A Presbyterian preacher born in Scotland in 1726, Henry Pattillo came to Virginia around 1740. In 1758 he accepted a call from Willis, Bird, and Buck Island, which he served until 1762, leaving when "the people being unable to give him a sufficient support.'" On 4 May 1763 at Tinkling Spring he was called to supply Cumberland Harris Creek, and Deep Creek. In October 1765 he was called by Hawfields, Eno, and Little River, where he began what would be some thirty-five years of service in North Carolina: "in Granville, and in Orange, along the Eno, the eloquent Pattillo taught impressively the wonder-working truths of the gospel of Christ" (Colonial Records of North Carolina). Leaving Hawfields in 1774, he became a Bute County (now Warren and Franklin counties) delegate to the first Provincial Congress of North Carolina in 1775.

Also a distinguished educator, Pattillo headed schools at Hawfields and Williamsboro; he was named to help found...