Adam Torrence Sr. | |
---|---|
Birth name | Adam Torrence |
Born | 1722 Ireland |
Died | June 20, 1780 Ramsour's Mill, Lincoln County, North Carolina |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | Militia |
Years of service | 1780 |
Rank | Private |
Unit | Mecklenburg County Regiment, North Carolina Militia |
Battles/wars | Battle of Ramsour's Mill |
Spouse(s) | Anna Brandon |
Relations | Sons: Adam Torrence Jr, Hugh Torrence |
Adam Torrence Sr. (1732-June 20, 1780) was the owner of Torrence's Tavern in Rowan County, North Carolina before 1780. He was a soldier in the Mecklenburg County Regiment, North Carolina militia and killed at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill in Lincoln County, North Carolina during the American Revolution. After his death, his wife, Ann (Bonar) Torrence was managing the tavern when the Battle of Torrence's Tavern took place nearby. [1] [2] [3]
Adam was the son of Hugh Torrence and Sarah Marjory (Cunningham) Torrence of Londonderry, Ireland. His parents migrated to Pennsylvania in the 1700s, where Adam married Ann Bonar. Adam and Ann moved to Rowan County, North Carolina before the American Revolution. They had the following children: Hugh Torrence, Adam Torrence Jr., George Torrence, Barnabas Torrence, Elizabeth (Torrence) McKnight, Alexander Torrence and Margaret Torrence. They owned a tavern in Rowan County (currently Iredell County near Mount Mourne), Province of North Carolina. [1] Hugh Torrence became the first sheriff of Iredell County. [4]
Both Adam Torrence Sr. and his son, Adam Torrence Jr. were members of the Mecklenburg County Regiment under Captain James Houston. Adam was killed at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill and his son, Adam Jr. was wounded at the battle. His son stated in his pension application: "at the Battle of Ramsour's Lincoln County where I saw my Father fall on the field of Battle being shot dead through the head by a ball & a few moments afterwards I was shot in the hip & which hurt me all my life since." [3] [5]
The Battle of Torrence's Tavern [6] was fought on February 1, 1781, near Torrence's Tavern. It was the only major battle or skirmish to be fought during the Revolutionary War in what became Iredell County in 1788. [7]
Iredell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 186,693. Its county seat is Statesville, and its largest town is Mooresville. The county was formed in 1788, subtracted from Rowan County. It is named for James Iredell, one of the first justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Iredell County is included in the Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC–SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined in 2013 by the Office of Management and Budget with data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
William "Billy" Sharpe was a lawyer, politician, American Revolution patriot, and a delegate to the Continental Congress from Rowan County, North Carolina, which became Iredell County in 1788.
William Lee Davidson (1746–1781) was an officer in the North Carolina militia and Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Pennsylvania and moved with his family to Rowan County, North Carolina in 1750. He was killed at the Battle of Cowan's Ford.
The Battle of Cowan's Ford was a battle in the Southern Theater of Cornwallis's 1780–1782 Campaign that eventually led to the British Army's surrender at Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on February 1, 1781, at Cowan's ford on the Catawba River in northwestern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, between a force of about 2,400 British and about 800 Whig militia who were attempting to slow the British advance across the river. The American general William Lee Davidson was killed in this battle.
Griffith Rutherford was an American military officer in the Revolutionary War, a political leader in North Carolina, and an important figure in the early history of the Southwest Territory and the state of Tennessee.
The Battle of Ramsour's Mill took place on June 20, 1780 in present-day Lincolnton, North Carolina, during the British campaign to gain control of the southern colonies in the American Revolutionary War. The number of fighters on each side of the battle is still an issue of contention, but Loyalist militiamen outnumbered Patriot militia and had captured a group of Patriots who they were planning to hang on the morning of June 20.
Littleberry C. Mosby Jr. was an American military officer. During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the Continental Army as a captain in the 2nd Georgia Regiment, and was captured at the Siege of Savannah in 1778. After his release, he served as a major commanding a cavalry battalion in the Virginia militia. During the War of 1812, he was a brigadier general in the Virginia militia. The son of Colonel Littleberry Mosby Sr., he lived his entire life at Mosby Tavern in Cumberland County, Virginia/Powhatan County, Virginia, Powhatan County having been created from the eastern portion of Cumberland County in May 1777.
The Battle of Torrence's Tavern was a minor engagement of the American Revolutionary War that took place in what was the western portion of Rowan County, North Carolina, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Catawba River near modern-day Mooresville in Iredell County. Torrence's Tavern was a part of the larger Southern campaign of the American Revolution, which, by 1780–1781 involved a series of clashes between the British Army and Loyalist militia and the Continental Army and Patriot militia in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina.
Francis Locke Sr. (1722–1796) was a plantation owner, businessman, politician, and a participant in the American War of Independence, where he led the American Patriots to the decisive victory at Ramseur's Mill, which turned the tide of the American War for Independence in the south.
