rmally proclaimed true and lawful sovereign of Carolina.

A prominent meeting place for the courts, councils and assemblies in
Colonial Albemarle was the home of Captain Richard Sanderson in the
Little River settlement on Durant's Neck. Of the many notable events
that occurred at the home of this wealthy and influential planter,
probably the Assembly of 1715 leads in interest and importance. The acts
passed by this Assembly were directed to be printed, but the order was
evidently never carried out, as none but manuscript copies are now
extant.

Among the most important measures taken by this Assembly was one making
the Church of England the established Church of the Colony; though
freedom of worship was granted to all, and the Quakers were allowed to
substitute a solemn affirmation in lieu of an oath. Other acts,
necessary to the welfare of the Colony, were passed, and a revision of
all former acts was made. Edward Moseley, Speaker of the House, was of
course present on this occasion, as were Governor Eden, Thomas Byrd, of
Pasquotank, Tobias Knight, of Currituck, Christopher Gale, of Chowan,
and Maurice Moore, of Perquimans.

Of all these old homes on Durant's Neck where so much of the early
history of our State was made, none are now standing; though the sites
of several of these historic places are well known to the dwellers on
the peninsula. When the tide is low on Little River, the bricks of what
was once the home of Governor Drummond can be seen. And an old tombstone
found in the sound, which is now used as the lower step of the side
porch in a beautiful old home, on Durant's Neck, once the property of
Mr. Edward Leigh, but now owned by Mr. C.W. Grandy, of Norfolk, is said
to have once marked the grave of Seth Sothel. The inscription on the
stone is now obliterated, but the original owners of the home declared
that the old inhabitants of Durant's Neck claimed that the slab at one
time bore the name of this, the most infamous of all the unworthy
Governors whom the Proprietors placed over the people of Albemarle.

The site of Durant's home is well known, and until a few years ago a
tombstone bearing his name, it is said, was standing under an old
sweet-gum tree on the bank of a great ditch near the sound. But the
field hands in clearing the ditch undermined the stone and covered it
with earth, so it now lies hidden from view.

But though no monument now marks the resting place of our first settler,
George Durant