Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical and Biographical by C. L. HunterIllustrating Principally the Revolutionary Period of Mecklenburg, Rowan, Lincoln, and Adjoining Counties, Accompanied with Miscellaneous Information, Much of It Never before Published (page 3)

Tories, under Colonel John Moore, but failed to reach that place before they had been subdued and routed by Colonel Locke and his brave associates.

General McLeary was in the fight against a considerable body of Tories assembled at Coulson’s Mill, at which place General Davidson was severely wounded.

After this service he again volunteered in Captain William Alexander’s company, Colonel Irwin’s regiment, watching the movements of the enemy. About two miles south of Charlotte, Lieutenant James Taggart captured two wagons loaded with valuable supplies from Camden for the British army, then encamped near the former place. In this dashing exploit, two of the British guard were killed, and the remainder made prisoners, who were afterward turned over to Colonel Davidson. At the same time, an express was captured from Lord Cornwallis to Colonel Turnbull, in command of the forces at Camden. Here, as elsewhere in the surrounding country, it will be seen the vigilant “hornets” of Mecklenburg were engaged in their accustomed work.

Captain Alexander’s command continued to hang on the enemy’s rear for the purpose of making rapid captures and picking up stragglers, and followed them to the Old Nation Ford, on the Catawba. Colonel Davidson having been promoted in the meantime to the rank of Brigadier General, marched down and encamped near Six Mile Creek, where he was joined by Generals Morgan and Smallwood, in November, 1780. Near this time General Morgan was ordered to move with a detachment to the relief of the upper districts of South Carolina. He set off immediately, and remained there until after the battle of the Cowpens, on the 17th of January, 1781.

General McLeary again volunteered in Captain John Brownfield’s company, in General Davidson’s brigade, watching the movements of Lord Cornwallis in his pursuit of General Morgan, encumbered with five hundred prisoners on his way to a place of safety in Virginia.

General Davidson, anticipating the movements of Cornwallis, had placed guards at four or five crossing-places on the Catawba river, making his headquarters near the Tuckasege Ford, on the eastern bank of the river. On the 31st of January, he left his headquarters to inspect the position of his guard at Cowan’s Ford. Here the British army crossed at dawn of day, on the 1st of February, 1781. At the close of the skirmish which ensued, General Davidson was killed. General McLeary continued in service until after the battle of Guilford, when he returned home, and was soon afterward discharged. He was highly respected, represented his county several times in the State Legislature, and died at a good old age.

MAJOR THOMAS ALEXANDER.

Major Thomas Alexander, born in 1753, was one of the earliest and most unwavering patriots of Mecklenburg county. He first entered the service in 1775, as a private, in Captain John Springs’ company, and marched to the head of the Catawba river, to assist in protecting the frontier settlements, then greatly suffering from the murderous and depredating incursions of the Cherokee Indians. In 1775 he also volunteered in Captain Ezekiel Polk’s company, and marched against the Tories assembled at the post of Ninety, in South Carolina.

In 1776 he volunteered in Captain William Alexander’s company, under Colonels Adam Alexander and Robert Irwin, General Rutherford commanding, and marched to the Quaker Meadows, at the head of the Catawba, and thence across the Blue Ridge to the Cherokee country. Having severely chastised the Indians and compelled them to sue for peace, the expedition returned.

In 1779, he volunteered under Captain William Polk and marched to South Carolina, to subdue the Tories on Wateree River. Soon after this service he was appointed captain of a company to guard the magazine in Charlotte, which, on the approach of Cornwallis, in September, 1780, was removed to a place of safety on the evening before his Lordship’s arrival.

After Cornwallis left Charlotte, Captain Alexander raised a company of mounted men to guard the Tuckasege Ford. He occupied this position until it was known Cornwallis had crossed the Catawba River, at Cowan’s Ford.

After the death of General Davidson he placed himself under Colonel Lee, of the Continental line, Gen. Pickens commanding, and marched to Hillsboro, near which place they defeated Colonel Pyles, a Tory leader, on Haw River. After this service he volunteered under Colonel Davie and was with him at the battle of Hanging Rock. After Gates’ defeat he was appointed Quarter-master, with orders to attend the hospital in Charlotte.

Major Alexander married Jane, daughter of Neil Morrison, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, and died in 1844, at the age of ninety-two years.

In the “Charlotte Journal,” of January 17th, 1845, an obituary notice of this veteran patriot was published, in which it is stated, “he was allied by blood to the two most distinguished families of the period–the Polks and Alexanders, and in his own person blended many of the qualities peculiar to each. He was remarkable for the highest courage and the greatest modesty; for marked dignity of personal deportment, and a disposition the most cheerful, and a heart overflowing with kindness. He crowned all his virtues by a simple, unostentatious and humble piety, and concluded a life, protracted to a period far beyond that allotted to mankind, without a blot, and without reproach, and with the respect, the affection and veneration of all who knew him.”

CAPTAIN WILLIAM ALEXANDER.

Captain William Alexander was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1749. He was long and well known in Mecklenburg county, N.C., among numerous other persons bearing the same name, as “Capt. Black Bill Alexander,” from being the reputed leader of a small band of ardent patriots who, in 1771, _blackened their faces_, and destroyed the king’s powder, on its way to Hillsboro, to obey the behests of a cruel and tyrannical governor. (For further particulars, see sketch of “Black Boys” of Cabarrus County.)

He first entered the service of the United States as captain of a company, in 1776, under Colonel Adam Alexander, and marched to the head of the Catawba River. The object of this expedition was to protect the valley of the Catawba from the incursions and depredations of the Cherokee Indians during the time the inhabitants were gathering in their harvest. He again entered the service: as captain, under Colonel Adam Alexander, General Rutherford commanding, and marched to the head of the Catawba River, and across the Blue Ridge Mountains, against the Cherokee Indians, who were completely routed and their towns destroyed, compelling them to sue for peace.

In 1780 he commanded a company under Col. Francis Locke, and marched from Charlotte for the relief of Charleston, but finding the city closely invested by the British army, the regiment fell back to Camden, and remained there until their three months’ service had expired.

He again served a four months’ tour as captain, under General Sumter, and was in the battles of Rocky Mount, Hanging Rock, and in the skirmish at Wahab’s (now written Walkup’s.)

He also served six weeks as captain under Colonel Thomas Polk, in the winter of 1775-6, known as the “Snow Campaign,” against the Tory leader, Cunningham, in South Carolina.

He again served a three months’ tour as captain in the Wilmington expedition, General Rutherford commanding, immediately preceding the battle of Guilford, but was not in that action, on account of an attack of small-pox.

He again marched with General Rutherford’s forces against the Tories assembled at Ramsour’s Mill, in Lincoln county, but the action having taken place shortly before their arrival, they assisted in taking care of the wounded and in burying the dead.

He again entered the service as captain, for ten months, under General Sumter, in Colonel Wade Hampton’s regiment in South Carolina, and was the first captain who arrived with his men at the place of rendezvous.

He was also in the fight at the Quarter House, Monk’s Corner, capture of Orangeburg, battle of Eutaw, and in numerous other minor but important services to his country.

Captain William Alexander resided on the public road leading to Concord, six miles east of Charlotte, where he died on the 19th of December, 1836, aged about eighty-seven years.

ELIJAH ALEXANDER.

Elijah Alexander, son of William Alexander, blacksmith, was born in Mecklenburg county, N.C., in 1760. In 1819, he moved to Maury county, Tenn., where he died at a good old age. In March, 1780, Colonel Thomas Polk called out detachments from the nearest companies of militia to serve as a guard over the public powder placed in the magazine in Charlotte. He then volunteered for three months under Captain Thomas Alexander.

After Cornwallis crossed the Catawba River at Cowan’s Ford, on the 1st of February, 1781, at which place General Davidson was killed, a call was made for more men to harass the progress of the British army. For this purpose, a rendezvous was made at the “Big Rock” in Cabarrus county, under Colonel William Polk, Major James Harris and Captain Brownfield. At this time, the small-pox broke out in camp, from the effects of which Moses Alexander, a brother of Governor Nathaniel Alexander, died. After the battle of Guilford, on the 15th of March, 1781, General Greene returned to South Carolina to recover full possession of the State. He then joined his army under Captain James Jack (the bearer of the Mecklenburg Declaration to Congress in 1775) and in Colonel Thomas Polk’s regiment. The command marched from Charlotte, along the “Lawyer’s Road,” to Matthew Stewart’s, on Goose Creek, and thence towards Camden, to fall in with General Greene’s army. They halted at the noted “Flat Rock,” and eat beef butchered on that wide-spread natural table. The command then marched to Rugeley’s Mill, where it remained a week or more. After this service he returned home and was honorably discharged.

CAPTAIN CHARLES ALEXANDER.

Captain Charles Alexander was born in Mecklenburg county, N.C., January 4th, 1753. He first entered the service of the United States as a private in July, 1775, in the company of Captain William Alexander, and Colonel Adam Alexander’s regiment, General Rutherford commanding, and marched across the Blue Ridge Mountains against the Cherokee Indians. The expedition was completely successful; the Indians were routed, and their towns destroyed.

He next served as a private for two months, commencing in January, 1776, known as the “Snow Campaign,” in Captain William Alexander’s company, and Colonel Thomas Folk’s regiment, and marched to Rayburn’s creek, where the Tories were dispersed. In one of the skirmishes, William Polk was wounded in the shoulder.

In October, 1776, he again served under the same Captain, and in Colonel Caldwell’s regiment, but the command of the regiment during this tour of duty, was under Major Thomas Harris, who marched to Camden, S.C., and remained there about three months.

In 1776, he served in the cavalry company of Captain Charles Polk, who marched to Fort Johnson, near the mouth of Cape Fear river, Colonel Thomas Polk commanding. He again served as a private in 1778, in the company of Captain William Gardner and Lieutenant Stephen Alexander, General Rutherford commanding, who marched to Purysburg, S.C., and there joined the regulars under General Lincoln, at a camp called the “Black Swamp.” In 1780, shortly after Gates’ defeat, he joined Captain William Alexander’s company, and Colonel Thomas Polk’s regiment, under General Davie, marched to the Waxhaws, and was in the engagement fought there against the Tories.

He again served under Captain William Alexander, as one of the guard over wagons sent to Fayetteville to procure salt for the army.

In September, 1781, he was elected Captain of a cavalry company, under Major Thomas Harris, and marched against the Tories at Raft Swamp.

Besides the tours herein specified, Captain Alexander performed other important services, of shorter duration, in scouring the surrounding country, and protecting it against the troublesome Tories.

In 1814, Captain Alexander moved to Giles, now Lincoln county, Tenn., and in 1833, to Maury county, where he died at an extreme old age.

The Alexanders, who performed a soldier’s duty in the Revolutionary War, residing principally in Mecklenburg county, were very numerous, several of whom can here receive only a passing notice.

_John Alexander_, son of James Alexander, was in active service for upwards of five years. He was the husband of Mrs. Susanna Alexander, long known and highly esteemed in Mecklenburg county as the ministering angel, who was eminently instrumental in saving the life of Captain Joseph Graham, after he was cut down by the British cavalry, near Sugar Creek Church, and left by them, supposed to be dead. She found him by the roadside, conducted him to her house, dressed his wounds, made by ball and sabre, and tenderly cared for him during the night. On the next day, his symptoms becoming more favorable, she conveyed him to his mother’s, about four miles distant, _on her own pony_. Her husband died in 1805. In 1846, when eighty-six years of age, and in needy circumstances, she was granted a pension by the General Government, in behalf of her husband’s military services, and lived to be nearly one hundred years old, enjoying the kind regard and veneration of all who knew her.

