for
_absolute independence_ at the Convention in Charlotte, on the 19th
and 20th of May, 1775. He, with Mr. Willis, a brother-in-law, Adlai
Osborne, and Samuel Spencer (afterward Judge Spencer), took an active
part in arresting two obnoxious lawyers, John Dunn and Benjamin Booth
Boote, preceding the Revolution, in giving utterance to language
inimical to the cause of American independence.

They were conveyed to Charlotte for trial, and being found guilty of
conduct inimical to the American cause, they were transported to
Camden, S.C., and finally to Charleston, beyond the reach of their
injurious influence. Colonel Kennon was a member of the first Congress
which met at Newbern on the 25th of August, 1774, in opposition to
royalty, and "fresh from the people," with Moses Winslow and Samuel
Young as colleagues. He was also a delegate to the same place in
April, 1775, with Griffith Rutherford and William Sharpe as
colleagues; and to the Provincial Congress at Hillsboro, in August,
1775, associated with William Sharpe, Samuel Young and James Smith. In
1776, he was appointed commissary of the first regiment of State
troops. He was ever active and faithful in the discharge of his
duties. Soon after the Revolutionary war he moved to Georgia, where he
died at a good old age.

_Benjamin Patton_ was one of the earliest settlers in the eastern part
of Mecklenburg county (now Cabarrus). He was a man of iron firmness
and of indomitable courage. Descended from the blood of the
Covenanters, he inherited their tenacity of purpose, sagacity of
action and purity of character. He was an early and devoted friend of
liberty.

He was a delegate to the Provincial Congress which met at Newbern on
the 25th of August, 1774. This was the first meeting of
representatives direct from the people. The royal Governor, Josiah
Martin, issued his proclamation against its assembling, as being
without legal authority. It constitutes an illustrious epoch in our
colonial history, transpiring nearly two years before Congress _would
dare to pass_ a national declaration. Although it was not a battle, or
conflict of arms, yet it was the first and leading act in a great
drama, in which battles and blood were the _direct and inevitable
consequences_. Had Governor Martin the power at that time, he would
have seized every member of this "rebellious" body and tried them for
treason. In this dilemma, he summoned his ever obsequious Council for
consultation, who