S-From Secondary Sources:

Symbols P

NANE: Nixon, Robert, -1794

DATA: sett. New River (Onslow) N. C., 1773-1793; sett. Lockwood'sFolly (Brunswick) N. C., 1773-1793; Bapt. d. New River, N. C.,4 Dec. 1794.

SOURCE: The Colonial Clergy of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolinaby: Rev. Fred.erick Lepi.~"leis

Page: 67

PRELIMINA..qySKETCH

NIXON, ROBERT (d~ 17941), minister, Justice of the Peace, and saddler,

appears to have been a grandson of the Richard Nixon who died in Craven

County, North Carolina, in 1746.He appears in the Onslow County deed records as a witness to deeds

as early as 1743. In 1753 he is referred to as a saddler by trade. In

1754 he enrolled in the liewTopsail Company, commanded by Capt. John

Ashe, in the French and Indian War.

His first wife appears to have been a daughter of Charles Ryall

(Royall) of New River, who died circa 1754 or 1755. Nixon's wife at

the time his will was made was named Sarah.

In 1776 he or his son Robert Nixon, Jr., was appointed an ensi~

of the New Topsai:t-Company of Militia for New Hanover County. That same

year Robert Nixon was allowed tne sum of ten pounds "for his vigilant

services as chaplain to the Onslow Detacbment_ of Militia. U IIi 1776 and

again in 1777, he was made a JUstice of the Peace for Onslow County.

He was an elder of the Separate Baptists, being designated as pastor

of three congregations in Onslow County. In 1786 he is referred to in

In a deed in 1790, Nixon is referred to as pastor of the church which met

the deed records as pastor of a church which met on the Southwest Branch

of New River and of one which met near the "Lower Ferry" on New River.

on the Little Northeast Creek of New River. Two of these churches still

exist.

Hassell refers to Nixon as having the care of a Baptist church on

Newport River in Carteret County and one on New River ·in Onslow County,

which were received into the CaFs11P-a Association in 1788./(L=fI'I kef!.

Tucker R. LittetonSwansboro, N.C., 1976

• I>

NIXON, ROBERT (P. 2)

. In 1790 Hixon was made one of the "commissioners for the building and

finishing of a good, sufficient district courthouse" in Wilmington. He appears

to have died near the end of 1794, his will· being probated in January of 1795.He left in his family a wife named Sarah; sons named Charles Augustus Nixon,

Robert Nixon, Jr., Nathan Nixon, and Daniel Nixon; and three surviving daughters,

Sarah Fields, Rebecca Nixon, and Mary Cox. A son-in-law, John Lester, is

apparently listed as a devisee in the room of a deceased daughter of Robert

Nixon.

NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS

to build churches and support a minister. We have alsoseen that Morgan Edwards had a note to the effect thatPaul Palmer had gathered a church here. Mr. Edwardsdoes not state the date, but seems to indicate it was about1743--only a deduction. Being without a pastor, it seemsnot to have kept up its organization, but doubtless manyholding Baptist views were here twenty years later, and itwas probably some of these who invited Stearns and hisfellows to come and preach among them. But of this wehave no record. We know only that the church was alreadyestablished in 1758, though if we are to believe Asplund itdid not become a distinct church until 1759, when probablyEzekiel Hunter was ordained its pastor in which officehe continued until his death not sooner than 1773.31 Proh-·ably because of his zeal and labors, in which he was a worthydisciple of Stearns and Marshall, the Baptist cause greatlyprospered in Onslow. Almost the whole population becameBaptist, and so great was their enthusiasm that the famethereof spread all over eastern North Carolina. Rev.Ebenezer Stewart of Bath, eighty miles distant, wrote ofit to the Society in London, whose missionary he was, andsuggested sending more missionaries thither, to stop t1J(~defection from the Church of England, for, as we have seen,these Churchmen, while for the most part worthy men "madewar on schism with so much vigor that they had little leisureto make war on vice" (11acaulay). In Onslow, however,their war on schism was wholly ineffectual in checking th,;progress of the Baptists. The church at New River becamea center from which the Ba tist ministers, Ezekiel Hunte:'and his succes~ert Nix ,went with their message not

31 Ezekiel Hunter was prooilbly the son of Nicholas Hunter of C.1.rterf.'t.whose will was made in 1750 (Grimes, N. C. Willa, p. 177), and of whichhis son Ezekiel became Executor. Burkitt and Read suppose that 1;••dled about the year 1772 (Hi.story of Kehukee Association, p. 297), but b~was a member for Onslow of the General Assembly which held its sesslenfrom January 25 to March 6, 1773. Dr. N. B. Cobb (N. C. Baptist IfittPapers, I, 92), followed by Hufham, says that Ezekiel Hunter was fro:'" ,Randolph County. He cites no authority for his statement.

