Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress


The Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress was the last of five extra-legal unicameral bodies that met beginning in the summer of 1774. They were modeled after the colonial lower house. These congresses created a government structure, issued bills of credit to pay for the movement, organized an army for defense, wrote a constitution and bill of rights that established the state of North Carolina, and elected their first acting governor in the fifth congress that met in 1776. These congresses paved the way for the first meeting of the North Carolina General Assembly on April 7, 1777 in New Bern, North Carolina.. The Fifth Congress met in Halifax from November 12 to December 23, 1776. Richard Caswell served as president, with Cornelius Harnett as vice-president.

Legislation

This congress approved the first Constitution of North Carolina, along with a "Declaration of Rights" on December 18, 1776. It elected Richard Caswell to serve as acting governor until the province's first General Assembly in 1777 could meet to elect a governor. The congress dealt extensively with raising a militia of 5, 000 men. They also discussed the Cherokee War in the western region of the state.

Delegates

Each county was authorized five delegates to this congress. Some counties only had four delegates. In addition, nine districts or borough towns were also authorized a single delegate. These districts were the larger towns and population centers of the state. The concept of district representation was a hold over from the Province of North Carolina in colonial times. Washington District, in the western end of the state and later became a county, elected four delegates to the congress. The following list shows the names of the delegates and the counties or districts that they represented:
County/DistrictDelegate
Anson CountyGeorge Davidson
Anson CountyDavid Love
Anson CountyWilliam R. Pickett
Anson CountyCharles Robertson
Anson CountyThomas Wade
Beaufort CountyJohn Barrow
Beaufort CountyFrancis Jones
Beaufort CountyThomas Respess
Beaufort CountyThomas Respess, Jr.
Beaufort CountyRobert Tripp
Bertie CountyWilliam Gray
Bertie CountyNoah Hinton
Bertie CountyJohn Johnston
Bertie CountyThomas Pugh
Bertie CountyZedekiah Stone
Bladen CountyThomas Amis
Bladen CountyJames Council
Bladen CountyThomas Owen
Bladen CountyThomas Robeson, Jr.
Brunswick CountyLewis Dupree
Brunswick CountyCornelius Harnett
Brunswick CountyWilliam Lord
Brunswick CountyArchibald MacLaine
Brunswick CountyMaurice Moore
Bute CountyJames Denton
Bute CountyThomas Eaton
Bute CountyPhilemon Hawkins
Bute CountyBenjamin Seawell
Bute CountyBenjamin Ward
Carteret CountyWilliam Borden
Carteret CountyBrice Williams
Carteret CountyThomas Chadwick
Carteret CountyJohn Easton
Carteret CountySoloman Shepard
Chatham CountyJohn Birdsong
Chatham CountyMial Scurlock
Chatham CountyJeduthan Harper
Chatham CountyIsaiah Hogan
Chatham CountyAmbrose Ramsey
Chowan CountyThomas Benbury
Chowan CountyJacob Hunter
Chowan CountyJames Blount
Chowan CountyThomas Jones
Chowan CountyLuke Sumner
Craven CountyNathan Bryan
Craven CountyJohn Tillman
Craven CountyWilliam Bryan
Craven CountyJames Coor
Craven CountyChristopher Neale
Cumberland CountyWilliam Rand
Cumberland CountyPhilip Alston
Cumberland CountyRobert Cobb
Cumberland CountyRobert Rowan
Currituck CountyJames White
Currituck CountySamuel Jarvis
Currituck CountyKedar Merchant
Currituck CountyHollowell Williams
Currituck CountyThomas Williams
Dobbs CountyAndrew Bass
Dobbs CountyBenjamin Exum
Dobbs CountySimon Bright
Dobbs CountyRichard Caswell
Dobbs CountyAbraham Sheppard
