Capt. Thomas Welbourn 1730-1778, a Regulator

Well, he may have been born on Jan 18, 1730, but I tend to believe a new version of where, and who his parents were.  I've just discovered an article in the Union County Heritage about him in 1981, which shows his parents were in Virginia, not Maryland. The article was published by the Union County Heritaqge Committee, Hunter Publishing Co, Winston Salem, NC.

The Maryland parents that some trees in Ancestry had given me had actually been born AFTER his own birth date of 1730.  So I already was doubtful about the Maryland connection. 

As a young man Thomas went to North Carolina. He married in Virginia, according to Ancestry (and the Union County Heritage article)...and started having his 10 children   And he has substantiating documents that he took part in the Regulators movement against the crown...and even later a petition asking for his pardon.

War of the Regulation, British Royal Governor William Tryon confronts the North Carolina Regulators in 1771.


Just what was the Regulator movement?
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Regulators of North Carolina

United States history

Written By:

• The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica

See Article History

Regulators of North Carolina, (1764–71), in American colonial history, vigilance society dedicated to fighting exorbitant legal fees and the corruption of appointed officials in the frontier counties of North Carolina. Deep-seated economic and social differences had produced a distinct east-west sectionalism in North Carolina. The colonial government was dominated by the eastern areas, and even county governments were controlled by the royal governor through his power to appoint local officers. Back-country (western) people who suffered from excessive taxes, dishonest officials, and exorbitant fees also became bitter about multiple office holdings. They formed an association called the Regulators, which sought vainly to obtain reforms. They then refused to pay taxes or fees, punished public officials, and interfered with the courts. Finally, the Regulator insurrection was crushed by Governor William Tryon at the Battle of Alamance (May 16, 1771). Many frontiersmen fled to Tennessee, but the legacy of bitterness induced many Regulators to side with the loyalists during the American Revolution, in addition to continuing their own futile agitation for five more years.

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by John Spencer Bassett, 1867-1928

"The Regulators of North Carolina (1765-1771)
[Washington]: [Govt. Print. Off.], [1895].

Summary

John Spencer Bassett (1867-1928), professor of history at Trinity College (later Duke University), wrote extensively about North Carolina history, including the Regulation movement, about which he published a lengthy article in the 1894 American Historical Association Report. The Regulators were a large group of North Carolina colonists who opposed the taxation and fee system imposed by colonial officials in the late 1760s. This political argument led to a battle between the colonial militia and the Regulators in 1771. Following this battle, a few Regulators were hanged and the majority pardoned, bringing the movement to an end.
Prior to Bassett's investigation, North Carolina historians had seen in North Carolina's War of Regulation the beginning of the American Revolution in the colony, in part spurred by the religious beliefs of backcountry settlers. John Spencer Bassett argues in his frequently cited text that North Carolina's Regulation movement was not a revolution and that it was only slightly tied to the unrest in other parts of the North American colonies. Bassett's view is that the Regulators did not wish to change the form or principle of their government, but simply wanted to make the colony's political process more equal. They wanted better economic conditions for everyone, instead of a system that benefited the colonial officials. Bassett interprets the events of the late 1760s in Orange and surrounding counties as "a peasants' rising, a popular upheaval" (142).
Bassett notes that this upheaval was not religious in nature, but rather was opposed by four of the five leading denominations in the area. Indeed, Presbyterians were instrumental in helping raise troops to fight the Regulators, and a portion of Baptists excommunicated those who had taken part in the unrest. Bassett also downplays the role played by Herman Husband, the Quaker pamphleteer who is often identified as one of the movement's leaders. To Bassett, Husband was a moderate, simply attempting to bring the various sides together, but because of his prominence as a writer and a correspondent of Benjamin Franklin, government officials continually identified him as a leader of the disgruntled faction. Bassett's analysis of the Regulators' uprising remains the predominant understanding of these events, although today Herman Husband is still generally recognized as a leader of the Regulators.

Kevin Cherry

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Wikepedia has this:

Population increase and new settlers arrive

The origins of the War of Regulation stem from a dramatic population increase in North and South Carolina in the 1760s, following migration from the larger eastern cities to the rural west. The inland section of the colonies had once been predominantly composed of planters with an agricultural economy.
Merchants and lawyers began to move west, upsetting the social and political structure. They were joined by new Scots-Irish immigrants, who populated the backcountry.

