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History and Government—Congressional Biographies—North CarolinaCornelius HARNETT
(1723-1781)
HARNETT, Cornelius, a
Delegate from North Carolina; born near Edenton, Chowan County,
N.C., April 20, 1723; moved with his parents to Brunswick in 1726
and later to Wilmington, N. C.; engaged in mercantile pursuits;
appointed by Governor Johnston as justice of the peace for New
Hanover County in April 1750; elected town commissioner in August
1750 and served at different times for eleven years; member of the
colonial assembly 1754-1775; chairman of the Sons of Liberty of
North Carolina and leader in the resistance to the Stamp Act in
1765 and 1766; member of the committee of correspondence in 1773
and 1774; chairman of the Wilmington Committee of Safety in 1774
and 1775; member of the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Provincial
Congresses in 1775 and 1776, serving as president in the Fifth;
delegate to the provincial council in 1775 and 1776, and served as
president of the council, thus becoming chief executive of the new
government; excepted by Sir Henry Clinton from his proclamation of
general amnesty in 1776; councilor of state in 1777; Member of the
Continental Congress 1777-1779; captured by the British upon their
occupation of Wilmington, N.C., in January 1781, and died as a
prisoner in Wilmington on April 28, 1781; interment in St.
James’ Churchyard.
Bibliography
Connor, R. D. W. (Robert Digges Wimberly). Cornelius Harnett; An
Essay in North Carolina History. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for
Libraries Press, [1971].
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
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