Duplin CountyJames Gillespie
Duplin CountyWilliam Dickson/Dixson
Duplin CountyThomas Gray
Duplin CountyJames Kenan
Duplin CountyWilliam Taylor
Edgecombe CountyElisha Battle
Edgecombe CountyWilliam Haywood
Edgecombe CountyWilliam Horn
Edgecombe CountyJonas Johnston
Edgecombe CountyIsaac Sessums
Granville CountyMemucan Hunt
Granville CountyRobert Lewis
Granville CountyJohn Oliver
Granville CountyThornton Yancey
Granville CountyThomas Person
Guilford CountyIsham Browder
Guilford CountyCharles Bruce
Guilford CountyDavid Caldwell
Guilford CountyRalph Gorrell
Guilford CountyJoseph Hinds
Halifax CountyWillis Alston
Halifax CountyJohn Bradford
Halifax CountyJames Hogun
Halifax CountyEgbert Haywood
Halifax CountyBenjamin McCullough
Halifax CountySamuel Weldon
Hertford CountyLawrence Baker
Hertford CountyWilliam Murfree
Hertford CountyDay Ridley
Hertford CountyRobert Sumner
Hertford CountyJames Wright
Hyde CountyJohn Jordan
Hyde CountyAbraham Jones
Hyde CountyJoseph Hancock
Hyde CountyBenjamin Parmele
Hyde CountyWilliam Russell
Johnston CountyAlexander Avery
Johnston CountyNeedham Bryan, Jr.
Johnston CountyHenry Rains
Johnston CountySamuel Smith
Johnston CountyJohn Stevens
Martin CountyWhitmell Hill
Martin CountyJohn Hardison
Martin CountyThomas Hunter
Martin CountySamuel Smithwick
Martin CountyWilliam Williams
Mecklenburg CountyHezekiah Alexander
Mecklenburg CountyWaightstill Avery
Mecklenburg CountyRobert Irwin
Mecklenburg CountyJohn Phifer
Mecklenburg CountyZaccheus Wilson
New Hanover CountyJohn Ashe
New Hanover CountySamuel Ashe
New Hanover CountyJohn Devane
New Hanover CountyJohn Hollingsworth
New Hanover CountySampson Mosely
Northampton CountyJeptha Atherton
Northampton CountyRobert Peoples
Northampton CountyHoward Edmunds
Northampton CountyJames Ingram
Northampton CountyThomas Parker
Northampton CountyAllen Jones
Onslow CountyBenajah Doty
Onslow CountyThomas Johnston
Onslow CountyHenry Rhodes
Onslow CountyJohn Spicer
Onslow CountyEdward Starkey
Orange CountyThomas Burke
Orange CountyJohn Butler
Orange CountyJohn McCabe
Orange CountyAlexander Mebane
Orange CountyNathaniel Rochester
Pasquotank CountyHenry Abbot
Pasquotank CountyDempsey Burgess
Pasquotank CountyDevotion Davis
Pasquotank CountyIsaac Gregory
Pasquotank CountyLemuel Sawyer
Perquimans CountyBenjamin Harvey
Perquimans CountyMiles Harvey
Perquimans CountyThomas Harvey
Perquimans CountyWilliam Hooper
Perquimans CountyWilliam Skinner
Pitt CountyGeorge Evans
Pitt CountyJames Gorham
Pitt CountyBenjamin May
Pitt CountyWilliam Robson
Pitt CountyEdward Salter
Rowan CountyJohn Brevard
Rowan CountyMatthew Locke
Rowan CountyGriffith Rutherford
Rowan CountyWilliam Sharpe
Rowan CountyJames Smith
Surry CountyCharles Gordon
Surry CountyWilliam Hall
Surry CountyRobert Lanier
Surry CountyJoseph Williams
Tryon CountyJohn Barber
Tryon CountyRobert Abernathy
Tryon CountyWilliam Alston
Tryon CountyWilliam Graham
Tryon CountyJoseph Hardin, Sr.
Tyrrell CountyBenjamin Blount
Tyrrell CountyJeremiah Frazier
Tyrrell CountyStephen Lee
Tyrrell CountyIsham Webb
Tyrrell CountyPeter Wynn
Wake CountyBritain Fuller
Wake CountyJames Jones
Wake CountyTignal Jones
Wake CountyJohn Rice
Wake CountyMichael Rogers
Washington DistrictJohn Carter
Washington DistrictJohn Haile
Washington DistrictCharles Robertson
Washington DistrictJohn Sevier
Bath DistrictWilliam Brown
Brunswick DistrictParker Quince
Campbellton DistrictThomas Hadley
Edenton DistrictJoseph Hewes
Halifax DistrictWillie Jones
Hillsborough DistrictWilliam Johnston
New Bern DistrictAbner Nash
Salisbury DistrictDavid Nesbitt
Wilmington DistrictWilliam Hooper

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