Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress


The Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress was one of five extra-legal unicameral bodies that met beginning in the summer of 1774 through 1776. 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 Fourth Congress met in Halifax from April 4 to May 14, 1776. Samuel Johnston served as president, with Allen Jones as vice-president.

Legislation

The delegates authorized their representatives to the Second Continental Congress to vote for the Declaration of Independence, including Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, and John Penn. The 83 delegates present on April 12, 1776 adopted the Halifax Resolves. On April 13, 1776, the delegates formed a committee to start working on a North Carolina Constitution, which was ratified in December 1776 by the Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress. In April, 1776, the congress passed a resolve to move loyalists while allowing them to dispose of their property. Later in May 1776, the congress passed a resolve to confiscate the property of those taking up arms against the United States.

Members

The following list shows the names of the delegates and the counties or districts that they represented:
County or Town/DistrictDelegate
AnsonJohn Child
AnsonJohn Crawford
AnsonDaniel Love
AnsonJames Pickett
AnsonSamuel Spencer
BeaufortJohn Cowper
BeaufortRoger Ormond
BeaufortThomas Respess, Jr.
BertieJohn Campbell
BertieJohn Johnston
BertieCharles Jaycocks
BladenThomas Amis
BladenMaturin Colville
BladenJames Council
BladenNathaniel Richardson
BladenThomas Robeson, Jr.
BrunswickUnknown/Vacant
ButeWilliam Alston
ButePhilemon Hawkins
ButeGreen Hill
ButeWilliam Person
ButeThomas Sherrod
CarteretJohn Backhouse
CarteretSolomon Shepard
CarteretWilliam Thompson
ChathamElisha Cain
ChathamJeduthan Harper
ChathamAmbrose Ramsey
ChathamJoseph Rosser
ChathamJohn Thompson
ChowanThomas Benbury
ChowanJohn B. Beasly
ChowanThomas Hunter
ChowanSamuel Johnston
ChowanThomas Jones
CravenJacob Blount
CravenJohn Bryan
CravenWilliam Bryan
CravenJames Coor
CravenLemuel Hatch
CumberlandFarquard/Farquhard Campbell
CumberlandAlexander McAllister
CumberlandAlexander McCoy
CumberlandThomas Rutherford
CumberlandDavid Smith
CurrituckSamuel Jarvis
CurrituckGideon Lamb
CurrituckSolomon Perkins
CurrituckJames Ryan
CurrituckJames White
DobbsSimon Bright
DobbsRichard Caswell
DobbsWilliam McKinnie
DobbsGeorge Miller
DobbsAbraham Sheppard
DuplinRichard Clinton
DuplinWilliam Dickson
DuplinThomas Gray
EdgecombeElisha Battle
EdgecombeNathan Boddie
EdgecombeWilliam Haywood
EdgecombeHenry Irwin
EdgecombeDuncan Lemon
GranvilleCharles A. Eaton
GranvilleMemucan Hunt
GranvilleJohn Penn
GranvilleThomas Person
GranvilleJohn Taylor
GuilfordWilliam Dent
GuilfordRalph Gorrell, Jr.
GuilfordRansom Sutherland
HalifaxWillis Alston
HalifaxJohn Bradford
HalifaxJames Hogun
HalifaxDavid Sumner
HalifaxJoseph John Williams
HertfordLaurence/Lawrence Baker
HertfordMatthias Brickell, Jr.
HertfordWilliam Murfree
HertfordRobert Sumner
HydeJoseph Hancock
HydeJohn Jordan
HydeRotheas Latham
HydeBenjamin Parmelin
JohnstonNeedham Bryan, Jr.
JohnstonHenry Rains
JohnstonSamuel Smith, Jr.
MartinWhitmell Hill
MartinKenneth McKenzie
MartinEdward Smithwick
MartinThomas Wiggins
MartinWilliam Williams
MecklenburgJohn McKnitt Alexander
MecklenburgRobert Irwin
MecklenburgJohn Phifer
New HanoverJohn Ashe
New HanoverSamuel Ashe
New HanoverJohn DeVane
New HanoverJohn Hollingsworth
New HanoverSampson Mosely
NorthamptonJeptha Atherton
NorthamptonHoward/Howell Edmunds
NorthamptonDrewry Gee
NorthamptonEaton Haynes
NorthamptonAllen Jones
NorthamptonSamuel Lockhart
NorthamptonEaton Haynes
OnslowBenjamin Doty
OnslowJohn King
OnslowGeorge Mitchell
OnslowJohn Norman
OnslowJohn Spicer
OrangeThomas Burke
OrangeJohn Butler
OrangeJohn Kinchen
OrangeNathaniel Rochester
OrangeJames Saunders
PasquotankHenry Abbot
PasquotankThomas Boyd
PasquotankDempsey Burgess
PasquotankWilliam Cumming
PasquotankJoseph Jones
PerquimansCharles Blount
PerquimansMiles Harvey
PerquimansThomas Harvey
PerquimansCharles Moore
PerquimansWilliam Skinner
PittWilliam Robeson
PittEdward Salter
PittJohn Simpson
RowanJohn Johnston
RowanMatthew Locke
RowanGriffith Rutherford
SurryCharles Gordon
SurryJoseph Williams
SurryJoseph Winston
TryonJames Johnston
TryonCharles McLean
Tyrrell Archibald Corry
WakeJohn Hinton
WakeWilliam Hooper
WakeTignal Jones
WakeJoel Lane
WakeJohn Rand
Bath DistrictWilliam Brown
Campbellton TownArthur Council
Edenton DistrictJoseph Hewes
Halifax DistrictWillie Jones
Halifax DistrictJohn Webb
Hillsborough DistrictWilliam Johnston
New Bern DistrictAbner Nash
Salisbury DistrictDavid Nesbitt
Wilmington DistrictCornelius Harnett

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