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Thomas Burke
Governor of North Carolina
In office June 26, 1781 – April 22, 1782
Preceded by	Abner Nash
Succeeded by	Alexander Martin
Personal details
Born	Thomas Burke ca. 1747 (1747) County Galway, Kingdom of Ireland
Died	December 2, 1783 (aged 35–36) Orange County, North Carolina, U.S.
Spouse	Mary Freeman Doherty

Thomas Burke (circa 1747 – December 2, 1783) was an Irish physician, lawyer, and statesman who lived in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He represented North Carolina as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was the third governor of the state. He was the first Catholic governor of North Carolina Second Being Mike Easley who elected on 2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election

Biography

Burke was born in Tiaquin, County Galway, Ireland, around 1747. By 1764, he had emigrated. Thomas went to Virginia and practiced medicine for several years. He studied law and began his practice in Norfolk, Virginia. He became an early supporter of the American Revolution, writing tracts in opposition to the Stamp Act. In 1774, he moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Burke's neighbors made him a member of the Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress that met in Halifax in 1776. He participated in the debate that led to North Carolina's new constitution. He was chosen as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress on December 20, 1776, and arrived in Philadelphia to take his seat on February 4, 1777. He was a strong states' rights advocate, although he moderated this view somewhat by 1781. In September 1777, most of Congress prepared to flee Philadelphia as the British advanced. Burke, instead, went to join General Nash's North Carolina troops defending the city. He was present at the Battle of Brandywine before rejoining the Congress.

Burke served in Congress until 1781, when he was chosen to be governor of North Carolina. He returned home to assume that office in June. As governor, he actively supported and encouraged the militia in its resistance to British and Loyalist forces. Then, in September, he was captured by Tories under the command of Col. David Fanning. After a failed rescue attempt by patriot militia under the command of John Butler at the Battle of Lindley's Mill, Burke was imprisoned by the British on James Island near Charleston, South Carolina.

Burke was allowed to live freely on the island under parole, but he was subject to mistreatment and deplorable conditions and feared assassination. Finally, on January 16, 1782, he escaped and went to North Carolina. He wrote to the British that he still considered himself under the terms of his parole. He resumed his governor duties before being released from parole through an exchange. Accordingly, many North Carolinians and Continental officers considered that he had broken his word and remained under a cloud of dishonor. In April 1782, he did not stand for re-election to the governorship and was succeeded by Alexander Martin.

Burke's health never recovered from his term of imprisonment. He retired to his home, known as Tyaquin, in Orange County. He died there on December 2, 1783, and was buried on his plantation near Hillsborough. The gravesite is about 350 feet north of what is now Governor Burke Road.

Burke was claimed to have been a practicing Roman Catholic who succeeded politically in an era when Catholics held little political power and were often discriminated against.

Namesakes

Burke County, North Carolina, is named for him.

See also

• List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States

References

1. Lewis, J.D. "Thomas Burke". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
2. "Catholic Encyclopedia: North Carolina". www.NewAdvent.org. Retrieved May 26, 2019.

• Gravesite Photo and Details
• United States Congress. "Thomas Burke (id: B001098)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Watterson, John (1979). "Thomas Burke". NCPedia.
• Watterson, John S. (1980). Thomas Burke, Restless Revolutionary. Washington, D. C.: University Press of America.

v t e Governors and lieutenant governors of North Carolina
Governors	Caswell Nash Burke A. Martin Caswell Johnston A. Martin Spaight Sr. Ashe Davie Williams Turner Alexander Williams Stone Smith Hawkins Miller Branch Franklin Holmes Burton Iredell Owen Stokes Swain Spaight Jr. Dudley Morehead Graham Manly Reid Winslow Bragg Ellis Clark Vance Holden Worth Holden Caldwell Brogden Vance Jarvis Scales Fowle Holt Carr Russell Aycock Glenn Kitchin Craig Bickett Morrison McLean O. M. Gardner Ehringhaus Hoey Broughton Cherry W. K. Scott Umstead Hodges Sanford Moore R. W. Scott Holshouser Hunt J. G. Martin Hunt Easley Perdue McCrory Cooper Stein (elect)
Lieutenant governors	Caldwell Brogden Jarvis Robinson Stedman Holt Doughton Reynolds Turner Winston Newland Daughtridge O. M. Gardner Cooper Long Fountain Graham Horton Harris Ballentine Taylor Sr. Hodges Barnhardt Philpott R. W. Scott Taylor Jr. Hunt Green Jordan J. Gardner Wicker Perdue Dalton Forest Robinson Hunt (elect)

• 1740s births
• 1783 deaths
• 18th-century Irish people
• Continental Congressmen from North Carolina
• Governors of North Carolina
• Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses
• Politicians from County Galway
• Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
• American Roman Catholics
• American slave owners
• Burke County, North Carolina
• American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain