Martin County’s Great Tory Conspiracy: A Defense of Anglicanism in The Early Period of the American Revolution
When North Carolina’s Fifth Provincial Congress met in December of 1776, they established a new state Constitution, supporting the American resolve for independence.
Notwithstanding, John Llewelyn, a substantial Martin County farmer, militia leader and Justice of the Peace took great distaste with portions of that document, particularly Article 34, disavowing the Anglican Church as the official religious body of the land and its government support. To Llewelyn and his supporters, the foreboding concern was that what appeared to be enlightened religious tolerance was potentially a guise for an eventual overthrow of Protestantism in the Americas in favor of the Catholic Church.
Gourd Patch Conspiracy Highway Marker
Llewelyn’s unrest grew considerably in early 1777, and as such created a secret society opposing actions of the Whig party and drafting a position paper and a version of what he considered an acceptable constitution. The document was circulated by his son William throughout the counties of Martin, Edgecombe, Halifax, Bertie and Tyrrell. He also enlisted the help of James Rawlins, a lay Anglican minister from Hyde County to recruit society members at religious services.
Court depositions from the period referencing the event often refer to oaths given to members of the secret society and other communications being administered in wheat, corn or other wooded areas or fields. One record mentions a gourd patch, likely near Llewellyn’s home and Conetoe Swamp. For clarification, the event is known historically both as the Llewelyn Conspiracy and the Gourd Patch Conspiracy. The last naming was recently enshrined in a North Carolina State Highway Historical Marker in 2024.
In his recent book, “The Brethren: A Story of Faith and Conspiracy in Revolutionary America” (2021) Brendan McConville notes leaders in Llewelyn’s administration aside from James Rawlins, included James Sherrrad (Sherrod) and Daniel Legale (Leggett), all agitated over what they considered high-handed actions of Patriots against Tories, including violence rendered to those who spoke in favor of the British.
Nathan Mayo
Image Credit NSDAR
Richard Caswell
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As Llewelyn’s plot grew with intensity, his followers moved to take over the provincial arsenal at Halifax for securing arms and ammunition, with further plans aimed at contacting General Howe in New York for military support. To make Halifax an easy target for the taking, a slave insurrection was envisioned to divert the attention of authorities there.
When David Taylor, a slave patroller responsible for supervising the conduct of enslaved persons, was assigned to the insurrection task bailed and reported to Whig authorities, Llewelyn’s plot began to quickly unravel. The Halifax mission also aimed for killing the new State Governor, Richard Caswell, but Caswell had not arrived in town as predicted. In June 1777, William May was arrested in Pitt County, who in turn implicated his recruiter William Tyler, who at the time of his detention was said to have had the organization’s constitution and membership list on his person.
Having no success in Halifax, Llewelyn’s forces then moved to Tarboro to take the magazine there, but the group was quickly disarmed and arrested on July 16, 1777, by Lt. Col. Henry Irwin, Llewelyn and his leaders then all charged with treason.
Prior to his capture, Llewellyn believed his neighbors James and Nathan Mayo, ardent Whigs, were chiefly responsible for conspirators’ arrests. He was particularly vexed with Nathan Mayo, whom he called “a very busy body”. As such, he had arranged for the murder of Nathan Mayo along a roadside, but the venture failed without Mayo arriving as planned.
Altogether, nearly 90 people were involved in some form with the plot, 18 of whom were put on trial at the courthouse in Edenton. In return for loyalty to the state and militia service, leniency was granted to the majority, except Llewelyn, who was convicted of treason and his execution scheduled for September 30, 1777.
Surprisingly, however, numerous petitions requesting mercy for Llewelyn, including some from his intended victims, came before the state legislature. Llewelyn’s wife Mary, accompanied interestingly by Nathan Mayo, traveled together to petition the Governor for clemency. In the end, Governor Caswell granted Llewelyn a pardon. The first such act in the new state’s history. From best accounts, Llewelyn lived the remainder of his life peacefully on his Martin County plantation, passing in 1794.
For further intensive reading, see Jeffery J. Crow’s “Tory Plots and Anglican Loyalty” The Llewelyn Conspiracy of 1777” in the North Carolina Historical Review, January 1978.
Chowan County Courthouse Connected with the 1777 Llewellyn Conspiracy
Image Credit Wikipedia