_Dan Alexander_, who moved to Hardeman county, Tenn., was born in Mecklenburg county, in March, 1757.

He first entered the service in 1778, for three months, in Captain William Alexander’s company, (commonly called “Black Bill Alexander,”) and Colonel Irwin’s regiment.

In 1780, he served under Captain Thomas Alexander to assist in guarding the public magazine in Charlotte.

In this same year he served in the expedition to Ramsour’s Mill, under General Rutherford, and afterward, against Tories assembled in the forks of the Yadkin river, captured several and conveyed them to Salisbury jail. Soon afterward, he joined the command of Colonel Davie, and marched in the direction of Camden, S.C. Near the South Carolina line, they met Gates’ retreating army. He represented Gates as “wearing a _pale blue coat, with epaulettes, velvet breeches, and riding a bay horse_.”

Colonel Davie’s command returned, and encamped ten miles north of the Court House.

His last important service was in forming one of the party dispatched by Colonel McCall to surprise a guard of eighteen British grenadiers, stationed at Hart’s Mill, near Hillsboro. The movement was successful; several were killed, six made prisoners, and one escaped in the creek.

_William Alexander_, of Rowan county, entered the service in 1776, and marched under General Rutherford’s command against the Cherokee Indians, and in that expedition (Sept. 8th,) was wounded in the foot at the “Seven Mile Mountain.”

In 1781, he was elected the Captain of a company of spies, and was in the ten month’s service under Colonel Wade Hampton and General Sumter, in South Carolina, acting efficiently in this capacity, until the close of the Revolution.

JOSEPH KERR–“THE CRIPPLE SPY.”

Joseph Kerr was born in Chester county, Pa., Nov. 3rd, 1750. At an early age moved with his parents to North Carolina, and settled in Mecklenburg county. He was a _cripple from infancy_, but becoming indignant at the ravages of the British and Tories, and actuated with a true, patriotic spirit, he repaired to the camp of Gen. McDowell and offered his services as _a spy_. In this capacity Gen. McDowell accepted him, and immediately sent him to Blackstock’s Ford, on Tiger River, S.C., where the British and Tories were encamped, about fifteen hundred strong. After secreting his horse he proceeded as _a poor cripple, and beggar-like_, made a full examination of the enemy’s camp. Furnished with this information, he quietly withdrew, returned quickly as possible to General McDowell, and apprised him and Captain Steen of his discoveries. He was well mounted, and traveled day and night–a distance of ninety miles. General McDowell’s forces, upon this intelligence, marched in great haste, attacked the enemy near Blackstock’s Ford, and routed them. In this engagement four of Captain Steen’s men were killed and seven wounded. He took no prisoners and gave no quarters. Kerr then returned to Mecklenburg county, and soon after joined Colonel Williams’ command as _a spy_. Captain Steen informed Colonel Williams that he might safely rely upon Kerr in this kind of service. They then marched to join the _over-mountain boys_, under Sevier, Shelby and other officers. Upon the junction of their forces, a council of war was immediately held, at which Kerr was present. They learned that Ferguson was about twenty miles from them, at Peter Quinn’s old place, six miles from King’s Mountain. The result of the council of war was that he (Kerr) should go and reconnoiter Ferguson’s camp. He did so without delay, and found the British and Tories encamped–arms stacked, and about twelve hundred strong.

As a _poor, innocent cripple_, they informed him they were ready and willing to give “protection” to all who would join them. He soon afterwards withdrew, mounted his fleet charger, and in a brief space of time reported to Colonels Shelby, Sevier and other officers the enemy’s strength and situation. Acting upon his report, these officers marched that night a distance of twenty-seven miles, and reached the mountain on the next day, about three o’clock. After a brief consultation as to the plan of the engagement, Ferguson was vigorously attacked on his boasted eminence of security, and, after a fierce conflict of about one hour, was completely conquered. Ferguson and two hundred and twenty-five of his men were killed; one hundred and eighty wounded, and upwards of six hundred made prisoners. The loss of the Whigs was twenty-eight killed and a great many wounded. Colonel Williams was severely wounded in the groin, from the effects of which he died a few hours after the battle. In a few days after this victory, Kerr returned to Mecklenburg county, to the house of his uncle, Joseph Kerr. The brave Captain Steen was afterwards killed by the Tories. He was from Union county, S.C., and not far from “Thicketty Mountain,” in the district known as Ninety-six.

At the instance of Captain Barnett, in command of some refugees who returned with him to Mecklenburg, Kerr was sent to York county, S.C., to gain information of the enemy’s force and position. His crippled condition readily gained him access to the camp of Colonel Floyd and Major Hook–the latter in charge of the dragoons. He was recognized by some of the Tories, and came very near losing his life. He managed, however, to escape, and traveled all night in order to inform Captain Barnett of the enemy’s strength. Captain Barnett immediately set out with thirty-one men, and uniting with Captains Bratton and McLure, completely surprised and routed the enemy, killing ninety-seven, among the number Major Hook and Colonel Ferguson, of the Tory militia. This was Kerr’s last service as a spy. After the war he moved to Tennessee, and died in White county, at a good old age.

ROBERT KERR.

Robert Kerr, a soldier of the Revolution, was born in December, 1750, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and came to North Carolina with his parents when only three years old.

He first entered the service in 1776, in Captain John McKnitt Alexander’s company, in the expedition, General Rutherford commanding, against the Cherokee Indians, then severely molesting the frontier settlements.

In 1778, he was drafted into Captain John Brownfield’s company, Colonel Frances Locke’s regiment, and marched by way of Camden, to the defence of Charleston. After his return, he served under the same officers in the battle of Ramsour’s Mill, in Lincoln county.

When Cornwallis was in Charlotte in 1780, he served under Captain James Thompson, the gallant leader of the Spartan band against the foraging party at McIntire’s farm, seven miles from Charlotte, on the Beattie’s Ford road.

In December, 1780, he joined the company of Captain John Sharpe, at which time, General Davidson, with his accustomed vigilance and activity, announced that all who would then promptly volunteer for six weeks, such service should stand for a three months tour. On this occasion he volunteered, and served under Captain William Henry.

After the death of General Davidson at Cowan’s Ford, he was placed in Colonel Locke’s regiment, General Pickens commanding, which forces were ordered to harass and impede the march of Cornwallis to Guilford Court House. This was his last important military service.

HENRY HUNTER.

Henry Hunter was born in the county of Derry, Ireland, on the 11th of August, 1751. About the time he became of age, he married Martha Sloan, and, after remaining a little upwards of one year longer in Ireland, he emigrated to America, and landed at Charleston, S.C., after a long and boisterous voyage of thirteen weeks. After reaching the shores of the New World, to which his fond anticipations of superior civil and religious privileges had anxiously turned, on surveying his situation, grim poverty stared him in the face; for, his stock of cash on hand was just “one silver half dollar.” Yet, being raised to habits of industry, he did not despair, feeling assured that, “where there is a _will_ there is a _way_” to act in earnest, and battle against the adverse fortunes of life.

Finding in Charleston a wagon from North Carolina, he made suitable arrangements with its owner, and accompanied it on its return to Mecklenburg county, whither his mother and four brothers had emigrated several years before, and settled in the neighborhood of Poplar Tent Church. Here, by strict economy, and persevering industry, he was prospered as a farmer; blest in his “basket and his store,” and soon enabled to purchase a comfortable homestead for himself and his rising family.

When the war of the Revolution broke out, being deeply imbued from childhood with the principles of liberty, and the justness of the American cause, he did not hesitate to assist in the great struggle for freedom.

He first entered the service of the United States as a volunteer in Captain William Alexander’s company, Colonel George Alexander’s regiment, and marched to suppress a large body of Tories assembled under Colonel John Moore at Ramsour’s Mill, near the present town of Lincolnton, but failed to reach that place before the battle had been fought and the Tories signally routed by Colonel Locke and his brave associates.

He next entered the service under Captain Thomas Alexander, and was ordered to Charlotte for the purpose of guarding the public magazine in that place. Captain Alexander succeeded in having it removed to a place of safety on the evening before the entrance of the British army into Charlotte on the 26th of September, 1780.

He again entered the service a short time afterward, in Captain William Alexander’s company, and Colonel George Alexander’s regiment. The rendezvous of the regiment was about four miles south of Charlotte. After this service, on account of severe local injury, he was honorably discharged by Colonel Alexander.

Henry Hunter had twelve children, ten sons and two daughters. He was signally blest to see them all attain the age of maturity, and settle on comfortable homes around him. His wife, Martha, the worthy partner of his joys and sorrows, and whose earthly pilgrimage was protracted beyond the usual bounds of life, died on the 30th of September, 1832, in the eightieth year of her age.

He was long a consistent member and ruling Elder of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Like a sheaf fully ripe in its season, he met his approaching end with peaceful resignation. On his tombstone, in a private cemetery, on the old homestead property, is the following inscription:

“In Memory of HENRY HUNTER,
Who departed this life on the 18th of May, 1836, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, leaving a posterity of eleven children, and one hundred grand children, with thirty great-grand children to mourn his loss.”

JAMES ORR.

James Orr was born in Pennsylvania in 1750. He early espoused the cause of freedom, and first entered the service in a company of riflemen, commanded by Captain Robert Mebane; marched to Cross Creek (now Fayetteville), and thence to Wilmington, to the assistance of Generals Ashe and Moore. In 1776, he volunteered under Captain Thomas Polk, in Colonel Charles’ corps of cavalry, General Rutherford commanding, and marched against a body of Tories assembled at Cross Creek, but they were dispersed before the expedition reached that place. Again, in 1776, he volunteered under Captain Mebane, and marched from Charlotte to the Quaker Meadows, at the head of the Catawba River, against the Cherokee Indians, committing murders and depredations on the frontier settlements. In 1777 he served under Captain Elaby, Colonel Hicks’ regiment, in South Carolina.

In 1780 he served under Captain William Alexander, in Colonel William Davidson’s battalion, General Rutherford commanding, and marched against the Tories assembled at Ramsour’s Mill, in Lincoln county; but the battle had been fought, and the Tories subdued and routed, before the expedition reached that place. This was his last important service.

SKIRMISH AT CHARLOTTE; OR, FIRST ATTACK OF THE “HORNETS.”

After the battle of Camden, Cornwallis, believing that he would soon bring the rebels of North Carolina into speedy submission to the British Crown, left the scene of his conquest with as little delay as possible, and designated Charlotte as the most suitable place for his headquarters. This town had been previously the rallying point, on many occasions, for the American forces, and from which they marched by companies, battalions and regiments, to the front, whenever their services were needed.

Cornwallis entered Charlotte on the 26th of September, 1780. His approach to the town was from the south, on Trade street, and, after taking possession of the place, his army lay encamped eighteen days in the old field, or commons, nearly opposite the residence of the late M.L. Wriston, with the exception of one regiment, which pitched their tents about midway between Charlotte and Colonel Polk’s mill (late Bissell’s). The head-quarters of his Lordship was in the second house in the rear of the present Springs building, with a front yard facing on Trade street. Many years after the war this building, in which Cornwallis slept _unquietly (per noctem plurima volvens_), was moved round on Tryon street, and constitutes a part of the house now (1876) occupied by Mr. Taylor, gunsmith, but so changed and remodeled that little of the original structure can be identified to remind us of the past.

The skirmish at Charlotte has been pronounced one of the most “brilliant affairs” of the Revolution; and the correct account of it will be here given in General Davie’s own words, taken from his auto-biographical sketches in manuscript, and now on file in the archives of the Historical Society of the State University at Chapel Hill.

He says:

“Charlotte, situated on a rising ground, contains about twenty houses, built on two streets, which cross each other at right angles, at the intersection of which stands the court-house. The left of the town, as the enemy advanced, was an open common on the woods, which reached up to the gardens of the village. With this small force, viz., one hundred and fifty cavalry and mounted infantry, and fourteen volunteers, under Major Graham, Davie determined to give his Lordship a foretaste of what he might expect in North Carolina. For this purpose he dismounted one company, and posted it under the court-house, where the men were covered breast high by a stone wall. Two other companies were advanced about eighty yards, and posted behind some houses, and in gardens on each side of the street. While this disposition was making, the Legion (Tarleton’s) was forming at the distance of three hundred yards, with a front to fill the street, and the light infantry on their flanks. On sounding the charge, the cavalry advanced at full gallop within sixty yards of the court-house, where they received the American fire, and retreated with great precipitation.

“As the infantry continued to advance, notwithstanding the fire of our advanced companies, who were too few to keep them in check, it became necessary to withdraw them from the cross street, and form them in line with the troops under the court-house. The flanks were still engaged with the infantry, but the centre was directed to reserve their fire for the cavalry, who rallied on their former ground, and returned to the charge.

“They were again well received by the militia, and galloped off in great confusion, in presence of the whole British army. As the British infantry were now beginning to turn Colonel Davie’s right flank, these companies were drawn off in good order, successively covering each other, and formed at the end of the street, about one hundred yards from the court-house, under a galling fire from the British light infantry, who had advanced under cover of the houses and gardens. The British cavalry again appeared, charging in column by the court-house, but upon receiving a fire, which had been reserved for them, they again scampered off. Lord Cornwallis, in his vexation at the repeated miscarriage of his cavalry, openly abused their cowardice. The Legion, reinforced by the infantry, pressed forward on our flanks, and the ground was no longer tenable by this handful of brave men.

“A retreat was then ordered on the Salisbury road, and the enemy followed, with great caution and respect, for some miles, when they ventured to charge the rear guards. The guards were of course put to flight, but, on receiving the fire of a single company, they retreated.

“Our loss consisted of Lieutenant Locke, and four privates killed, and Major Graham and five privates wounded. The British stated their loss at twelve non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and Major Hanger, Captains Campbell and McDonald, and thirty privates wounded.”

This action, although it subjects Colonel Davie to the charge of temerity, only to be excused by the event, and a zeal which we are always ready to applaud, furnishes a striking instance of the bravery and importance of the American militia. Few instances can be shown where any troops, who in one action, changed their position twice in good order, although pressed by superior force, and charged three times by cavalry, thrice their own number, unsupported, in presence of an enemy’s whole army, and finally retreating in perfect order.

The graphic account of the skirmish at, and near Charlotte, from Colonel Davie’s manuscript sketches, corrects a mistake into which several historians have unintentionally fallen in stating that Colonel Francis Locke was killed in the retreat near Sugar Creek Church, when, on the contrary, it was one of his younger brothers, Lieutenant George Locke, a brave and meritorious officer. This statement is confirmed by the notice of the family of “Hon. Matthew Locke,” in Wheeler’s “Historical Sketches,” by the sworn declaration of William Rankin, of Gaston county, who received his discharge from Colonel Locke in Salisbury, near the time of the battle of Guilford, in March, 1781, and by the declaration of Michael McLeary, of Mecklenburg, who served under Colonel Locke after Cornwallis crossed the Catawba in February, 1781, as will be found published in this work.

The reader may be curious to know the estimate the British officers placed upon this affair–the hornets-like reception his Lordship experienced on his entrance into Charlotte.

Tarleton, in his “History of the Southern Campaign in 1780, and 1781,” page 159, says, “Earl Cornwallis moved forward as soon as the Legion under Major Hanger joined him. A party of militia fired at the advanced dragoons and light infantry as they entered the town, and a more considerable body appeared drawn up near the courthouse. The conduct of the Americans created suspicion in the British; an ambuscade was apprehended by the light troops, who moved forward, for some time, with great circumspection; a charge of cavalry, under Major Hanger, dissipated this ill-grounded jealousy, and totally dispersed the militia. The pursuit lasted sometime, and about thirty of the enemy were killed and taken. The King’s troops did not come out of this skirmish unhurt; Major Hanger, and Captains Campbell and McDonald were wounded, and twelve non-commissioned officers and men killed or wounded.”

Stedman, the English historian who accompanied Cornwallis in his southern campaign, says in his “American War,” Vol. II, p. 216,

“Charlotte was taken possession of, after a slight resistance from the militia, towards the end of September. At this period, Major Hanger commanded, Colonel Tarleton being ill. In the centre of Charlotte, intersecting the two principal streets, stood a large brick building, the upper part being the court-house, and the under part, the market house. Behind the shambles, a few Americans on horse-back had placed themselves. The Legion was ordered to drive them off; but, upon receiving a fire from behind the stalls, this corps fell back. Lord Cornwallis rode up in person, and made use of these words: ‘Legion, remember you have everything to lose, but nothing to gain,’ alluding, as was supposed, to the former reputation of this corps. Webster’s brigade moved on, and drove the Americans from behind the court-house: the legion then pursued them, but the whole British army was actually kept at bay, for some minutes, by a few mounted Americans, not exceeding twenty in number.”

Stedman, who is generally accurate and impartial in his narratives, is mistaken in calling the old court-house a “brick building.” It was, as previously stated, a wooden building, placed on brick pillars ten or twelve feet high, and hence the mistake. Some allowance should also be made for Stedman’s mistake, as, very near that time, the fierce and buzzing attacks of the “Hornets” greatly obscured the accuracy of his vision. Upon the whole, the account we have of this skirmish, even under British _coloring_, and evasion of the _whole truth_, exemplifies the spirit and bravery of the “handful” of men who actually kept the whole British army in check for some time, and then retreated in good order.

Kendal, in his “Life of Jackson,” chapter 4, in speaking of the military school in which the “hero of New Orleans” was educated, says:

“In the chieftains by which he was surrounded, the virtues of patriotism, disinterestedness, caution, enterprise and courage exhibited themselves in the highest perfection. As military leaders, Marion was particularly distinguished for enterprise, vigilance and courage; Sumter was his equal in enterprise and courage, but had less circumspection; Davie, who was generally the leader of the Waxhaw settlers, appears to have united the virtues of the two. Perhaps in no instance, where the chief command was in him, did he fail to accomplish the object he undertook. His intelligence was accurate; his plans judicious, and kept profoundly secret; his movements rapid; his blows sudden as the lightning, and his disappearance almost as quick. To pursue him was useless, and it was seldom or never attempted. He frequently dared, with a handful of men, to face an army; and we have seen, by his encounter with the British van at Charlotte, that he knew how to strike terror into an enemy he was not strong enough to conquer.”

The situation of Cornwallis in Charlotte was far from being agreeable. The sentinels placed around his encampment were frequently shot down, compelling him to have pits sunk, five or six feet deep, for their protection. He possessed, it is true, a few timid friends and supporters in the adjacent country, but these could not render him any material aid. The panic which had overspread South Carolina, after the British successes in that State. had extended itself, though in a less degree, into North Carolina, and had driven many of the wealthier class to “take protection,” and thus save their property. But notwithstanding the terror of arms which preceded his arrival, Cornwallis soon became convinced that his situation was surrounded with humiliating realities which he could not easily remove. The reasons assigned by Tarleton are truthfully set forth, when he says, “Charlotte town afforded some conveniences, blended with great disadvantages. The mills in its neighborhood were supposed of sufficient consequence to render it for the present an eligible position, and in future a necessary post, when the enemy advanced. But the aptness of its intermediate situation between Camden and Salisbury, and the quantity of mills did not counterbalance these defects.” And again he says, “It was evident, and had been frequently mentioned to the King’s officers, that the counties of Mecklenburg and Rohan (Rowan) were more hostile to England than any others in America. The vigilance and animosity of these surrounding districts checked the exertions of the well-affected, and totally destroyed all communication between the King’s troops and loyalists in other parts of the province. No British commander could obtain any information in that position which would facilitate his designs, or guide his future conduct.”

No higher encomium of the principles and patriotism of the people of North Carolina could have been well given. It is the testimony of an eye-witness, and he a cruel enemy, with the best means of information before him. Tarleton goes on to say, “The town and its environs abounded with inveterate enemies. The plantations in the neighborhood were small and uncultivated; the roads narrow and crossed in every direction; and the whole face of the country covered with close and thick woods. In addition to these disadvantages, no estimation could be made of the sentiments of half the inhabitants of North Carolina whilst the royal army remained in Charlotte.”

And, again, Tarleton informs us, “The foraging parties were every day harassed by the inhabitants, who did not remain at home to receive payment for the product of their plantations, but generally fired from covert places to annoy the British detachments. Ineffectual attempts were made upon convoys coming from Camden, and the intermediate post at Blair’s Mill, but individuals with expresses were frequently murdered. An attack was directed against the picket at Polk’s Mill, two miles from the town. The Americans were gallantly received by Lieutenant Guyon, of the 23rd Regiment; and the fire of his party, from a loop-holed building adjoining the mill, repulsed the assailants. Notwithstanding the different checks and losses sustained by the militia of the district, they continued their hostilities with unwearied perseverance; and the British troops were so effectually blockaded in their present position, that very few, out of a great many messengers, could reach Charlotte in the beginning of October, to give intelligence of Ferguson’s situation.”

The repulse at McIntyre’s, elsewhere noticed in these sketches, is a good illustration of what Tarleton says in these quotations. Truly, the “Hornets” were enraged about that time–more vigilant and out-flying than ever before; but it should be borne in mind they were then fighting the invaders of their own soil, and in defence of the undisturbed enjoyments of “home, sweet home.”

Stedman describes, in much the same terms as Tarleton has done, the difficulties encountered by the British in procuring supplies for their army. He says:

“In Col. Polk’s mill were found 28,000 lbs. of flour and a quantity of wheat. There were several large cultivated farms in the neighborhood of Charlotte. An abundance of cattle, few sheep; the cattle mostly milch cows, or cows with calf, which, at that season of the year, was the best beef. When the army was in Charlotte we killed, upon an average, one hundred head per day. The leanness of the cattle will account for the number killed each day. At this period the royal army was supported by Lord Rawdon’s moving with one half of the army one day, and Colonel Webster with the other half the next day, as a covering party to protect the foraging parties and cattle drivers.”

The English people had then, as now, the reputation of being great beef-eaters; nor should we blame them, as the florid complexion the Englishman generally wears is mainly owing to the free use of this non-febrile and healthy food, washed down with a few potations of good old London ale.

The surprise at McIntyre’s compelled the British to move with greater forces in their foraging expeditions. It is seldom, in the historic annals of any people, that we find it required “one half” of a large army, in a sparsely settled country, to “protect the foraging parties and cattle drivers.” It indicated a spirit of determined resistance by the patriots of Mecklenburg and of the State generally, which can only be construed as a faithful maintenance of the principles of freedom proclaimed on the 20th of May, 1775.

