American statesman, born, it is supposed, in North Carolina, on the 20th of April 1723. He early manifested his opposition to the encroachments of royal authority, and, as a member of the North Carolina provincial assembly (1770–71), took the lead in many energetic protests and remonstrances; in 1773 he was placed on the committee of continental correspondence for the Wilmington (NC) district. He was president of the Provincial Council, and a signer of the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.” The British excluded him from the offer of a general pardon, and when, in 1781, they had temporary possession of the Cape Fear region, he fell into their hands, and died a prisoner, at Wilmington, NC, on the 20th of April 1781.