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SEPARATES IN THE EAST

.ave also"cct that~dwards1.S aboutit seemsss many, and itand his

only to the surrounding communities but across the CapeFear into Bladen and to the uttermost parts of Brunswick.

We have scant records of the work of these New RiverBaptists,. but enough to show their missionary zeal. In1762 Rev. Ezekiel Hunter made a journey to Lockwood'sFolly, where, as we shall see, other Separate preachers hadbeen as early as 1757 or 1758.32 Here he received and bap-tized some members, and made the church from this timeuntil it obtained a regular pastor a branch of the New Riverchurch. 'Ve next find Mr. Hunter about the year 1765in Bladen and Brunswick, where he organized a churchwhich seems to have had two coordinate branches, one at'Vhite Swamp in Bladen County and the other at Living-ston's Creek in Brunswick. After the death of Mr. Hunterabout the year 1773, the church of Bladen County waswithout an ordained pastor until the year 1797, when itcame under the pastoral care of Rev. Ezekiel Bryan. Inthe meantime it had been served by his father, 'WilliamBryan, who had been baptized by Hunter and licensed topreach but never ordained. The result was that the pastoralfunctions were not performed, and when Rev. Ezekiel Bryantook charge in 1797 the church was almost extinct. Underhis' care, however, the work prospered and the two churchescontinued in their cooperative relationship with Mr. Bryanpastor of both.33

Of Elder Ezekiel Hunter there is little other record. It ispractically certain that he preached the gospel through the

OJ Burkitt and Rend, Hirtorn of the Kch ukoe Association, p. 291....Burkitt and Read, p. 299f. They begin thr-lr short account of this

church with the following paragraph: "This church contains two branches,viz, one on Livingston's creek, the other on the 'White Marsh in BladenCounty (Now Columbus County). About the year 1165 it pleased theLord to send the gospel into Bladen by Elder Ezekial Hunter. The LordWAS pleased to bless his labors, and there was a church gathered, andWilliam Bryan being one of that number, in a short time after it pleasedUIC Lord to call him to the ministry. He was approved by the churchI!.ndexercised his gift but was' never ordained. Elder Hunter died soonIIHcr he began to preach, and the church was left as sheep without a,hepherd. William Bryan labored among them many vears through af-flil'tions and difficulties until the 26th of March. 1791, when he died."

319

NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS

counties of Duplin, Sampson, New Hanovaj-, and Carteret~and in absence of some one else to whom to ascribe the earlydevelopment of the Baptist churches in this section it isreasonable to suppose that it was due to the labors of }\fr.Hunter and of him who immediately followed him in thepastorate at New River, the celebrated Robert Nixon. Out.further records of 1\11'. Hunter arc of his work as a memberfor Onslow County of the General Assembly that met inNew Bern in January, February and March, 1773. In this1\11'. Hunter was Yery activo and his name is often mentionedin the journal of the proceedings. A bill introduced b,)him for the better observance of the Sabbath and the promotion of morality throughout the Province was enactedinto Jaw; he was often entrusted with messages 'to theGovernor and Council, which would suggest that he en-joyed the confidence of both the lower house and the Go".ernor.34 He was probably still in the full possession, oihis powers when he died soon after the adjournment of th~.Assembly.

1\11'. Hunter was succeeded in the pastoral care of Il-eChurch on New River by Elder Robert Nixon, a remarknt,lypious, zealous and useful minister of .Jesus Christ, \\,110.

extended find fruitful service was long remembered in caster.iNorth Carolina.35 For full twenty years he was pastor (Ifthe New River church, but his nctivitics extended all o ersoutheastern North Carolina. During his ministry, if potbefore, the church at New River had a branch at ,rlJiIOak River in Jones County, of which he had the care.After 177Q for many years this "worthy old servant of IILord" frequently visited the church at Lockwood's F0JJ'

"hich wgeneralwhich Nthe

n('".County.churchChapel.ill the

"See the journal of the Assembly in Colonial Record s, IX, .:I,.!Sf.3V Burkitt and Read, p. 293. "Elder Robcrt Nixon was a rcma rkal

pious zealous minister of Christ. He was of the Separate order lit 11 'but joined the Kehukee Association some years after the revolution ia :'" •ASSOCiation. After a long and very singular useful life, it WI'S the ~._ •will of his Lord lind Master to call him horne the .!th of December, I,c. BurUlt and Read, Keh.uk e« A"sociation, p. 293.