Economic depression

At the same time, the local inland agricultural community suffered from a deep economic depression because of severe droughts throughout the previous decade. The loss of crops cost farmers not only their direct food source but also their primary means of an income, which led many to rely on the goods being brought by newly arrived merchants. As income was cut off, the local planters often fell into debt. The merchants, in turn, relied on lawyers and the court to settle disputes. Debts were common at the time, but from 1755 to 1765, the cases brought to the docket increased nearly sixteen-fold, from seven annually to 111 in Orange County, North Carolina, alone.^[1]

Class war and political corruption

Such court cases could often lead to planters losing their homes and property so they grew to resent the presence of the newcomers. The shift in population and politics eventually led to an imbalance within the colony's courthouses, and the new and well-educated lawyers used their superior knowledge of the law to their sometimes unjust advantage. A small clique of wealthy officials formed and became an exclusive inner circle in charge of the legal affairs of the area. The group was seen as a 'courthouse ring', or a small bunch of officials who grabbed most of the political power for themselves.

Regulators organize and arrival of Governor Tryon

In 1764, several thousand people from North Carolina, mainly from Orange, Anson, and Granville counties in the western region, were extremely dissatisfied with the wealthy North Carolina officials, whom they considered cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical and corrupt. Local sheriffs collected taxes, as supported by the courts; the sheriffs and courts had sole control over their local regions. With the arrival of Royal Governor William Tryon in 1765, volatile conditions in the Province of North Carolina increasingly worsened, and a violent uprising would eventually occur. Many of the officers were very greedy and often would band together with other local officials for their own personal gain. The entire system depended on the integrity of local officials, many of whom engaged in extortion; taxes collected often enriched the tax collectors directly. At times, sheriffs would intentionally remove records of their tax collection to go back to residents to ask for more taxes. The system was endorsed by the colonial governor, who feared losing the support of the various county officials.

The effort to eliminate the system of government became known as the Regulator uprising, War of the Regulation, or the Regulator War. The most heavily affected areas were said to be those of Rowan, Anson, Orange, Granville, and Cumberland counties. It was a struggle between mostly lower-class citizens, who made up the majority of the backcountry population of North and South Carolina, and the wealthy planter elite, who comprised about 5% of the population but maintained almost total control of the government.
The stated primary aim of the Regulators was to form an honest government and reduce taxation. The wealthy businessmen/politicians who ruled North Carolina saw it as a grave threat to their power. Ultimately, they brought in the militia to crush the rebellion and hanged its leaders. It is estimated that out of the 8,000 people living in Orange County at the time, some 6,000 to 7,000 supported the Regulators.
The War of the Regulation is considered a catalyst to the American Revolutionary War, and it was waged against corrupt officials representing king and crown. Almost 300 Regulators became part of the Patriot Movement, and only about 30 claimed loyalty to the British Crown.

Regulator leadership under Herman Husband

Herman Husband became one of the unofficial leaders of the Regulators. Husband was from Maryland, born into a Quaker family. One of the major flaws in Husband's campaign was he tried to invite good relations with the eastern regions of North Carolina, mostly unaffected by the issues with local sheriffs. Husband retained very little control over the Regulators, who generally went against his policies of winning over public sentiment and committed acts of minor violence at regular intervals.
Another Regulator leader was James Hunter. He refused to take command of the Regulators after Husband's departure before the Battle of Alamance.
Captain Benjamin Merrill had about 300 men under his control and would have assumed control over military leadership after James Hunter, but he was unable to serve in the Battle of Alamance.

Anti-Regulator forces

Governor Arthur Dobbs, who wrote such popular works as Trade and Improvement of H'elend and Captain Middleton's Defense, served as the Royal Governor of North Carolina until his death in 1765.
William Tryon succeeded him. Tryon had an extremely lavish home built in 1770 in New Bern (known as Tryon Palace). This was resented by the Regulators, who were already paying substantial taxes. William (The Regulator) Butler was quoted as saying, "We are determined not to pay the Tax for the next three years, for the Edifice or Governor's House, nor will we pay for it."
Governor Josiah Martin succeeded Governor Tryon, in office, just after the end of the rebellion. His policies eased the burden, on former Regulators and allowed them to be assimilated back into society. Edmund Fanning was the main opposition to the Regulators. A graduate of Yale College, he was generally regarded by his friends as well disciplined and firm. He held many political offices in Orange County. He was once found guilty of embezzling money (along with Francis Nash) but was fined only one cent per charge.

Events

Breaking up the provincial court

North Carolina's colonial court met in Hillsborough. In 1768, the Regulators entered Hillsborough, broke up the court, and dragged those they saw as corrupt officials through the streets.^[2] The mob attempted to have the judge try the cases that were pending against several Regulator leaders, including Husband. The presiding judge (Richard Henderson) quickly adjourned the court until the next morning to avoid being forced to make a ruling in the presence of an angry mob of Regulators, and escaped in the night. The Regulators rioted, destroying public and private property alike. Fanning was among the lawyers beaten, found after taking refuge in a shop neighboring the courthouse. According to judge Richard Henderson, Fanning's beating was so severe that "one of his eyes was almost beaten out."^[1] The courthouse was systematically and symbolically vandalized. Human waste was placed on the judge's seat, and the body of a long deceased slave was placed upon the lawyers' bar. The mob continued to destroy shops and property in the town, and ultimately brought their destruction to Fanning's personal residence. After destroying all of the furniture and drinking all of his alcohol, they picked apart his entire house. Henderson's barn, along with his stables and home, were burned to the ground.^[3] They cracked the church bell of the Church of England, but stopped short of looting the church due to their religious beliefs.^[2]

