Lincoln County

Lincoln county was formed in 1768, from Mecklenburg county, and named Tryon, in honor of William Tryon, at that time the Royal Governor, but his oppressive administration, terminating with cold-blooded murders at the battle of Alamance in 1771, caused the General Assembly in 1779 to blot out his odious name and divide the territory into Lincoln and Rutherford counties. These names were imposed during the Revolution when both of the honored heroes were fighting the battles of their country. Lincoln county, separated from Mecklenburg by the noble Catawba river, has a Revolutionary record of peculiar interest. In June, 1780, the … Read more

Among the curious revolutionary mementos that Capt. A. E. Forney, son of Major Abram Forney, has in his possession is a small “leather memorandum pocket-book”, filled originally with twenty-four blank leaves; also a “powder horn”, made by his father preparatory to an expedition to the mountains. The front, or opening sides, is handsomely ornamented with numerous small stars, arranged diagonally across the surface and around the borders. The back side has the patriot’s initials, A.F. distinctly impressed, and immediately beneath, the year 1775, the whole displaying considerable artistic skill; numerous entries appear on its pages, made at different times, and … Read more

Biographical Sketches of Western North Carolina Illustrating Principally the Revolutionary Period of Mecklenburg, Rowan, Lincoln and Adjoining Counties of Burke, Cabarrus, Cleaveland, Gaston, Iredell, and Wilkes. The biographies have been extracted from this manuscript and presented here as part of our larger biographies collection. As with most historical manuscripts, these biographies should provide a glimpse into the genealogy of the leading men and the occasional women of the western North Carolina area. Biography of Ephriam Brevard Biographical Sketch of Joseph Brevard Biography of Major Abram Forney Biography of Jacob Forney Sr. Biography of Gen. Peter Forney Biography of Gen. Joseph … Read more

The unsuccessful attempt made by General Lincoln to take Savannah, and the subsequent capture of the army under his command at Charleston, induced Sir Henry Clinton to regard the States of South Carolina and Georgia as subdued and restored to the British Crown. The South was then left, for a time, without any regular force to defend her territory. Soon after the surrender of Charleston, detachments of the British army occupied the principal military posts of Georgia and South Carolina. Col. Brown re-occupied Augusta; Col. Balfour took possession of Ninety-Six, on the Wateree, and Lord Cornwallis pressed forward to Camden. … Read more

After the battle of the Cowpens, on the 17th of January, 1781, Lord Cornwallis left his headquarters at Winnsboro, S.C., being reinforced by General Leslie, and marched rapidly to overtake General Morgan, encumbered with more than five hundred prisoners, and necessary baggage, on his way to a place of safety in Virginia. His Lordship was now smarting under two signal defeats (King’s Mountain and the Cowpens) occurring a little more than three months apart. But the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. “Man proposes, but God disposes.” The original manuscript journal of Lord … Read more

Early on the morning of the 20th of June, 1780, when the Tories were forming their forces in martial array near the residence of Christian Reinhardt, situated on the south-western brow of the battle-ground, he conducted his wife, with two little children in his arms, and several small negroes, across the creek to a dense cane-brake extending along and up the western bank of the mill pond as a place of safety. He then returned to his residence, and in a very short time the battle commenced. As the contest raged, and peal after peal of musketry reverberated over the … Read more