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113 { CHAPTER FIVE } Thomas Pollock The Destroyer The arrival of Barnwell’s army in Bath truly was a boost for the colonists of North Carolina. Here stood visible evidence that they were not alone in this. Many believed that the tide of war had already turned and it would only be a short time before Barnwell destroyed the Tuscaroras and their allies. Barnwell’s army also gave confidence to the North Carolina government . Though the Quakers of the Albemarle and in the Assembly still refused to support the war, the government was able to start rounding up supplies and militiamen. Regular communications were established between Barnwell on the Pamlico and the North Carolina government in the Albemarle. Forts were ordered to be established wherever Barnwell designated. While Governor Hyde was the face of the North Carolina government, the actual prosecution of the war fell to Thomas Pollock. It soon came to pass, as has happened so often in American military history, that the commander in chief and his general in the field did not see eye to eye. Barnwell’s arrogance may have blinded him to the fact that Pollock was not a man to be taken lightly.1 YIn many ways, Thomas Pollock and William Brice were North Carolinians cut from the same bolt of cloth. Both were men on the make, always looking for opportunities to increase their wealth. Only Pollock seemed much better at it than Brice. Thomas Pollock, named after his father , was born May 6, 1654, in Glasgow, Scotland, though the family was more associated with the little hamlet of Balgrey, a few miles northwest of Glasgow. Solidly upper middle class, the family had gained fame back around 1500 when a Pollock ancestor saved the Scottish king James IV from an attack by a wild boar. We know nothing of Pollock’s mother, but 114 / Thomas Pollock he had an older brother, James, and two sisters, Margaret and Helen. His education seemed adequate, though spelling would not be his strong suit. Since young Thomas was not the firstborn, he was not going to inherit anything from his father, so he turned to business in Scotland, though what that business was has never been clear. At some point he decided his best chance to strike it rich was to head to America. With some money from his business dealings and a little from his family, he left Scotland. We do not know the date. He seems to have had some business dealings with Bermuda and Barbados as well as with Maryland, Boston, and Virginia . Then on June 27, 1683, the twenty-nine-year-old Pollock arrived in North Carolina. He was home.2 On November 6, 1683, Pollock bought a tract of land from William Bread and his wife, Lydia, on the west bank of the Chowan River, just across the river from present-day Edenton. He named his plantation Balgra in honor of his boyhood home back in Scotland. This would become the base of his business empire. On June 19, 1690, Pollock married Martha Cullen, the daughter of Thomas Cullen of Dover, England, and the widow of Robert West. This seems to have been truly a marriage for love. In North Carolina, Pollock began to experience both business success and personal tragedy. Martha gave birth to twins, two girls, Elizabeth and Martha, on March 20, 1691, but both died before the year was out. Soon Martha was again pregnant and again gave birth to twins, again named Elizabeth and Martha, but they died that same night. Then things got better. Another girl was born March 4, 1694, and they again named her Martha, but this time baby Martha lived. Pollock’s first son, Thomas Jr., was born November 9, 1695. Cullen was born September 27, 1697. Then George, the baby, was born October 25, 1699. But birthing eight children, half of them dead within days or months, seemed to have worn heavily on Pollock’s wife, and she died on February 17, 1702. Pollock himself would have bouts of illness that would hit him hard in 1698, 1705, and 1708.3 While experiencing the tragedies and happiness of home life, Pollock was on his way to becoming a highly successful merchant and North Carolina ’s wealthiest man. He began shipping out barrels of pickled pork, tobacco, and deerskins to Bermuda, Barbados, or other North American colonies. But colonial business was full of booms and busts. Bad debts, market downturns, and losses from various...

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