1754-1779

Patriots meet at Liberty Point

The opening volleys of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord, Mass., in April 1775 set off a chain of events that echoed all the way to Cumberland County within a few short months.

A monument at Liberty Point lists the names of some of the men who signed the Liberty Point Resolves. The monument is at Bow and Person streets in downtown Fayetteville.

Cumberland was the home of many residents, particularly the Highland Scots, who were loyal to the British government. But it also included a number of active Patriots.

The names of many of the prominent ones - merchants, planters and tavernkeepers, mostly - can be seen on a marker at the intersection of Bow and Person streets downtown.

This arrow-shaped point of land is the site of a tavern where about 55 of these men gathered at a rally and signed what was called "the Association," later called the "Liberty Point Resolves."

It was late June 1775. The Liberty Point document followed the Mecklenburg Declaration by just a month and the battle at Lexington by just two months. It preceded the Declaration of Independence by a little more than a year.

The Liberty Point document pledged the group to "go forth and be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure (the county's) freedom and safety."

The document concluded: "This obligation to continue in full force until a reconciliation shall take place between Great Britain and America, upon constitutional principles, an event we most ardently desire; and we will hold all those persons inimical to the liberty of the colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe to this Association; and we will in all things follow the advice of our General Committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individual and private property."

Robert Rowan, who apparently organized the group, signed first. The names of other signers include those of families who made a deep imprint on the Cape Fear region, from colonial times onward: Barge, Powell, Evans, Elwell, Green, Carver, Council, Gee, Blocker, Hollingsworth.

The volleys from Lexington and Concord had been heard; and in Cumberland County, the match for liberty had been struck.