DIED

PHILEMON HAWKINS.

            At his residence, in Warren county, North Carolina, January 28, 1833, Philemon Hawkins, the last of the signers of the Constitution of the State of North Carolina in 1776. He was born on the 3d December, 1752; and, at the early age of sixteen, was sworn in as Deputy Sheriff for the county of Granville, and performed the whole of the duties of that office for his principal.

            He belonged to the troop of cavalry at the battle of the Allemance (sic), which was fought on the 16^th of May 1771, and for the distinction he merited on that occasion, was presented by the commander-in-chief, Governor Tryon, with a beautiful rifle.

            Before he was of age, he was elected a member of the general assembly for the county of Bute. [Bute County was subsequently divided into Warren and Franklin Counties.] He continued as a member of the legislature, mainly from the county of Granville, with the intermission of two years only, for thirteen years. The last term of his service was at Fayetteville [Cumberland County], in the year 1789.

            He raised the first volunteer company in the cause of American independence, that was raised in the county of Bute, and which consisted of 144 men. In the year 1776, he was elected a colonel of a regiment by the convention at Halifax, and in that command performed many services; but ultimately left the army, and continued to act as a member of the legislature.

            He was a member of the convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States, and frequently a member of the executive council. He was a man of strong mental powers, which he retained to the last, and possessed an accuracy of recollection, which enabled him to be the living chronicle of his times.

[The American Register by Joseph Blunt, 1835.]

Revolutionary War Pension

John L. Ward was born in Bute County, North Carolina on July 12, 1763. He was drafted on March 8, 1780 at Thomas Christmas's in Warren County, NC where Warrenton is now located. The following stories are included in his application for a pension.

Ward saw a little cabin on the road and called and received from the hands of an old lady a glass of milk. While drinking the same, the horse began prancing. "I looked behind, saw a cloud of dust arising. I then, with all speed, gave notice and information to the rear guard that the enemy was at hand. I then pushed for the river where I found the army nearly all crossed over. I forced [my horse] into the river. The enemy arrived t the bank and ordered me to stop or I would be a dead man, but I forced the horse in a still more rapid manner. They fired a volley of balls at me which so much alarmed the horse and myself, too, that I lost my hold on my horse. [However} both arrived safely on the opposite bank safe and sound."

Ward belonged to Gen. Caswell's regiment. On one occasion, as the colonial forces tried to evade Gen. Tarleton, Gen. Caswell and Col. Bufort went in different directions. Tarleton soon caught Bufort and "cut the men to pieces. He then pursued Caswell's Regiment. … Gen. Rutherford, who had previously joined Caswell's Regiment … had a fine Stallion and fearing that Tarleton would get him delivered the horse to the declarant, considered to be a first rate rider, and told him to lose his life sooner than the horse, …"

Ward was discharged from the army in 1781. He remained at home until the spring of 1782 when "Captain Thomas Battle, Hertford [County, NC] came up in Warren County to enlist Marines to man a schooner called Hagora fitted out as a privateer by Colo George Wm and others …Charles Whitehead, James Ransom, Sugar Jones and my self enlisted. My friends and Capt. Battle persuading me that a sea voyage would restore to me my health. We arrived at Winton [Hertford County] the 18 Apr 1782 where we were received by Capt. Battle and the crew. As soon as the schooner was ready for a cruise we set sail. I was appointed clerk and confined mostly below deck and having no knowledge of navigation know very little about the cruise on water. My health recovered and several prizes [were] taken. We landed at Edenton [Chowan County, NC] the last of June from whence I came home …"

This story came from John L. Ward's pension application. It was published in The Connector, newsletter of Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Summer 2006 issue. John Ward appears on early censuses of Warren County.

Wake-Franklin County Line

Give Me Franklin, or I'll give you Death!

Franklin County, North Carolina was once a part of Bute County, but in 1779 the General Assembly eliminated the name of Bute and divided part of the area between Franklin and Wake Counties. Surveyors hired to run the southern boundary line of Franklin got along very nicely till they reached Osborne Jeffrey's plantation of several thousand acres. He saw the surveyors at work and asked what they were doing.

When they told him they were running the Wake-Franklin County line, he asked, "Where will it put me?"

"In Wake County," they told him.

"I'll be damned if it will," he said. He went in the house, and returned with his shotgun. "Now, you run that line so that I'll continue to live in Franklin or I'll blow your brains out."

This story was taken from The State Magazine, November 8, 1941. It was published in The Connector, newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Fall 1997 issue

Revolutionary War Fire Lit in Franklin County

The Origin of "Lynching"

Most fires start from small sparks. The Chicago fire, for instance, probably started with Mrs. Leary's cow kicked over a lantern. And so it is with other great disasters. The people of Franklin County, North Carolina will tell you that the first spark of the Revolutionary War was ignited in their county.

This is the story told by Bill Sharpe in A New Geography of North Carolina, Vol. 4, page 1857, published in 1965:

"Franklin [County's] colonial history is closely linked with that of Warren [County], as both of them were then united under the name of Bute [County]. Their attitude towards the British government was particularly hostile. The first man to write in opposition to English tax measures was George Simms, who tended the ferry at Louisburg [Franklin Co.]. When Governor Tryon drew up plans for his elaborate palace at Newbern, he levied a tax to pay for it. The farmers way off in Bute weren't interested in building Tryon's mansion, and refused to pay up. Whereupon the equally determined governor sent a British officer, Major Lynch, to collect the tax personally. The unfortunate go-between was met three miles west of Louisburg by a citizens' committee, declared an 'enemy of the county,' and strung up on the spot."

According to Sharpe, the War of the Regulators was a result of this incident. Locals also claimed that the term "lynching" for "impromptu necktie parties" came from the hanging of Major Lynch. [Others attribute the term "lynching" to Capt. William Lynch of VA, author of he Lynch Law.]

In addition a nearby creek was named Lynch Creek.

This story was published in The Connector, newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Winter 1999 issue.