The Salisbury District of North Carolina, was originally one of six colonial judicial districts established in 1766 by the Governor William Tryon of the

Province of North Carolina The Province of North Carolina, originally known as the Albemarle Settlements, was a proprietary colony and later royal colony of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776.(p. 80) It was one of the five Southern col ...

. Immediately preceding the onset of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

in 1775, these six regions were renamed "military districts" by the

North Carolina Provincial Congress The Provincial Congress of North Carolina was an extralegal representative assembly patterned after the colonial lower house that existed in North Carolina from 1774 to 1776. It led the transition from British provincial to U.S. state govern ...

and used for organizing the North Carolina militia. The other military districts were Edenton, Halifax, Hillsborough, New Bern, and Wilmington districts. The military district designation was discontinued in 1835 during the North Carolina Constitution Convention.

Background

In 1766, the Province of North Carolina House of Burgess, at the direction of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

William Tryon, divided the state into six judicial districts. The districts did not do away with the county divisions of the state, which continued. Since the boundaries of Tryon County (part of the Salisbury District) originally stretched into territory which was later found to belong to

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

(due to surveying errors), the Salisbury District was, for a time, the legal center of modern-day northwestern South Carolina as well. After the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress held at

Hillsborough, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States, and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hi ...

(Aug. 20-Sept. 10, 1775), the "judicial" districts became known as "military" districts. These districts were used to organize the North Carolina Minutemen Battalions for a six month trial as state troops, beginning on September 1, 1775. By April 10, 1776, the Provincial Congress decided in favor of District Brigades of militia with county militia regiments. Each brigade was led by a brigadier general. The county militia regiments were subordinated to the brigade. At that time, two additional districts were added, further dividing the western part of the state ( Washington District Regiment in 1776 and Morgan District in 1784). Also, district representatives were chosen and sent to the North Carolina Provincial Congress. These representatives were instrumental in the passage of the

Halifax Resolves The Halifax Resolves was a name later given to the resolution adopted by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on April 12, 1776. The adoption of the resolution was the first official action in the American Colonies calling for independence fro ...

in April 1776 during the Fourth Provincial Congress, which is now often referred to as the "Halifax Congress."

History

The Salisbury District was based in the town of

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury ( ) is a city in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. ...

, in Rowan County. Salisbury was established as the county seat of Rowan County in 1755, two years after Rowan County was created from Anson County. Edmund Fanning was made the first official associate justice for the Judicial District of Salisbury in March 1766. The third colonial court, which regularly assembled at Salisbury, was the court of ''oyer, terminer and general jail delivery''. This court had jurisdiction over criminal cases. The Salisbury District court met in June and December of each year. James Smith had served as the justice presiding over the "Court of Pleas and Quarter Session for Rowan County," under King George III, from 1770 thru 1775. From 1775, he "took a prominent and active part in every movement tending to throw off the yoke of tyranny..." On April 22, 1776, he was appointed to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Rowan County Regiment of the North Carolina militia, which was commanded by Colonel Francis Locke. Colonel Lock assumed command from Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford who was selected as commander of the Salisbury District Brigade.

Boundaries

The Salisbury District originally included Anson, Guilford,

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

Rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

, Surry, and Tryon counties. A later addition was the Washington District (also known as the original Washington County, North Carolina), which covered most of the present day State of Tennessee. Eventually, as new settlements were carved out of the wilderness, the Salisbury District encompassed the counties of Lincoln, Montgomery,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, Rutherford, Wilkes (all in present-day North Carolina), and Sullivan (in present-day Tennessee) as well. * In 1775, Salisbury District included the following counties: Rowan, Anson, Guilbord, Mecklenburg, Surry, and Tryon counties. * In 1779, Salisbury District included the following counties: Rowan, Anson, Burke, Guilford, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, Rutherford, Surry, and Wilkes counties. * In 1783, at the end of the war, Salisbury District included: Rowan, Anson, Guiford, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, and Surry counties. * As late as 1800, the term ''Salisbury District'' was used in reference to the regional Federal Census headquarters in part of North Carolina. This 1800 Census ''district headquarters'' was located in Salisbury, and Iredell, Mecklenburg, and Rowan counties all list Salisbury as the location for these counties, even though Salisbury was and still is located in Rowan County. * The Provincial Congress included representatives from counties and districts. The six districts continued to be used under the North Carolina General Assembly after 1776 until 1835 when the State Constitution Convention changed the way representatives and senators to the General Assembly were determined. After the war, the districts were sometimes referred to as boroughs or just cities. In 1835, the general assembly set up 120 districts with representation in the assembly.

