Thomas Person (1733–1800) was an American politician, Anti-Federalist organizer, and brigadier general in command of the Hillsborough District Brigade of the

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 ...

militia 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 life

Born January 19, 1733 in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

to William and Ann Person. He married his cousin, Johanna Philpot; the two had no children, and his nephew William Person Little was adopted as his heir. General Thomas Person spent most of his life in service to

Granville County, North Carolina Granville County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,992. Its county seat is Oxford. Granville County encompasses Oxford, NC Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

Pre-Revolution career

In 1756, after several years working for

Earl Granville Earl Granville is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now held by members of the Leveson-Gower family. First creation The first creation came in the Pee ...

as a surveyor, Thomas Person was recommended for the position of

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Granville County. By the year 1762, he had become the county's

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

. After his election to represent Granville County in the

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 ...

House of Burgesses in 1764, Thomas Person would find himself on the side of the disaffected colonials in the

War of the Regulation The Regulator Movement, also known as the Regulator Insurrection, War of Regulation, and War of the Regulation, was an uprising in Provincial North Carolina from 1766 to 1771 in which citizens took up arms against colonial officials, whom they v ...

. When the

Battle of Alamance The Battle of Alamance, which took place on May 16, 1771, was the final battle of the Regulator Movement, a rebellion in Province of North Carolina, colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control, considered by some to be the ...

ended in defeat for the Regulators, Governor

William Tryon Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...

issued a series of amnesty proclamations for combatants and rioters, from which Thomas Person was specifically excluded, even though he was not present at the battle. Person was held for three weeks in Hillsborough but was eventually released without trial, due either to lack of evidence or his personal friendship with

Edmund Fanning Edmund Fanning (July 16, 1769 – April 23, 1841) was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific." Life Born in Stonington in the British Crown Colony of Connecticut to Gilbert and Huldah Fanning, from ne ...

. In spite of his issues with Governor Tryon, Representative Person continued to serve in the state General Assembly until the beginning of the

, when he was named to the extra-legal

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 ...

. This body would eventually "concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independency."

Revolutionary war service

On May 4, 1776, Person was commissioned a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in command of the Hillsborough District Brigade of the North Carolina militia. His service consisted mostly of raising troops and collecting supplies rather than fighting on the field, and he turned over command the following year to

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer *John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

, who would lead the unit in the

Battle of Guilford Court House The Battle of Guilford Court House was on March 15, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, at a site that is now in Greensboro, the seat of Guilford County, North Carolina. A 2,100-man British force under the command of Lieutenant General ...

. Person spent the rest of the war serving on the North Carolina Council of State.

Anti-Federalist

After the war ended, Thomas Person became a leader of North Carolina's

Anti-Federalists Anti-Federalism was a late-18th century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Con ...

. They opposed the ratification of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

on the grounds "that the Senate would become a bastion of aristocratic privilege, that an imperial president would overawe a complacent Congress, and that an intrusive federal court system would engender costly and oppressive litigation". Though there was broad support for the anti-federalists in North Carolina (outside of the wealthy coastal regions), the ratification by 11 of the other colonies and the formulation of the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

made it clear that ratification was inevitable by the end of 1789. Nevertheless, at the

Fayetteville Convention The Fayetteville Convention was a meeting by 271 delegates from North Carolina to ratify the US Constitution. Governor Samuel Johnston presided over the convention, which met in Fayetteville, North Carolina, from November 16 to 23, 1789 to debate o ...

in 1789, Thomas Person would vote Nay.

Later years

General Person was an early supporter of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. He granted them a gift of one thousand silver dollars to complete their chapel, which later bore his name. He sat on the inaugural Board of Trustees and is listed on the Memorial to Founding Trustees outside Person Hall which also bears his name. When

Caswell County Caswell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state. At the 2020 census, the population was 22,736. Its county seat is Yanceyville. Partially bordering the state of Virginia ...

was divided in 1791, the newly formed

Person County Person County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 39,097 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Roxboro, North Carolina, Roxboro. Person County is inc ...

was named in honor of General Thomas Person. He died on November 16, 1800, at the home of his sister, Patty Person Taylor. The Patty Person Taylor House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975. By the time of his death in 1800, Thomas Person owned over 125 square miles of land in

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He also owned at least 34 slaves that he kept at his estate, Goshen, in

. Person's Ordinary at

Littleton, North Carolina Littleton is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 674 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Littleton was named after William Little, a ...

, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Person, Thomas 1733 births 1800 deaths Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives People from Granville County, North Carolina Militia generals in the American Revolution North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses Members of the North Carolina House of Burgesses 18th-century American politicians