nd the Grand Assembly of
Albemarle had held its first session at Hall's Creek, an arm of Little
River, in Pasquotank County.

In 1664, when the Clarendon colony was broken up, many of the settlers
from the Cape Fear region came into Albemarle; and in 1666 this section
received a fresh influx of immigrants from the West Indies, many of whom
settled upon Little River and embarked upon the then lucrative trade of
ship-building. The usual natural advantages of the section made it in
many respects a desirable land for the new comers. Still there were many
drawbacks to the well being of the settlers, among the most serious of
which was the lack of the two factors which make for the true progress
of a country, educational and religious facilities and privileges.

Carolina was settled in a very different manner from most of her sisters
among the thirteen colonies. To those regions settlers came in groups,
often a whole community migrating to the new land, taking with them
ministers, priests and teachers; and wherever they settled, however wild
and desolate the land, they had with them those two mainstays of
civilization.

But into the Albemarle colony the settlers came a family at a time; and
instead of towns and town governments being organized, the well-to-do
settlers with their families and servants established themselves upon
large plantations, building their homes far apart, and devoting their
time to agricultural pursuits.

So it is not surprising that for many years the only religious exercises
in which the Carolina settler could take part were such as he held in
his own home, the members of the Church of England reading the prayers
and service of the Book of Common Prayer, the Dissenter using such
service as appealed most to him.

As for the education of the children, the wealthy planter would often
engage in his service some indentured servant, often a man of learning,
who would gladly give his services for a number of years for the
opportunity of coming to this new Land of Promise. And in later years as
the boys of the family outgrew the home tutor, they were sent to the
mother country to finish their education at Oxford or Cambridge.

But the poor colonist had none of these means of giving his children an
education; and for many years, indeed, not until 1705, we can find no
mention of any attempt on the part of the settlers to provide a school
for the children of the poor.

But about twelve years after George