128-129, Upon entering the town Lord Cornwallis took up his headquarters at the house of Maxwell Chambers, a prominent and wealthy Whig, a merchant of Salisbury, a former member of the Rowan Committee of Safety, and its treasurer. After the war, Maxwell Chambers moved to Spring Hill, about three miles east of Salisbury. His eldest son was named Edward Chambers, who was the next owner of “Spring Hill.” The lath William Chambers, whose monument stands near the wall in the Lutheran graveyard, was the son and heir of Edward Chambers. During the Revolution, Maxwell Chambers lived on the west corner of Church and Bank Streets—the corner now occupied by the stately and substantial mansion of S. H. Wiley, Esq. The house of Mr. Chambers used by the British Commander remained standing until about ten years ago, and its old-fashioned and quaint appearance is familiar to everyone whose recollection can run back ten or twelve years. It is surprising that none was found to show Mr. Lossing, in 1749, this relic of the Revolution. During these two days of occupation the British buried some soldiers on the spot known as the “English-Graveyard,” and from this circumstance it is said to have derived its name. But it was a burying-place before that time. Near the center of it, lean129 HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY ing against a tree, there is an ancient headstone of some dark material, that says that Capt. Daniel Little, who died in 1775, lies buried there. It is more probable that it was called the “English’? in distinction from the “Luthera n” or “German” graveyard, on the eastern side of town. Colonel Tarleton stopped at John Louis Beard’s, in the eastern part of town, the north corner of Main and Franklin Streets. Mr. Beard, being a well-known Whig, was absent in the army at the time, and so the entertaining devolved upon Mrs. Beard. But Colonel Tarleton, it seems, was perfectly able to take care of himself, and made himself quite at home. When he wanted milk he ordered old Dick-the negro servant-to fetch the cows and milk them. Mrs. Beard had a cross child at the time, whose crying was a great annoyance to the dashing colonel. Upon one occasion his anger overleaped the bounds of gentlemanly courtesy, and he ordered the child to be choked to stop its crying. Mrs. Beard was very much afraid of him, and we may well suppose that she did all she could to please him. 134, Michael Brown was married several times, and the following is a list of his children so far as known. In the absence of complete records we depend to a large extent upon the memory of one who knew personally most of the individuals named. It is not positively certain that the sons of Michael Braun are mentioned in the order of seniority. They were named John, Peter, Moses, James, and Jeremiah. 1. John, the eldest, for some reason or other, was called “Continental John,” probably because he served in the Continental army during the Revolution. He was the20father of the late Mrs. Jacob Myers of Salisbury. 2. Peter married Miss Susanna Bruner, a daughter of Mr. George Brurter, who lived at the place which is the present residence of Dr. Albert Powe, now known as the “Powe Place,” formerly called the “Bruner Place.” This couple were blessed with a number of children. Their daughter Elizabeth married Thos. L. Cowan of Salisbury, and was the mother of the late Mrs. Charlotte Jenkins and Mrs. Mary Hall. Mary, another daughter, married Barny Bowers. Susan married a Mr. Thompson, of Randolph. Margaret married Joseph Chambers, of Iredell County, and was the mother of Major P. B. Chambers, now of Statesville. Sally married Dr. Satterwhite. 148-149, As General Washington approached Salisbury, on the Concord Road, some half-mile from town, and at a point near where Mr. Samuel Harrison now lives, he was met by a company of boys of Salisbury. Each of these boys had a bucktail in his hat-a symbol of independence, and their appearance was quite neat and attractive. The President expressed himself much pleased by the boys’ turnout, saying that it was “the nicest thing he had seen.” The illustrious visitor was of course the guest of the town, and lodging was provided for him at Capt. Edward Yarboro’s residence. 