Born in Scotland, George Micklejohn was an Anglican minister sent to North Carolina by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Arriving under the gubernatorial aegis of William Tryon in 1766, he was to serve the largest parish in North Carolina, St. Matthew's, at Hillsborough.

Micklejohn tried constantly to serve and placate both the English officials and the increasingly more discontented local citizens. He was apparently respected in both camps. Having spent brief times in "the back settlements," including Rowan County and Brunswick, Micklejohn ingratiated himself with the governor, who had "great expectations from" the minister.

On the other hand, a group of farmers protesting public corruption, the Regulators, who were at the heart of unrest in Micklejohn's region, relied on him as mediator and (sometimes no more than) messenger as they tried to negotiate with the British authorities. This point is most clearly illustrated by events that...