After the victory of the Whigs at King’s Mountain, and the loss of Ferguson, one of his bravest officers, and his entire command, Cornwallis concluded to leave the rebellious post he then occupied.

William McCafferty, a resident Scotchman, and a man of considerable wealth, was employed as the guide to lead the British army by the nearest road to Winnsboro, S.C. Tradition says, that after so bewildering the army in the swamps that much of their baggage was lost, he contrived to escape, and left them to find their way out, as best they could, by the returning light of day. As the British army progressed, passing through the Steele Creek neighborhood, they encamped about three days on Spratt’s plantation, waiting to cross the swollen Catawba, and for the collection of additional supplies. A guard was placed around the encampment, and one of the number assigned to a position between the Charlotte road and a neighboring cane-brake. On the second or third day the sharp crack of a rifle was heard up the Charlotte road, and a small detachment of the British army was immediately dispatched to investigate its meaning. When the detachment arrived at the position of the sentinel, he was found dead, at the foot of a black oak, against which it is supposed he was leaning at the time. Captain William Alexander (better known as “Black Bill,”) one of the “terrible Mecklenburg Whigs,” fired the fatal shot from the adjoining cane-brake. Many others of the Sugar Creek rebels were with Captain Alexander on this occasion, but he alone ventured within killing distance. Long before Tarleton and his dragoons could reach the scene of action, Alexander and his party were entering the brushy woods of Steele Creek, on their way back to the Whig settlements of Upper Sugar Creek. The associates of Alexander were the Taylors, Barnetts, Walkers, Polks, and other kindred spirits, who shot many of the sentries around the British encampment at Charlotte, and seriously annoyed or cut off the enemy’s foraging parties. The last one of the Barnetts, belonging to this “terrible party,” died in 1829, at a good old age, within two miles of Cook’s mills, on Big Sugar Creek.

A singular incident, occurring at this period, is here deemed worthy of narration. A relative of the Spratts, named Elliott, was living on the plantation at the time the British army arrived there from Charlotte. Believing that they would capture him, if in their power, he broke and ran for the cane-brake, about a half or three-quarters of a mile below the spot where the sentinel was shot. As soon as the alarm was given of his departure, Tarleton’s terrible dragoons pursued him, but he succeeded in making good his escape into the densest part of the cane-brake thicket.

While he was listening to the terrible denunciations of Tarleton’s dragoons on their arrival at the swampy and imperious thicket, and what they would do if they could only see a bush or a cane move, he felt perfectly safe as long as he could remain motionless in his muddy retreat. But when his fears had somewhat subsided in his place of concealment, still more alarming apprehensions of danger presented themselves, on his espying a venomous moccasin of the largest size, moving slowly along in the water and mud, and directing its course so near that, in all probability, it must strike him. He could not make the least defence against his ugly approaching visitor, for fear of exposing himself to the pistols of the British dragoons. All that he could do in this dreadful predicament was to wave his hand in a gentle manner towards the snake, which caused it to stop its course and throw itself into a coil, preparatory for battle. Fortunately, just at this time, the British dragoons made their welcome departure, and Elliott moved out of the way of his serpentine majesty.

This was the _first_ and _last_ visit of Lord Cornwallis to “Charlotte town.” He came flushed with victory, and firmly anticipated similar success in North Carolina. He departed laboring under vexation and sore disappointment; not without bestowing a characteristic name (“Hornets’ Nest”) upon the patriotic sons of Mecklenburg around which appellation cluster many thrilling historical and traditional associations, destined to enshrine their memories in the hearts of their countrymen, throughout all coming time.

SURPRISE AT M’INTYRE’S; OR, THE “HORNETS” AT WORK.

After the British army had been in Charlotte about a week, and having, in the meantime, consumed the most of their forage and provisions, Lord Cornwallis was placed under the necessity of procuring a fresh supply. He had already experienced something of the _stinging_ propensities of the “hornets” with which he was surrounded, and the fatalities of their attacks upon his sentries near his camp. In order to meet the emergency of his situation, he ordered out on the 3d day of October, 1780, a strong foraging party, under Major Doyle, consisting of four hundred and fifty infantry, sixty cavalry, and about forty wagons, who proceeded up the road leading from Charlotte to Beattie’s Ford, on the Catawba river, intending to draw their supplies from the fertile plantations on Long Creek.

Captain James Thompson, and thirteen others who lived in that neighborhood, anticipating the necessity the British would be under to forage, had early in the morning assembled at Mitchell’s mill, (now Frazier’s) three miles from Charlotte, at which farm the corn was pulled–at most other places it was standing in the field. Captain Thompson and his men were expert riflemen, and well acquainted with every place in the vicinity. At this place they lay concealed about an hour, when they heard the wagons and Doyle’s party passing by them and up the main road. As soon as the party had passed about half a mile, Captain Thompson and his brave followers started through the wood, and kept parallel with Doyle’s party, and _almost in sight_, reconnoitering the movements of the enemy until they reached McIntyre’s farm, seven miles from Charlotte. A boy plowing by the road-side, upon seeing the British soldiers pass by him, quickly mounted his horse, dashed through the nearest by-paths, and barely had time to warn the intervening families of the approach of the “red coats.” After the foraging party reached McIntyre’s, they left a part of their men and wagons to lay in supplies, while the other part passed on under Doyle with the expectation of proceeding two or three miles further. For this reason, Doyle was not _numbered with the slain_ in place of his second in command.

Thompson’s party, finding some were halted at this place, moved directly towards the thicket down the spring branch, about two hundred yards from the house. The point of a rocky ridge, covered with bushes, passed obliquely from the road to the spring, and within fifty yards of the house which sheltered them from the view or fire of the enemy. They formed into a line about ten feet apart, and advanced silently to their intended positions. The British were soon engaged in their work of plunder; some were at the barn throwing down oats for the wagons, others were running after the chickens, ducks and pigs, while a third party were robbing the dwelling house, the inmates having previously fled out of danger. The soldiery, assisted by the dogs in chasing the poultry, had knocked over some bee-hives ranged along the garden fence. The enraged insects dashed after the men, and at once the scene became one of uproar, confusion and lively excitement. The officer in command, a portly, florid Englishman, laughed heartily at the gestures and outcries of the routed soldiers. The attention of the guard was drawn to this single point, while, at a distance in the fields, the wagons were seen slowly approaching with their cumbrous loads.

The owner of the plantation had cautiously approached, under cover, within gun-shot of his house; the rest of the party, his neighbors, with equal care, advanced sufficiently near for the sure action of their rifles. The distress and anger of the patriots were raised to the highest pitch when they saw the reckless merriment of their enemies, and the fruits of their industry thus suddenly withdrawn. Their feelings could now be no longer restrained while they were anxious to try the effects of their trusty rifles. “Boys,” cried one of the sturdy farmers, “I can’t stand this any longer–I’ll take the captain–each one of you choose his man, and look out for yourselves.”

These words were scarcely uttered in a suppressed tone, when the sight of his unerring rifle was drawn upon the expanded breast of the portly Englishman, who suddenly fell prostrate from the doorposts between which he was standing.

In two instances, where two of the patriots were firing at the same man, and seeing him fall, the second one had to quickly change from his _sighted object_ and seek another. A sentinel placed near the spot to which they had advanced, appeared to be alarmed, although he had not seen them, probably thinking of the fate of others in his situation around the camp of Cornwallis in Charlotte. Nor were his fears unduly excited.

Captain Thompson, at the distance of seventy or seventy-five yards, killed him instantly, when his companions, with a precision of aim equally fatal, laid low on the earth his respective foe. To Captain Thompson is also ascribed the honor of mortally wounding the commanding officer, when he was standing near the barn door. He was conveyed to Charlotte, with several others in similar condition, in one of the foraging wagons, and died of the wound received, at the house of Samuel McCombs, two days after. When the smoke rose, after the first discharge of the rifles, the commander, nine men and two horses lay dead or wounded on the ground. The trumpets immediately sounded a recall. But by the time the scattered dragoons had collected and formed, a straggling fire from a different direction, into which the patriots had extended, showed the unerring aim of each American marksman, and greatly increased the confusion of the surprise. Perfectly acquainted with every foot of the grounds, the patriots constantly changed their position, giving in their fire as they loaded, so that it appeared to the British they were surrounded by a large force. When that portion of Doyle’s command who had proceeded forward to forage upon other farms heard the firing, they immediately returned to the assistance of his party at McIntyre’s branch. Every preparation for defence, attack and retreat was made by the Americans. The alternate hilly and swampy grounds and thickets, with woods on both sides of the public road, baffled the efficient action of the British dragoons. Some dismounted, while others called out to “set on the hounds” against a foe scarcely visible, except from their deadly effects. The dogs, at first, seemed to take the track, and were followed by the soldiers. The foremost hound approached very near one of the patriots who had just discharged his rifle, and was in full retreat after his companions; but as soon as the hound came near with open mouth, he was shot dead by a pistol drawn from the breast of the rifleman. The next hound stopped at the dead body, and, after smelling it, gave a whining howl, and the whole pack retreated from the contest.

A considerable number of the dragoons were killed. The leading horses in the wagons were killed before they could ascend the hill, thus blocking up the road. Many of the soldiers in charge of the wagons cut loose some of the uninjured animals, and galloped after their retreating comrades. The precise loss of the British is not known. It is believed, however, from reliable tradition, that they had at least twenty killed and _a few_ wounded.

That a British detachment of four hundred and fifty infantry and sixty cavalry should be compelled to desist from a foraging expedition and return to Charlotte with only a small amount of provisions and a considerable loss of their number by a handful of patriots, well exemplifies the vigilance, pertinacity and courage of the “hornets” of Mecklenburg in endeavoring to protect their homes, and repel the invaders of their soil.

The country people, early advised of the advance of the foraging party, mounted their horses, rifle in hand, from every direction; and, occupying well protected positions along the main road, also faithfully endeavored to diminish the number of his Majesty’s forces, and hastened the retreat of the British into Charlotte, the survivors swearing after their arrival that “every bush along the road concealed a rebel.”

The names of this gallant band of patriots, of “Hornets’ Nest” notoriety, were: 1. James Thompson, captain; 2. Francis Bradley; 3. George Graham; 4. James Henry; 5. Thomas Dickson; 6. John Dickson; 7. George Houston; 8. Hugh Houston; 9. Thomas McLure; 10. John Long; 11. John Robinson; 12. George Shipley; 13. Edward Shipley.

REMARKS.–Tradition says Francis Bradley was a large and very strong man, and a “terror” to the British as well as the Tories. The British officers were extremely anxious to take him as a prisoner, for his activity in harassing their scouts and foraging parties, and more particularly for the fatal aim of his rifle in _picking off_ their sentries while their army was encamped at Charlotte. The rifle he carried for six years during the Revolution, and which did such _telling_ execution, was the property of Major John Davidson (now in possession of one of his grandsons,) who, being a staff officer, could not make it perform, as it should, its death-dealing mission upon the enemies of his country. About three weeks after the gallant affair at McIntyre’s Branch, Bradley was attacked, overpowered and killed by four lurking and base-hearted Tories (said not to be natives of the county). His mortal remains now repose in the graveyard at Hopewell Church, where also sleep many of his illustrious compatriots in arms. On his gravestone are sculptured two drawn and crossed swords, and beneath them the motto, _Arma Libertatis_. The inscription reads thus:

“In memory of
FRANCIS BRADLEY,
A friend of his country, and privately slain by the enemie of his country, November 14th, 1780, aged 37 years.”

The two Dicksons moved to Tennessee; the two Houstons and McLure moved to Kentucky; Robinson settled on Crowder’s Creek, Gaston county.

Doyle, the British commander, before the close of the war was made a Colonel, and afterward a Brigadier-General. In 1816 he was styled Sir John Doyle, and Governor of the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark, on the coast of France. Surely, it could not have been for his gallant behavior at McIntyre’s he acquired such honor and promotion!

JUDGE SAMUEL LOWRIE.

Judge Lowrie was born in New Castle county, Del., on the 12th of May, 1756. His parents moved, when he was a child, to North Carolina, and settled in Rowan county. He was educated at Clio Academy (now in Iredell county) under the Rev. James Hall, an eminent Presbyterian minister of the gospel, and Captain of a company during the Revolutionary War. He studied law in Camden, S.C., and, soon gaining eminence in his profession, was elected to the House of Commons from Mecklenburg county in 1804,-‘5 and ‘6. In the last named year he was elected a Judge of the Superior Court, which position he held until his death on the 22d of December, 1818, in the sixty-third year of his age.

In 1788, he married Margaret, eldest daughter of Captain Robert Alexander, of Lincoln county. His wife died, leaving him with several children. In 1811, he again married, Mary, daughter of Marmaduke Norfleet, of Bertie county, N.C. He was a man of fine talents, and dignified the responsible position he held. He resided in Mecklenburg county, about three miles north from the Tuckasege Ford, on the Salisbury road, (now owned by Robert S. McGee, Esq.)

His mortal remains, with those of his first wife and three infant children, and other relatives, repose in the graveyard of Goshen Church, Gaston county, N.C.

THE LADIES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.

It has been well said that “patriotic mothers nursed the infancy of the Republic.” During the progress of British encroachment and arbitrary power, producing great colonial discontent, every sagacious politician could discern in the distant future the portentous shadow of the approaching conflict. In the domestic circle was then nurtured and imparted that love of civil liberty which afterwards kindled into a flame, and shed its genial and transforming light upon the world. The conversation of matrons in their homes, or among their neighbors, was of the people’s wrongs and of the tyranny that oppressed them. Under such early training their sons, when grown to manhood, deeply imbued with proper notions of their just rights, stood up in the hour of trial prepared to defend them to the last. The counsels and the prayers of mothers mingled with their deliberations, and added sanctity to all their patriotic efforts for American independence. They animated the courage, confirmed the self-devotion, and shared in the sacrifices of those who, in the common defence, “pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.”

Among the widowed mothers who early instilled into their rising generation a deep love of their country, and a manful determination to defend their firesides and their homes, might be named Mrs. Steele, Mrs. Flinn, Mrs. Sharpe, Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Jackson and many others, as bright examples in Mecklenburg, Rowan and adjoining counties. In the hour of deepest gloom they frowned upon apathy in the common cause, materially assisted by their benefactions, and urged on the desponding in the path of patriotic duty.

General Moultrie, in his “Memoirs of the American Revolution,” pays a handsome compliment to the ladies of that section of country in which his military services were performed. He says:

“Before I conclude my memoirs I must make my last tribute of thanks to the patriotic fair of South Carolina and Georgia for their heroism and virtue in those dreadful and dangerous times whilst we were struggling for our liberties. Their conduct deserves the highest applause, and a pillar ought to be raised to their memory. Their conduct was such as gave examples even to the men to stand firm; and they despised those who were not enthusiasts in their country’s cause. The hardships and difficulties they experienced were too much for their delicate frames to bear; yet they submitted to them with a heroism and virtue that has never been excelled by the ladies of any country; and I can with safety say that their conduct during the war contributed much to the independence of America.”

Nor were the young ladies of that period less patriotic than their venerable mothers. Their kind sympathies and voluntary contributions were exhibited on every occasion, calling for prompt and beneficent action for the gallant soldier. With fair and willing hands they embroidered colors for military companies, and presented them with the animating charge, _never to desert them_. They formed themselves into associations throughout the colonies, renouncing the use of teas and other imported luxuries, and engaged to card, spin and weave their own clothing. And still further, to arouse a patriotic spirit in every hesitating or laggard bosom, we find in the “South Carolina and American General Gazette,” of February 9th, 1776, the following paragraph, illustrative of female patriotism under a manly and _singular_ incentive:

“The young ladies of the best families of Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, have entered into a voluntary association that they will not receive the addresses of any young gentlemen of that place, except the brave volunteers who served in the expedition to South Carolina, and assisted in subduing the Scovillite insurgents. The ladies being of opinion that such persons as stay loitering at home, when the important calls of their country demand their military services abroad, must certainly be destitute of that nobleness of sentiment, that brave, manly spirit, which would qualify them to be the defenders and guardians of the fair sex. The ladies of the adjoining county of Rowan have desired the plan of a similar association to be drawn up and prepared for signature.”

Accordingly, at a meeting of the Committee of Safety, held in Salisbury, May 8th, 1776, we find the following entry in their minutes:

“A letter from a number of young ladies in the county, directed to the chairman, requesting the approbation of the committee to a number of resolutions enclosed, entered into, and signed by the same young ladies being read,

“_Resolved_, That this committee present their cordial thanks to the said young ladies for so spirited a performance; look upon these resolutions to be sensible and polite; that they merit the honor, and are worthy the imitation of every young lady in America.”

And who were the young ladies of Mecklenburg and Rowan counties then prepared to sign such an association, and willing to bestow their fair hands, and pledge their loving hearts _only to those brave soldiers_, who, on the calls of duty, fought the battles of their country? Imagination carries us back to that eventful period, and pictures to our admiring view, among others, the following daughters of Western Carolina, as actuated by such patriotic motives:

Miss Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of Abraham Alexander, Chairman of the Mecklenburg Convention of the 20th of May, 1775, who married William Alexander, son of Hezekiah Alexander, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration.

Miss Mary Wilson, daughter of Samuel Wilson, Sen., who married Ezekiel Polk, grandfather of James K. Polk, one of our best Presidents, who consented to serve _only for one term_.

Miss Violet Wilson, sister of the above, who married Major John Davidson, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration.

Miss Jane Morrison, daughter of Neill Morrison, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, who married Major Thomas Alexander.

Miss Polk, daughter of Colonel Thomas Polk, who married Dr. Ephraim Brevard, one of the secretaries and signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration.

Miss Margaret Polk, sister of the above, who married Nathaniel Alexander, Representative to Congress from 1803 to 1805, and in the latter year, elected Governor of the State.

Miss Jane Brevard, daughter of John Brevard, and sister of the “seven brothers in the rebel army,” who married General Ephraim Davidson.

Miss Mary Brevard, sister of the above, who married General William Davidson, killed at Cowan’s Ford, on February 1st, 1781.

Miss Charity Jack, sister of Captain James Jack, the bearer of the Mecklenburg Declaration to Philadelphia, who married Dr. Cornelius Dysart, a distinguished surgeon of the Revolutionary army.

Miss Lillis Wilson, daughter of Samuel Wilson, Sen., by the third wife (Margaret Jack), who married James Connor, a native of Ireland, who came to America when 21 years old, volunteered in the army, and fought all through the Revolutionary war.

Miss Hannah Knox, daughter of Captain Patrick Knox, killed at the battle of Ramsour’s Mill, who married Samuel Wilson, a soldier of the Revolution.

These are the names of a few of the patriotic young ladies, then on the theater of action, who would be willing to sign such an association, stimulate the “loitering young men” to a proper sense of their duty, and promote the cause of freedom by all _fair means_.

MRS. ELEANOR WILSON.

The wives and mothers of Mecklenburg county bore a large share of the trials and dangers of the Revolution. Among these, and as a fair type of many others that might be mentioned, was Eleanor, wife of Robert Wilson, of Steele Creek–a woman of singular energy of mind, and warmly devoted to the American cause. Her husband, with three brothers and other kinsmen, settled in Mecklenburg about 1760, having moved from the colony of Pennsylvania. These brothers were Scotch Presbyterians, and arrayed by early religious education against tyranny in every form. At the Convention in Charlotte on the 20th of May, 1775, Zaccheus Wilson, representing all his kinsmen, signed that declaration, pledging himself, and his extensive connections, to its support and maintenance. At this crisis of our history there were a considerable number of timid persons, who shook their heads and characterized the actors in this opening scene of the bloody drama of the Revolution, as _madmen, rebels and traitors_. From the first to the last, Mrs. Wilson espoused the cause of liberty, and exulted in every patriotic success.

Animated by her enthusiasm, her husband and sons entered warmly into the contest. At the surrender of Charleston, her sons, Robert and Joseph, were made prisoners, but having given their parols, were allowed to return home. But they had scarcely reached their home in Mecklenburg when the British general issued his proclamation declaring the country subdued, and requiring every able-bodied militiaman to join the royal standard. Refusing to fight against their country, and being no longer bound as they believed, by their parols, they immediately repaired to the standard of General Sumter, and were with him in several battles. In the battle of the Hanging Rock, Captain David Reid, one of their kinsmen, was mortally wounded, and being in great agony, called for water, when Robert Wilson brought him some in his hat. In the same action, Joseph, a little in advance, was assaulted by a Tory, a powerful man, whom he knew; after a severe struggle, he killed him, and bore off his sword, now in possession of his son, David Wilson, of Maine county, Tennessee.

The elder Robert Wilson and his son John, having collected a supply of provisions and forage for General Sumter’s corps, from the neighborhood of Steele Creek, were hastening to meet them at Fishing Creek, and reached that vicinity a short time after the surprise. While engaged in this employment, the two Wilsons and the supplies were captured. The prisoners were hurried to the rear, after having been brutally threatened with hanging on the nearest tree, and by a forced march reached Camden next day, where they were added to a crowd of honorable captives, such as Andrew Jackson, Colonel Isaacs, General Rutherford and others.

In the meantime, Cornwallis, leaving Rawdon at Camden, marched with the larger portion of his army to “rebellious” Charlotte, to forage upon its farms, and to punish its inhabitants for their well-known resistance to royal authority. He reached Charlotte on the 26th of September, 1780, and during his stay of eighteen days, many scenes of rapine, house burnings and plunderings took place in and around that place. But the bold Whigs of Mecklenburg–the “hornets” of that section–although unable to keep the open field, were vigilant and at work, constantly popping the sentinels, and insolent dragoons of Tarleton, sent out as scouts and on foraging excursions. Becoming uneasy by these bold attacks of the rebels, frequently driving his foraging parties within sight of his camp, Cornwallis, when he heard of the defeat of Ferguson at King’s Mountain, concentrated his army, and, on the 14th of October, commenced his retrograde march towards Winnsboro, S.C. During this march, the British army halted for the night at Wilson’s plantation, near Steele Creek. Cornwallis and Tarleton occupied the house of Mrs. Wilson, requiring her to prepare a meal for them as though they had been her friends. Cornwallis, in the meantime, finding out that her husband and one of her sons were his prisoners in the Camden jail, artfully attempted to enlist her in the King’s cause.

