Second North Carolina Provincial Congress

Second North Carolina
Provincial Congress
Second North Carolina; Provincial Congress
Overview
Legislative body	North Carolina Provincial Congress
Jurisdiction	North Carolina ( de facto )
Meeting place	Craven Court House
Term	April 3, 1775 – April 7, 1775
Provincial Congress
Members	107 delegates
Moderator	Col. John Harvey
Sovereign
Monarch	HM George III
Governor	HE Josiah Martin

Last updated June 09, 2025

The Second North Carolina Provincial Congress was a meeting of the provincial congress of the de facto provincial government of North Carolina, composed of 107 delegates from 33 counties (three not being represented) and nine towns. The congress convened in Newbern, on April 3, 1775, and ended on April 7, 1775, during the final two years of Josiah Martin's gubernatorial administration. Colonel John Harvey was unanimously chosen as moderator.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

History

The Second Provincial Congress met at Newbern, from April 3 to 7, 1775. John Harvey served as moderator. The congress met at the same place and almost the same time as the North Carolina provincial assembly and had almost exactly the same membership (61 of the 107 delegates attended both). This infuriated Governor Josiah Martin, who prorogued the House of Burgesses on April 8, 1775, and never called another.

Resolutions

The Second Provincial Congress approved the Continental Association, an economic boycott of Great Britain authorized by the First Continental Congress. Just after the congress met, news reached North Carolina about the Battle of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. On May 24, 1775, British governor Josiah Martin fled the Governor's Palace at Newbern, ending sixty-three continuous years of colonial rule. The first military action of the American Revolutionary War within North Carolina took place on July 18, 1775, when the provincial militia burned Fort Johnston, North Carolina, where Governor Martin had previously transferred his headquarters.^[5]^[4]

Delegates

Robert Howe, Brunswick County MajGenRobertHoweOval.jpg — Robert Howe, Brunswick County

Willie Jones, Halifax County WillieJonesNC.jpg — Willie Jones, Halifax County

Alexander Martin, Guilford County NCG-AlexanderMartin.jpg — Alexander Martin, Guilford County

Abner Nash, Newbern AbnerNash.jpg — Abner Nash, Newbern

Benjamin Williams, Johnston County NCG-BenjaminWilliams.jpg — Benjamin Williams, Johnston County

The following is a full list of delegates to the second congress by constituency.