149 HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY This house is still standing, on East Ma in Street, a few doors east of the Public Square, and nearly opposite the entran ce of Meroney’s Hall. The house is now marked by a set of semi-circular stone steps. Many have supposed that Washington stood on those steps and addressed the people. It is almost a pity that this is not the truth, but the fact is that those stone steps were placed there since 1830, by Sam Jones, who kept a hotel there. But the President did occupy that house for a night, and he did stand on steps where those semi-lunar steps now stand. And as he stood there the people from all the country around stood packed and crowded in the street, gazing with reverence and admiration at the soldier and patriot who was “first in the hearts of his countrymen.” And as the people gazed the President stood bareheaded, while the afternoon sun illumined his hoary locks. And this was what he said: “My friends, you see before you nothing but an old, gray-headed man.” Lifting his hand, with his handkerchief he shielded his head from the rays of the sun, in silence. That night there was a grand ball given to the President at Hughes’ Hotel, attended by the prominent gentlemen and ladies of Salisbury and vicinity-Maxwell Chambers and his wife, Spruce Macay, Esq., Adlai Osborne, Esq., Capt. John Beard, Edward Chambers, Joseph Chambers, Lewis Beard, Hugh Horah, Edward Yarboro, Miss Mary Faust, Mrs. Kelly (née Frohock), Mrs. Lewis Beard, Mrs. Giles, Mrs. Torrence,20and many others whose names are no longer preserved in a vanishing tradition. There is still in the county a relic of this ball-a brown satin dress, worn by Mrs. Lewis Beard-the daughter of John Dunn, Esq. It is in the possession of Mrs. Mary Locke, granddaughter of Col. Moses A. Locke, and great-granddaughter of the lady who wore it. How far the “Father of His Country” participated in the amusements and festivities of the occasion, tradition saith not. It was probably a mere occasion for a reception on his part, and we may well imagine that the “old, gray-headed man,” as he claimed to be, husbanded his strength by retiring early, and thus securing the rest needful to fit him for his next day’s journey to Salem. Captain Beard and his Company of “Rowan Light Horse” escorted the Presidential party as far as Salem. 150-151 the earliest dating back as far as 1787. On the twelfth of March of that year, Messrs. Maxwell Chambers, Michael Troy, John Steele, and John Blake were duly qualified as town commissioners, and Matthew Troy as Justice of police. James McEwen was elected clerk, and Thomas Anderson, constable. The records are quite fragmentary, those of several years being lost. In 1793, the commissioners adopted several ordinances. One ordinance forbade the citizens to allow their hogs or goats to run at large in the streets, and any person was allowed to kill any hog or goat so found, and the owner sustained20the loss. Another ordinance forbade the keeping of any h ay, oats, straw, or fodder in dwelling-houses. Another ordinance required each house-holder to keep on hand, for use at fires, a number of leather water buckets, holding not less than two gallons each. And in this connection we have the first list of householders of Salisbury, graded according to the number of buckets they were supposed to be justly required to furnish. As the Chinese mandarin is graded by the number of buttons, and the Turkish pasha by the number of “tails” he wore on his cap, so the Salisbury citizen was graded by the buckets he was required to keep on hand. Richmond Pearson was expected to keep four, and Dr. Anthony Newnan three. The following were rated at two each, viz.: Richard Trotter, Joseph Hughes, Conrad Brem, Tobias Forrie, Michael Troy, Andrew Betz, John Patton, Lewis Beard, Henry Giles, Edward Yarboro, David Cowan, Albert Torrence, Charles Hunt, William Alexander, Maxwell Chambers, M. Stokes, John Steele, William Nesbit, Peter Fults, and Michael Brown. The following householders were let off with one bucket each, viz.: Henry Barrett. Robert Gay, Matthew Doniven, Richard Dickson, Daniel Cress, George Lowman, John Mull, Hugh Horah, George Houver, Charles Wood, Fed. Allemong, David Miller, Mr. Stork, George Moore, John Beard, Mrs. Beard (widow), Leonard Crosser, Martin Basinger, Peter Faust, John Blake, Henry Young, John Whith, George Kinder, Jacob Utzman, Barna Cryder, William Hampton,=2 0Samuel Dayton, and Charles Shrote. It seems that at a subsequent meeting of the commissioners, Mr. Pearson at his own request was reduced to the grade of two buckets, and Dr. Newnan, Peter Fults, and Evan Alexander to the grade of one bucket. These commissioners enacted stringent laws against “Bullet Playing”-whatever that was -horse racing, and retailing liquors on the streets. The taxes for 1793 were four shillings (5Oc.) on every, hundred pounds ($250.00) value of town property, and four shillings (50c.) on every white poll that did not hold one hundred pounds (£lOO) value of town 151 HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY property. It was certainly not much of a privilege to be a poor man in Salisbury, in those days.