Relationship of Curtis Lynn Older
to
Reverend Daniel Worth
(03 May 1795 to 12 Dec 1862)
Wesleyan Methodist Minister, abolitionist
Curtis Lynn Older is a
2nd cousin, 4 times removed, of Reverend Daniel Worth
Download Adobe Acrobat file on Reverend Daniel Worth
Relationship of Reverend Daniel Worth to Joseph Worth Senior:
1) Joseph Worth Senior (1696 - 14 July 1790)
2) Daniel Worth Senior, son (10th 12 mo. 1739 to July 10, 1830)
2) Job Worth, grandson (July 11, 1765 - September 30, 1822)
3) Reverend Daniel Worth, great-grandson (May 3, 1795 - December 12, 1862))
Relationship of Curtis Lynn Older to Joseph Worth Senior:
1) Joseph Worth Senior (1696 - 14 July 1790)
2) Joseph Worth Junior, son (29th 9 mo. 1729 - before May 1816)
3) Charles Worth, grandson (June 17, 1761 - after 1850)
4) John Worth, great-grandson (circa 1817 - after 1886)
5) Chesterfield Worth, 2-great grandson (1850 - 1892)
6) Ethel Leona Worth, 3-great granddaughter (Jan 8, 1893 - Dec 26, 1976)
7) Truxton James Older, 4-great grandson (Sept 28, 1911 - April 6, 2009)
8) Curtis Lynn Older, 5-great grandson (2nd cousin, 4 times removed of Rev Daniel Worth)
9) Rachael Lynn Older, 6-great granddaughter) (2nd cousin, 5 times removed of Rev Daniel Worth)
Rev. Daniel Worth Biographical Sketch
Surrender of Reverend Daniel Worth to Hiram C. Worth
State versus Worth, 52 N.C. 488 (1860) - original transcript - Case Cover, Opinion Cover, Appeal Bond Cover, Appeal Bond, top page 1, bottom page 1, top page 2, bottom page 2, top page 3, bottom page 3, top page 4, bottom page 4, top page 5, bottom page 5, top page 6, bottom page 6, top page 7, bottom page 7, top page 8, bottom page 8, top page 9, bottom page 9, top page 10, bottom page 10, top page 11, bottom page 11, top page 12, bottom page 12, top page 13, bottom page 13, top page 14, bottom page 14, top page 15, bottom page 15, top page 16, bottom page 16, top page 17, bottom page 17, top page 18, bottom page 18, page 19, page 20, top page 21, bottom page 21, page 22.
see below for typewritten transcript of court case by Curtis L. Older
Letter of Shubael Gardner Worth to Jonathan Worth
Envelope for letter from Shubael Gardner Worth to Jonathan Worth
Article about the Life and Death of Shubael Gardner Worth
Daniel Worth, Tar Heel Abolitionist - page 1; page 2; page 3; page 4; page 5; page 6;
page 7; page 8; page 9; page 10; page 11
Brief Biography of Reverend Daniel Worth
Daniel Worth was a Quaker from Guilford County, N.C., who migrated to Indiana, came back to North Carolina as an abolitionist Wesleyan Methodist missionary in 1857, and was forced to leave the state in 1860 after considerable trouble in connection with his antislavery activity.
An Article related to Reverend Daniel Worth
N. J. Tolbert, "Daniel Worth: Tar Heel Abolitionist," North Carolina Historical Review 39:3 (Summer 1962), 284-304.
Title and Author: Southern outcast : Hinton Rowan Helper and The impending crisis of the South / David Brown.
Publisher: Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, c2006.
Call Number: 973.7114 B877 207-1358
Daniel Worth Collection. 1836-1970. SC 224. – Earlham College
Rev. Daniel Worth (1795-1862) was a Quaker turned Wesleyan Methodist minister who became a national celebrity when he was jailed in North Carolina in December 1859 on charges of inciting disaffection among slaves. This collection includes an 1860 letter by Worth, biographical material, and material concerning the Fountain City, Indiana, Wesleyan Church, of which he was a founder. Purchase from John Nixon Collection, 2002
The following pages contain a transcript of
The State
versus
Daniel Worth
filed June 5, 1860.