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SEPARATES IN THE EAST

increased in numbers. They had a freedom in their publicworship which shocked the minister of the Parish of St.Philip, Mr. Barnett, who having heard probably of theirprayer meeting services reported that the most illiterateamong them were their teachers and that even Negroesspoke in their meetings. However, he was just to acknowl-edge the courtesy of the Lockwood's Folly congreglttion inoffering the use of their meeting house for his services, whichhe thought he should accept and officiate once in twomonths."

Rev. Ezekiel Hunter continued to visit them until hisdeath in 1773. In the meantime Rev. James Turner hadcome and settled among them and was acting as pastor. Hedied soon after the death of Hunter. But the church atLockwood's Folly was not forgotten by the New Riverchurch. The successor of Hunter, Rev. Robert Nixon, fol-lowing thc example of his predecessor often visited them,and other preachers, among them Rev, Samuel Newton,served them occasionally through the years until the close ofthe Revolutionary War.44

. ,

"I have been out as far as the border of South Carollna where I had atreat number of people from both Provinces, that we were obliged toassemble under the Shady trees." .Cot.onial Recorda, VI, 225. Mr. Barnettwriting of August 27, 1767, said: "Nine times in the year I preach atthe Boundary House situated on the line between the two Carolinas. Hereis 1\ large congrcga lion.""Colonial Recorda, VII, 164. Letter of Rev. John Barnett, February 3,

1766 ... Burkitt and Read's account of this church is as follows: "About the

YUlr 1757 or '.58, Nathaniel Powell and James Turner came into thatqunrtcr, preaching the gospel, whose ministerial labors the Lord blessedto the conversion of some souls. In about 1762, came Elder EzekielHunter, who was pastor of the Baptist church on New River in OnslowCounty, and received and baptized some members here, and were con-sidered a branch of his church. James Turner settled amongst them, andcontinued to preach with zeal and success. Thus the church stood until thedeath of Elder Hunter, which took place about 1772, and said Turnerdied shortly after. Then they were visited frequently by that worthyold servant of the Lord, Robert Nixon, from New River, and SamuelNewton and others, who supplied them with ministerial aiel till Elder'William Goodwin, who had been pastor of a church in Duplin County,N. C., moved into the county of Brunswick, and took the pastoral careof them about the year 1788, and continued in that office till his death,

325

I s of ll-:;('11 con-i~eh'•.•<.:h, l.d,that A,-no oUt-.n.on wi:!>

':J.:'"t (·rSa!n ..'i?

KEHUKEE ASSOCIATION 1777-1805

through the instrumentality of Elders Silas Mercer andJohn Page, but whichwas now ministered by Elder MartinRoss. In 1786 the church at Knobscrook, near ElizabethCity, Pasquotank County, was admitted; it seems to havehad no regular minister, but to have been ministered to oc-casionally by Elder Thomas Etheridge. At the session of1787, the church of Martin Ross, Skewarkey, near 'Williams-ton in Martin County became a member of the Association.In 1788 the church of Newport River, Carteret County, andthe church on New River, Onslow County, the latter andprobably the former under the care of Elder Robert Nixon,were admitted. The next year, 1789, saw the accession ofthe churches of Lockwood's Folly, under the care of ElderWilliam Goodman; of Saddle Tree Creek, Robeson County,under the care of Elder Jacob Tarver; and the church inBladen and New Hanover, probably including Bull 'rail,now Wells' Chapel, and Beaver Dam, now under the careof Elder William Cooper. In the same year, the remainingchurches of t.he old Kehukee, and some others which wereof more recent formation, sevenin all besidesmany branches,came into the Association. These were the churches inWarren, Upper Fishing Creek (Reedy Creek), under thecare of Elder LewisMoore; Sandy Creek in Franklin, underthe care of Elder Wil1i.-mLancaster; Toisnot, under thecare of Elder Reuben Hayes; the church in Johnston andWake (Three Creeks, Swift Creek), under the care of ElderJohn Moore, Junior; the church in Duplin, \Vayne andJohnston (Naughunty, Bear Marsh), under the care ofElder Charles Hines; the church in Sampson, Wake andCumberland (Neal's Creek), under the care of Elder Wil-liam Taylor; the church in Sampson (Great Cohara, nowRowan), under the care of Elder Fleet Cooper.

