drama, in which battles and blood were the _direct and inevitable
consequences_. Had Governor Martin the power at that time, he would
have seized every member of this "rebellious" body and tried them for
treason. In this dilemma, he summoned his ever obsequious Council for
consultation, who, becoming alarmed at the "signs of the times,"
declared "nothing could be done."

Tradition informs us that Mr. Patton, not being able to procure a
horse, or any conveyance, walked all the way from Charlotte to
Newbern, about three hundred miles rather than not be present to vote
with those determined on _liberty_ or _death_. Although then advanced
in years, he showed all the enthusiasm of youth. At the Provincial
Congress which met at Hillsboro on the 21st of August, 1775, he was
appointed Major of the second Continental regiment, with Robert Howe
as Colonel, and Alexander Martin as Lieutenant Colonel. Of his
military record, in such high position, little is known, but we find
him acting as a member of the Committee of Safety for Mecklenburg
county, with very full powers, associated with John Paul Barringer and
Martin Phifer. They were a "terror unto evil doers." He was a man of
considerable learning, of ardent temperament, and of Christian
integrity. He died near Concord, in Cabarras county, at a good old
age, and is buried on the banks of Irish Buffalo Creek. No monument
marks his grave:

"They carved not a line, they raised not a stone.
But left him alone in his glory."

_John Phifer_ was born in Cabarrus county (when a part of Bladen) in
1745. He was the son of Martin Phifer, a native of Switzerland, and of
Margaret Blackwelder. He raised a numerous family, who inherited the