Tryon Resolves, Christian Mauney, Tryon Courthouse, Lord Cornwallis Camp, Bessemer City
Two bronze plaques are attached to an 8,000 pound granite boulder. The boulder has a rough rectangular shape with flat arch top and rusticated sides. The simple
bronze plaques are unadorned. The north face plaque is original but the south face Tryon
Resolves plaque was replaced in 2013 after the original was stolen the year before. This plaque
lists the names of the 1775-era Tryon County Committee of Safety (see Subject Notes).
Images:
View with a highway marker |
North side view |
North plaque |
South side view |
South plaque
South facing plaque: HERE IN AUGUST 1775 WAS FORMULATED / AND SIGNED THE TRYON
COUNTY / DECLARATION OF RIGHTS AND / INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITISH TYRANNY / THE
FOLLOWING WERE SIGNERS
[Left column] JOHN WALKER / CHARLES MCLEAN / ANDREW NEEL / THOMAS BEATTY / JAMES
COBURN / FREDERICK HAMBRIGHT / ANDREW HAMPTON / BENJAMIN HARDIN / GEORGE PARIS
/ WILLIAM GRAHAM / ROBERT ALEXANDER / DAVID JENKINS / THOMAS ESPEY / PERRYGREEN
MACKNESS / LAMES MCAFEE / WILLIAM THOMPSON / JACOB FORTNEY / DAVID WHITESIDES /
JOHN BEEMAN / JOHN MORRIS / JOSEPH HARDIN / JOHN ROBISON / JAMES MCINTYRE /
VALENTINE MAUNEY / [Right column] GEORGE BLACK / JAMES LOGAN / JAMES BAIRD /
CHRISTIAN CARPENTER / ABEL BEATY / JOAB TURNER / JONATHAN PRICE / JAMES MILLER /
JOHN DELLINGER / PETER SIDES / WILLIAM WHITESIDE / GEORGE DELLINGER / SAMUEL
CARPENTER / JACOB MOONEY, JR. / JOHN WELLS / JACOB COSTNER / ROBERT HULCLIP / JAMES
BUCHANAN / MOSES MOORE / JOSEPH KUYKENDALL / ADAM SIMMS / RICHARD WAFFER /
SAMUEL SMITH / JOSEPH NEEL / [Center] SAMUEL LOFTIN
TABLET CONTRIBUTED BY / COL. FREDERICK HAMBRIGHT CHAPTER / DAUGHTERS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1919 / REPLACED BY MAJOR WILLIAM CHRONICLE CHAPTER 2013
North facing plaque: HOME OF / CHRISTIAN MAUNEY / PIONEER AND PATRIARCH 1770
SITE OF TRYON COURTHOUSE / 1774 TO 1783
CAMP OF LORD CORNWALLIS AND / BRITISH ARMY JANUARY 23, 1781.
ERECTED BY DESCENDANTS OF / CHRISTIAN MAUNEY AND / THEIR FRIENDS. / 1919. W.A.
MAUNEY CHM.
March 19, 1919. Stolen plaque rededication: August 25, 2013
35.338240 , -81.321730
View in Geobrowse
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, NC), September 25, 1919, 4
Norris, David A. “Resolves, Prerevolutionary,” NCPedia.org, (accessed March 29, 2016) Link
“Mauney’s Descendants Hold Annual Reunion,” The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), September 23, 1919
“Minutes of the Tryon County Safety Committee,” Colonial and State Records of North Carolina August 14, 1775. Volume 10, Pages 161-164. From "Documenting the American South", http://docsouth.unc.edu, (accessed March 29, 2016) Link
“Stolen Historic Marker to Be Replaced,” The Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, NC) July 7, 2013, (accessed March 29, 2016) Link
“Tryon County,” North Carolina Department Of Cultural Resources, (accessed March 29, 2016) Link
“Tryon Declaration Of Independence Monument,” DIGITALNC, http://library.digitalnc.org, image is contributed by the Gaston County Public Library(Accessed March 29, 2016) Link
Yes
Granite, bronze
South face plaque: Colonel Frederick Hambright Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Major William Council Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. <br><br> North face plaque: Descendants of Christian Mauney and their friends
2013 replacement of a stolen plaque: $1,300
The dedication of both plaques took place during the annual reunion of descendants of Christian Mauney attended by about 600 family and friends. Lt. Governor O. Max Gardner was present and spoke as did the Honorable A. Nixon of Lincolnton. Honorable W.A. Mauney was master of ceremonies.
In 1775 the Tryon County Committee of Safety penned the Tyron Resolves which documented
the stance the committee took toward the British Army and the threats it posed to the
colonist’s liberties. The resolves along with ones issued by Mecklenburg and Cumberland
counties were in response to the April 19, 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord in
Massachusetts. To learn more about these resolves read "Resolves, Prerevolutionary". The Tryon Resolves predated the Declaration of Independence by 11
months. The original of this document is housed by the N.C. Department of Archives. Read an
electronic edition published by "Documenting the American South" digital collection.
The marker is located at the site of the old Tryon County courthouse. When the county was
formed in 1768 it had been named for Governor William Tryon. During the Revolution, Tryon
served as an officer in the British army and local citizens wanted the name changed to reflect
their Patriotic sentiments. In 1779 the General Assembly split Tryon County into Lincoln and
Gaston counties.
The marker is located between Bessemer City and Cherryville on the 2500 block of Tryon Courthouse Road (Highway 274). Heading north towards Cherryville the marker is on the left before the intersection with Tryon School Road. A North Carolina Highway Historical Marker for Tryon County (O-29) is next to the marker.
The marker stands approximate 20 feet off the highway surrounded on both sides of the road with woodland.
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