North Carolina, Reminiscences and Memoirs

From Reminiscences and Memoirs of North Carolina and Eminent North Carolinians, by John H. Wheeler, Columbus Printing Works, Columbus, Ohio, 1884:

An early historian has recorded our people, as being "gentle in their manners, advocates of freedom; jealous of their rulers, impatient, restless, and turbulent when ruled by any other government than their own; and under that and that only were they satisfied."
It was in the natural course of events and "the inexorable logic of circumstances" that the sturdy men of the age were ever ready to defend the cause of right; and in defense of liberty to pour out their life blood, as at Alamance; on the Cape Fear, to beard the minions of power, and cause their oppressor to leave the State and seek refuge elsewhere, and that the men of Mecklenburgh in advance of every other State, should thunder to the world the eternal principles of Independence and Liberty.

Washington Irving, re: the Mecklenburg Declaration

From History of the McDowells and Connections, by John Hugh McDowell, pub. 1918, C. B. Johnston:

[W]hat says our great and beloved author, the first of Americans who gave to his country a character of literature in Europe, and appropriately closed his long and bright career by a Biography of Washington, published in 1857? I speak of Washington Irving, all of whose works are American classics. In the fourth volume 
of this work, speaking of the invasion of North Carolina, which had been assigned to Lord Cornwallis, he says:

"It was an enterprise in which much difficulty was to be apprehended, both from the character of the people and the country. The original settlers were from various parts, most of them men who had experienced political or religious oppressions, and brought with them a quick sensibility of wrong and a strong appreciation of their rights, and indomitable spirit of freedom and independence. And this part of the state was of a hard Presbyterian stock, the Scotch-Irish, as they were called, having emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, and thence to America, and was said to possess the impulsiveness of the Irishman 
with the large resolution of the Covenanter. The early history of the colony abounds with instances of this spirit among its people. 'They always behaved insolently to their governors,' complains Governor Burrington, in 1731; 'some they have driven out of the country—at other times they set up a government of their own choice, 
supported by men under arms.' It was, in fact, the spirit of popular liberty and self-government which stirred within them, and gave birth to the glorious axiom: the rights of the many against the exactions of the few. It was this spirit that gave rise to the confederacy called the Regulation formed to withstand the abuses of power, and the first blood shed in our country in resistance to arbitrary taxation was at Alamance, in this province, in a conflict between the Regulators and Governor Tryon. Above all, it should never be forgotten that at Mecklenburg in the heart of North Carolina, was culminated the first Declaration of Independence of the British crown upward of a year before a like declaration by Congress." Again: "Cornwallis decamped from Camden and set out for North Carolina. Advancing into the latter province, Cornwallis took post at Charlotte, where he had given rendezvous to Ferguson. Mecklenburg, of which it was the capital, was, the reader may recollect, the 'heady, high-minded' county where the first Declaration of 
Independence had been made; and his lordship, from uncomfortable experience, soon pronounced Charlotte 'the hornet's nest of North Carolina.'
"Instead of remaining at home and receiving the King's money in exchange for their produce, they (the inhabitants) turned out with their rifles, stationed themselves in covert places, fired upon the foraging parties; convoys of provisions from Camden had to fight their way, and expresses were shot down and their despatches seized."

The First Declaration of Independence?

THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.
20 May 1775

Resolved, 1st. That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form, or manner, countenanced the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this country, to America, and to the inherent and unalienable rights of man.

Resolved, 2d. That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bonds which have connected us with the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or association with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of American Patriots at Lexington.

Resolved, 3d. That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power, other than that of our God, and the General Government of the Congress:--to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.

Resolved, 4th. That as we acknowledge the existence and control of no law, nor legal office, civil or military, within this county; we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former laws; wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein.