Constituency	Name	Member of General Assembly
Anson County	Samuel Spencer
Anson County	William Thomas
Beaufort County	Roger Ormond	Yes
Beaufort County	Thomas Respess Jr.	Yes
Beaufort County	William Salter
Bertie County	John Campbell	Yes
Bertie County	John Johnston	Yes
Bertie County	David Stanley	Yes
Bladen County	William Salter II
Bladen County	James White	Yes
Brunswick County	Robert Howe	Yes
Brunswick County	John Rowan	Yes
Bute County	Thomas Eaton
Bute County	Green Hill ^[6]	Yes
Bute County	William Person	Yes
Bute County	James Ransom
Carteret County	Solomon Shepard	Yes
Carteret County	William Thompson	Yes
Chatham County	Not represented
Chowan County	Thomas Benbury	Yes
Chowan County	Thomas Hunter	Yes
Chowan County	Samuel Johnston	Yes
Chowan County	Thomas Jones ^[7]	Yes
Chowan County	Thomas Oldham	Yes
Craven	William Bryan
Craven County	Richard Cogdell ^[8]
Craven County	Jacob Blount
Craven County	James Coor	Yes
Craven County	Joseph Leech
Craven County	Lemuel Hatch	Yes
Cumberland County	Farquard Campbell	Yes
Cumberland County	Thomas Rutherford	Yes
Currituck County	Samuel Jarvis	Yes
Currituck County	Nathan Joyner ^{[note 1]}	Yes
Currituck County	Thomas McKnight	Yes
Currituck County	Solomon Perkins	Yes
Currituck County	Francis Williamson	Yes
Dobbs County	Richard Caswell	Yes
Dobbs County	William McKinnie	Yes
Dobbs County	George Miller
Dobbs County	Simon Bright
Duplin County	William Dickson ^[9]
Duplin County	Thomas Gray
Duplin County	Thomas Hicks
Duplin County	James Kenan
Edgecombe County	Not represented
Granville County	Memucan Hunt
Granville County	Robert Montfort
Granville County	Robert Williams
Granville County	John Paine
Granville County	Thomas Person	Yes
Guilford County	Alexander Martin
Halifax County	Willie Jones
Halifax County	Nicholas Long	Yes
Halifax County	Benjamin McCulloch	Yes
Hertford County	Joseph Worth
Hertford County	George Wynns	Yes
Hyde County	Rotheas Latham
Hyde County	Samuel Smith
Johnston County	Needham Bryan	Yes
Johnston County	Benjamin Williams	Yes
Martin County	Edmund Smithwick
Mecklenburg County	Benjamin Patten
New Hanover County	John Baptista Ashe	Yes
New Hanover County	William Hooper	Yes
Northampton County	Jeptha Atherton	Yes
Northampton County	Allen Jones	Yes
Onslow County	William Cray	Yes
Onslow County	Henry Rhodes	Yes
Onslow County	Edward Starkey
Orange County	Thomas Burke
Orange County	Thomas Hart	Yes
Orange County	John Kinchen
Pasquotank County	Edward Everagin	Yes
Pasquotank County	Jonathan Herring	Yes
Pasquotank County	Joseph Jones	Yes
Pasquotank County	Isaac Gregory	Yes
Pasquotank County	Joseph Reading	Yes
Perquimans County	John Harvey	Yes
Perquimans County	Thomas Harvey	Yes
Perquimans County	Andrew Knox	Yes
Perquimans County	John Whedbee	Yes
Perquimans County	Benjamin Harvey
Pitt County	James Gorham
Pitt County	James Lanier
Pitt County	William Robeson
Pitt County	Edward Salter	Yes
Pitt County	John Simpson	Yes
Rowan County	Griffith Rutherford
Rowan County	William Sharpe
Surry County	Not represented
Tryon County	David Jenkins
Tryon County	Robert Alexander
Tyrrell County	Jeremiah Frazier	Yes
Tyrrell County	Benjamin Spruill	Yes
Tyrrell County	Joseph Spruill	Yes
Wake County	John Hinton
Wake County	Tignal Jones
Wake County	Michael Rogers
Newbern Town	Abner Nash
Newbern Town	James Davis
Edenton	Joseph Hewes	Yes
Wilmington	Cornelius Harnett	Yes
Bath	William Brown ^[10]	Yes
Halifax Town	John Webb
Halifax Town	Joseph Montfort
Hillsborough	Francis Nash	Yes
Salisbury	William Kennon
Brunswick Town	Parker Quince	Yes
Campbelton ^{[note 2]}	Robert Rowan	Yes

References

Footnotes

↑ Nathan Joyner was recorded as Poyner.
↑ Campbelton became part of Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1783.

Citations

↑ Butler, Lindley (2006). Powell, William Stevens (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina, Provincial Congresses. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 917–918. ISBN 0807830712.
↑ "State Library of North Carolina. Information page for Tryon Palace". Archived from the original on May 3, 2008.
↑ Lewis, J.D. "2nd Provincial Congress". Carolina.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
1 2 Connor, Robert Diggs Wimberly, ed. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina Issued by the North Carolina Historical Commission for the Use of Members of the General Assembly Session 1913 . Retrieved August 13, 2019.
↑ Lewis, J.D. "Members of the 2nd Provincial Congress". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
↑ Malone, E. T. Jr. (1988). "Green Hill, Jr". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
↑ Powell, William S. (1988). "Thomas Jones". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
↑ Watson, Alan D. (1979). "Richard Cogdell". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
↑ Ingram, Charles M. (1986). "William Dickson". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
↑ Lewis, J.D. "William Brown". Carolana.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.

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[9] Nathan Joyner was recorded as Poyner.

[12] Campbelton became part of Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1783.

[Butler-1] Butler, Lindley (2006). Powell, William Stevens (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina, Provincial Congresses. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 917–918. ISBN 0807830712.

[Library-2] "State Library of North Carolina. Information page for Tryon Palace". Archived from the original on May 3, 2008.

[Lewis3rd-3] Lewis, J.D. "2nd Provincial Congress". Carolina.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.

