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The 1772–1773 Bladen County “Mob Raitously Assembled” and the Early Ancestors of the Lumbee

The 1772–1773 Bladen County “Mob Raitously Assembled” and the Early Ancestors of the Lumbee

In 1772–1773, colonial North Carolina faced a crisis in Bladen County that would ripple across centuries, leaving its mark on families who would later be recognized as central to Lumbee history. Governor Arthur Dobbs, acting on intelligence from his agent and militia commander, Colonel Griffith Rutherford, reported to the General Assembly a startling list titled:

“A list of the mob raitously assembled together in Bladen County October 13th 1773.”

The report described the accused not as isolated lawbreakers but as a collective threat to civil order. What makes this document particularly significant is its explicit racial classification:

“The above list of rogues is all free negroes and mullattoes living upon the King’s land.”

This language reveals how the colonial government perceived these families. They were not simply settlers or Indian communities—they were a racially defined population whose freedom, land use, and autonomy were viewed with suspicion. Being labeled “free negroes and mulattoes” in official records meant these families were already outsiders in a society structured to favor white settlers, creating a precedent that would shape their descendants’ social and legal identities.

The list includes individuals whose names would later become central to Robeson County and Lumbee history: Captain James Ivey, Joseph Ivey, Ephraim Sweat, William Chavours Clark (often called Boson Chevers), Richard Groom, Benjamin Deel (Dees), William Sweat, George Sweat, Benjamin Sweat, William Groom Sr., William Groom Jr., Gideon Grant, Thomas Groom, James Pace, Isaac Vann (Vaun), [—] Stapleton, Edward Locklear, and Ticely Locklear. Others, described as “harbourers of the rogues,” included Major Locklear, Richer (Richard) Groom, and Ester Cairsey (Carey/Carrier).

No mass arrests or expulsions followed the report, yet its impact was profound. By officially labeling these interconnected families as a “problem population,” colonial authorities set in motion a process of racialization that isolated them from white society. This exclusion would later make claiming a distinct Indian identity a strategic necessity, as these families sought to protect their lands, communities, and legal standing in the 19th century.

The “Mob Raitously Assembled” document is more than a colonial report—it is a window into the early social dynamics of Bladen County and the foundations of the Lumbee community. It illustrates how race, freedom, and land ownership intersected in colonial America, and how a single government record could echo through generations, influencing the identity and survival strategies of entire families.

Resources & References:

Tags:

Bladen County, Lumbee, colonial North Carolina, free people of color, Locklear, Sweat, Ivey, historical documents, Native American ancestry

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