108
The State
vs
Daniel Worth
Filed June 5, 1860
Not to be reported.
Rec?
1st Term 1860
Randolph State of North Carolina
Randolph County
Be it remembered, that at a Superior Court of Law, begun and held for the County of Randolph in the Court house in Asheboro on the first Monday in March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty, before the Honorable John S. Bailey, Judge upon the Oath of W. Brookshire, Isaac Kearny, Willis Ridge, Davis Brady, ? Steed, Henry Harmmond, John A. Wilborne, Logan McMoffit, Thomas Waddell, Daniel B. Leach, A. V. Horney, Samuel Wray, David Fouts, Gilbert Miller, Bazil Burton, B. F. Coffin, Thomas Crouse, and James Hammond, good and lawful men of the County aforesaid, duly summoned, drawn, swarn and charged to inquire for the State of and concerning all crimes and offences committed within the body of said county, it is presented in manner and form following, that is to say,
State of North Carolina {Superior Court of Law
Randolph County {Spring Term 1860
The jurors for the state on their oath present that Daniel Worth late of Randolph County, being a malicious and seditious person of a wicked and depraved mind, and intending and contriving to disturb the peace and tranquility of the State and to bring the law of the same into contempt and disgrace, on the first day of June One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty Nine, with force and arms at and in said county did wilfully, wickedly and unlawfully and feloniously circulate and publish and cause to be circulated and published a certain printed book, pamphlet and paper named and styled The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It by Hinton Rowan Helper of North Carolina - the indirect tendency of which said printed book, pamphlet and paper so circulated and published and caused and procured to be circulated and published as aforesaid was there and then a will to cause the slaves of the state to become discontented with the bondage in which they are held by their masters and the laws regulating the same, as to cause the free negroes of the state to be dissatisfied with their social condition and the denial to them of political privileges and thusly to excite among the said slaves and free negroes a disposition to make conspiracies, insurrections, and a resistance against the peace and quiet of the public, to the evil example of all others in like case offending against the form of the statute in such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the state.
And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present that the said Daniel worth afterwards to wit, on the day and year aforesaid at and in the county aforesaid did willfully, wickedly, unlawfully and feloniously circulate and publish in the said County and State and did cause and procure to be circulated and published within the said county and State a certain printed book pamphlet and paper named and styled - The Impending Crises of the South - How To Meet It by Hinton Rowan helper of North Carolina by then and there delivering the same to Isaiah Pierce, the evident tendency (end of page 2) of which said printed book, pamphlet and paper so circulated and published and caused to be circulated and published as aforesaid was then and there as well to cause the slaves of the state to become discontented with the bondage in which they are held by their masters and the laws regulating the same, as to cause the free negroes of the said state to be dissatisfied with their social condition and the denial to them of political privileges and thereby to excite among the said slaves and free negroes a disposition to make conspicuous insurrections and resistance against the peace and quiet of the public to the evil example of all others in like case offending against the form of the statutes in such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the state.
