disputes with the Chero-
kee Indians in an attempt
to secure peace along the
frontier and enforce the
Proclamation of 1763. He
then convinced the legis-
lature to establish a lav-
ish governor’s mansion at
New Bern, which soon
became recognized as
one of the finest build-
ings in the colonies.
Tryon recognized the
value of higher educa-
tion; he also worked suc-
cessfully at establishing
Queen’s College.
Despite good inten-
tions, Tryon was ulti-
mately caught up in polit-
ical unrest arising from
the very same policies he
sought so honestly to im-
plement. The British Em-
pire, then strapped for
money, imposed the
Stamp Act in 1765, which
taxed various forms of commodities and
goods. Colonials responded with anger to-
ward this levy, but Tryon strictly enforced its
imposition, and for a time trade simply ceased
along the Atlantic Coast. He personally op-
posed the tax but felt duty-bound to uphold it.
When North Carolina political leaders threat-
ened violence to end its implementation,
Tryon countered by hinting at the use of mili-
tary force. The crisis was defused following
the cancellation of the Stamp Act in 1766.
That same year Tryon’s authority faced an
even bigger challenge when a group of back-
woods rebels, known as the Regulators,
began harassing sheriffs and other officials
because of unreasonably high taxes and con-
stant embezzlement. Tryon appealed for calm
and tried to shake out corruption, but the
Regulators refused to pay taxes and began
closing courthouses. This elicited a prompt
military response from the governor, who
raised a force of 2,000
militia and marched into
the interior to confront
the rebels. On May 16,
1771, Tryon’s well-
equipped forces engaged
a large, ragtag rebel army
at Alamance Creek, de-
feating it. Of 12 ringlead-
ers captured and brutally
imprisoned, six were par-
doned and six sent to the
gallows. He then returned
in triumph to New Bern,
where a new commis-
sion, appointing him gov-
ernor of New York,
awaited. The inhabitants
of the state came to value
his services so highly that
they established Tryon
County in his honor.
Tryon arrived at New
York in 1771, replacing
the outgoing John Mur-
ray, Lord Dunmore. As
before, he sought to
shore up the political status of the Anglican
Church and also helped established King’s
College (now Columbia University). Further-
more, given his military approach to affairs of
state, he saw a need to completely overhaul
the militia, something that was accomplished
with efficiency and promptness. The colonial
assembly was singularly impressed by his per-
formance, and it, too, christened Tryon
County in his honor. And like North Carolina,
New York was also embroiled in a boundary
dispute, only this time with New Hampshire.
Both sides claimed the tract of land that con-
stitutes present-day Vermont, and a gang of
frontier roughnecks, the Green Mountain
Boys under Ethan Allen, were terrorizing New
York officials found there. Tryon, who was in-
tent on speculating on this property, promptly
ordered Allen and his men to surrender under
penalty of death, but little could be done to re-
store order. At length, more urgent mattersTRYON, WILLIAM
William Tryon
North Carolina Department
of Cultural Resources