Hundreds attend Overmountain Men commemoration at Quaker Meadows

Quaker Meadows stepped back into 1780 on Sept. 27 as visitors explored frontier skills, Revolutionary War history, and the story of the Overmountain Men through 39 interactive stations.

The event, Revolutionary War Day, commemorated the Sept. 30, 1780, arrival of about 1,400 Overmountain Men at the home of Col. Charles McDowell of Quaker Meadows.

The volunteers were pursuing British Maj. Patrick Ferguson, who had threatened destruction of anyone who did not swear allegiance to the king. They found Ferguson on Oct. 7, 1780, atop Kings Mountain, South Carolina, and defeated him and his army in about an hour in a battle that helped turn the tide of the American Revolution.

Attendance at the Sept. 27 event filled every available parking space on the grounds, along with spaces on an adjacent property, and spilled into the front parking lot of Stone & Leigh at the intersection of N.C. 181 and St. Mary’s Church Road.

Visitors could explore 39 stations depicting life on the North Carolina frontier in the late 18th century.

Demonstrations included tanning hides; cooking venison and rabbit over a campfire; packing a haversack for overnight horseback trips; battlefield and homestead medicine; Revolutionary War weaponry; flax spinning, lacemaking, and needlepoint; Colonial cooking and clothing; toys and games; homestead animals; quill writing; corn husk doll making; and Colonial music and dancing.

Information booths also featured the Burke County Public Library’s genealogy resources, The History Museum of Burke County, Fort Defiance in Lenoir, the Quaker Meadows Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Overmountain Victory Trail Association, the Overmountain Victory North Carolina State Trail, and Carolina Rising, the new interactive Revolutionary War museum in Gaffney, S.C.

A total of 124 people worked at the event. Historic Burke members and members of the Alexander Erwin Chapter and Catawba Valley Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution helped with setup the day before and the morning of the event, as well as cleanup that evening.

Among the presenters were 28 children who played fiddle, danced, made lace, taught other children to make corn husk dolls, or helped younger children color a drawing of a Betsy Ross flag to take home.

Several hundred children attended. Visitors to the corn husk doll station made 140 dolls during the four-hour event.

The afternoon concluded with Steve Ricker of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association telling the story of the events leading to the victory at Kings Mountain, followed by a musket volley on the front lawn of the house.

— AKC