Third North Carolina Provincial Congress


The Third North Carolina Provincial Congress was a meeting of the provincial congress of the de facto provincial government of North Carolina, composed of 213 delegates from 35 counties and nine towns. The congress convened in Hillsborough on August 20, 1775, and ended on September 10, 1775, during the final year of Josiah Martin's gubernatorial administration. Samuel Johnston was unanimously chosen as president as the former president, Colonel John Harvey, had died.

History

Resolutions

The Third Provincial Congress, which included representatives of all 35 counties and nine towns, established itself as the highest governmental body within the Province of North Carolina after May 24, 1775, when British governor Josiah Martin fled the Governor's Palace at Newbern, ending sixty-three continuous years of colonial rule. The last North Carolina provincial assembly met at Newbern from April 4 to April 8, 1775, before Governor Martin prorogued the House of Burgesses.
The Third Provincial Congress divided the province into six militia districts for purposes of organizing the militia and for determining representation on a provincial council. The militia districts included Edenton, Halifax, Hillsborough, New Bern, Salisbury, and Wilmington. Later, an additional district, Morgan, was added for the western part of the province, including counties that eventually became part of Tennessee. Much of the deliberations of the congress dealt with the safety of its residents and preparation for war with Great Britain.
To govern the province when congress was not in session, a 13-man provincial council was elected, constituting the first executive body free of British rule. Cornelius Harnett was elected the first council president.
The following 13 members were appointed to the North Carolina Provincial Council by the Provincial Congress:
The delegates formed a committee of safety at the provincial level. The delegates also elected members of the military district Committees of Safety "for their common defence against their Enemies, for the Security of their Liberties and properties". These committees at the district level would become the roots of the militias. The following persons were elected to the Committees of Safety for military districts:

