Lenoir Aided Independence In Word And Deed

By John Hood

RALEIGH — Some cities and towns bear the names of explorers, military commanders, poets, or politicians. Others refer to geographical features or landmarks. And some preserve the memory of local customs, industries, or historical events.

Among the latter is North Carolina’s Old Fort, in McDowell County. It was founded in 1872 near the site of, you guessed it, a Revolutionary War-era stronghold called Davidson’s Fort. Beginning in the late spring of 1776, Cherokees armed and encouraged by British agents from Pensacola attacked settlers in the Overmountain communities of what are now Tennessee and southwestern Virginia as well as farms and villages in the Carolina backcountry.

Among the victims were John Davidson, his wife Nancy, and all but one of their children. John’s brothers George, Samuel, and William (the latter two twins) swore revenge. As captain of a local militia company, Samuel supervised the construction of a log stockade on George’s farm to serve as a refuge and base of operations. Another settler, William Cathey, built a fort 13 miles to the north.

Meanwhile, some 60 miles further north, William Lenoir was mustering his own militia company to defend the frontier. During his youth in the eastern North Carolina county of Edgecombe, Lenoir had taught himself mathematics and several languages, opened two schools, then taken up the profession of surveyor. It was in that latter capacity that he journeyed to what is now Wilkesboro, fell in love with the mountains, and moved there in 1775.

Over the following summer, Lenoir, Cathey, the Davidsons, and other militia leaders mustered thousands of Carolinians to strike back against the Cherokees. Commanded by Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford, a column of about 1,700 men left Davidson’s Fort on September 1, 1776, leaving the remainder of the force behind to guard against raiders. The North Carolinians first struck the so-called Middle Towns of the Cherokees, in what are now Haywood and Jackson counties, before pushing further west and south into the Valley Towns of present-day Macon, Clay, and Cherokee counties.

Rutherford’s expedition, as it came to be called, wasn’t the only such invasion. Separate columns of Virginians, South Carolinians, and Georgians attacked other Cherokee towns. Although their Indian and Loyalist foes knew the territory well and staged some skillful ambushes, the final outcome was never much in doubt. The Americans destroyed field crops, supplies, and dozens of towns. While only a handful of men died in battle on both sides, the now-impoverished Cherokees suffered greatly during the ensuing winter.

As for William Lenoir, his service under Rutherford was only the beginning. He fought again at the battles of Stono Ferry (1779), Kings Mountain (1780), and Haw River (1781). During and after the war, Lenoir also pursued public service as a justice of the peace, county clerk, and state legislator, rising to the post of speaker of the North Carolina Senate. One of the initial board members of the University of North Carolina, he continued his militia service well into the 19th century, organizing a unit during the War of 1812 but declining to lead it because he would be a subordinate to a man he detested.

One other service to our country deserves mention. When state leaders convened in Hillsborough in 1788 to debate the proposed United States Constitution, William Lenoir was a delegate. He was no fan of the document as drafted. “I think it not proper for our adoption,” Lenoir told the convention, “as I consider that it endangers our liberties.” The constitution lacked a bill of rights, he complained, including what he considered an essential provision: that every power “not given to Congress was reserved to the states.”

Most of his fellow delegates agreed. North Carolina was the only state to hold a ratification convention and then withhold approval. We entered the union the following year — after those specified rights were added.

Old Fort isn’t the only place name commemorating these events. Lenoir County, the city of Lenoir, and Rutherford County do, too.

John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk combine epic fantasy with American history (FolkloreCycle.com).