HistoricSiteMarkers
Colonial AmericaEarly Republic

Herman Husband, Regulator

Randolph County, Randolph County, North Carolina

Marker Inscription

Herman Husband 1724 1795. Leader during War of the Regulation, 1768-1771; a reformer and pamphleteer. Later in Whiskey Rebellion in Pa. Lived nearby.

Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

The Story

Herman Husband was a Quaker reformer and pamphleteer who became a guiding voice of the War of the Regulation (1768–1771), rallying backcountry farmers against corrupt colonial officials. Fleeing North Carolina after the movement collapsed, he later resurfaced in Pennsylvania, where he took part in the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s.

Why it matters

His life links two great American tax revolts, marking him as a persistent voice for the frustrations of ordinary farmers against distant and heavy-handed governments.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · Herman Husband

Related events

  • · War of the Regulation
  • · Whiskey Rebellion

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

James Hunter, Regulator Leader

Guilford County, NC

James Hunter was a leader of the Regulators, backcountry farmers who rose in the 1760s and early 1770s against corrupt local officials and unfair taxes. After the movement was crushed at the Battle of Alamance in 1771, Hunter was declared an outlaw, and Governor William Tryon's troops burned a nearby house in the reprisals that followed.

Rednap Howell, Regulator Poet

Franklinville, NC

Rednap Howell was the balladeer of the Regulator movement, writing satirical songs that mocked corrupt officials and rallied backcountry farmers to their cause in the years before 1771. He fought at the Battle of Alamance, where the Regulators were defeated, and lived near this spot until his death in 1787.

Battle of Alamance

Alamance County, NC

On May 16, 1771, militia loyal to Royal Governor William Tryon met the Regulators — backcountry farmers rebelling against corrupt officials and unfair taxes — and defeated them at this spot. The clash ended the War of the Regulation and scattered the movement. Some have seen this frontier uprising as a prelude to the American Revolution that would follow within the decade.

Blue Star Memorial Highway – Davidson County

Davidson County, NC

This Blue Star Memorial Highway marker, sponsored by the Garden Clubs of Davidson County with the county's Veterans Council, pays tribute to the armed forces that have defended the United States. It belongs to a national program launched by garden clubs in the mid-1940s to honor World War II servicemembers and later expanded to all who serve. The blue star draws on the service banners once hung in home windows during the war.