“Madam, said he, your husband and son, are my prisoners; the fortune of war may soon place others of your sons–perhaps all your kinsmen, in my power. Your sons are young, aspiring, and brave. In a good cause, fighting for a generous and powerful king, such as George III., they might hope for rank, honor and wealth. If you could but induce your husband and sons to leave the rebels, and take up arms for their lawful sovereign, I would almost pledge myself that they shall have rank and consideration in the British army. If you, madam, will pledge yourself to induce them to do so, I will immediately order their discharge.”

To this artful appeal, Mrs. Wilson replied that “her husband and children were indeed dear to her, and that she was willing to do anything she thought right to promote their real and permanent welfare; but, in this instance, they had embarked in the holy cause of liberty; had fought and struggled for it during five years, never faltering for a moment, while others had fled from the contest, and yielded up their hopes at the first obstacle. I have,” she continued, “seven sons who are now, or have been, bearing arms–indeed, my seventh son, Zaccheus, who is only fifteen years old, I yesterday assisted to get ready to go and join his brothers in Sumter’s army. Now, sooner than see one of my family turn back from the glorious enterprise, I would take these boys (pointing to three or four small sons) and would myself enlist under Sumter’s standard, and show my husband and sons how to fight, and, if necessary, to die for their country.”

“Ah General,” interrupted the cold-hearted Tarleton, “I think you’ve got into a hornet’s nest! Never mind, when we get to Camden, I’ll take good care that old Robin Wilson never comes back.”

On the next day’s march, a party of scouts captured Zaccheus, who was found on the flank of the British army with his gun, endeavoring to diminish the number of His Majesty’s forces. He was immediately conducted to Cornwallis, who, finding out his name, took him along as a guide to the best ford on the Catawba. Arriving at the river, the head of the army entered at the point designated by the lad, but the soldiers soon found themselves in deep water, and drawn by a rapid current down the stream. Cornwallis, believing that the boy had purposely led him into deep water in order to embarrass his march, drew his sword, and swore he would cut off his head for his treachery. Zaccheus replied that he had the power to do so, as he had no arms, and was his prisoner; “but, sir,” said this resolute boy, “don’t you think it would be a cowardly act for you to strike an unarmed boy with your sword. If I had but the half of your weapon, it would not be so cowardly, but then you know, it would not be so safe.”

Cornwallis, struck by the boy’s cool courage, calmed down, told him he was a fine fellow, and that he would not hurt a hair of his head. Having discovered that the ford was shallow enough by bearing up the stream, the British army crossed over it safely, and proceeded to Winnsboro.

On this march, Cornwallis dismissed Zaccheus, telling him to go home and take care of his mother, and to tell her to keep her boys at home. After he reached Winnsboro, he dispatched an order to Rawdon, at Camden, to send Robin Wilson and his son John, with several others, to Charleston, carefully guarded. Accordingly, about the 20th of November, Wilson, his son, and ten others, set off under the escort of an officer and fifteen or twenty men. Wilson formed several plans of making his escape, but owing to the presence of large parties of the enemy, they could not be executed. At length, being near Fort Watson, they encamped before night, the prisoners being placed in the yard, and the guard in the house and in the portico. In a short time the arms of the guard were ordered to be stacked in the portico, a sentinel placed over them, and all others were soon busily engaged in preparing their evening meal. The prisoners, in the meantime, having bribed a soldier to buy some whiskey, as it was a rainy day, _pretended_ to drink freely of it themselves, and one of them seemingly more intoxicated than the rest, insisted upon treating the sentinel. Wilson followed him, as if to prevent him from treating the sentinel, it being a breach of military order. Watching a favorable opportunity, he seized the sentinel’s musket, and the drunken man suddenly becoming sober, seized the sentinel. At this signal, the prisoners–like vigilant hornets, rushed to the stacked arms in the portico, when the guard, taking the alarm, rushed out of the house. But it was too late; the prisoners secured the arms, drove the soldiers into the house at the point of the bayonet, and the whole guard surrendered at discretion. Unable to take off their prisoners, Wilson made them all hold up their right hands and swear never again to bear arms against the “cause of liberty, and the Continental Congress,” and then told them they might go to Charleston on parole; but if he ever found “a single mother’s son of them in arms again, he would hang him up to a tree like a dog.”

Wilson had scarcely disposed of his prisoners before a party of British dragoons came in sight. As the only means of escape, they separated into several small companies, and took to the woods. Some of them reached Marion’s camp at Snow Island, and Wilson, with two or three others, arrived safely in Mecklenburg, over two hundred miles distant, and through a country overrun with British troops.

Mrs. Wilson was the mother of eleven sons. She and her husband lived to a good old age, were worthy and consistent members of the Presbyterian Church, died near the same time, in 1810, and are buried in Steele Creek graveyard.

About 1792, all the sons moved to Tennessee, where at the present time, and in other portions of the West, their descendants may be counted by the hundreds. Robert Wilson, who was said to be the first man that crossed the Cumberland mountains with a wagon, married Jane, a daughter of William and Ellen McDowell, of York county, S.C. Both Jane and her mother went to King’s Mountain after the battle, and remained several days in ministering to the wants of the wounded soldiers. It was mainly on the account of Robert Wilson’s distinguished bravery at King’s Mountain that William McDowell gave him his daughter Jane in marriage–a worthy gift, and worthily bestowed on a gallant soldier.

QUEEN’S MUSEUM

One of the most useful institutions of the Revolutionary period, and around which cluster many patriotic associations, was the College in Charlotte, known as Queen’s Museum. As the early fount of educational training in Mecklenburg, and the _nursery of freemen_, as well as of scholars, it should ever claim our warmest regard and veneration. A brief notice of its origin, progress and termination may be acceptable to the general reader.

The counties of Mecklenburg, Rowan and other portions of the State, lying in the track of the southern tide of emigration from more northern colonies, were principally settled by the Scotch-Irish, who, inheriting an independence of character and free thought from their earliest training, soon became the controlling element of society, and directed its leading religious and political movements. They were not only the friends of a liberal education, but the early and unflinching advocates of civil and religious liberty. The “school-master was abroad in the land,” and as duly encouraged as in our own day. Wherever a preacher was established among them, to proclaim the gospel of salvation, there, with rare exceptions, soon sprang up into lively existence a good school, both of a common and classical order. Prominently among these seminaries of learning may be named Sugar Creek, Poplar Tent, Center, Bethany, Thyatira, Rocky River, and Providence, all located in Mecklenburg and Rowan counties. Of all these, Sugar Creek was probably the oldest. The time of its commencement is not certainly known.

After the death of the Rev. Alexander Craighead, in 1766, the first settled pastor of Sugar Creek, the Rev. Joseph Alexander (a nephew of John McKnitt Alexander) became his successor for a short time, previous to his removal to Bullock’s Creek, S.C., where he ended his days. Mr. Alexander was a fine scholar, having graduated at Princeton College, and through his influence, confirmed by that of the Alexanders and Polks, Waightstill Avery, Dr. Ephraim Brevard and others, residing in or near Charlotte, vigorous efforts were made to elevate the Sugar Creek school to the rank and usefulness of a college; nor were their efforts in vain. The Colonial Legislature which met at Newbern, in December, 1770, passed an Act entitled “An Act for founding, establishing and endowing of Queen’s College, in the town of Charlotte.” This charter, not suiting the intolerant notions of royalty, was set aside by the King and council; afterward amended; a second time granted by the Colonial Legislature, in 1771, and a second time repealed by royal proclamation.

“And,” enquires a writer in the “University Magazine,” of North Carolina, “why was this?” An easy answer is found in the third section of the act for incorporating the school at Newbern, and afterward engrafted upon the act incorporating the Edenton Academy (which were the only two schools incorporated before Queen’s College), compared with the character of the leading men of Mecklenburg, and the fact that several of the Trustees of the new College were Presbyterian ministers. No compliments to his queen could render _Whigs_ in politics, and _Presbyterians_ in religion, acceptable to George III.

A College, under such auspices, was too well calculated to insure the growth of the “_numerous democracy_.”

The section referred to in the charter of the Newbern school, is in these words:

“Provided always, that no person shall be permitted to be master of said school, but who is of the Established Church of England, and who, at the recommendation of the trustees or directors, or a majority of them, shall be duly licensed by the Governor! or Commander-in-Chief for the time being.”

“The Presbyterians,” says Lossing, “who were very numerous, resolved to have a seminary of their own, and applied for an unrestricted charter for a college. It was granted; but notwithstanding it was called Queen’s College, in compliment to the consort of the King, and was located in a town called by her name, and in a county of the same name as her birth-place, the charter was repealed in 1771 by royal decree. The triple compliment was of no avail.”[K]

But Queen’s Museum, or College, flourished without a charter for several years, in spite of the intolerance of the King and Council. Its hall became the general meeting-place of literary societies and political clubs preceding the Revolution. The King’s fears that the College would prove to be a fountain of Republicanism, and calculated to ensure the growth of the “numerous Democracy,” were happily, for the cause of freedom, realized in the characters of its instructors and pupils. The debates, preceding the adoption of the Mecklenburg Declaration, were held in its hall, and every reader can judge of the patriotic sentiments which pervade that famous document. After the Revolution commenced, the Legislature of North Carolina granted a charter, in 1777, to this institution, under the name of “Liberty Hall Academy.” The following persons were named as trustees, viz.: Isaac

Alexander, M.D., president; Thomas Polk, Abraham Alexander, Thomas Neal,
Waightstill Avery, Ephraim Brevard, John Simpson, John McKnitt

Alexander, Adlai Osborn, and the Rev. Messrs. David Caldwell, James

Edmonds, Thomas Reese, Samuel E. McCorkle, Thomas H. McCaule and James Hall.

The Academy received no funds or endowment from the State, and no further patronage than this charter. At the time the charter was obtained the institution was under the care of Dr. Isaac V. Alexander, who continued to preside until some time in the year 1778. From a manuscript in the University of North Carolina, drawn up by Adlai Osborne, one of the trustees, it appears, the first meeting of the board of trustees was held in Charlotte, on the 3rd day of January, 1778. At this meeting Isaac Alexander, M.D., Ephraim Brevard, M.D., and the Rev. Thomas H. McCaule, were appointed a committee to frame a system of laws for the government of the Academy. They were also empowered to purchase the lots and improvements belonging to Colonel Thomas Polk, for which they were to pay him L920. The salary of the president was fixed at L195, to be occasionally increased, according to the prices of provisions, then greatly fluctuating in consequence of the war.

In the month of April, 1778, the system of laws, drawn up by the committee, was adopted without any material alteration. The course of studies marked out was similar to that prescribed for the University of North Carolina, though more limited. Shortly before these transactions, overtures were made to the Rev. Alexander McWhorter, of New Jersey, so favorably known to the churches by his missionary visit in 1764 and 1765, with the Rev. Elihu Spencer; and also by a more recent visit to the Southern country, to encourage the inhabitants in the cause of independence, soliciting him to succeed Dr. Alexander in the presidency of the Academy.

Dr. McWhorter having declined accepting the presidency on account of the deranged state of his affairs at that time, Mr. Robert Brownfield, a good scholar, and belonging to a patriotic family of Mecklenburg, agreed to assume the duties of the office for one year. During the next year, the invitation to Dr. McWhorter was renewed, and a committee consisting of the Rev. Samuel E. McCorkle, and Dr. Ephraim Brevard was sent to New Jersey to wait upon him; and in the event of his still declining, to consult Dr. Witherspoon and Professor Houston, of Princeton College (the latter, a distinguished son of old Mecklenburg,) respecting some other fit person to whom the presidency should be offered. In compliance with this second invitation, Dr. McWhorter removed to Charlotte and immediately entered upon the duties of his office with flattering evidences of success. Many youths from Mecklenburg and adjoining counties, yet too young to engage in the battles of their country, and others of older years, whose services were not imperiously needed on the tented field, flocked to an institution where a useful and thorough education could be imparted.

