Dobbs County, NC - 1779 Voter List It Was Not Easy To Vote in 1779 Kinston Daily Free Press Friday - November 2, 1962, Page 10 In 1779 the outlook for the success of the American Revolution had grown very dim. This year and the next were to be the darkest hours for the patriots. Kinston, the home town of Governor Richard Caswell, had become the de facto capital of the new State. Here the State's Board of War usually met in secret sessions. Sometimes the Council of State met here. Sessions of the General Assembly, being more a matter of public knowledge, usually were convened at larger and more heavily guarded towns. While the name of the town was changed from Kingston to Kinston by law in 1784, already by 1779 the patriots were calling it Kinston in derision of the King of England from whose title the original name derived. The vote in the general election in 1779 required the highest patriotic conviction. If the Revolutionary cause failed, each of these voters would be marked as among the rankest seditionists. For these were the men of Dobbs County who closest held to heart the pledge of the Declaration of Independence, the pledge of "our sacred honor." This list of Dobbs voters is complete but does not complete her roll of honor, for there were those who were away with the armies in the field and the women whose names do not appear on this list. Still, these are the fathers and brothers and staunch supporters of those who fought, and each of them deserves to be remembered. Even to those whose resolute patriotism stilled all fear of the possibility of danger in defeat, to vote was no easy matter. The voting place was at the old Dobbs County Courthouse erected near Walnut Creek about midway between present LaGrange and Goldsboro. Dobbs County included practically all of the areas now comprised in Lenoir, Greene and Wayne Counties, and it was from these areas that the voters came on horseback to cast the vote of freemen in a __ State. Because of the distances, the polls were open for two days, March 10th and 11th. STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA At an election of one Senator and Two Members of the House of Commons to Represent the county of Dobbs held at the Court House the 10th and 11th of March, 1779, the following persons voted for Members of the House of Commons to wit: Aldridge, Drewry Aldridge, William Alford, Benjamin Alford, William Anderson, John Andrews, John Andrews, William Andrews, William Arnett, Philemon Ayers, Robert Baggett, Everett Baker, Elijah Baker, John Ball, Aaron Banet, Hamed Barden, James Barden, Jesse Barden, Jesse Barefoot, John Barfield, Blake Barfield, Thos Barrow, Sherrod Barrow, Simon Barrow, Taylor Barrus, John Bartlett, Samuel Barwick, John Bass, Andrew Bass, Arthur Bass, Edward Bass, John Bass, Moses Bass, Richard Bateman, Claibourne Beaman, Oziah Beard, Edmond Beck, Caleb Belcher, Woody Bell, William Bennett, John Bennett, Joseph Benton, Jonathan Best, Benjamin Bizzell, John Blythe, Samuel Boles, John Bond, William Boone, Joseph Borren, Francis Boyett, Amos Boyett, Etheldred Boyett, James Boyett, Moses Boyett, Thomas Boyett, Thos Boyett, Thos Boykin, Thomas Senr Boykin, Thos Bradbury, George Brand, John Braswell, Richard Brewer, Moses Bridgers, Athriel Briggs, Benjamin Britt, Jesse Brogden, John Brown, John Brown, John Brown, Thomas Bruton, Joseph Bryan, Blake Bucher, Thomas Bunn, James Bunn, William Burke, Thomas Bush, Abram Bush, Bibby Byrd, Nathaniel Cail, John Caldwell, Spencer Campbell, Alexander Campbell, Micajah Campbell, Shadrack Carraway, Adam Carraway, Henry Carraway, Joshua Carraway, Thos Carter, Edward Casey, Jeremiah Caswell, Martin Caswell, Richard Esq Caswell, Samuel Chance, Bright Christy, Robert Coart, John Cobb, Benjamin Cobb, Jas Cobb, Stephen Cogdill, David Cogdill, Francis Cole, James Coleman, Elias Collier, John Coor, Arthur Coor, Thomas Cotton, Ephraim Couch, Ezekiel Covington, Francis Coward, Zachariah Cox, Benjamin Craft, David (Charl) Craft, Levi (Charl) Crawford, John Crawford, Lazarous Crawford, Robert Crawford, William Creech, John Creech, Joshua Croom, Jesse Crow, John Crow, William Dail, William Daniel, James Senr Daniel, John Daniel, Nathaniel Dardan, John Darden, John Darden, William Davis, Elisha Davis, Ichabod Davis, James Senr Davis, John Davis, Thomas Dawson, Joel Dawson, Thos Dawson, William Dennis, Daniel Dickerson, Joel Dickerson, John Dickerson, Winborne Dixon, Daniel Dortch, Walter Dunn, Walter Eagley, Frederick Edmondson, James Edmondson, John Edwards, Benjamin Edwards, John Edwards, John Elvinston, Hardy Evans, David Evans, Isham Evans, Joel Evans, John Everett, Jos Exum, Benjamin Faircloth, Frederick Faircloth, John Faircloth, William Junr Falkner, James Fanning, John Faulkner, Robert Fellow, John Ferrell, John Ferrell, William Field, Brittle Fleetwood, John Flowers, John Flowers, William Flowers, William Flowers, William Folk, Solomon Fort, Benjamin Francis, Richard Fulgham, John Galloway, John Gardner, Avin Gardner, Needham Garland, John Garner, Lewis Garris, Benjamin Garris, John Gilbert, William Gimmalian, Christian Glasgow, James Gliton, Joseph Goodling, William Goodman, James Goodman, William Grace, James Grady, William Grainger, John Grantham, Joshua Graw, Thomas Gray, John Gray, Thos Griffin, Benjamin Griffin, Evan Griffin, Simon Grizzard, Hardy Gurley, Joel Hall, Burrell Ham, Richard Ham, William Senr Hamilton, John Hamm, Henry Handley, Jesse Handley, John Hanks, John Senr Hardy, Lemuel Hardy, Thos Harper, Blaney Harper, John Harper, William Harrell, Abner Harrell, Samuel Harrill, John Hart, John Hart, Richard Hayes, Jesse Heath, Mark Henley, James Heritage, John Herren, Jacob Herring, Benjamin Herring, Frederick Herring, John Herring, John Herring, Michael Herring, Simon Herring, Solomon Hicks, Billy Hiley, Jethro Hill, Braggs Hill, Isaac Hill, John Hines, Ceder Hines, Charles Hines, George Hines, Reuben Hodges, Francis Hodges, Joshua Hodges, Richard Hodgpeth, Daniel Holland, Ezekiel Holliday, Samuel Holloman, Christopher Holloman, Jeremiah Holloman, John Holloman, Nathan Holmes, Charles Holmes, Frederick Holmes, James Holmes, John Holmes, Simon Holmes, Timothy Hood, Edward Hooker, Hymerick Hooker, William Hooks, Robert Hopkins, Aaron House, Everett Howell, Admiral Howell, Arihelius Howell, John Howell, John Senr Howell, Joshua Howell, Major Howell, William Ingram, Charles Ingram, Jacob Ingram, James Ipock, Felton Jenkins, George Jenkins, Nathan Jergenson, James Jernigan, Arthur Jernigan, David Jernigan, David Senr Jernigan, Frederick Jernigan, Gardner Jernigan, Jesse Jernigan, Jesse Junr Johnston, Jacob Johnston, James Johnston, John Johnston, Martin Johnston, Robert Johnston, William Johnston, William Jones, Arthur Jones, Frederick Jones, Hardy Jones, John Jones, John Jones, John Jones, Richard Jones, Uriah Jones, William Jones, William Jones, William Jones, Willis Jordan, Charles Jordan, Frederick Jordan, James (Bear Creek) Keatley, Johathan Keatley, Richard Kerner, Joseph King, Charles Kutley, John Lamb, Hardy Lane, Isham Lane, Isham Lane, Thos Langley, James Langston, Uriah Lassiter, Nathan Lawhon, John Lawson, James Lawson, John Lewis, James Lloyd, Thomas Love, Edmond Lovitt, David Lowell, John Lowrey, John Lucas, John Lynch, Bryan Lynch, James Lynch, Joshua Manley, Henry Manley, James Manning, Moses Markland, Charles Martin, Aaron Mathews, Alexander Mathews, James Mathews, Josiah McCullen, Bryan McKinne, Richard McKinne, William McKinne, William McKinney, John McLamb, Solomon McPherson, Daniel Medlin, Nicholas Melser, Patrick Mercer, Shadrack Miles, David Miles, James Miles, William Miller, George Miller, Joshua Miller, William Minshew, Isaac Minshew, Nathan Moltin, John Monk, Menan Moore, Azariah Moore, Britain Moore, Samuel Mozingo, Booth Mozingo, George Murphy, Jethro Murphy, John Musgrove, Caleb Musgrove, Jesse Musgrove, Moses Musgrove, Thos Myers, John Myers, Mark Neville, John Newsome, Hardy Nixon, Henry Odham, Jacob