"COL of militia under Gov Tryon. For 25 years was Chairman of CountyCo urt of Pleas and Quarter Session of Rowan County."
And from COLONEL ALEXANDER OSBORN in the American Revolution HistoryFa cts:
"Excerpts from Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical andBiogr aphical by C.L. Hunter
Alexander Osborn was born in New Jersey in 1709, and emigrated to thew estern part of Rowan county (now Iredell) about 1755. He was aColonel i n the Colonial government, and as such marched with aregiment of Rowan t roops to Hillsboro in 1768 to assist GovernorTryon in suppressing the " Regulation" movement.
He married Agnes McWhorter, a sister of Dr. Alexander McWhorter,presid ent of Queen's Museum College in Charlotte. His residence(called Belmo nt) was one of the earliest worshiping places of thePresbyterians of R owan county before the present "Center Church" waserected, and became b y compromise the central meeting-house ofworship for a large extent of s urrounding country. Colonel Osborn wasa man of fine character and wiel ded a strong influence in his day andgeneration.
In the graveyard of Center Church, on a double headstone, are thefollo wing records:
"Here lys the body of Col. Alexander Osborn, who deceased July y'e11th , 1776, aged 67 years;" and, separated by a dividing uprightline, this r ecord appears:
"Here lys the body of Agnes Osborn, who deceased July y'e 9th, 1776."
From these records it would appear that this worthy couple left thesce nes of earth for a brighter world only two days apart, and not onthe s ame day, as stated by some authorities. They left one son, AdlaiOsborn , who graduated at Princeton College in 1768. He was Clerk ofthe Court f or Rowan county under the Royal government, and continuedin that offic e until 1809. He was a man of fine literary attainments,the warm frien d of education, and one of the first Trustees of theState University. H e died in 1815, leaving a large family, among whomwere Spruce McCay Os born, who graduated at Chapel Hill North Carolinain 1806; studied medi cine, entered the army as surgeon, and waskilled at the massacre of Fo rt Mimms in the war of 1812; and EdwinJay Osborn, who was distinguishe d as a lawyer of eloquence andlearning, and was the father of the late J udge James W. Osborn, ofCharlotte, one of Mecklenburg's most worthy, g ifted and lamentedsons."
In A History of Rowan Co, NC is:
THE FIRST EUROPEAN SETTLERS
"But the Scotch-Irish were probably the most numerous and the leadingp eople of the settlement. The old records of the Court here show thenam es of many of these old families, some of them now extinct, suchas the X esbits, Allisons, Brandons, Luckeys, Lockes, McCullochs,Grahams, Cowan s, McKenzies, Barrs, Andrews, Osbornes, Sharpes,Boones, McLauchlins, H alls, with many others whose names are asfamiliar as household words.. ..Alexander Osborne lived on theheadwaters of Rocky River, about two m iles north of Davidson College.He was a leading man in the community, a c olonel, the father of AdlaiOsborne, and the ancestor of the late eloqu ent and popular JudgeJames W. Osborne, of Mecklenburg....
But the people were not content with the common ''old-field school."Ab out 1760 a classical school was established at Bellemont, near Col.Ale x. Osborne's residence, called the ''Crowfield Academy." Thelocation i s about two miles north of Davidson College, on theheadwaters of Rocky R iver, and in the bounds of Center congregation.Here a number of distin guished men, who acted well their part intheir day, received their edu cation, or were prepared for college.Among these were Col. Adlai Osbor ne, who was for a
long time Clerk of Rowan Superior Court, and a leading man in theRowan C ommittee of Safety at the opening of the Revolution.
The facts and traditions above written were gathered from Wheeler'sHis tory, American Archives, a note from Dr. D. B. Wood — agreatgrandson o f
Samuel Young, Mr. Franklin Johnston, and others. Moses Winslow andAlex ander Osborne.
The southwestern corner of Old Rowan County was occupied by a nobleand p atriotic race of people one hundred years ago. There you willfind the o riginal home of families known by the names of Davidson,Reese, Hughes, R amsay, Brevard, Osborne, Winslow, Kerr, Rankin,Templeton, Dickey, Bral ey, Moore...
He probably never heard of the Declaration of Independence, made seven
days before his death.
Alexander Osborne and Benjamin Winslow were near neighbors, livingonly t wo or three miles apart. As a matter of course their boys,Moses and Ad lai,
were early companions and associates. Adlai Osborne had a fair youngsi ster — pretty Jean Osborne, the rose of Belmont. It was the sameold st ory, told under the leafy oaks of Rowan, and pretty JeanOsborne became t he bride of young Moses Winslow. This was in 1760.They settled upon so me of the Winslow lands, according to the customof the day; for the or iginal settlers, tinctured with Europeannotions, rarely gave land to t heir daughters, but divided theinheritance among the sons. The home of t his couple was not far fromCenter Church....For sixteen years their ho me was without children.But in the eventful year of 1776 came the firs t child, a daughterwhom they named Dovey. She grew up to be a famous b eauty and belle ofthat region. Her heart was at length won by Dr. Jose ph McKnittAlexander, son of John McKnitt Alexander. Her life was not a l ongone, but she left one son, Closes Winslow Alexander, who lived abou tten miles north of Charlotte on the Statesville Road. Some of his children are still living. On the first day of February, 1771,Cornwallis'
troops crossed the Catawba River and marched towards Salisbury. Inthei r march several houses were burned down. When they reached thehouse of M oses Winslow, knowing that he was a prominent man, a memberof the Prov incial Congress, and on the Rowan Committee of Safety, thesoldiers app lied the torch to his residence. At the same time someruffian soldiers
were endeavoring to cut from Mrs. Winslow the capacious outsidepockets , so fashionable in that day, in which she had deposited someof her ou sehold
valuables. While she was helplessly submitting to the indignity LordCo rnwallis himself rode up, and in obedience to the instincts of anEngli sh gentleman ordered them to desist, and to extinguish the firekindled a gainst the house.
Moses Winslow lived to be eighty-three years of age. He and his wifesl eep in the graveyard of Center Church, where her father and motherare r esting side by side.
Besides their beautiful daughter, Dovey, they had two other daughters,n amed Cynthia and Roscinda.....Cynthia Winslow was married to SamuelKin g, and was the mother of the well-known and talented Junius and
Albert King. Roscinda Winslow married her cousin, William J. Wilson,an d their daughter, Mary Wilson, became the wife of Ezekiel Polk—the gra ndfather of the President, James Knox Polk. Our illustriousNorth Carol ina statesman, the late Hon. William A. Graham, was also adescendant o f Mary, the sister of Moses Winslow. So likewise was Col.Isaac Hayne, o f Charleston, with numerous other prominent andinfluential citizens. "