And the jurors aforesaid on their oath aforesaid do further present that the said Daniel Worth to wit on the day and year aforesaid offer ? at and in the County aforesaid did willfully wickedly unlawfully and feloniously circulate and publish in the said county and state and did cause and ? to be circulated and published within the said county a certain printed book pamphlet and paper named and styled The Impending Crisis of the South - How to Meet It by Hinton Rowan Helper of North Carolina containing therein among other things certain wicked, incendiary and insurrectionary matters, that is to say, in one part thereof according to the tenor and effect following: (bottom of page 3) "As a striking illustration of the selfish and debasing influences which slavery exercises over the hearts and minds of slave holders themselves, we will here state the fact that when we the non-slaveholders remonstrate against the continuance of such a manifest wrong and inhumanity - a system of usurpation and outrage so obviously detrimental to our interests - they fly into a terrible passion, exclaiming amongst all ? of terrible threats - which are not infrequently executed - "its none of your business"! meaning to say thereby - their slaves do not among us that slavery affects no one - except the master and their chattels personal, and that ? should give ourselves no concern about it whatever; to any man of common sense and honesty of purpose the ? is ? of this ? is so evident that any studied ? to refute it would be a positive insult. Would it be none of our business if they were to bring the small-pox into the neighborhood and with premeditated design let foul contagion spread or if they were to ? a pound of ? nine into a public ? would that be none of our business? Were they to turn a pack of mad-dogs loose in the community would we be performing the ? of good citizen by closing ourselves within doors for the space of nine days saying nothing to anybody? Small-pox is a nuisance (end of page 4) mad-dogs are a nuisance; ? is a nuisance; slavery is a nuisance; slave-holders a a nuisance; and so any slave-breeders; it is our business, nay it is our imperative duty to abate nuisances. We propose therefore with the exception of strychnine which is the least of all these nuisances to exterminate this ? from beginning to end.
We mean precisely what our words express when we say we believe thieves are as a general rule, less amenable to the moral law, than slaveholders; and here is the basis of our opinion, ordinarily thieves wait until we acquire a considerable amount of property, and then they take a dispensable portion of it; but they deprive no one of physical liberty, nor do they fetter the mind; slaveholders on the contrary by clinging to the most barbarous relic of a most barbarous age bring disgrace upon themselves, their neighbors and their country, depreciate the value of their own and others land, degrade labor, discourage energy and progress, prevent non-slaveholders from accumulating wealth, curtail their natural rights and ? doom their children to ignorance, and all its attendant evils, rob the negroes of their freedom, throw a damper upon every ? of ? and intellectual enterprise that is not protected under their own roofs and for their own advantage and by other means equally at variance with the principles of justice, though but (end of page 5) an insignificant fractional part of the population, they constitute themselves the sole arbiters and legislators for the entire south not merely. Not merely so, the thief ? steals from more than one man out of an hundred. The slaveholder defrauds ninety and nine and the hundredth does not escape him. Again - thieves steal trifly from rich man slaveholders offends poor men and enact laws for the perpetuation of their poverty. Thieves practice deceit on the wise, slaveholders take advantage of the ignorant. We contend moreover that slave holders are more criminal than common murderers. We know all slaveholders would not willingly ? their hands in the blood of their fellow men, but it is a fact nevertheless that all slaveholders are under the shield of a perpetual license to murder. This license they have issued to themselves according to their own infamous statues - of the slave raises his hand to ward off an unmerited blow they are permitted to take his life with impunity. We are personally acquainted with three ruffians who have become actual murderers under circumstances of this nature. One of them killed two negroes on one occasion, the other two have murdered but one each. Neither of them has ever been subjected to even the preliminaries of a trial not one ? has even been arrested - their own private explanations of the homicides exculpated them from (end of page 6) all manner of blame in the ? They had done nothing wrong in the eyes of the community.
The negroes made an effort to shield themselves from the tortures of a merciless flagellation and were shot dead on the spot. These murderers still live and are treated as honorable members of society. No matter how many slaves or free negroes may witness the perpetration of these atrocious homicides, not one of them is allowed to lift up even his voice in behalf of his murdered brother. In the South negroes whether bond or free are never under any circumstances permitted to utter one syllable under oath except for or against one of their own color. Their testimony against white folks is of no more consequence than the idle zephyr? of summer.
And as one other part thereof according to the tenor and effect following, that is to say - "So it sums that the total number of slaveholders, including their entire crew of lick-spittles, against whom we have to content, is but three hundred and forty seven thousand five hundred twenty five.
Against this army for the defense and propagation of slavery, we think it will be an easy matter independent of the negroes who in nine cases out ten would be delighted with an opportunity to cut their masters throats - and without accepting of a single recruit from either of the free states.(bot page 7)
England France or Germany - to muster one at least three times as large and far more respectable, for its utter extinction. We hope however and believe that the matter in dispute may be adjusted without arranging these armies against each other in hostile attitude. We desire peace - not war. Justice - not blood. give us fair - play secure to us the night of : the freedom of which, and we will settle the difficulty at the ballot-box not on the battle-ground, by force of reason - not by force of armies.
