The last colonial governor of North Carolina labeled Abner Nash as one of four men who “‘stood foremost among the patrons of revolt and anarchy.’”¹ Nash was born around 1740 at his parents’ plantation outside Farmville, Va., 20 years after they arrived from Wales. He became a lawyer in 1757, and was elected to the Virginia legislature a few years later. But at 22 he and his brother Francis moved to Hillsborough. He stayed just long enough to buy land and build a grain mill with Frances before moving again to Halifax, where he continued in the law and became a member of the colonial House of Commons. In 1768 he accompanied Royal Gov. William Tryon in his first campaign against protesters called the Regulators.

Nash married the widow of Royal Gov. Arthur Dobbs, Justina Davis, causing a crisis when Dobbs’ sons therefore refused to honor a bequest to her. Most provincial courts closed for a time as Royal Gov. Josiah Martin and the Assembly disputed the outcome of the resulting lawsuit. Justina died in 1771, leaving Nash with three children. He moved to New Bern and married Mary Whiting Jones. They lived at Pembroke Plantation, a few miles southwest on the southeast bank of the Trent River.² He held more than 31 people in slavery, including Lizza, Tenah, and Congo Will.³