Delegates

The delegates from the Salisbury District to the North Carolina Provincial Congress were: * William Kennon, 1st Provincial Congress, August 25–27, 1774 in New BernRumple, p 134, 135, 172; moved to GeorgiaHunter, p 171 * William Kennon, 2nd Provincial Congress, April 3–7, 1775 in New Bern * William Kennon and Hugh Montgomery, 3rd Provincial Congress, August 20 - September 10, 1775 in Hillsborough * David Nesbitt, 4th Provincial Congress, April 4 - May 14, 1776 in Halifax * David Nesbitt, 5th Provincial Congress, November 12 - December 23, 1776 in Halifax The delegates from the Salisbury District to the North Carolina House of Commons were: * 1st, 1777, David Nesbett * 2nd, 1778, Matthew Troy * 3rd, 1779, Maxwell Chambers * 4th, 1780, Anthony Newman * 5th, 1781, Anthony Newman (Nunan) * 6th, 1782, Dr. Anthony NewmanRumple, p 169 * 7th, 1783, Anthony Newman (Nunan) * 8th, 1784 April, Thomas FrohockRumple, pp 87-89 * 9th, 1784 October, Spruce McCoy (McCay, McKay) * 10th, 1785, Thomas Frohock * 11th, 1786-1787, Thomas Frohock * 12th, 1787, John Steele * 13th, 1788, John Steele * 14th, 1789, Maxwell Chambers * 15th, 1790, Maxwell Chambers * 16th, 1791-1792, Lewis Beard * 17th, 1792-1793, Lewis Beard * 18th, 1793-1794, John Steele * 19th, 1794-1795, John Steele * 20th, 1795, John Steele * 21st, 1796, Evan Alexander * 22nd, 1797, John Newman * 23rd, 1798, Evan Alexander * 24th, 1799, Evan Alexander * 25th, 1800, Evan Alexander * 26th, 1801, Evan Alexander * 27th, 1802, Evan Alexander * 28th, 1803, Evan Alexander * 29th, 1804, Joseph Pearson * 30th, 1805, Joseph Pearson * 31st, 1806, John Steele * 32nd, 1807,

Archibald Henderson Archibald Henderson (January 21, 1783 – January 6, 1859) was the longest-serving Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps, serving from 1820 to 1859. His name is learned by all recruits at United States Mari ...

* 33rd, 1808,

* 34th, 1809,

* 35th, 1810, Joseph Chambers * 36th, 1811, John Steele (Speaker of the House) * 37th, 1812, John Steele * 38th, 1813, John Steele * 39th, 1814,

* 40th, 1815, John L. HendersonRumple, p 462 * 41st, 1816, John L. Henderson * 42nd, 1817, Stephen L. Ferrand * 43rd, 1818, John Beard, Jr. * 44th, 1819,

* 45th, 1820,

* 46th, 1821, Charles Fisher * 47th, 1822, Alfred McKay * 48th, 1823-1824, John L. Henderson * 49th, 1824-1825, John L. Henderson * 50th, 1825-1826, David F. Caldwell * 51st, 1826-1827, Charles Fisher * 52nd, 1827-1828, Charles Fisher * 53rd, 1828-1829, Charles Fisher * 54th, 1829-1830, Charles Fisher * 55th, 1830-1831, Charles Fisher (Speaker of the House) * 56th, 1831-1832, Charles Fisher (Speaker of the House) * 57th, 1832-1833, Burton Craig * 58th, 1833-1834, Richard H. Alexander * 59th, 1834-1835, Richard H. Alexander * 60th, 1835, William Chambers

References

Bibliography