Thomas Benbury (November 28, 1736 February 6, 1793) was a revolutionary leader in the early formation of the

State of North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He was a member of the

North Carolina Provincial Congress The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government. There were five congresses. They ...

, a member of the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

from 1776 to 1782,

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

, and an officer in the Chowan County Regiment during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

Early political career

Thomas Benbury was born on November 28, 1736, in Chowan County,

Province of North Carolina Province of North Carolina was a province of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712(p. 80) to 1776. It was one of the five Southern Colonies, Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies, thir ...

. His father, John Benbury, and grandfather, William Benbury, came from England to an area near Edenton, North Carolina in 1701. Thomas became a planter and became sheriff of Chowan County in 1769. He was elected to the North Carolina Provincial Congress in 1771. He was an ardent Whig and member of five Provincial Congresses, beginning in August 1774 at New Bern. As the Revolutionary War approached, he was elected a member of the Chowan County Committee of Safety.

Military service

Service record: * Chowan County Regiment (1779-1783) Major. * 6/21/1779, a known Lt. Colonel under Col. James Blount. * October 1780, a Brigadier General (Pro Tempore) while BG Isaac Gregory marched westward. Back to Lt. Colonel until the end of the war. He was appointed a major in the Chowan County Regiment. He served as Brigadier General (Pro Tempore) in the Edenton District Brigade in 1780. He and Thomas Jones, along with the aid of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, purchased for the war effort 23 canons from France in 1778. They were to be delivered to Edenton by Captain William Borritz aboard the ship ''Holy Heart of Jesus''. When Captain Boritz arrived in Edenton harbor in July 1778, he attempted to levy a transportation charge of 150 pounds of tobacco for every 100 pounds of cannon. There was not sufficient tobacco stores in Edenton to pay the levy, so the cannon were dumped in the harbor.

Political career and personal life

He served in the

from 1776 to 1782 and was speaker of the house from 1778 to 1782. His son, Richard Benbury, succeeded him in the house. In 1784, he was appointed collector of customs for the State of North Carolina at "Port Roanoke". After 1789, he was appointed federal collector of customs for the Port of Edenton by President George Washington. He married Thamir Howcott, in 1761, and later after her death he married Elizabeth Unknown in 1769. By his first wife he had two sons, Thomas and Richard, and by his second wife, a daughter, Mary. He was justice of the peace and a vestryman in the Anglican church in Edenton for most of his adult life. He died on February 6, 1793, and was buried at St. Paul's Church, Edenton.

References

External links

*
Cannons
article {{DEFAULTSORT:Benbury, Thomas 1736 births 1793 deaths 18th-century American politicians Burials at St. Paul's Church, Edenton Members of the North Carolina House of Burgesses Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution