of North Carolina is a ten-volume series that presents the official documentary history of North Carolina from its earliest days of settlement through the close of the colonial era in 1776. Compiled under the direction of historian William L. Saunders and published between 1886 and 1890, these volumes contain transcriptions of letters, proclamations, legislative proceedings, council minutes, correspondence with the Crown, and other government records drawn from British and American repositories.
For genealogists, the Colonial Records of North Carolina is an important resource as it contains some of the earliest documentary evidence of individuals and families living in the colony from the late 1600s to the Revolutionary era. While it is not a collection of compiled genealogies or vital records in the modern sense, it includes numerous references to people in official, legal, and civic contexts—often the only existing records of early North Carolinians.