Patriot grave marking to honor Lenoir, Gordon at Fort Defiance

The Col. Alexander Erwin Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution will honor two Revolutionary War patriots with a grave-marking ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Fort Defiance in Caldwell County.

The ceremony will recognize Capt. William Lenoir and Maj. Charles Gordon Jr. and is open to the public.

Lenoir, born in 1751, joined the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War and was given command of a ranger company in 1776. He fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, where he was wounded twice, and later rose to the rank of major general in the state militia. He also served as a justice of the peace and state legislator and was a planter, surveyor, landowner, horse breeder, and blacksmith operator. The city of Lenoir was later named in his honor.

Gordon, who married Lenoir’s daughter Mary, also fought at Kings Mountain. A historical account of the battle describes Gordon being shot in the left arm during close combat. He later became a major in the militia and died in 1799.

The families also have ties to Burke County history. Charles and Mary Gordon’s daughter, Ann Ballard Gordon, married Athan McDowell, a son of Charles and Grace McDowell of Quaker Meadows, connecting the Lenoir and McDowell families by marriage.

Both Lenoir and Gordon are buried in the family cemetery at Fort Defiance.

The house now known as Fort Defiance was built by Lenoir beginning in 1788 and completed in 1792. It took its name from an earlier frontier fort that stood nearby before the American Revolution; the original fort no longer survives. The Lenoir family lived in the house until 1961, and it reopened as a historic site in 1976.

Fort Defiance is located at 1792 Fort Defiance Drive, Lenoir. Regular April-through-October hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. From November through March, the site is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The last tour begins one hour before closing.

For more information, visit historicfortdefiancenc.org or call 828-758-1671.

— AKC