Oxley, George Packer, Micajah Paramore, William Parker, Benjamin Parker, Isaac Parker, John Parrott, John Partridge, John Pate, Isaac Pate, William Patrick, Joel Patterson, Thos Peacock, Abram Peacock, Jesse Peacock, Solomon Persons, Solomon Pipkin, Arthur Pipkin, Elisha Pipkin, Jesse Pipkin, Jesse Pipkin, John Pipkin, Luke Pipkin, Stephen Poole, Samuel Pope, Jacob Pope, John Pope, Poole Potter, William Potts, Stringer Powell, Hardy Powers, Samuel Price, John Price, John Price, Robert Price, Thos Price, William Pridgen, Thos Radford, William Radford, William Rasberry, Joseph Reaves, William Rentfrough, Jacob Rentfrow, William Revell, Edmund Revell, John Revell, Randall Reynold, Nathaniel Reynolds, Christopher Rhodes, James Rhodes, Solomon Ridgin, William Roach, William Roberts, John Robertson, John Roche, Solomon Rook, Thomas Rouse, Jesse Rouse, John Rouse, John Junr Rouse, Simon Rowell, Benjamin Rowell, John Ruff, Daniel Sasser, Stephen Sasser, William Sauls, James Sauls, Raymond Scarborough, Frederick Sessions, Joseph Sessions, Richard Shackleford, Willoughby Shaddock, James Sheppard, Abram Sheppard, Benjamin Sheppard, John Sheppard, William Sherrod, Benjamin Sherrod, John Sherrod, Robert Shirley, David Shirley, Michael Simmons, Jesse Simms, Robert Sims, Brittain Sims, Shadrack Sims, Shadrack Slocomb, Ezekiel Slocomb, Jos Smith, Arthur Smith, Henry Smith, John Smith, Joseph Smith, Mark Smith, Richard Smith, Richard Spain, John Speight, Francis Speight, Joseph Speight, Samuel Speight, Seth Speight, William Esq Spivey, Ephraim Spivey, Jacob Stancil, John Stanley, Isaac Stanley, Moses Stanley, Sand Stanley, Shadrack Stephens, Gabriel Stevenson, James Stith, John Stradley, Nimrod Stridley, Samuel Sugg, Absolom Sugg, John Supper, Jocob Surls, Edward Sutton, Thomas Tarver, Jacob Tarver, Samuel Taylor, Daniel Taylor, James Taylor, Jonathan Taylor, Robert Taylor, William Taylor, William Tedder, George Thigpen, Francis Thigpen, Joab Thigpen, Sipherand Thitherton, John Thomas, Solomon Thompson, John Thompson, Thos Timberlake, Richard Toler, Nehemiah Toler, Robert Toler, Thos Junr Totwine, Winder Tull, Charles Tull, Isaac Junr Tull, John Tull, William Turnage, James Tyner, Nicholas Uzzell, Elisha Vanpelt, Anthony Verger, George Vessimer, John Vining, William Vinson, Levin Wade, James Wadkins, William Walden, Benjamin Walker, James Wallace, Robert Walston, John Walston, William Warbutton, William Ward, Daniel Ward, Ezekiel Ward, Hugh Waters, William Watson, Isham Westbrook, James Westbrook, John Westbrook, William Whitfield, Needham Whitfield, William Whitfield, William Senr Whitford, John Whitley, Josiah Wiggings, Mick Wiggins, Thos Wiggs, Benjamin Wiggs, Henry Wiggs, John William Faulkner Williams, Alexander Williams, Jonas Williams, Jos Williamson, Willoughby Wills, William Wilson, Hosiah Wilson, James Wilson, James Wilson, John Wilson, John Wilson, Thomas Wine, Claret Winfield, Joseph Wise, Isaac Wise, James Wolf, Charles (Michael) Wolf, George (Michael) Wolkins, Jesse Wood, Furnifold Wood, William Wood, William Woodard, Isaac Woodard, Jesse Woodard, Luke Wootus, John Worrell, David Worrell, Isaac Worrell, John Worrell, Richard Worthington, Cleaverly Worthington, Nathan Worthington, Stephen Worthington, William Yarborough, Jos Yelverton, Noah At the close of the Poll on openning the Scrolls, I found the candidates had the following number of votes respectively Viz: Thos Gray 493, Jesse Cobb 535, Etheldred Ruffin 333, John Sheppard 5, James Bradbury 3, Major Croom 1, Abram Sheppard 1. I Further certifie that on Examining the Scrolls for the Senate and House of Commons there were in the Senate Box two tickets for Gray and Ruffin and in the Commons Box were also two tickets for Exum which Scrolls or votes are not including in the foregoing numbers. Benja Caswell, Sheriff - March 1779 ______________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts - gpotts1@nc.rr.com ______________________________________________________________________