But we are wedded to one purpose, from which no earthly power can ever divorce us - we are determined to abolish slavery at all hazards - in defiance of all the opposition of whatever nature which it is possible for the slaveocrats to bring against us. By this they may take due notice and govern themselves accordingly.
And in one other part thereof according to the tenor and effect following. "What we want and must have is the only ? means of attaining to a position worthy of sovereign states in this eminently progressive and utilitarian age is an energetic intelligent enterprising, virtuous and unshackled population, an untrammeled press and the freedom of speech. For ourselves as white people and for negroes and other persons of whatever color or condition, we demand all the rights (bot page 8) and interests and prerogatives, that are guaranteed to corresponding classes of mankind in the North, in England, in France - in Germany or in any other civilized and enlightened country.
Any proposition that may be offered conceding less than this demand will be promptly and disdainfully rejected."
The evident tendency of which said book - pamphlet and paper, so circulated and published and ? to be circulated and published as aforesaid in the said county and state - was then and there s well to cause the slaves of the state to become discontented with the bondage in which they are held by their masters and the laws regulating the same, as to cause then and there free negroes of this said state to be dissatisfied with their social conditions and denial to them of political privileges; and thereby to excite among said slaves and free negroes a disposition to make conspiracies, insurrections, and resistance against the peace and quiet of the public, to the evil example of all others in like case offending ? the statute as such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the state.
And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present that the said Daniel Worth afterwards to wit - on the day and year aforesaid and in the county aforesaid did willfully (bot page 9) wickedly, unlawfully and feloniously circulate and publish within the said county and state and did cause and procure to be circulated and published within the said count and state a certain printed book, pamphlet and paper - named and styled - The Impending Crisis of the South - How to Meet It by Hinton Rowan Helper of North Carolina. by then and there delivering the same to one John H. Pierce, containing therein among other things, certain wicked, incendiary and insurrectionary matters, that is to say in one part thereof according to the tenor and effect following: "As a striking illustration of the selfish and debasing influences, which slavery exercises of the minds and hearts of slaveholders themselves, we will here state the fact, that where we ? non-slaveholders remonstrate against the continuance of such a manifest wrong and inhumanity - a system of usurpation and outrages so obviously detrimental to our interests, they ? into a terrible ? exclaiming amongst all ? of horrible threats - which are not infrequently executed. Its none of your business." meaning to say that their slaves do not annoy us, that slavery effects no one except the master and their chattels personal, and that we should give ourselves no concern about it whatever. To every man of common sense and honesty of purpose, the ? (end of page 10) of this assumption is so evident, that any studied attempt to refute it would be a positive insult. Would it be none of our business it ? ? to bring the small-pox in the neighborhood and with premeditated design let foul contagion spread? Or, if they were to throw a pound of strychnine in to a public spring would that be none of our business? ? Were they to turn a pack of mad-dogs loose on the community would we be performing the part of good citizens to closing ourselves within doors for the space of nine days saying nothing to any body? Small-pox is a nuisance, strychnine is a nuisance; mad-dogs are a nuisance and slavery is a nuisance. Slaveholders are a nuisance and so are slave-breeders; it is our business, nay, it is our imperative duty to abate nuisances, we propose therefore with ? exception of strychnine which is the least of these nuisances to exterminate the catalogue from beginning to the end. We mean precisely what our words express when we say, we believe thieves are as a general thing less amenable to the moral law, than slave-holders. And here is the basis of our opinion: Ordinarily thieves wait until we acquire a considerable amount of property, and then they steal a dispensable portion of it, but they deprive no one of physical liberty nor do they fetter the mind. Slaveholders on the contrary, by clinging to this most barbarous ? ? the most barbarous age, bring disgrace on themselves and (end of page 11) their neighbors and their country, depreciate the value of their own and others lands, degrade labor, discourage energy and progress, prevent non-slaveholders from accumulating wealth, curtail their natural rights and privileges, doom their children to ignorance, and all its attendant evils, rob the negroes of their freedom, throw a damper on every species of manual and intellectual enterprise that is not protected under