The reader should bear in mind this _blackening of faces_, to prevent
detection, was in the spring of 1771, when the patriotic sentiment of
this country had not ripened into that state of almost entire
unanimity which characterized it, and the State generally, four years
later. John Phifer filled an early grave, and lies buried at the "Red
Hill," on the Salisbury road, where a decaying headstone, scarcely
legible, marks the last resting-place of this true patriot.

Thomas Polk is a name of historic distinction in North Carolina, as
well as in our nation. He was the early, constant, and enduring friend
of liberty, and the unfaltering opponent of arbitrary power and
oppression. He was a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1771 and 1775,
associated with Abraham Alexander from Mecklenburg. In 1775, he was
appointed Colonel of the second battalion of "Minute Men," with Adam
Alexander as Colonel, and Charles McLean as Major.

As Colonel of the Mecklenburg militia, he issued orders to the
Captains of the several _beats_, or districts, to send two delegates
each to the Convention in Charlotte on the 19th of May, 1775. This act
alone, proceeding from patriotic motives, entitles him to our
gratitude. In accordance with orders, and the anticipated discussion
of political measures affecting the welfare of the country, a vast
concourse of delegates, and of the citizens generally, from all parts
of the country, as well as from the adjoining counties of Anson, Rowan
and Tryon (afterward Lincoln) assembled on the appointed day--such a
gathering as had never before met in Charlotte, preceding, or during
the Revolution. It was not a small assemblage, like that of the 31st
of the same month, composed entirely of the Committee of Safety, met
for the purpose of passing such rules and regulations as the internal
government of the county demanded.