Governor Thomas Burke
Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Thomas Burke. Governor of N.C., was captured in Hillsboro by David Fanning and his Tories, Sept. 12, 1781, and taken to Charleston, S.C.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In the turbulent final years of the Revolution, North Carolina's Governor Thomas Burke was seized in Hillsborough by the Loyalist raider David Fanning and his Tories on September 12, 1781. Carried off as a prisoner to Charleston, Burke's capture showed how fiercely the backcountry civil war between Whigs and Tories still raged even as the wider Revolution neared its end.
Why it matters
Burke's dramatic abduction reveals the Revolution as a brutal internal conflict in the Carolina backcountry, where the sitting governor himself was not safe from Loyalist raiders.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Thomas Burke
- · David Fanning
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
N.C. Society of the Cincinnati
Hillsborough, NC
On October 23, 1783, officers of North Carolina's Continental Line gathered in Hillsborough to form the state branch of the Society of the Cincinnati, a fraternal order of Revolutionary War veterans. General Jethro Sumner served as its first president.
General Francis Nash
Hillsborough, NC
Francis Nash of Hillsborough rose to become a patriot general in the American Revolution, leading North Carolina Continentals in the fight for independence. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Germantown in 1777 and died of his wounds days later. His home stood just west of here, grounding a Revolutionary hero in the streets of this small town.
William Hooper, Declaration Signer
Hillsborough, NC
William Hooper made his home in Hillsborough, and from this town helped launch a nation. One of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, he pledged his name to the break with Britain in 1776. His house still stands just to the west, and he was buried only steps away, tying this ground directly to the founding generation.
Hillsborough Constitutional Convention, 1788
Hillsborough, NC
In the summer of 1788, delegates gathered in Hillsborough to weigh whether North Carolina should ratify the proposed United States Constitution. From July 21 to August 4 they debated fiercely and ultimately voted to withhold ratification until a bill of rights was added to protect individual liberties. The state stood apart until those guarantees were secured.