Documents (more from my personal sources later, including one signed by Thomas Welbourn in 1868)

There were several different publications and petitions circulated to promote the end of taxation and other issues. A number of influential members of the area communities signed the Regulator Advertisement and the Regulator Petition, of which there were several versions of each. Each document identified concerns and issues relevant to the Regulator Movement. The terms Regulation and Regulator were introduced in the Regulator Advertisement in 1768.^[4]

War

While small acts of violence had been taking place for some time, mainly out of resentment, the first organized conflict was in Mecklenburg County in 1765. Settlers in the region, who were there illegally, forced away surveyors of the region assigned with designating land. Minor clashes followed for the next several years in almost every western county, but the only true battle of the war was the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771.
Governor Tryon and his forces which numbered just over 1,000, with roughly 150 officers, arrived at Hillsborough on May 9. At the same time, General Hugh Waddell, supporting the governor, en route with his contingent of 236 men was met by a large contingent of Regulators. Realizing his force was outnumbered, he fell back to Salisbury. On May 11, having received word of the retreat from a messenger, Tryon sent the force to support General Waddell. He intentionally chose a path that would lead his forces through Regulator territory. He gave strict orders that nothing was to be looted or damaged. By May 14, his troops had reached Alamance and set up a camp. Leaving about 70 men behind to guard the position, he moved the remainder of his force, slightly under 1,000 men, to find the Regulators.
About 10 miles (16 km) away, a force of approximately 2,000 Regulators (by some accounts, 6,000)^[2] without any clear leadership or supplies was gathered mainly as a display of force, and not a standing army. The general Regulator strategy was to scare the governor with a show of superior numbers in order to force the governor to give in to their demands. The first clash of the battle was on May 15 when a rogue band of Regulators had captured two of the governor's militia soldiers. Governor Tryon had informed the Regulators that they were displaying open arms and rebellion and that action was to be taken if they did not disperse. The Regulators did not understand the severity of the crisis they were in and ignored the warning. Despite hesitation from his own forces, Governor Tryon allegedly initiated the main battle of Alamance on May 16 by shooting Robert Thompson, who was the first death of the battle. The Regulators resistance crumbled somewhat quickly. The battle was over with nine deaths for the governor's forces and about the same for the Regulators. Virtually everyone captured in the battle was fully pardoned in exchange for an allegiance to the crown; however, six Regulators were hanged for their part in the uprising, including 4 officers of the colonial militia who had joined ranks with the Regulator's side. Those officers were Captain Robert Messer, Captain Benjamin Merrill, Captain James Pugh,and Captain Robert Matear.

Aftermath

Following the battle, Tryon's militia army traveled through Regulator territory, where he had Regulators and Regulator sympathizers sign loyalty oaths and destroyed the properties of the most active Regulators. He also raised taxes to pay for his militia's defeat of the Regulators.^[2]
At the time of their defeat at the battle of Alamance, public opinion was decidedly against them. They were seen as a bunch of "lawless desperadoes" and Governor Tryon was praised for his actions in stamping out the rebellion.^[5] As news articles spread the word of his victory, Tryon was branded a hero of the colonies for defeating the larger group of Regulators with his small, well prepared militia. However as the initial excitement over the glorious battle died down, many newsmen, especially in the Boston area, began to question the reasons behind the rebellion and investigated further to find its cause. Several reasons were found to see the destruction of the Regulators as an act of an oppressive government. Most particularly admonished was the methods in which Tryon himself had used to win the battle of Alamance. The use of a riot act, and the execution of rebellion leaders after the battle was frowned upon. Reports also indicated that severe battlefield misconduct had taken place on the governor's side, including giving the farmers a two-hour warning period before the battle began, and subsequently breaking that agreement to bombard them with artillery fire.^[5]
Several trials were held after the war, resulting in the hanging of six Regulators at Hillsborough on June 19, 1771. Many of the main leaders remained in hiding until 1772, when they were no longer considered outlaws.
Many Regulators moved further west into places such as Tennessee, notably establishing both the Watauga Association at Sycamore Shoals (1772) in present day Elizabethton, Tennessee, the first independent white republic on American soil, and the State of Franklin (1784), another short-lived republic that failed to join the Union of the United States.
Source:Wikepidia

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There's the document that my ancestor signed, a petition to the Governor, which I'll show you in tomorrow's post.   There is also a petition signed by others asking for pardon of Thomas Welbourn.