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David Fanning

David Fanning (1755–1825) was a Loyalist militia colonel who led partisan warfare in central North Carolina. On September 12, 1781 he raided Hillsborough, then the temporary state capital, and captured Governor Thomas Burke with members of his council and the General Assembly. The next day he fought off John Butler's militia at Lindley's Mill.

Source: NCpedia: Fanning, David

1755–1825 as the Library of Congress records it · Library of Congress authority record ↗

10 indexed works are connected with this person, and the index includes one work by David Fanning. 1 held at OCPL →

Fanning, David, Loses the Bay Doe
Fanning, David, Loses the Bay Doe

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By David Fanning

Heartsease, 113 East Queen Street, Hillsborough, Orange County, NC

Burke, Thomas; Heartt, W A; Wall, Rebecca B; Fanning, David; Heartt, David; Burke, Mary William; Biggs, Archie A; Boucher, Jack E · 1933

Heartsease, the frame house at 113 East Queen Street in Hillsborough, documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey after 1933 in eight photographs, five data pages and a caption page. Names connected with the house include Governor Thomas Burke, the Heartt family, Rebecca B. Wall and the Loyalist raider David Fanning, and its history reaches back to the Revolutionary War.

About David Fanning

The Battle at Lindley's Mill

Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2009

Stewart E. Dunaway's account of the Battle of Lindley's Mill, fought in September 1781 after the Loyalist David Fanning raided Hillsborough and carried off Governor Thomas Burke. Burke, Fanning and the Lindley family, whose mill gave the fight its name, are the people at its center, with the Revolutionary campaigns in North Carolina as the frame. Published in 2009.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Fanning, David, 1756?-1825.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, April 1782

Burke, Thomas, approximately 1747-1783 · 1782

Thomas Burke, the state's third governor, wrote and received these letters in April 1782, after his return from British captivity. Seized at Hillsborough by the Loyalist raider David Fanning in 1781, he had been paroled to James Island before making his way home. The 49 images mention the Cape Fear River and Hillsborough.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, March 1782

Burke, Thomas, approximately 1747-1783 · 1782

Thomas Burke's papers as governor from March 1782, 88 images, written after he came back to North Carolina from captivity. Hillsborough, where the Loyalist David Fanning had seized him in 1781, is named, along with Camden, Chatham and Halifax counties.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, August 1781

Caswell, Winston · 1781

Governor Thomas Burke's correspondence for August 1781, a heavy month of 168 images from his first summer in office. Winston Caswell is among the writers. Places named include Hillsborough, the Deep River and Chatham, Granville, Halifax, Richmond and Wake counties, all against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, July 1781

Caswell, Richard, 1729-1789 · 1781

July 1781 letters of Thomas Burke, elected governor the month before. Richard Caswell is among the writers, and across 137 images the papers reach Hillsborough and Bladen, Chatham, Cumberland, Duplin, Halifax, Richmond and Wake counties during the Revolutionary War.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, July 28, 1781 to August 29, 1781

Burke, Thomas, approximately 1747-1783 · 1781

A run of Governor Thomas Burke's letters dated 28 July to 29 August 1781, in 63 images. The correspondence reaches Hillsborough and Anson, Bladen, Cumberland, Franklin, Granville, Northampton, Wake and Warren counties. Burke had been elected the state's third governor that June.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Show 4 more about David Fanning

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, September 1781

Burke, Thomas, approximately 1747-1783 · 1781

Letters of Governor Thomas Burke from September 1781, in 71 images. Burke was captured at Hillsborough by the Loyalist David Fanning that year and later resumed his duties. Bertie and Chatham counties are also named in the month's papers.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, September 9, 1781 to September 11, 1781

Burke, Thomas, approximately 1747-1783 · 1781

A short run of Thomas Burke's correspondence, 9 to 11 September 1781, in 12 images. Granville County and Hillsborough are named. Burke, the state's third governor, fell into Loyalist hands at Hillsborough later in 1781.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Thomas Burke, Correspondence, not dated

Mask, William · 1763

Undated letters from the papers of Thomas Burke, governor of North Carolina in 1781 and 1782. William Mask is among the writers, and Hillsborough is named. Ten images.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Fanning, David: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Undated image of David Fanning, the Loyalist partisan of the Revolutionary War, shown escaping from captivity. Fanning led the 1781 raid on Hillsborough that captured Governor Thomas Burke.

Why this is here: Its title names this person.

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Tradition says parts of the town clock were hidden in the Eno during Fanning's raid According to local tradition, parts of the clock were thrown into the river so that the Loyalist raiders under David Fanning and Hector McNeill could not turn them into war material. People: David FanningLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 22
  2. David Fanning raids Hillsborough and captures Governor Burke Fanning’s Loyalists captured Governor Thomas Burke during a surprise raid on Hillsborough. People: David Fanning, Thomas BurkeNCpedia — David Fanning
  3. Butler's militia ambushes Fanning's Loyalists at Lindley's Mill The day after David Fanning's raid carried Governor Thomas Burke out of Hillsborough, John Butler rode with about four hundred militia to the ford where the Wilmington road crossed Cane Creek at Lindley's Mill and laid an ambush with Colonel Robert Mebane. The opening volley killed Colonel Hector McNeil, but Fanning organized a flanking attack that drove the militia from the field, and the prisoners went on to Wilmington. People: David Fanning, Thomas BurkeSearch the index · NCpedia: Lindley's Mill, Battle of
  4. Governor Burke returns to Hillsborough and raises a company against the Loyalists Hearing that Loyalists were plundering in southern Orange and that David Fanning was active again, Burke came to Hillsborough and formed a mixed infantry and cavalry company under a Captain Allen of New Hope to guard the area's Whigs. People: Thomas Burke, David FanningLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 58-59
  5. Three of David Fanning's men are hanged at Hillsborough Seven captured raiders were tried before Judge John Williams, with Alfred Moore prosecuting and William R. Davie defending in his first case. Three were hanged despite Fanning's threats, and Burke commuted the other four sentences to a year in the Continental army. People: Thomas Burke, David Fanning, William Richardson DavieLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 61
  6. A false alarm of a Fanning attack turns the legislators out into Hillsborough's streets With the General Assembly in session and General John Butler guarding it with 200 county militia, members were roused from bed and paraded in the streets before the report proved false. Fanning had in fact married and fled to South Carolina. People: John Butler, David Fanning, Thomas BurkeLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 62

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as David Fanning, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Search further

The index lists works with an Orange County connection. To find everything else about David Fanning, search these catalogs.

Books about David Fanning

Books by David Fanning

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Searched with the Library of Congress heading Fanning, David, 1755-1825, so the results are about this person and not others with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

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Research sources

Read contemporary evidence 6

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Picture: Fanning, David, Loses the Bay Doe. Public domain. Hill, William Laurie. "Fanning Loses the Bay Doe." Illustration located between pages 254 and 255. The master of the Red Buck and the Bay Doe; a story of Whig and Tory warfare in North Carolina in 1781-83. Charlotte: Stone Publishing Co., 1913. From Internet Archive

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