preceding, and finally illustrated the sincerity of his faith in the conservative principles for which he had gained many a brilliant victory in the open field, by a death upon the scaffold, May 21st, 1650. With the spirit of the pioneer, the young man made his way to the new world, relying entirely upon his own exertions.
He was twice married in Chester. We are not informed of the descendants of the first marriage.
His second wife was a Mrs Mary Barber, nee McConnell, who was remembered by the last generation as a lady of culture and piety. She survived him, and in 1769, joined the tide of emigration southward, with her six children, and settled in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. She was accompanied by her brother-in-law, Charles Moore, who settled in the adjoining county of Lancaster, South Carolina, he was the grand-father of the late Governor Moore, of Alabama. She was not a disinterested spectator of the Revolution, which soon engaged the attention of the country, but like all the other women, about the "Hornets' Nest," upheld its principles from first to last with unflagging zeal. She died July 19th, 1791, and was buried at Sugar Creek Church.
Her children were John; George; Joseph; Sarah, married to Allison;*
* He enlisted under Joseph
Graham, when a call for volunteer cavalry was made to meet the British invasion
of 1780, and was with Davie's rear-guard which successfully repelled three
charges of Tarleton's Legion (September 26,) on Independence Square, in
Charlotte, North Carolina. During the fight, he insisted upon dismounting to get
a steady aim at an officer, whom he believed was Cornwallis, and was only
deferred from doing so through the peremptory order "to keep the saddle,"
enforced by the Captain drawing his sword upon him. Nearly a half-century
afterwards, so Governor William A. Graham was wont to tell, he would speak about
his disappointed shot with as much feeling as if it had but just occurred. An hour or so later, a little
beyond Sugar Creek Church, the Captain himself was left for dead on the field,
with nine wounds received whilst endeavoring to rescue his gallant lieutenant,
George Locke who had lingered too long in maintaining this parthian contest
against overwhelming odds.
Anne married to Robert Barnett, who
died September 9th, 1830, aged 80; and Esther Barber who married Cathey.
I. John was a graduate of Liberty Hall, formerly called Queen's Museum, in Charlotte; was afterwards at Princeton, and received the degree of M. D., under Dr. Rush in Philadelphia. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, and left an interesting diary, which is in the hands of the Historical Society of North Carolina.
He moved to South Carolina, had charge of a college on Black (?) River, married a Miss Cooper and died without issue.
Below we present a copy of his diploma at Liberty Hall, as a matter of historical interest:
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
MECKLENBURG COUNTY.
This is to certify that Mr. John Graham hath been a student in the Academy at Liberty Hall, in the State and county above-mentioned, the space of four years preceding the date hereof, that his whole deportment during his residence there was perfectly regular, that he prosecuted his studies with diligence, and made such acquisitions, both in the Languages and Scientific Learning, as gave entire satisfaction to his teachers.
And he is hereby recommended to the friendly notice and regard of all lovers of religion and literature wherever he may come.
In testimony of which this is given at Liberty Hall, this 22nd day of November, 1778.*
* The exact date of changing
the name would be a pregnant fact. It is certainly improbable that, after that
time when "in the year 1775, after our Revolution began and the principal
characters in Mecklenburg County met on sundry days in Queens's Museum, in
Charlotte, to digest Articles of a State Constitution in anticipation that the
province would proceed to do so," the trustees would much longer continue to
carry the royal name upon an institution of learning to which British authority
had refused a charter. The Articles bear date September 1st, 1775, and were
given to the public in the same year, (1837), that Mr. Force discovered the
"full copy of the whole proceedings," (declaration, military order, and all in
one) as attested and "signed by order of the committee." This was four years
before Dr. McNitt's death, and it was Mr. Force's publication, which doubtless,
brought out his.--R. D. G.
ISC. ALEXANDER, President. EPH. BREVARD, Trustees. ABR'M ALEXANDER, Trustees.
II. George (see sketch), twice married, first to a Miss Cathey, second to a Mrs. Potts. He was an ensign in the First North Carolina Regiment, (James Moore, Colonel,) appointed Sept 1st,
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