, becoming alarmed at the "signs of the times,"
declared "nothing could be done."

Tradition informs us that Mr. Patton, not being able to procure a
horse, or any conveyance, walked all the way from Charlotte to
Newbern, about three hundred miles rather than not be present to vote
with those determined on _liberty_ or _death_. Although then advanced
in years, he showed all the enthusiasm of youth. At the Provincial
Congress which met at Hillsboro on the 21st of August, 1775, he was
appointed Major of the second Continental regiment, with Robert Howe
as Colonel, and Alexander Martin as Lieutenant Colonel. Of his
military record, in such high position, little is known, but we find
him acting as a member of the Committee of Safety for Mecklenburg
county, with very full powers, associated with John Paul Barringer and
Martin Phifer. They were a "terror unto evil doers." He was a man of
considerable learning, of ardent temperament, and of Christian
integrity. He died near Concord, in Cabarras county, at a good old
age, and is buried on the banks of Irish Buffalo Creek. No monument
marks his grave:

"They carved not a line, they raised not a stone.
But left him alone in his glory."

_John Phifer_ was born in Cabarrus county (when a part of Bladen) in
1745. He was the son of Martin Phifer, a native of Switzerland, and of
Margaret Blackwelder. He raised a numerous family, who inherited the
patriotic spirit of their ancestors. The original spelling of the name
was _Pfeifer_. He resided on "Dutch Buffalo" Creek, at the Red Hill,
known to this day as "Phifer's Hill." He was the father of General
Paul Phifer, grandfather of General John N. Phifer of Mississippi, and
great grandfather of General Charles H. Phifer, a distinguished
officer in the battle of "Shiloh," in the late war between the States.
At the Provincial Council, held at Johnston Court House in December,
1775, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the first battalion of
"Minute Men," in the Salisbury District; General Griffith Rutherford,
Colonel, and John Paisley, Major. He was a member of the Provincial
Congress which met at Hillsboro on the 21st of August, 1775,
associated with Thomas Polk, Waightstill Avery, James Houston, Samuel
Martin and John McKnitt Alexander; and also of the Congress which met
at Halifax on the 4th of April, 1776, with Robert Irwin and John
McKnitt Alexander.

By this latter body, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the
regim