Resolved, 5th. That it is further decreed, that all, each, and every military officer in this county is hereby retained in his former command and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations. And that every member present of this delegation shall henceforth be a civil officer, viz.: a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a committee man, to issue process, hear and determine all matters of controversy, according to said adopted laws; and to preserve peace, union, and harmony in said county; and to use every exertion to spread the love of country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a general organized government be established in this province.

signers:
Abraham Alexander, Chairman
John McKnitt Alexander, Secretary
Ephraim Brevard, Clerk
Adam Alexander, Charles Alexander, Ezra Alexander, Hezekiah Alexander, Waightstill Avery, Hezekiah J. Balch, Richard Barry, John Davidson, Henry Downs, John Flennekin, John Foard, William Graham, James Harris, Richard Harris, Robert Irwin, William Kennon, Matthew McClure, Neil Morrison, Benjamin Patton, John Phifer, Thomas Polk, John Queary, David Reese, Zaccheus Wilson

Brig. Gen. Thomas Polk (1732-1793)

About 1750, Thomas Polk came with his father and mother, William and Margaret (Taylor) Polk, and at least some of his brothers and sisters, to the Yadkin country in the western part of the province of North Carolina. There are many Polk family histories that state Thomas arrived in North Carolina alone, showing up at the door of the Thomas Spratt family with nothing but a knapsack on his back. [Thomas Spratt is written up in the History of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina as being the first white man to cross the Yadkin River in a wheeled vehicle. The Spratt home was the site of the first court held in Mecklenburg County.] The Spratts had been one of the first families in the area, settling on Sugar Creek, a branch of the Catawba River, a few miles south of the present town of Charlotte near the South Carolina line. Most of the settlers of that area came south from Pennsylvania or northern Virginia, and the majority were Scots-Irish. With Abraham Alexander and John Frohock, Thomas Polk bought 360 acres of land from Britain's Lord Augustus Selwyn. The land lay where future downtown Charlotte, North Carolina would flourish. Thomas Polk married Susanna Spratt in 1755, one of his early host's numerous daughters.
In the 1770s, as conflicts grew between settlers and the British, Thomas Polk became commander of the local militia. He was one of twenty-seven men who signed documents in 1775 that pronounced their freedom from British rule. The "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence" and the "Mecklenburg Resolves" would remain the source of controversy for many years.
In 1776 Polk was appointed Colonel of the "Minute Men" (with Adam Alexander as Lieutenant Colonel), and then was appointed Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of the Continental troops following the Provincial Congress that same year. Though advanced in years, he served throughout the Revolution, and at retirement Thomas Polk was made a Brigadier General. His service to the country was recognized by Gen. Nathanael Greene and other leaders, and Polk was rewarded with numerous land grants in (what is now) Tennessee for himself and his heirs.
Thomas Polk would become great-uncle to James Knox Polk, eleventh President of the United States.

Thomas "Kanawah" Spratt (1731-1807)

Thomas "Kanawah" Spratt was born in 1731 onboard ship while his parents and older sisters were crossing the Atlantic from Ireland. Thomas was his parents' only son, and lived to become a legendary figure in their region of the Carolina frontier. According to Carolina historian Louise Pettus:

Some writers say that Thomas "Kanawah" Spratt was on his way to settle in either Abbeville [South Carolina] or Fairforest (near present-day Spartanburg) when the Catawba Indians persuaded him to settle among them. The nickname "Kanawah" was given to Spratt by the Catawbas. Spratt fought with the Indians on several occasions, and it is said that on an expedition in the area of present-day West Virginia, Spratt displayed such courage that the Indians named him for the nearby river. That's the same way the Catawba chief earned the name "New River."
The Catawbas were greatly attached to Spratt. Evidence was given of that in a tale about Spratt participating in the signing of the famed Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775. Spratt was to be a signer but "instead of dipping into an ink well, he dipped into a gallon jug." Spratt was placed in the county jail, and when some Catawba Indian friends heard of it, they "got on their horses, rode up to the jail, ripped off two or three planks and took Kanawha out, put him on his horse, then they raced their steeds around and around the court house several times––yelling and whooping––after which the Catawbas and Kanawah headed their horses back down Nation Ford Road for their homes in what is now Fort Mill."