their own roofs, and for their own advantage, and by other means equally at variance with the principles of Justice; though ? the insignificant fractional part of the population, they constitute themselves the sole abbiters and regulators for the whole south. Not ? so: the thief rarely steals from more than one man out of an hundred. The slavehold defrauds ninety and nine and the hundredth does not escape him. Again - thieves steal trifles from rich men. Slaveholders oppress poor men and enact laws for the perpetuation of their poverty. Thieves practice deceit on wise men. Slaveholders take advantage of the ignorant. We contend moreover that slaveholders are more criminal than common murderers. We know all slave holders would not ? ? their ands in the blood of their fellow men; but it is a fact nevertheless that slaveholders are under the shield of a perpetual license to murder. This license they have issued to themselves. According to their own infamous statutes, if a slave raises his hand to ward of a un? blow (bot of page 12) they are permitted to take his life with impunity. We are personally acquainted with three ruffians who have become actual murderers under circumstances of this nature. One of them killed two negroes on one occasion the other two have murdered but one each. Neither of them has been subjected to even the preliminaries of a trial: not one of them has ever been arrested: their own private explanation of the homicides exculpated them from all manner of blame in the ?. They have done nothing wrong in the eyes of the community. The negroes made an effort to shield themselves from the torture of a merciless flagellation and where shot dead on the spot. Their murderers still live and are treated as honorable members of society! No matter how many slaves or free negroes may witness the perpetration of these atrocious homicides, not one of them is allowed to raise even his voice in behalf of his murdered brother.
In the south negroes whether bond or free are never under any circumstances permitted to utter a syllable under oath except for or against persons of their own color. Their testimony against white persons is of no more consequence than the idle zephyr of summer. And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following: that is to say: so it seems the total number of slave-owners, including their entire crew of ? lick-spittley - against whom we have to contend, is but three hundred forty-seven thousand five (bot page 13) hundred and twenty-five. Against this ? for the defense and propagation of slavery we think it will be an easy matter - independent of the negroes who in nine cases out of ten would be delighted with an opportunity to cut their master's throat - and without accepting a single recruit from either of the northern states, England: France or Germany - to muster one at least three times as large and far more respectable - for it utter extinction We hope however and believe that the matter in dispute may be ad? without arraying these armies against each other in hostile attitude. We desire peace, not war. Justice, not blood. Give us fair play, secure to us the right of discussion, the freedom of speech and we will settle the difficulty at the ballot box not on the battle-ground - by force of reason and not by force of arms. But we are wedded to our purpose from which no earthly power can ever divorce us. We are determined to abolish slavery at all hazards - in defiance of all the opposition of whatever nature which it is possible for the slaveocrats to bring against us. Of this they may take due notice and govern themselves accordingly. and in another part thereof according to the tenor and effect following - that is to say "What we want and must have is the only sure means of attaining to a position worthy of sovereign states in the eminently progressive and utilitarian age is an energetic, intelligent (bot page 14) enterprising, virtuous and unshackled population: an untrammeled press, and the freedom of speech. For ourselves as white people, for the negroes and other persons of whatever color, or condition, we demand all the rights interests and prerogatives, that are guarantied to corresponding classes of mankind in the north, in England, in France, in Germany or any other country civilized and enlightened.
Any proposition that may be offered conceding less than this demand will be promptly and ?fully rejected. The evident ? of which said or printed book, pamphlet and paper so circulated and published and caused and procured to be circulated and published as aforesaid in the said county and state was then and there as well to cause the slaves of the state to become discontented with the bondage in which they are held by their masters and the laws regulating the same, as to cause them and those free negroes of the state to be dissatisfied with their social condition and the denial to them of political privileges and thereby to excite among the said slaves and free negroes a disposition to make conspiracies insurrections and resistance against the peace and quiet of the public to the evil example of all others in like case offending against the statutes in such case made and ? and against the peace and dignity of the state. (bot page 15)
Signed Thomas Little solicitor.
