LibGuides: W. Brent Burgin Archives: John Lawson's Trek

Resources

A New Voyage to Carolina by John Lawson
John Lawson's amazingly detailed yet lively book is easily one of the most valuable of the early histories of the Carolinas, and it is certainly one of the best travel accounts of the early eighteenth-century colonies. An inclusive account of the manners and customs of the Indian tribes of that day, it is also a minute report of the soil, climate, trees, plants, animals, and fish in the Carolinas.Lawson's observation is keen and thorough; his style direct and vivid. He misses nothing and recounts all -- from the storms at sea to his impressions of New York in 1700, the trip down the coast to Charleston, and his travels from there into North Carolina with his Indian guides.The first edition of this work was published in London in 1709. While various editions followed in the eighteenth century -- including two in German -- this edition is a true copy of the original and is the first to include a comprehensive index. It also contains The Second Charter, An Abstract of the Constitution of Carolina, Lawson's will, and several previously unpublished letters written by Lawson. A number of DeBry woodcuts of John White's drawings of Indian life, sketches of the beasts of Carolina which appeared in the original 1709 edition, and Lawson's map contribute additional interest.
A Delicious Country by Scott Huler
Call Number: F 260 .H85 2019
In 2014, Scott Huler made a surprising decision: to leave home and family for his own journey by foot and canoe, faithfully retracing Lawson's route through the Carolinas. This is the chronicle of that unlikely voyage, revealing what it's like to rediscover your own home. Combining a traveler's curiosity, a naturalist's keen observation, and a writer's wit, Huler draws our attention to people and places we might pass regularly but never really see. What he finds are surprising parallels between Lawson's time and our own, with the locals and their world poised along a knife-edge of change between a past they can't forget and a future they can't quite envision.

John Lawson's Observations on the Animals of Carolina
By John Hairr
The North Carolina Historical Review
Vol. 88, No. 3 (JULY 2011), pp. 312-332.
NC Office of Archives and History
John Lawson Digital Exhibit
East Carolina University Libraries
One of the most interesting and yet enigmatic figures of colonial North Carolina history is John Lawson. Though he was an explorer, surveyor, land speculator, fur trader, naturalist, ethnographer, and writer, all that is really known about Lawson occurred during an eleven-year period, from when he arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1700 until his death at the hands of the Tuscarora Indians of North Carolina’s Neuse River region in 1711.

A sketch of John Lawson’s capture by the Tuscarora from the State Archives, North Carolina Office of Archives and History. The Indians eventually released all but Lawson.

John Lawson (27 Dec. 1674-16 Sept. 1711) was an explorer, surveyor, and author of A New Voyage to Carolina. During his exploration of the interior of Carolina in 1700 and 1701, Lawson kept a detailed journal about the 59 day expedition covering 550 miles of Carolina backcountry. Afterward, he continued to add information based on subsequent discoveries and observations.

In 1708, after having worked privately as a surveyor and as a deputy surveyor, Lawson became the official surveyor for the Lords Proprietors. In 1709, Lawson published both a map of Carolina and "A New Voyage to Carolina: Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of That Country: Together with the Present State Thereof. And a Journal of a Thousand Miles, Travel'd Thro' Several Nations of Indians. Giving a Particular Account of Their Customs, Manners, &c."

Lawson played a major role in the founding of two permanent European settlements in present day eastern North Carolina: Bath and New Bern.

In late summer 1711, Lawson and Baron Christoph von Graffenried set out along the Neuse River. In early September, the men were captured by a group of Tuscaroras and by September 16, Lawson was dead, the first casualty of a deadly war between the Tuscaroras and North Carolina settlers.

Map of Lawson's journey from Charleston to the Pamlico River. History Bath, North Carolina Historic Sites.

Lawson's Journey

Retracing John Lawson: "A delicious Country": Lawson's Voyage of Discovery
The Carolina Colony, December, 1700. Lewis and Clark were a century in the future. John Bartram, eventually called the father of American botany, was in his cradle. North and South Carolina remained a single entity, mostly governed by Charles-Town, a port of 1200 residents. The Carolina interior? Mostly unknown to European settlers. Until a young man from London looking for adventure decided to take a walk.
Documenting the American South: John Lawson

John Lawson's Plant Collections from North Carolina 1710–1711
By Vincent Bellis "John Lawson's Plant Collections from North Carolina 1710–1711," Castanea, 74(4), 376-389, (December 2009)
In 1710 and 1711, naturalist and author John Lawson sent collections of dried plants from eastern North Carolina to James Petiver in England. Two hundred and ninety five of these specimens survived and are maintained in the Sloane Herbarium of the Natural History Museum in London. Many of the specimens bear tags in Lawson's hand giving the date, location, and notes describing use or habitat. One hundred and one taxa are listed here along with discussion of some of the notes that connect Lawson's plant collecting to important events in his life and to the colonial history of North Carolina. The story concerning how these specimens were collected and maintained provides insight into the methods of botanical science in the early eighteenth century.
John Lawson the Naturalist
By Perry Mathewes
The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 88, No. 3 (JULY 2011), pp. 333-348 (16 pages); North Carolina Office of Archives and History