mons in 1783-'84-'85 and '93; and in the Senate
in 1796. He was held in high esteem by all who knew him, and died at
an advanced age, in 1821. At the time of his death he was the
"Patriarch of the North Carolina Bar;" an exemplary Christian, a pure
patriot, and of sterling integrity. He left a son, the late Colonel
Isaac T. Avery, who represented Burke county in the Commons in 1809
and 1810, and three daughters, one of whom married William W. Lenoir;
another, Thomas Lenoir, and the remaining one, Mr. Poor, of Henderson
county.

_Rev. Hezekiah J. Balch_ was born at Deer Creek, Harford county, Md.,
in 1748. He was said to be the brother of Col. James Balch, of
Maryland, and the uncle of the late distinguished Rev. Stephen B.
Balch, D. D., of Georgetown, D. C. He graduated at Princeton in 1766,
when not quite eighteen years old, in the class with Waightstill
Avery, Luther Martin, of Maryland, Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut,
and others. He came to North Carolina in 1769, as a missionary, being
appointed for this work by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia.
Although ordained before the war, he served four years as Captain of a
company in Maryland, under General Somerville. Soon after this
service, he removed to North Carolina, and settled on "Irish Buffalo
Creek," in Cabarrus county. He was the first Pastor of Rocky River and
Poplar Tent Churches, where he continued to faithfully labor in the
cause of his Divine Master, until the time of his death. Abundant in
every good word and work, he took an active part in moulding the
popular mind for the great struggle of the approaching Revolution. He
combined in his character, great enthusiasm with unflinching firmness.
He looked to the achievement of principles upon which a government of
well-regulated law and liberty could be safely established, and which
should be removed from its strong foundations no more forever. Hence,
he was a prominent actor in the Convention at Charlotte on the 19th
and 20th of May, 1775, which declared independence of the British
crown. But in the inscrutable ways of Providence, he did not live long
enough to see the warmest wish of his heart gratified--the
independence of his country, for which he was ready, if necessary, to
yield up his life in its achievement. He died in the spring of 1776,
in the midst of his usefulness, and his mortal remains repose in the
old graveyard of Poplar Tent Church.

On the occasion of a railroad meeting at Poplar Te