[Manual-4] 1 2 Connor, Robert Diggs Wimberly, ed. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina Issued by the North Carolina Historical Commission for the Use of Members of the General Assembly Session 1913 . Retrieved August 13, 2019.

[Lewis2nd-5] Lewis, J.D. "Members of the 2nd Provincial Congress". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved August 13, 2019.

[6] Malone, E. T. Jr. (1988). "Green Hill, Jr". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 2, 2019.

[7] Powell, William S. (1988). "Thomas Jones". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.

[8] Watson, Alan D. (1979). "Richard Cogdell". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.

[10] Ingram, Charles M. (1986). "William Dickson". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.

[11] Lewis, J.D. "William Brown". Carolana.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.

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v t e North Carolina General Assemblies by year convened and order
List of North Carolina state legislatures Senate President pro tempore of the Senate House of Commons House of Representatives Speakers of the House of Representatives (see Note)	1 (1777) 2 (1778) 3 (1779) 4 (1780) 5 (1781) 6 (1782) 7 (1783) 8 (Apr 1784) 9 (Oct 1784) 10 (1785) 11 (1786) 12 (1787) 13 (1788) 14 (1789) 15 (1790) 16 (1791) 17 (1792) 18 (1793) 19 (1794) 20 (1795) 21 (1796) 22 (1797) 23 (1798) 24 (1799) 25 (1800) 26 (1801) 27 (1802) 28 (1803) 29 (1804) 30 (1805) 31 (1806) 32 (1807) 33 (1808) 34 (1809) 35 (1810) 36 (1811) 37 (1812) 38 (1813) 39 (1814) 40 (1815) 41 (1816) 42 (1817) 43 (1818) 44 (1819) 45 (1820) 46 (1821) 47 (1822) 48 (1823) 49 (1824) 50 (1825) 51 (1826) 52 (1827) 53 (1828) 54 (1829) 55 (1830) 56 (1831) 57 (1832) 58 (1833) 59 (1834) 60 (1835) 61 (1836) 62 (1840) 63 (1842) 64 (1844) 65 (1846) 66 (1846) 67 (1848) 68 (1850) 69 (1852) 70 (1854) 71 (1856) 72 (1858) 73 (1860) 74 (1862) 75 (1864) 76 (1865) 77 (1866) 78 (1868) 79 (1869) 80 (1870) 81 (1872) 82 (1874) 83 (1876) 84 (1879) 85 (1881) 86 (1883) 87 (1885) 88 (1887) 89 (1889) 90 (1891) 91 (1893) 92 (1895) 93 (1897) 94 (1899) 95 (1901) 96 (1903) 97 (1905) 98 (1907) 99 (1909) 100 (1911) 101 (1913) 102 (1915) 103 (1917) 104 (1919) 105 (1921) 106 (1923) 107 (1925) 108 (1927) 109 (1929) 110 (1931) 111 (1933) 112 (1935) 113 (1937) 114 (1939) 115 (1941) 116 (1943) 117 (1945) 118 (1947) 119 (1949) 120 (1951) 121 (1953) 122 (1955) 123 (1957) 124 (1959) 125 (1961) 126 (1963) 127 (1965) 128 (1967) 129 (1969) 130 (1971) 131 (1973) 132 (1975) 133 (1977) 134 (1979) 135 (1981) 136 (1983) 137 (1985) 138 (1987) 139 (1989) 140 (1991) 141 (1993) 142 (1995) 143 (1997) 144 (1999) 145 (2001) 146 (2003) 147 (2005) 148 (2007) 149 (2009) 150 (2011) 151 (2013) 152 (2015) 153 (2017) 154 (2019) 155 (2021) 156 (2023) 157 (2025)
Other	Executive Branch: Governor of North Carolina (List), Lieutenant Governor (since 1868), Cabinets, Council of State, Attorney General
Conventions	Hillsborough Convention of 1788, Fayetteville Convention of 1789
Provincial Congresses and Constitution	North Carolina Provincial Congress (1774–1776: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th), Constitution of North Carolina (1776, 1835 Convention, 1861 Convention, 1868 redraft, 1875 Convention, Constitution of 1971)
Notes: Prior to the Constitution of 1868: the lower house of the North Carolina Legislature was known as the House of Commons and the leader of the Senate was called the Speaker of the Senate.