Further accessions in 1790 were the church at FlattyCreek (now Salem), Pasquotank County, under the care ofElder Lemuel Pendleton, a licentiate; Wiccacon, Bertie

491

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KElIUKEE ASSOCIATION 1777-1805

! Satan. In Wayne, during the same period Rev. ReubenHa yes, afterwards pastor of Toisnot, was preaching in theneighborhood of Naughunty. Beginning his labors thereabout 1781 he constituted the church of that name in 1791.The church at Red Banks was at this time without a regularpastor, but the church organization was kept up by such in-fluential members as John Moye and 'Villi am Travis, thelatter of whom "used to exhort and teach in the church,until November, 1784, when he was dismissed and went toGeorgia." It entered upon a new period of increase 'whenElder Abram Raker assumed the pastorate on June 8, 178~.

In the region between the Neuse and the South Carolinaline the Baptists were very active in these years. In Cravenand Jones, Elders John Dillahunty, James Brinson andJoseph and James 'Villis were ministering to the religious -needs of the people. In Onslow, the church on New Riverwas under the care of "Elder Robert Nixon, who had suc-ceeded Elder Ezekiel Hunter, and was busily engaged inpreaching the gospel to congregations in Carteret, where as aresult of his labors the church at Newport iver was es-tablished in 1778, and in J ones, and in other places as farsouth as Lockwood's Folly, where the church seems to haveundergone a new constitution in 1779. In Duplin and NcwHanover, Elder 'Villi am Cooper began his labors duringthis tin e, preaching at the church at Bull Tail, now Wells'Chapel. He seems to have labored also in Bladen at the sametime. (As lund.)

This account, though often details are lacking, is suf-ficient to show that on the whole the Baptists of easternNorth Carolina had been zealous and active in their laborsduring the period of the Revolution. The close of thatperiod found them more numerous and the number of theirchurches greater than at the beginning. But the old preach-ers were already passing off the scene of action. Some weredead, others growing old, others leaving the State. After

5Ql

NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS

this time we hear no more of Elders George Graham andHenry Ledbetter. When Morgan Edwards was here in1772 the former was living but already "past his labors."Elder John Tanner went to Kentucky in 1781. Elder HenryAbbot was already old, and there is no record of his at-tending a regular session of the Association after the War,though he lived until 1791. Elder \Villiam Walker, therevered pastor of the church at Reedy Creek and its branches,died in 1784. The Association now had one great leader inNorth Carolina. This was Elder Leriuel Burkitt, pastorof the church at Sandy Run. All loved and trusted him. Inthe churches of the Association south and west of the Roa-noke only ministers of moderate abilities were to be found,though some of them were men of much zeal and industry.Among these the ablest were Elder Jesse Read of Halifax,Elder John Page of Pitt, and Elder Joshua Barnes ofEdgecombe. Further south, in the region between the Neaseand the South Carolina line, were a few able men, such asElders James Brinson, John Dillahunty, Robert Nixon, FILetCooper and \Villiam Cooper. In a few years these wereremoved either by death or migration and in some instancestheir places were never filled.

The supply of ministers was by no means adequate to rr»clthe needs of the Baptist churches. This was due partly 10the fact that in colonial North Carolina there had been IH)

sc 1001sable to give the educational equipment necessary Iora minister of the gospel, while such schools as did exist weredoubtless interrupted in their work by the vVnr. But it WIIS

also partly due to the failure of the churches to provide aproper support for ministers. Mr. J. w. Moorey in hismanuscript history of North Carolina Baptists, suggcrttwo other reasons for the deficiency of ministers at this ti. c,One was the attention given by young men to politics. Iheminds of the abler young men were wholly engrossd ;11political controversies between the followers of Jefferson ..'1

.,

those offidelity apeople.

Barrowthemselvesingly laychurches

ing wherovbaptiZing cordainedThis prato becomemany yearsin 1784.44

Up to th<1 Mr. :-.roore

voucbsafed to L

ta inrnent and jdebating clubsmany sections.often mere

camein ellig,~nt." Jll

'. K.chllkce As s43 For in~f!lnce

_1~!O;i(ltiOll, 219,Kch ukr « A., ..

"'"110 has nut the c"\\T e suppose heocc.1sions which ,viz, 1. When hethe chu rch to hr:Jini,terial helps,~:e not (,liP" 11eu ~hll('e trctn