David Fanning

            David Fanning was born around 1755 in Amelia County, Virginia.  He was the son of David Fanning, who had drowned in the Deep River before his son was even born.  Before his death the family had moved to what is now Wake County.  By 1764 Fanning and his sister Elizabeth were orphaned and put under the guardianship of different people.  Fanning was put under the care of a county justice, Needham Bryan, and he was apprenticed to Thomas Leech, who was probably a loom mechanic.  Nothing much is known about the rest of his early years.  Later in life Fanning attempted to claim the land that his father had owned, but was never able to.

Fanning moved with the O’Deniell family to Orange County and earned a reputation for being good at taming horses.  He also recovered from the scald head disease, which left him bald.  In 1773 Fanning moved to South Carolina and settled on Raeburn’s Creek.  There he farmed and possibly traded with the native tribes in the area.  The upcountry of South Carolina was primarily Loyalist during the Revolutionary War and the district militia was led by Thomas Fletchall, a Loyalist.  During the summer of 1773 Whig supporters traveled through the country to raise support for the rebellion, but upcountry South Carolina maintained its loyalty to the British.  In 1775 during the “Snow Campaign” the Loyalists in South Carolina were defeated by combined forces from the North and South Carolinas.  During this fighting Fanning helped in the capture of gunpowder and Patriot soldiers.  On December 22, when most the Loyalist forces had been captured Fanning managed to escape and fled to Cherokee allies, returning only when amnesty was arranged for the Loyalists.

In June 1776 tensions rose again and Fanning was arrested on suspicion of military activities.  When Native Americans raided on July 1^st Fanning escaped to the Cherokee with several other Loyalists.  Fanning once again went on the offensive and helped in a raid, which failed.  He then spent nine months in North Carolina, being captured and rescued three times, before giving up and returning home to Raeburn’s Creek in the March of 1777.   For the next year and a half Fanning continued to fight against the Patriots and was captured twice, escaping both times.  He was brought to trial for treason but was acquitted, and in 1778 he commanded a company of Loyalists who raided the Georgia border.  Fanning was so good at escaping the Whigs offered $300 for his capture.  In 1779 Fanning was forced to surrender when he was nearly killed.  He returned home and agreed to participate in the Whig militia as a frontier scout. 

In 1870 when the British were victorious at Charleston Fanning returned to his Loyalist roots.  He went into the field recruiting militia and fighting against the few Whig areas in upland South Carolina.  Fanning worked his way to Deep River community in Chatham County in North Carolina, where he recruited more men to his cause.  In 1781 he started to openly recruit after the British occupied Hillsborough.  Before and after the battle of Guilford Courthouse Fanning scouted for the British, brought more men over to the Loyalist cause, and fought against the Whigs who sought to overthrow British rule.  He established a base at Cox’s Mill in Randolph County on the Deep River and began to range with his men through the surrounding areas.  These men tried to steal the Whig supplies and to fight them occasionally.  On July 5^th, 1781 Fanning was appointed colonel of the Loyal militia of Randolph and Chatham counties.  Immediately upon receiving this commission Fanning called a general muster and reccomisioned officers for twenty-two companies in Randolph, Orange, Chatham, Anson, and Cumberland.

During the years of 1781-82 Fanning and his men were a strong force throughout central North Carolina.  They fought thirty-six skirmishes and battles, captured and destroyed supplies, and caught and paroled Whig prisoners.  In July 1781 Fanning led a raid on the seat of Chatham County to prevent the court-marshalling of Loyalist prisoners.  During the fight Fanning’s men took fifty-three prisoners, including several members of the General Assembly, militia officers, and most of the court officials.  Throughout the rest of the year Fanning continued to participate in numerous skirmishes and to recruit men. 

On September 12^th, 1781, Fanning led of force of over a thousand men to attack Hillsborough, the temporary state capital.  The state governor, his council, and many other people working in the government were captured.  General John Butler, a Whig, intercepted Fanning as he transferred the prisoners near Lindley’s Mill.  The battle lasted for four hours and left 250 killed, wounded, or captured.  Butler was forced back by superior numbers, but Fanning was injured and left in the care of local loyalists.  The prisoners were transferred to the British at Wilmington. 

Late in the year Fanning recovered and returned to the field to find matters turning against him.  The British evacuated Wilmington, removing his supply networks and in January 1782 he began to negotiate for a pardon with General Butler.  Over the next few months various agreements were made and broken by both sides.  In April Fanning married Sarah Carr and began looking for ways to leave the state.  In May he and Sarah arrived at a truce area in South Carolina, and then traveled to Charleston.  An Act of Pardon and Oblivion was passed in 1783, but Fanning was one of three men purposely left out.  The Fannings moved in September to St. Augustine, Florida and remained there for two years before sailing to Canada.

Fanning lived the rest of his life in the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  He had one daughter, Ferebee, and two sons, Ross and David.  He was also active in local politics, being a member of the Provicial Assembly from 1791 to 1801.  In January 1801 Fanning was expelled from the Assembly when he was convicted of the rape of Sarah London and sentenced to death.  He appealed this decision, saying that he was falsely accused, but was ordered to leave the province.  The Fannings then moved to Nova Scotia and he became a shipbuilder, eventually the part owner of two merchant ships.  His last home was in Digby, where he died on March 14^th, 1825.

"...His remorseless rapine and murderous execution were without a parallel.  Besides individual hangings and minor encounters, he had participated in thirty-six bloody engagements; and the plantations he had ravaged and despoiled, leaving ruin and suffering in his path, were innumerable.  The General Assembly extended amnesty and pardon to all Tories with the exception of three, and Fanning was among those proscribed.  His crimes and butcheries were beyond forgiveness.(1906. Ashe, Samuel. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. V. p.97.)

"In September 1784, he located near St. John's, New Brunswick, and later resided at Digby, Nova Scotia where he died in 1825." (1906. Ashe, Samuel. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. V. p.97.)

Bibliography

Who Was Who in America.  A component volume of “Who’s Who in American History.”  Historical Volume, 1607-1896.  Revised Edition.  Chicago:  Marquis Who’s Who, 1967. 

Ashe, Samuel, ed.  Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. 5.  Greensboro, NC:  Charles L.  Van Noppen, 1905.

Powell, William S., ed.  Dictionary of North Carolina Biography.  Chapel Hill, NC:  University of North Carolina       Press, 1979.