This week we will mail out our annual fundraising letter including a membership and donation form.  If you are not on our snailmail list or are not a member and want to support our work, please, click here to download a membership form.  The TPA is still an all volunteer organization and we need all the support we can get to fund travel and equipment purchases.  For example, we'll need a new global positioning system (GPS) receiver this year and a new laptop computer (current generation software overwhelms our current laptop).  If you agree that what we are doing is valuable, purchase a membership, make a donation, support our efforts.

[Click any of the images to see an enlarged version]  We'll trek through the vicinity of "Old Mattocks Mill", the site where Regulators planned the plans that went awry and led to the Battle of Alamance.  Because of those meetings, to save his neck the owner, Joseph Mattock gave the mill site to then Governor Wm Tryon.  Tryon in turn gave it to one of his local loyal supporter, Thomas Hart. Mattock then led the Quakers of the Eno Meeting (iincluding President Carter's ancestors) to Georgia.  Come the Revolutionary War, Hart moved to Maryland, apparently a healthier climate for Americans unenthusiastic about the revolution.  He left the mill in the hands of Jesse Benton, one of his subordinates.  Jesse, the father of Thomas Hart Benton, died trying to make a go of the mill complex.  Some will recall that Hart and Benton both were involved with Judge Henderson in the questionable purchase of Cherokee lands during the time of the Regulation.  In fact, Henderson may have aided the suppression of the Regulators so as to encourage them to move west to the lands he'd just purchased, Kentucky and much of Tennessee.

While he camped at Hillsborough, Revolutionary War General Cornwallis lost a detachment of twenty-some troops sent to grind meal and guard the Hart/Benton mill.  A militia band led by Captain Joseph Graham attacked the mill and destroyed both the mill and British picket.  This probably convinced the British that Hillsborough wasn't nearly the safe resort they had hoped it would be and they left for friendlier parts and more functional mills soon thereafter.

We will see roadbeds that once led to the mill, at least one house site that may or may not relate to the mill (only archaeological testing will tell).  We'll be looking for a ford and other remainders from these long ago days.

As usual, we will depart on this 1.5 mile stroll at 2 PM and be back at our cars by 4 PM.  Our trailhead is the four-siloed barn north of Highway 70, west of the Eno River.  The turn in to the barn is on the eastern edge of Efland, NC, and is the third drive on the north side of Hwy 70 west of the Eno River.  We'll try to have a few more maps ready for map spiel before the hike, so if maps amuse you come early.  We'll be putting up way-finding signs and setting up the TPA table at about 1:30.  There will be signs pointing the way at the interstate exits and along Hwy 70. 

Warning: If you are coming to the event by way of the interstate, it is not easy to make a left turn on to Hwy 70 from the bypass road coming over from the interstate.  You may want to exit at the Efland exists and come to the trailhead from the west.

November First Sunday Hike at Bethabara

On the 2nd of November about thirty hikers joined us for our walk through Bethabara and down to the Bethabara mill and fort site.  Rod Meyer did a masterful job of guiding us through the past.  We saw reproductions of the original Bethabara dwellings, hospital and craft shops.  Too briefly we passed through the archaeological discoveries at the second town site.  The fort we visited the Moravians erected to house refugees fleeing violence during the French and Indian War (1756-1763), THE first world war.  The fort was a palisade surrounding the Moravian mill a couple of hundred yards north of their town (also palisaded).  "Strangers" lived and died in the wretched bottom lands off and on for years, and their burial place is near by, away from Gods Acre reserved for Moravians.

To the left, in the foreground is Bob Carter, historian of Rockingham and Caswell Counties, and in the background, in the red shirt is Rod Meyer our guide.  To the right is a picture of Jennifer Maher at the hospital shelter erected by the Moravians when they first arrived at Bethabara.  Between expert maps, excellent journals, and archaeological study these reproduced buildings are not only precise in design but also precisely located.

Rod Meyer has done a great job of interpreting the mill site, and remnants like those to the right made the job a little easier.  This stone work was part of the mill foundation and was next to the dam.

If you have not visited Bethabara yet, we strongly recommend a visit.  The park has delightful hiking and jogging trails, and the extensive archaeology done throughout the village site is all clearly labeled with interpretive signage.  The little store and museum is a gem.  Here is a link to the park's website.

Upcoming Public Events

• General Davie Chapter of the DAR, Durham, December 3rd at 11 AM at the Hill House, 700 S. Duke St, Durham, NC: Tom will talk about migration routes and transportation in Colonial Carolina.
  

 
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