ers of the Revolution go to show that the place and date as named
on the tablet at Hall's Creek are authentic, and that Pasquotank County
may claim with truth the honor of having been the scene of the first
meeting of the Grand Assembly of Albemarle.

CHAPTER III

ENFIELD FARM--WHERE THE CULPEPER REBELLION BEGAN

Some two or three miles south of Elizabeth City on the banks of the
Pasquotank River, just where that lovely stream suddenly broadens out
into a wide and beautiful expanse, lies the old plantation known in our
county from earliest days as Enfield Farm, sometimes Winfield.

It is hard to trace the original owners of the plantation, but the farm
is probably part of the original patent granted in 1663 by Sir William
Berkeley, one of the Lords Proprietors, to Mr. Thomas Relfe, "on account
of his bringing into the colony fifteen persons and paying on St.
Michael's Day, the 29th of September, one shilling for every acre of
land."

On this plantation, close to the river shore, was erected about 1670,
according to our local tradition, the home of the planter, two rooms of
which are still standing and in good preservation. Possibly "Thomas
Relfe, Gentleman," as he is styled in the Colonial Records, was the
builder of this relic of bygone days, whose massive brick walls and
stout timbers have for so long defied the onslaughts of time.

Many are the stories, legendary and historical, that have gathered
around this ancient building. Among the most interesting of the latter
is that connected with the Culpeper Rebellion, an event as important in
North Carolina history as Bacon's Rebellion is in the history of
Virginia.

The cause of Culpeper's Rebellion dates back to the passing of the
navigation act by Cromwell's Parliament, when that vigorous ruler held
sway in England and over the American colonies. This act, later
broadened and amended, finally prohibited the colonists not only from
importing goods from Europe unless they were shipped from England, but
forbade the use of any but English vessels in the carrying trade; and
finally declared that inter-colonial trade should cease, and that
England alone should be the market for the buying and selling of goods
on the part of the Americans. Naturally the colonies objected to such a
selfish restriction of their trade, and naturally there was much
smuggling carried on, wherever and whenever this avoidance of the
navigation acts could be made in safety.

To none