Upon the back of this indictment was the following endorsement. Witness for the state - John H. Pierce. C.A. Boon. sworn and sent - A.I. Hale Clk.
A true Bill - signed A. I. Horneg for? whereupon the Sheriff of said county is commanded that he cause the said Daniel Worth to come and answer and afterwards to wit at the term of said court began and held for the county aforesaid on the first Monday of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty - before the Honorable I. S. Bailey judge - cometh the said Daniel Worth in his own proper person, and having heard the said indictment read, he, the said Daniel Worth, saith that his is not guilty thereof, and of this he puts himself upon the country, and Thomas ? Esq Attorney ? who prosecutes for the state in this behalf doth the like. Therefore let a ? come of good and lawful men by whom the ? of the matter may be better known. And thereupon the following jurors - to wit - Jacob Ellison. Peter VanCannon, Adam Brown. John Arnold. Henry Varner. Calvin Brown. Micajah Cox. Henry Fuller. Thomas Ridding. Riley Hill. Wm S. Albright. and Jess H. Miller being chosen tried and sworn to speak the truth of and concerning the ? in the said indictment specified do say upon their (bot page 16) oath, that the said Daniel Worth is guilty thereof in manner and form as charged in the bill of indictment. And it is thereupon considered by the court that the said Daniel Worth be imprisoned for one year from the above judgment the said Daniel Worth prays an appeal to the Supreme Court and it is allowed to him upon his giving bond with C. W. Woollen and William Osborne as surities. Appeal bond executed and sent herewith.
State } In Randolph Superior Court
V } Spring Term 1860
Daniel Worth.
There was an indictment for the circulation and publication of the Impending Crisis of the South - How to Meet It by Hinton Rowan Helper of North Carolina. This indictment contained four counts. The third count charged the circulation and publication of the book, setting forth extracts from the book. The fourth count the same as the third except the charge was more specific - that the publication and circulation consisted in the sale of one of the books to John H. Pierce. On the trial the state offered evidence to prove that the defendant had sold bound copies of the book to several other persons than to John H. Pearce. This evidence was objected to by the defendant's cousel but admitted by the court. The state also proved that the defendant had sold and delivered a bound volume to John H. Pearce.
The defendant's counsel insisted 1st that the circulation of a bound volume ws not the circulation of a pamphlet or paper within the statutes.
2nd The sale and delivery of a copy to Pearce was not a circulation.
3rd That to constitute the offense the book should be delivered to slaves or free negroes, or read in their presence.
The Court charged the jury that the publication or circulation of a bound volume was within the statute, that the sale and delivery of a copy of the book to John H. Pearce was a circulation, and that it was not necessary to constitute the offense that the sale should be made to a slave or a free negro, or read in their hearing. The jury found a verdict against this defendant under the instructions of the Court, and judgment was based upon the finding, from which judgment the defendant prays an appeal.
Signed - I. L. Bailey
I, S. G. Worth, Clerk of the Superior Court of law for Randolph county do hereby certify that the foregoing is a full, true and perfect transcript of the record of said court in the case State V Daniel Worth.
? whereof I do herunto subscribe my name and office the ? of said Court at Office in Asheboro this 30 day May 1860.
State vs Worth Randolph
The case has been considered upon the exceptions to the ruling and instructions of the court appearing upon the record, and also upon a motion in arrest of indictment made in this court.
And the court is of opinion there was no error committed in the trial in the superior court, and the motion in arrest is overruled - It is proper therefore that the superior court of law for Randolph should again proceed to judgment upon the verdict according to law.
The case was considered in ? with one ? in all respects ? the same person from the county of Guildford and the reasons which govern the point as delivered by one of its members will be found on file in that case.
This should be as before to the superior court of Randolph to the end said court may proceed to judgment on the verdict.
W. E. Manly
