Rutherford Weekly

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What did they talk about? They talked about the time they spent together doing everyday kinds of activities. They remembered the special foods she cooked just for them. They laughed about her pet phrases. They recalled her pranks and practical jokes she pulled on her family and friends. I was struck by the fact that the things so many of us consider important weren���t what these guys talked about. The spiritual legacy these grandsons received was about everyday things. What kind of legacy will your grandchildren recall? They���ll probably talk about the little things you do, not your presents; little things that are really big. So listen to life today and focus on how you can Live Positive and pass it on. TDP5031493 What���s your legacy? HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT & SUPPLY Now serving Cleveland, Rutherford, Gaston, Lincoln, Burke and Catawba Counties! 108 E. Grover Street ��� Shelby (One block west of the hospital) CLASSIFIEDS Place Your Ad Today! As Low As $7.50. WE SELL RESULTS! FREE BONUS ONLINE LISTING! 828-248-1408 ��� RutherfordWeekly.com Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes of the OLD NORTH STATE! Famous Imposter Bilked North Carolinians John Campbell, Edenton's prominent merchant and member of the house of Burgesses from Chowan County, welcomed the well-dressed stranger bearing the name Robert Middleton. The visitor, according to Campbell, wore a "drab lightish colored coat, with Metal Buttons, (and) a pretty long black silk waistcoat." Physically, he was, "a middle-siz-d smooth-fac'd Fellow, very smooth toung'd, and is a pretty good Scholar." Robert Middleton made a good impression upon the Edentonians, and when he produced a letter of credit from Colonel Andrew Meade (from up near the Dismal Swamp), Campbell handed him the money. Having partaken of Edenton's hospitality, the dashing young man left just before Christmas in 1744. It was only then that John Campbell learned that Robert Middleton was an imposter. Ten months passed, and Campbell heard of another imposter making his way northward from the Neuse River settlements after landing in New Bern from Jamaica. This man called himself Captain Randall of the ship Havana, But his description fit that of "Robert Middleton." The description also fit Tom Bell, the news of whose frauds was spreading through the colonies. Consequently, from his Lazy Hill Plantation in Bertie County, Campbell inserted an advertisement in the Virginia Gazette offering a reward of "Five Pistoles, and all other Expenses" to have the imposter committed to jail in Edenton or Williamsburg. Campbell added, "He (Bell) told some Gentleman when at Neuse River fourteen days since, that he should make free with their Names, as it Might suit his Conveniency in traveling Northerly: He has been in many Gaols to the Northward of Maryland." It is doubtful if Campbell ever recovered his money, for no record of an arrest in North Carolina has been found. In 1745 John campbell probably shortchanged Tom Bell when he called him simply a "notorious Villain and Imposter." After all, historian Carl Bridenbaugh, in his book "Early Americans", calls Bell "probably the best-known American both on this continent and in the British West Indies." Born of a prominent Boston family kin 1713, Thomas Wentworth Bell was expelled from Harvard University for theft at age twenty. Cut off from the usual careers of classically educated scholars, Bell adapted his education to a life of roguery. Making his way through the colonies, he committed deceptions that made him a celebrity. Having been mistaken for an absent Presbyterian theologian in New Jersey, for example, Bell assumed the preacher's identity, accepted an invitation to deliver a sermon on Sunday morning and then, on pretext of having forgotten his notes, went back to his host's home, ransacked kit and rode off on a fine horse. The irate parishioners finally located the real minister and twice convicted him of robbery. The imposter, meanwhile, was carrying on his swindles in other colonies and in the West Indies. To understand the success of such imposters, one must remember that in the first half of the eighteenth century there were no rapid means of communication and no photographic means of circulating likenesses of culprits. No newspaper was published in North Carolina until 1751. Thus a community had little more than a visitor's word for his identity, for letter of introduction could be forged easily. Bell assumed a long list of identities. As John Campbell said, "He often changes his name, the better to impose." Tom Bell's ultimate fraud was his announced plan to publish a book to be titled "The Travels and Adventures of the Famous Tom Bell." By means of a large advertisement in the Virginia Gazette, he collected money for advance sales and then fled the colony. No book ever appeared. Tom Bell spend much of the remainder of his life as an officer on ships in the Caribbean. He was fight-eight years old when his sloop captured a Spanish schooner near Cuba, plundered it and left it adrift with neither water or provisions for the crew. For this crime the "famous infamous vagrant" Tom Bell "penitently" went to his death at the gallows in Jamaica in 1771. Few Harvard men ever attained equal fame. - Originally published January 26, 1982 This tale is from Dr. H. G. Jones book "Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes of the Old North State" which is revised and updated. It is edited by K. Randall Jones and Caitlin Jones. It is available at your local bookstore or on line at www.historypress.net WE���RE ALL EARS Questions? Comments? Story Ideas? Let us know how we're doing. Your opinion is something we always want to hear. Call or email and let us know. 369 Butler Road Forest City, NC 28043 opinion@rutherfordweekly.com 828-248-1408

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