The Salisbury District Brigade was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). This unit was established by the Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776, and disbanded at the end of the war.
The Rowan County Regiment was originally established in about August 1, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County in the Province of North-Carolina. When the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorized thirty-five existing county militias to be organized on September 9, 1775, the Rowan County Regiment was included and all officers were appointed with commissions from the Provincial Congress. The members of the Rowan County Regiment were mostly from what was Rowan County at the time. Prior to establishment of the Rowan County Regiment, many of its officers were active in the Rowan County Committee of Safety. The regiment included 160 known companies and one or more of these companies were engaged in 36 known battles or skirmishes during the American Revolution. After the establishment of the Rowan County Regiment, several other counties were created from Rowan County, including Burke County in 1777, Iredell County in 1788, Davidson County in 1822 and Davie County in 1836.
The Lincoln County Regiment was a local militia in Lincoln County, North Carolina during the American Revolutionary. It was created by the North Carolina General Assembly of 1778 on February 8, 1779 at the same time that Lincoln County was created from part of Tryon County. The Tryon County Regiment from which the Lincoln County Regiment was created was abolished upon creation of the Lincoln County Regiment. The Lincoln County Regiment was initially subordinate to the Salisbury District Brigade. It was re-subordinated to the newly created Morgan District Brigade in may of 1782, where it was active till the end of the war.
Hugh Montgomery was a member of Rowan County Committee of Safety in 1775, and, in spite of his age, briefly commanded of the Rowan County Regiment during the American Revolutionary War.
The Anson County Regiment was authorized on September 9, 1775 by the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress. The regiment was engaged in battles and skirmishes against the British and Cherokee during the American Revolution in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia between 1776 and 1781. It was active until the end of the war.
The Richmond County Regiment was authorized on October 30, 1779 by the North Carolina General Assembly of 1779. It was created at the same time that Richmond County, North Carolina was created. Officers were appointed and commissioned by the Governor. The regiment was engaged in battles and skirmishes against the British during the American Revolution in North Carolina and South Carolina between 1780 and 1781. It was active until the end of the war.
The Rutherford County Regiment was authorized on October 30, 1779, by the Province of North Carolina Congress. It was created at the same time that Rutherford County, North Carolina was created out of the western part of Tryon County, North Carolina when Tryon County and its regiment of militia were abolished. Officers were appointed and commissioned by the Governor. The regiment was engaged in battles and skirmishes against the British during the American Revolution in North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina between 1779 and 1782. It was active until the end of the war.
The Sullivan County Regiment was authorized on October 30, 1779 by the Province of North Carolina Congress. It was created at the same time that Sullivan County, North Carolina was created out of Washington County. Officers were appointed and commissioned by the Governor. The regiment was engaged in battles and skirmishes against the British during the American Revolution in Tennessee and South Carolina between 1780 and 1781. It was active until the end of the war. Part of Sullivan County, North Carolina was ceded by North Carolina to the federal government in 1789 and this became Sullivan County, Tennessee.
The Mecklenburg County Regiment was authorized on May 31, 1775 by the Province of North Carolina Congress. From November 7, 1779 until the 3rd Quarter of 1780, it was called the 1st Mecklenburg County Regiment when a 2nd Mecklenburg County Regiment existed. The 1st Mecklenburg County regiment was engaged in 39 known battles and skirmishes against the British during the American Revolution in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia between 1776 and 1781. It was active until the end of the war.
Perciphull Campbell, Sr. (1767–1853) was one of the original settlers prior to 1778 in north Rowan County, Province of North Carolina. This area later would become Iredell County, North Carolina, in 1788 and after his death it became Union Grove Township in 1868. He was a moderately prosperous land owner, planter and miller, who migrated from Culpeper County, Colony of Virginia to the Province of North Carolina with his family before the U.S. Revolutionary War in which his two older brothers served. He was a justice of the peace and active in the formation of the town of Williamsburgh in north Iredell County. His home and mill that he built on Hunting Creek in about 1820, as well as the Campbell family cemetery, near what is now the unincorporated town of Union Grove, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house and cemetery have survived into the 21st century but the mill and covered bridge near the mill were destroyed in the late 1930s.
Thomas Gillespie was a large plantation owner in mid-to-late 18th-century North Carolina and served as commissary of the Rowan County Regiment in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. He spent his early life in Augusta County, Virginia before migrating to Anson County, North Carolina in about 1750, where he lived most of his life on Sills Creek in the area that became Rowan County, North Carolina in 1753. He and his wife and son were the first white settlers west of the Yadkin River. He owned a plantation of over 1,000 acres on Sills Creek in Rowan County, as well as 6,000 acres in the area of western North Carolina that became part of the state of Tennessee in 1796. He was an early elder in the Thyatira Presbyterian Church in Rowan County, which was formed in 1753. Thomas was the great-grandfather of U.S. President James K. Polk through the lineage of his daughter Lydia, who married Captain James Knox and gave birth to Jane Gracey Knox, mother of the President.