Delegates

The following is a full list of delegates to the third congress by constituency.
ConstituencyName
Anson CountyDavid Love
Anson CountyWilliam Pickett
Anson CountySamuel Spencer
Anson CountyWilliam Thomas
Anson CountyThomas Wade
Beaufort CountyJohn Cowper
Beaufort CountyRoger Ormond
Beaufort CountyJohn Patton
Beaufort CountyThomas Respess Jr.
Bertie CountyThomas Ballard
Bertie CountyWilliam Brimmage
Bertie CountyWilliam Bryan
Bertie CountyJohn Campbell
Bertie CountyPeter Clifton
Bertie CountyWilliam Gray
Bertie CountyCharles Jaycocks
Bertie CountyJonathan Jaycocks
Bertie CountyJohn Johnston
Bertie CountyDavid Standly
Bertie CountyZedekiah Stone
Bladen CountyWalter Gibson
Bladen CountyThomas Owen
Bladen CountyNathaniel Richardson
Bladen CountyThomas Robeson Jr.
Bladen CountyWilliam Saltar
Brunswick CountyThomas Alton
Brunswick CountyRobert Ellis
Brunswick CountyRobert Howe
Brunswick CountyRoger Moore
Brunswick CountyParker Quince
Bute CountyThomas Eaton
Bute CountyGreen Hill
Bute CountyRev. Henry Pattillo
Bute CountyWilliam Person
Bute CountyJosiah Reddick
Bute CountyJethro Sumner
Carteret CountyJohn Eason
Carteret CountySolomon Sheppard
Carteret CountyWilliam Thompson
Carteret CountyEnoch Ward
Carteret CountyBryce Williams
Chatham CountyJohn Birdsong
Chatham CountyElisha Cain
Chatham CountyWilliam Clark
Chatham CountyJeduthan Harper
Chatham CountyRichard Kennon
Chatham CountyMatthew Jones
Chatham CountyAmbrose Ramsey
Chatham CountyJoseph Rosser
Chatham CountyRobert Rutherford
Chatham CountyJohn Thompson
Chowan CountyThomas Benbury
Chowan CountyJames Blount
Chowan CountyJosiah Grandbury
Chowan CountyThomas Hunter
Chowan CountySamuel Johnston
Chowan CountyThomas Jones
Craven CountyJacob Blount
Craven CountyWilliam Bryan
Craven CountyRichard Cogdell
Craven CountyJames Coor
Craven CountyEdmund Hatch
Craven CountyJoseph Leech
Cumberland CountyFarquard Campbell
Cumberland CountyAlexander McAllister
Cumberland CountyAlexander McKay
Cumberland CountyThomas Rutherford
Cumberland CountyDavid Smith
Currituck CountyThomas Jarvis
Currituck CountyGideon Lamb
Currituck CountySolomon Perkins
Currituck CountyJames Ryan
Currituck CountyJames White
Dobbs CountyAndrew Bass
Dobbs CountySimon Bright
Dobbs CountyRichard Caswell
Dobbs CountyJames Glasgow
Dobbs CountyGeorge Miller
Dobbs CountyAbraham Sheppard
Dobbs CountySpyars Singleton
Duplin CountyRichard Clinton
Duplin CountyWilliam Dickson
Duplin CountyThomas Gray
Duplin CountyThomas Hicks
Duplin CountyJames Kenan
Edgecombe CountyRobert Bignal
Edgecombe CountyThomas H. Hall
Edgecombe CountyThomas Hunter
Edgecombe CountyHenry Irwin
Edgecombe CountyDuncan Lamon
Granville CountyMemucan Hunt
Granville CountyJohn Penn
Granville CountyThomas Person
Granville CountyJohn Taylor
Granville CountyJohn Williams
Guilford CountyGeorge Cortner
Guilford CountyWilliam Dent
Guilford CountyJames Park Farley
Guilford CountyThomas Henderson
Guilford CountyAlexander Martin
Guilford CountyRansom Sutherland
Guilford CountyNathaniel Williams
Halifax CountyJohn Geddy
Halifax CountyJames Hogun
Halifax CountyNicholas Long
Halifax CountyDavid Sumner
Halifax CountyJohn Webb
Hertford CountyLawrence Baker
Hertford CountyMatthew Brickel
Hertford CountyWilliam Murfree
Hertford CountyDay Ridly
Hertford CountyGeorge Wynns
Hyde CountyJoseph Hancock
Hyde CountyJohn Jordan
Johnston CountyNeedham Bryan
Johnston CountyWilliam Bryan
Johnston CountyJohn Smith
Johnston CountySamuel Smith
Johnston CountyBenjamin Williams
Martin CountyJohn Everitt
Martin CountyWhitmell Hill
Martin CountyKenneth McKenzie
Martin CountyWilliam Slade
Martin CountyJohn Stuart
Martin CountyWilliam Williams
Mecklenburg CountyJohn McKnitt Alexander
Mecklenburg CountyWaightstill Avery
Mecklenburg CountyJames Houston
Mecklenburg CountySamuel Martin
Mecklenburg CountyJohn Phifer
Mecklenburg CountyThomas Polk
New Hanover CountyJohn Baptista Ashe
New Hanover CountySamuel Ashe
New Hanover CountyWilliam Hooper
New Hanover CountyJohn Alexander Lillington
New Hanover CountyGeorge Moore
New Hanover CountyJames Moore
Northampton CountyJeptha Atherton
Northampton CountyHowell Edmunds
Northampton CountyDrewry Gee
Northampton CountyAllen Jones
Northampton CountySamuel Lockhart
Onslow CountyIsaac Guion
Onslow CountyJohn King
Onslow CountyHenry Rhodes
Onslow CountyJohn Spicer
Onslow CountyEdward Starkey
Orange CountyJohn Atkinson
Orange CountyThomas Burke
Orange CountyThomas Hart
Orange CountyJohn Kinchen
Orange CountyJohn Williams
Pasquotank CountyThomas Boyd
Pasquotank CountyDempsey Burgess
Pasquotank CountyDevotion Davis
Pasquotank CountyEdward Everagin
Pasquotank CountyJoseph Jones
Perquimans CountyBenjamin Harvey
Perquimans CountyMiles Harvey
Perquimans CountyThomas Harvey
Perquimans CountyAndrew Knox
Perquimans CountyWilliam Skinner
Pitt CountyWilliam Bryan
Pitt CountyJames Gorham
Pitt CountyJames Latham
Pitt CountyRobert Salter
Pitt CountyJohn Simpson
Rowan CountyWilliam Kennon
Rowan CountyMatthew Locke
Rowan CountyWilliam Sharpe
Rowan CountyJames Smith
Rowan CountySamuel Young
Rowan CountyMoses Winslow
Surry CountyMartin Armstrong
Surry CountyWilliam Hill
Surry CountyRobert Lanier
Surry CountyJoseph Williams
Surry CountyJoseph Winston
Tryon CountyRobert Alexander
Tryon CountyWilliam Graham
Tryon CountyFrederick Hambright
Tryon CountyJoseph Harden
Tryon CountyJohn Walker
Tyrrell CountyJeremiah Frazier
Tyrrell CountyThomas Hoskins
Tyrrell CountyStephen Lee
Tyrrell CountyJoseph Spruill
Tyrrell CountyPeter Wynn
Wake CountyThomas Hines
Wake CountyJohn Hinton
Wake CountyTheophilus Hunter
Wake CountyTignal Jones
Wake CountyJoel Lane
Wake CountyJohn Rand
Wake CountyMichael Rogers
Bath TownWilliam Brown
EdentonJasper Charlton
EdentonJoseph Hewes
New BernJames Davis
New BernRichard Ellis
New BernAbner Nash
New BernWilliam Tisdale
WilmingtonCornelius Harnett
WilmingtonArchibald MacLaine
BrunswickMaurice Moore
HalifaxWillie Jones
HillsboroughWilliam Armstrong
HillsboroughFrancis Nash
HillsboroughNathaniel Rochester
SalisburyWilliam Kennon
SalisburyHugh Montgomery
CampbeltonJames Hepburn
CampbeltonRobert Rowan