(This is the work of Joyce Hetrick)

New Garden in the War of Independence

The Quakers testified to their peaceful intentions when they refused to take part in the wars against the Indians in the Carolinas. In 1695, Quaker John Archdale was governor of North Carolina. During his tenure, the Assembly passed a law exempting Quakers from being in the militia because of their objections to war. However, they had to pay compensations for this exemption. The Friends had "allways been in all other civil matters found obedient to the government," but since the militia was somewhat like our National Guard, there was always social and peer pressure for young men to attend muster. Sometimes they did and the sect would disown them. The militia musters were a large part of the social scene in frontier America.

In 1776, as the Revolution became an issue, the larger New Garden Quaker Community wrestled with the problem of challenging the pressure and the Deep River Community appointed William Cox and William Masset to attend a large meeting at Maddock's Mill and "examine judiciously whether the free men in this country labor under any abuses of power and in particular to examine the public tax and inform themselves of every particular thereof..."

In 1775, about 117 Guilford Citizens, not only Quakers, signed a petition of loyalty to the crown. Quakers were suspect by the revolutionaries in America, though, because several Quakers actually worked as spies for the British. In some instances, Quakers were placed in prison simply because they were suspect because of their religion.

Guilford didn't see actual battle until near the close of the Revolutionary War. In March, 1781, the Battle of Guilford Courthouse was fought with the American forces of General Nathaniel Green fighting against British General Cornwallis and his troupe. The Friends in the area were profoundly affected. There was nearly an hour's fighting around the Friend's meeting house itself. In a series of skirmishes which proceeded up the road, there were about 600 Americans and 800 British soldiers. They were engaged for about three hours.

In the aftermath of the terrible battle of March 15th, New Garden Friends faced the overwhelming task of caring for the wounded and burying the dead. They had already been stripped of their supplies by both armies.

Both Green and Cornwallis had abandoned their wounded as Cornwallis, and headed toward Wilmington with Green in hot pursuit. There were between 65 and 135 British wounded and American casualties brought the total to over 250.

The Friends buried the dead and cared for the wounded in an old two-story log house and at the New Garden Meeting house itself. Some of these wounded also carried smallpox and several of the Friends contracted this and died.

Both the British and Americans had plundered the Friends for food and supplies, but they did their best to care for the wounded of both sides.

We have as yet made no distinction as to party or cause  and as we have none to commit our cause but to God alone, but hold it the duty of true Christians, at all times to assist the distressed.

In 1784, the meeting house which had served as hospital, was burned and the new one was not completed until 1791. The new one stood until 1876 and there are photographs and descriptions of it. One writer said:

A large, solitary, boarded building...capable of containing fifteen hundred to two thousand persons. It is in a lovely situation, with no other house in sight, upon the edge of a forest...A rail fence protects it from the numerous hogs who disturb the solitary stillness of the piace by their constant and unwearied rooting among the dry and sere leaves...

On the 1790 census, several of the sons of DANIEL-2 were listed in Guilford County in Salisbury District. None of the Dillons on the census owned slaves, probably because they were Quakers; however, Nathan Dillon-3 had a person listed under “all other free persons” living in his household, so a free person, not white, was living with them. Early Quakers were not totally adverse to owning slaves, and some did. Later, the practice was frowned on, and then the sect became rabidly antislavery, participating in the underground railroad to free slaves illegally before the Civil War. Nathan-3 eventually did own a couple of slaves. He was disfellowshipped by the sect.

By the time of the Revolution, most of the Friends at New Garden were solidly against slavery. One man's petition to join the Meeting was rejected for "seling [sic] a poor sleve."

The greatest problem the Friends faced in North Carolina when they wanted to free their slaves was that the State strictly limited manumission and refused to allow free blacks to live within the State.

Quakers generally divided their estates between most of their children rather than leaving most or all of it to the oldest son. Usually the girls were given marriage portions when they married, and the land was divided between the sons, either before the father’s death, or in the will. The daughters were usually allowed a portion of the personal property. That appears to be the case with DANIEL-2's estate. Many groups of Quakers frowned on giving inheritances to children who had left or been put out of the sect. DANIEL-2 apparently did not "forget" any of his children that were no longer within the good graces of the sect. [There were several of them, including Nathan and ISAAC.]

LYDIA HODGSON DILLON died May 23, 1800. DANIEL DILLON-2 died between August, 1805, and August, 1806. DANIEL's will was recorded in Guilford County, North Carolina, Book A:0105, dated August 20, 1805, and probated August, 1806, in Guilford County. The abstract reads:

Youngest son ISAAC, balance of old survey on Reedy Fork, land on South side of Beaver Creek. Granddaughters Sarah and Elizabeth Wallace ten dollars. All my children: Martha, Nathan, William, Peter, Jesse, Daniel, Patience & Isaac Di11on share remaining property. Exrs. Sons Nathan and Peter. Wits. Silvanis Gardner and Jonathan Hodgson, Wi11iam Baruch.

Hannah Dillon-3 was the only one of his children not named in the will, so the two Wallace girls were probably hers. DANIEL-2 was fortunate that only one of his adult children pre deceased him out of such a large number.

We know that ISAAC was alive when his father died in 1805 since he was mentioned in the will. No further records have been found in North Carolina concerning ISAAC.

ISAAC-3 and JEMIMA “disappeared” from North Carolina. However, a reference to “Isaac Dillon, Sr.” was found on the 1816, 1817, and 1818 Sumner County Tax lists in Sumner County, Tennessee, that very well could be our ISAAC. He was also listed with 150 acres on “Long Creek.” Long Creek was a branch of the Baren River in Sumner and Smith Counties. James Donoho, the husband of SUSANNAH TURNER Donoho, also owned 150 acres of land on Long Creek in 1816, as did William Donoho, the son of James Donoho, and YANCY’s step-brother. In addition to this, our YANCY TURNER also owned 75 acres on Long Creek. No deed abstracts were found where they bought these lands in any of the deed abstract books from 1793-1805 or the 1806-1817 books. However, it appears that this “Isaac Dillon” satisfies the “first three rules of genealogy” of “Look at the Neighbors” and very well could be our ISAAC DILLON-3. Since ISAAC was born in 1766, he would have been only 52 in 1818. No record of his death in Sumner County has been found. He possibly moved on, maybe in one of the migrations of the Quaker-connected families taking place about then.

In 1822, a man named Daniel Dillon owned 50 acres in Sumner County [area not mentioned] but ISAAC was not mentioned in the county. No estate or land sales were found.

A secondary source was found for ISAAC-3 which states that the other children of ISAAC and JEMIMA are: in order listed, Isaac Dillon-4, Fanny Dillon-4, MARY DILLON-4, Nathan Dillon-4, Jesse Dillon-4, James Dillon-4, John Dillon-4, Elizabeth Dillon-4, and William Dillon-4. Tim Heath gives a birth date for MARY DILLON TURNER as October 20, 1788, and her death date as August 11, 1870, in Macon County. If this is the case, then she would have been the oldest child of ISAAC and JEMIMA, born only a little over 11 months after the marriage.