On June 20, 1775, Patriots of the Cumberland Association met at Liberty Point, the space currently located between the intersection of Bow Street and Person Street in what is now Fayetteville, North Carolina.[1] At the time, Cumberland County, which included the present-day counties of Moore, Hoke and Harnett, was inhabited by a large concentration of Scottish Highlanders, most of whom were loyal to the British government. Yet on this date, Cumberland Patriots took a stand for independence. A table was brought from Barge’s Tavern, and fifty-five men, led by Robert Rowan, signed the Cumberland Association, a document declaring a willingness to defend their rights against the abuses of the British government.[2]
The Cumberland Association said the following:
At a general meeting of the several committees of the district of Wilmington, held at the court-house in Wilmington, Tuesday, the 20th June, 1775;
Resolved, that the following association stand as the association of this committee, and that it be recommended to the inhabitants of this District to sign the same as speedily as possible.
The actual commencement of hostilities against this continent by the British troops in the bloody scene on the 19th of April last near Boston—The increase of arbitrary impositions, from a wicked and despotic ministry, and the dread of instigated insurrections in the colonies, are causes sufficient to drive an oppressed people to the use of arms:
We therefore the subscribers of Cumberland County, holding ourselves bound by that most sacred of all obligations, the duty of good citizens towards an injured country, and thoroughly convinced that under our distressed circumstances we shall be justified before God & man in resisting force by force; Do unite ourselves under every tie of religion and honour, and associate as a band in her defence against every foe, hereby solemnly engaging that whenever our continental or Provincial Councils shall decree it necessary, we will go forth and be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom and safety: This obligation to continue in full force until a reconciliation shall take place between Great Britain and America, upon constitutional principles: an event we most ardently desire; and we will hold all those persons inimical to the liberty of the colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe this association; and we will in all things follow the advice of our General Committee, respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individual and private property.[3]
The men who signed came from diverse backgrounds: Robert Rowan was a former Cumberland County Sheriff and current magistrate, others such as Lewis Barge and James Gee were hatters, many of them owned taverns, and Thomas Cabeen was a tanner.[4] Their signing indicated a willingness to risk their lives in the Patriot cause.
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