On May 18, 1795, Revolutionary War veteran Joseph McDowell died in Burke County at the age of 38.
The only son of “Hunting John” McDowell, a pioneer of Scotch-Irish descent who arrived in western North Carolina in the mid-1700s, Joseph was born on the family plantation, Pleasant Gardens, in what was then Burke County.
Because McDowell had a cousin of the same name, he was referred to as “Pleasant Gardens Joe” so as not to be confused with “Quaker Meadows Joe.” During the American Revolution, both men enlisted in a military unit under the command of their kinsman Charles McDowell and fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
There are discrepancies as to which Joseph led the troops at Kings Mountain, but it is most likely that Major Joseph McDowell (Pleasant Gardens) was under the command of Colonel Joseph McDowell (Quaker Meadows).
Following the war McDowell practiced law and served in the state legislature, as a delegate to two Constitutional Conventions and as an early member of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina.
He married Mary Moffett and they had three children, John, James and Annie. McDowell County is named in his honor.
Other related resources:
- It’s Revolutionary!, a two-year commemoration of North Carolina’s early history
- The American Revolution, the Reasons Behind the Revolutionary War and the Stamp Act on NCpedia