But, owing to the invasion of the Carolinas by Cornwallis in the fall of 1780, the operations of the Academy were suspended and not resumed during the remainder of the war. After a short service in the Presidency of the Academy, Dr. McWhorter, to the great regret of the patrons of learning in the South, returned to New Jersey.

During the occupation of Charlotte by the British army under Lord Cornwallis, Liberty Hall Academy, which stood upon the lot now owned by A.B. Davidson, Esq., was used as a hospital, and greatly defaced and injured. The numerous graves in the rear of the Academy, visible upon the departure of the British army, after a stay of eighteen days, bore ample evidence of their great loss in this “rebellious county”–the “Hornet’s Nest” of America.

After the close of the war, Dr. Thomas Henderson, who had been educated at the Academy, and who frequently represented Mecklenburg in the Legislature near the beginning of the present century, set up a High School, and carried it on with great reputation for a number of years. Classical schools of a high order were numerous after the Revolutionary war, principally under the direction of Presbyterian clergymen. These early efforts in the cause of a sound and liberal education, constantly mingled with patriotic teachings, made a telling impress upon the Revolutionary period, and greatly assisted in achieving our independence.

CHAPTER II.

CABARRUS COUNTY.

Cabarrus county was formed in 1792, from Mecklenburg county, and was named in honor of Stephen Cabarrus, a native of France, a man of active mind, liberal sentiments, and high standing in society. He entered public life in 1784, and was frequently elected a member from Chowan county, and, on several occasions, Speaker of the House of Commons.

The Colonial and Revolutionary history of Cabarrus is closely connected with that of Mecklenburg county. No portion of the State was more fixed and forward in the cause of liberty than this immediate section. In the Convention at Charlotte, on the 20th of May, 1775, this part of Mecklenburg was strongly represented, and her delegates joined heartily in pledging “their lives, their fortunes and most sacred honor” to maintain and defend their liberty and independence.

The proceedings of that celebrated Convention, its principal actors, and attendant circumstances, will be found properly noticed under the head of Mecklenburg County. But there is one bold transaction connected with the early history of Cabarrus, showing that the germs of liberty, at and before the battle of Alamance, in 1771, were ready to burst forth, at any moment, under the warmth of patriotic excitement, is here deemed worthy of conspicuous record.

THE “BLACK BOYS” OP CABARRUS.

Previous to the battle of Alamance, on the 16th of May, 1771, the first blood shed in the American Revolution, there were many discreet persons, the advocates of law and order, throughout the province, who sympathized with the justness of the principles which actuated the “Regulators,” and their stern opposition to official corruption and extortion, but did not approve of their hasty conduct and occasional violent proceedings. Accordingly, a short time preceding that unfortunate conflict, which only smothered for a time the embers of freedom, difficulties arose between Governor Tryon and the Regulators, when that royal official, in order to coerce them into his measures of submission, procured from Charleston, S.C., three wagon loads of the munitions of war, consisting of powder, flints, blankets, &c. These articles were brought to Charlotte, but from some suspicions arising in the minds of the Whigs as to their true destination and use, wagons could not be hired in the neighborhood for their transportation. At length, Colonel Moses Alexander, a magistrate under the Colonial Government, succeeded in getting wagons by _impressment_, to convey the munitions to Hillsboro, to obey the behests of a tyrannical governor. The vigilance of the jealous Whigs was ever on the lookout for the suppression of all such infringements upon the growing spirit of freedom, then quietly but surely planting itself in the hearts of the people.

The following individuals, viz.: James, William and John White, brothers, and William White, a cousin, all born and raised on Rocky River, and one mile from Rocky River Church, Robert Caruthers, Robert Davis, Benjamin Cockrane, James and Joshua Hadley, bound themselves by a most solemn oath not to divulge the secret object of their contemplated mission, and, in order more effectually to prevent detection, _blackened their faces_ preparatory to their intended work of destruction.

They were joined and led in this and other expeditions by William Alexander, of Sugar Creek congregation, a brave soldier, and afterward known and distinguished from others bearing the same name as “Captain Black Bill Alexander,” and whose sword now hangs in the Library Hall of Davidson College, presented in behalf of his descendants by the late worthy, intelligent and Christian citizen, W. Shakespeare Harris, Esq.

These determined spirits set out in the evening, while the father of the Whites was absent from home with two horses, each carrying a bag of grain. The White boys were on foot, and wishing to move rapidly with their comrades, all mounted, in pursuit of the wagons loaded with the munitions of war, fortunately, for their feet, met their father returning home with his burdens, and immediately demanded the use of his horses. The old gentleman, not knowing who they were (_as black as Satan himself_) pleaded heartily for the horses until he could carry home his bags of meal; but his petitions were in vain. The boys (_his sons_) ordered him to dismount, removed the bags from the horses, and placed them by the side of the road. They then immediately mounted the disburdened horses, joined their comrades, and in a short space of time came up with the wagons encamped on “Phifer’s Hill,” three miles west of the present town of Concord, on the road leading from Charlotte to Salisbury. They immediately unloaded the wagons, stove in the heads of the kegs, threw the powder into a pile, tore the blankets into strips, made a train of powder a considerable distance from the pile, and then Major James White fired a pistol into the train, which produced a tremendous explosion. A stave from the pile struck White on the forehead, and cut him severely. As soon as this bold exploit became known to Colonel Moses Alexander, he put his whole ingenuity to work to find out the perpetrators of so foul a deed against his Majesty. The transaction remained a mystery for some time. Great threats were made, and, in order to induce some one to turn traitor, a pardon was offered to any one who would turn King’s evidence against the rest. Ashmore and Hadley, being half brothers, and composed of the same rotten materials, set out unknown to each other, to avail themselves of the offered pardon, and accidently met each other on the threshold of Moses Alexander’s house. When they made known their business, Alexander remarked, “that, by virtue of the Governor’s proclamation, they were pardoned, but they were the first that ought to be hanged.” The rest of the “Black Boys” had to flee from their country. They fled to the State of Georgia, where they remained for some time.

The Governor, finding he could not get them into his grasp, held out insinuations that if they would return and confess their fault, they should be pardoned. In a short time, the boys returned from Georgia to their homes. As soon as it became known to Moses Alexander, he raised a guard, consisting of himself, his two brothers, John and Jake, and a few others, and surrounded the house of the old man White, the father of the boys. Caruthers, the son-in-law of White, happened to be at his (White’s) house at the same time. To make the capture doubly sure, Alexander placed a guard at each door. One of the guard, wishing to favor the escape of Caruthers, struck up a quarrel with Moses Alexander at one door, while his brother, Daniel Alexander, whispered to Mrs. White, if there were any of them within, they might pass out and he would not notice it; in the meantime, out goes Caruthers, and in a few jumps was in the river, which opportunely flowed near the besieged mansion. The alarm was immediately given, but pursuit was fruitless.

At another time, the royalists heard of some of the boys being in a harvest field and set out to take them; but always having some one in their company to favor their escape, as they rode up in sight of the reapers, one of them, duly instructed, waved his hand, which the boys understood as a signal to make their departure. On that occasion they pursued Robert Dairs so closely that it is said he jumped his horse thirty feet down a bank into the river, and dared them to follow him.

And thus the “Black Boys” fled from covert to covert to save their necks from the blood-thirsty loyalists, who were constantly hunting them like wild beasts. They would lie concealed for weeks at a time, and the neighbors would carry them food until they fairly wearied out their pursuers. The oath by which they bound themselves was an imprecation of the strongest kind, and the greater part of the imprecation was literally fulfilled in the sad ends of Hadley and Ashmore. The latter fled from his country, but he lived a miserable life, and died as wretchedly as he had lived. Hadley still remained in the country, and was known for many years to the people of Rocky River. He was very intemperate, and in his fits of intoxication was very harsh to his family in driving them from his house in the dead hours of the night. His neighbors, in order to chastise him for the abuse of his family, (among whom were some of the “Black Boys”), dressed themselves in female attire, went to his house by night, pulled him from his bed, drew his shirt over his head and gave him a severe whipping. The castigation, it is said, greatly improved the future treatment of his family. He continued, however, through life, the same miserable wretch, and died without any friendly hand to sustain him or eye to pity his deplorable end.

Frequently, when the royalists ranged the country in pursuit of the “Black Boys,” the Whigs would collect in bodies consisting of twenty-five or thirty men, ready to pounce upon the pursuers, if they had captured any of the boys. From the allurements held out to the Boys to give themselves up, they went, at one time, nearly to Hillsboro to beg the pardon of the Governor, (Tryon), but finding out it was his intention, if he could get them into his hands, to have hanged every one of them, they returned, and kept themselves concealed until patriotic sentiment grew so rapidly from that time (1771) to the Mecklenburg Declaration, (20th of May, 1775), that concealment was no longer necessary. When the drama of the Revolution opened, these same “Black Boys” stood up manfully for the cause of American freedom, and nobly assisted in achieving, on many a hard-fought battlefield, the independence of our country.

DR. CHARLES HARRIS.

Dr. Charles Harris was born in the eastern part of Mecklenburg county, (now Cabarrus), on the 23rd of November, 1762. He was distinguished as a patriot, a soldier and a physician. While pursuing his studies in Charlotte, the invasion of the town by the British army, under Lord Cornwallis, caused him to exchange the gown for the sword. Accordingly, when a call was made for troops to resist and hold in check the invaders of his country, he joined the corps of cavalry under Col. William R. Davie, and was with that brave and chivalric officer in much of his daring career.

After the war was ended he resumed his studies at Clio Academy, in Iredell county, (then a part of Rowan) under the control of the Rev. James Hall. Soon after this classical preparation he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Isaac Alexander, at Camden, S.C. and graduated at Philadelphia. On his return home, he settled in Salisbury, and practiced there for some length of time with encouraging success. He then removed to Favoni, his family seat in Cabarrus county, where he ended his days.

Devoted to his profession he soon became unrivaled as a physician and surgeon. In a short time his reputation was widely extended over the surrounding country, and his skill and success justified this celebrity. He kept up for many years, a medical school, and instructed _ninety-three_ young men in the healing art. In his day and generation, good physicians and surgeons (especially the latter) were remarkably scarce–something like angels’ visits, “few and far between.” He was frequently called upon to perform surgical operations from fifty to one hundred miles from home.

He possessed a cheerful temper, and suavity of manner which gained for him a ready admittance into the confidence and cordial friendship of all classes of society. But, before he had reached his “three-score years and ten,” the infirmities of old age were rapidly stealing upon him, and admonishing him of his early departure from the scenes of earth. He died on the 21st of September, 1825, leaving several children. One of his sons, the late William Shakspeare Harris, Esq., widely known as a worthy and intelligent citizen, represented Cabarrus county in the House of Commons in 1836. Another son, Charles J. Harris, Esq., resides at present about one mile from Poplar Tent Church, and is a gentleman of great moral worth and Christian integrity.

