Following is a family story documented by W. E. (Buster) McConnaughey, III regarding Neill Brown during the Revolutionary War.  Neill Brown was "Buster's" great - great grandfather.

"Whig" Neill Brown's Escape From the Tories"

To my knowledge this bit of family history has never been written and as I enter my eighty-second year with a clear mind, I thought it time to record "Whig" Neill Brown's escape from the Tories as it was related to me by my great uncle, Michael J. Brown, grandson of Neill Brown.

As background to the story, I would like to give a brief account of conditions in this vicinity relative to Whigs and Tories.  The majority of Scots who adhered to the Whig cause immigrated to North Carolina prior to the battle of Culloden (1746) and were therefore not bound by the "Tory Oath."  This fearsome oath follows; 

"I __________ do hereby swear, and I shall answer to God at the great day of judgment, I have not, nor shall I have in my possession any gun, pistol, or any other arm whatsoever, and will never use plaid or tartan, or any Highland garb.  That I shall defend his Majesty the King and support him in any measure that he may undertake, and should I break this solemn oath may I be killed in battle as a coward and lie without Christian burial in a strange land, far from my forefathers and kindred.  May all this happen to me if I break this oath."

It is easy to understand why the majority of the late comers (those after 1746) would keep their oath.  Surely not all the late comers hold for the King, nor did all early comers support the colonies.

Hugh Brown (ca 1716 - 1794), a native of Kentire Scotland, came to Cumberland County (then Bladen) prior to 1745 and his son, Neill Brown (later called "Whig" Neill) was born February 15, 1748.  Hugh Brown and his wife Mary Buie, also a native of Kentire Scotland and his sons William (later colonel) Brown, among other family members settled on land on Richland Swamp, near where Philadelphus Church now stands.

From the outset of the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain, Neill Brown and his brother William Brown were staunch supporters of the cause of liberty.  This fact was well known by the Tories of this section who had been running off his cattle and sheep, and they decided that Neill should be killed.  A member of the Tory faction, although a King's man, was a friend of Neill Brown, and warned him of the plan to kill him that night.  My great uncle did not know the year or month this took place.  He only knew that the weather was bitterly cold.

Neill Brown took his rifle, power horn, hunting pouch, warm clothes, and ran out the back door and crossed Richland Swamp on a foot log (later known as the colonel's foot log) which comes out of the swamp on the McKay farm near where the Edgerton family now live (1994).  He found a stack of bundles of fodder, pulled out enough to get inside the stack, and stayed there all night.  The next morning he came home, gathered some necessary gear and went to kinsmen or friends in what is now Marion County, South Carolina.  Family tradition has it that he joined Francis Marion's band, remaining in South Carolina until the close of the Revolution, when he returned to North Carolina.

After the war Neill Brown was prominent in the affairs of Robeson County, which county was formed from Bladen in 1787 and Neill Brown and Elias Barnes were the first representatives to The House of Commons.  Neill Brown was a member of the Hillsborough Convention which ratified the United States Constitution in 1789.  He was also a member of The House of Commons in 1790 and also an Entry Taker in 1794.  His brother Col. William Brown was a member of the North Carolina State Senate -- 1817-1818.

The above statements are true to the best of my knowledge.

                                                                        Wm. E. McConnaughey, III

                                                                        25 March 1994