Alexander Campbell states that he "came to This country in Jany 1775 with his family and a Few Servants" and that his principal fortune lay in St. Vincent, Grenada, and Jamaica. Knowing "that the Non Importation and Non Exportation Act was soon to take place," Campbell reveals that he "applied to his good friend Cornelius Harnett Esq to Procure him Liberty from The Comitee of Wilmington to get in some Negroes of his From St Vincent, and Grenada, and as far as he recollects Mr. Harnett was kind enough to Procure him that favor." He laments, however, that "the troubles Increasing here, soon after, put a stop to his getting them [the slaves] in, which Disappointment has made it Difficult for your Petitioner To Support his Family ever Since." Campbell fears that upon signing “the State Oath now offerd him, he would cut Himself out of every shilling of his Fortune” in the Caribbean. Pleading neutrality to Party politics, “he begs the favor and intreats the Honorable The Members of the Assembly … to allow him to stay here to take care of his weak family, untill there is peace Setled under the Sanction of their Laws, or untill he could get a ship for the Grenadoes, or Jamaica, when & where, he could go with propriety for his Negroes.”
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