On the tombstone of Dr. Harris is the following inscription:

“This monument is erected to perpetuate the memory of Charles Harris, M.D., born 23rd of November, 1762; died 21st of September, 1825, aged sixty-three years. Dr. Harris was engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery for forty years; eminent in the former, in the latter pre-eminent. He was a man of extensive reading, of an acute, inquisitive mind, friendly to all, and beloved by all. His heart entered deeply into the sufferings of his patients, mingling the medicine he administered with the feelings of a friend. He lived usefully, and died resignedly; and we humbly trust, through the sovereign virtue of the all-healing medicine of the Great Physician, he was prepared to rest in this tomb, ‘where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.'”

Dr. Charles Harris was one of five brothers who emigrated from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, viz: Robert, James, Richard, Thomas, and Charles, the subject of this sketch. His father married the widow Baker, a daughter of the Rev. John Thompson, who is buried in Baker’s Graveyard, five Miles east of Beattie’s Ford, in Iredell county.

CAPT. THOMAS CALDWELL.

Capt. Thomas Caldwell, of Irish parentage, was born in the eastern part of Mecklenburg county, (now Cabarrus), in 1753. He early espoused the cause of liberty, and entered the service in 1775, in Capt. John Springs’ company as a private, and marched to the protection of the frontier settlements from the murderous and plundering incursions of the Cherokee Indians.

He again joined the service in Capt. Ezekiel Polk’s company and marched against the Tories in South Carolina, near the post of Ninety-Six. In 1776, he volunteered under Captain William Alexander, Colonels Adam Alexander and Robert Irwin, General Rutherford commanding; marched to the Quaker Meadows, at the head of the Catawba River, and thence to the Cherokee country, beyond the mountains. After severely chastising the Indians, killing a few, and laying waste their country, causing them to sue for peace, the expedition returned.

In 1870, he was appointed Captain by General Thomas Polk to assist in opposing the advance of Lord Cornwallis.

After Cornwallis left Charlotte, in October, 1780, he raised a company, placed himself under Colonel Williams, of South Carolina, and fought under him and Colonel Lee, at Pyles’ defeat, on Haw River. He also acted for some time as Quartermaster, at the Hospital, in Charlotte.

In 1781 he volunteered under Colonel Davie, and was with him at the battle of Hanging Rock.

This was Captain Caldwell’s last important service.

The distinguished physician, Dr. Charles Caldwell, also of Irish parentage, and nearly related to Captain Thomas Caldwell, was born in the immediate vicinity of Poplar Tent Church, in Cabarrus county, on land now owned by Colonel Thomas H. Robinson, a worthy son of Dr. John Robinson, D.D., who so long and faithfully proclaimed the gospel of salvation to this congregation. No vestige of the family mansion now remains, but its site is easily recognized at the present time by a large fig bush, growing at or near where the chimney formerly stood, as a lingering memento of the past, and producing annually its delicious fruit.

Although this eminent physician, in his ardent pursuit of material Philosophy, wandered for many years “after strange gods,” until much learning made him mad; yet, it is pleasing to know, in his maturer age, and under calm reflection, the early gospel precepts so impressingly instilled into his youthful mind by his pious parents, yielded at length their happiest results, and that he died at the Medical College of Louisville, in Kentucky, in 1853, full of years and of honors, and in the faith of his fathers, many of whom sleep in the graveyard of Poplar Tent Church.

CHAPTER III.

ROWAN COUNTY.

Rowan county was formed in 1753 from Anson county. In 1770 Surry, and in 1777 Burke counties were severally taken off, previous to which separations Anson county comprehended most of the western portion of North Carolina and Tennessee. Like a venerable mother, Rowan beholds with parental complacency and delight her prosperous children comfortably settled around her. Salisbury, her capital, derives its name from a handsome town in England, situated on the banks of the classic Avon, and near the noted Salisbury Plain, a dry, _chalky surface_, which accounts for the origin of its Saxon name, which means a _dry town_.

Rowan was first settled by Protestants, about 1720-25, from Moravia, fleeing from the persecutions of Ferdinand, the Second, by the Scotch, after the unsuccessful attempts of Charles Edward (commonly called the “Pretender”) to ascend the English throne, and by the Irish, after the rebellion of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, who were offered their pardon on condition of their emigrating to America and in assisting to colonize the English possessions there. The staid prudence of the German, the keen sagacity of the Scotch, and fiery ardor of the Irish commingled on American soil, and were fit materials to form the elemental foundations of an _industrious, progressive_ and _independent_ nation.

The early history of Rowan, and of her distinguished sons, affords of itself ample materials to fill an instructive volume. Within her borders resided such venerable patriots as Matthew Locke, Moses Winslow, Griffith Rutherford, John Brevard, William Sharpe, Samuel Young, William Kennon, Adlai Osborne, Francis McCorkle, James Brandon, James McCay, and many others, all true and constant friends of liberty; but alas! how little of their eminent services has been preserved. Even yet, it is believed, some one of her gifted sons might do much in collecting from traditional sources, and from her musty records a rich store of historical facts, hitherto unwritten, illustrative of the fair name and fame of her Revolutionary career.

In the struggles of the Regulators against the extortions of Governor Tryon and the crown officers, the spirit of the people of Rowan was plainly manifested. In March, 1770, Maurice Moore, one of the Colonial Judges, attended Salisbury to hold the Superior Court. He reported to Governor Tryon at Newbern that “from the opposition of the people to the taxes, no process of the law could be executed among them.”

Upon this information Governor Tryon repaired in person to Salisbury. In his original journal, procured from the archives of the State Paper office in London by the Honorable George Bancroft, late our envoy at that Court, we can see his actions, and admire the spirit of a Captain Knox, who refused to join him with his troops. Violent as were the acts of the Regulators, the subsequent oppressive measures of the crown officers justified their conduct. The Clerk of Rowan county (Thomas Frohock) was allowed to charge _fifteen dollars_ for a marriage license. The effect of this official extortion was such as to constrain some of the inhabitants on the head-waters of the Yadkin river to “_take a short cut_,” as it was termed in uniting their conjugal ties for “better or for worse,” as man and wife.

The indignation of the people of Rowan, Guilford, Orange, and other counties, was aroused against such official misconduct. On the 7th of March, 1771, a public meeting was held in Salisbury, when a large and influential committee was appointed, who, armed with the authority of the people, met the clerk, sheriff, and other officers of the crown, and compelled them to disgorge their unlawful extortions. By a writing signed by these officers, they agreed to settle and pay back all moneys received over and above, their lawful fees.

This was indemnity for the past. The security for the future was, that when any doubt should arise as to fees, they should not be paid to the officers themselves, but to such other persons as were appointed by the people.

Matthew Locke and Herman Husbands were among those selected to receive these lawful fees. An instance, says Wheeler, “of more determined resistance, or of purer democracy, is not to be found in the annals of any people.”

Most of the histories of the day have done the Regulators great injustice, and denounced this whole body of men as composed of a factious and turbulent mob, who, without proper cause, disturbed the public tranquility. Nothing could be more untrue or unjust. Their assemblages were orderly, and some evidence of the temper and characters of the principal actors may be gathered from the fact that from these meetings, by a law of their own, they vigorously excluded all intoxicating drinks. But they had been oppressed and exasperated by the impositions of corrupt officers until forbearance, with them, had ceased to be a a virtue. On their side was the spirit of liberty, animating the discordant multitude, but, unfortunately, without trained leaders, or a sufficiency of arms, going forth to make its first essay at battle on American soil. Redress of grievances was sought at first by the Regulators in a quiet way, by resorting to the courts of law. The officers were indicted and found guilty, but the punishment was the mere nominal one of “a penny and costs.” In short, all resorts to the tribunals of justice ended in a perfect mockery, and hastened the “War of the Regulation” in North Carolina.

The public press of that day was used by the Regulators in a peaceable way to set forth their grievances. Their productions, circulated in manuscript, or in print, display no proofs of high scholarship, or of polished writing, but there is a truthful earnestness in some of them, and cogency of reasoning more effective than the skill of the mere rhetorician. Sometimes they appeared in ballad form, and sometimes as simple narrative. The rough poet of the period (the American Revolution can boast of many) was Rednap Howell, who taught the very children to sing, in doggerel verse, the infamy of the proud officials who were trampling on their rights. A short selection from the many similar ones will be here presented for the amusement of the reader.

“Says Frohock to Fanning, to tell the plain truth, When I came to this country, I was but a youth; My father sent for me; I wasn’t worth a cross, And then my first study was stealing a horse, I quickly got credit, and then ran away, And haven’t paid for him to this very day. Says Fanning to Frohock, ’tis folly to lie, I rode an old mare that was blind of one eye; Five shillings in money I had in my purse, My coat was all patched, but not much the worse; But _now_ we’ve got rich, and its very well known. That we’ll do very well, _if they’ll let us alone_.”

The truthful sentiment conveyed in the last line will find many fit illustrations in our own times.

The power of the Royal government was called into requisition to put down this “Regulation” movement. The military spirit of Tryon resolved to appeal to the sword. On the 24th of April, 1771, he left Newbern at the head of three hundred men, a small train of artillery, and with a considerable number of his adherents. General Waddell was sent forward to Salisbury to raise troops, munitions of war having been previously ordered from Charleston. While he was in Salisbury waiting for the arrival of this supply of warlike munitions, the “Black Boys” of what is now Cabarrus county, under the lead of “Black Bill Alexander,” seized the convoy of wagons, and completely destroyed the “King’s powder,” well knowing it was intended to obey the behest of a tyrannical Governor. When Waddell advanced his troops from Salisbury to join Tryon, the bold sons of Rowan rose in arms and ordered him back. On the 10th of May, 1771, at Potts’ Creek, he held a council of his officers, and they, believing “prudence to be the better part of valor,” fell back, and recrossed the Yadkin. Waddell soon found that many of his own men sympathised with the cause of the Regulators. He promptly sent a message to Tryon, then encamped on Eno, informing him of his critical situation. Tryon hastened on with his forces, crossed Haw river on the 13th of May, and, on the next evening, pitched his camp on the bank of the Alamance. On the 16th of May, 1771, the unfortunate battle of Alamance was fought in which was shed the _first blood_ of the American Revolution. After that disastrous event, in which, for want of skilful leaders, and concert among their men, the Regulators were subdued, the bloody “Wolf of North Carolina,” as Tryon was called by the Cherokee Indians, advanced in all “the pomp and circumstance” of official station, and joined Waddell on the 4th of June, near Salisbury, about eight miles east of the Yadkin river. He then marched by a circuitous route to Hillsboro, where he had court held to try the Regulators, by his pliant tool, Judge Howard. On the 20th he left Hillsboro, and reached Newbern on the 24th; and on the 30th left North Carolina for the colony of New York, over which he had just been appointed Governor. Thus was our State rid of one who had acted the part of an oppressive ruler and a blood-thirsty tyrant.

The efforts of Tryon had been too successful in enlisting under his banners, before the designs of the British government were openly discovered, many of the bravest and best officers of his day. Caswell, Ashe, Waddell, Rutherford, and other distinguished persons who gave in their adhesion to Governor Tryon in 1771, only three years later, at the first Provincial Congress, directly from the people, held at Newbern on the 25th of August, 1774, were found to be true patriots, when it became apparent the entire subjugation of the country was the object of the British crown. To the first assemblage of patriots, adverse to the oppressions of the British government, held at Newbern