Vail, Edward [1]
Vail, Edward
6 Aug. 1717–5 June 1777
See also: Edenton Tea Party [2]
Edward Vail, colonial official and member of a large and active family, joined his brother John in 1749 in petitioning the Chowan County [3] Court for permission to operate a mill near Sandy Point. Edward was one of six men who raised troops in North Carolina in [4]1754 to help defend Virginia during the French and Indian War [5]; they were part of the first troops recruited in British America to fight outside their own territory in defense of a common cause. Vail also represented Chowan County in the Assembly [6] in 1754–62, 1770–71, and 1773–74. Locally he was a member of the county court in 1756 as well as one of five trustees named in 1767 to erect the brick courthouse in Edenton that still stands.
As a colonel, Vail accompanied Governor William Tryon [7] in the 1771 expedition against the Regulators [8]. With the approach of the American Revolution [9] he was one of eight members of the North Carolina Committee of Correspondence [10] in 1768, 1773, and 1774. Remaining active in the militia [11], Vail was appointed brigadier general of the Edenton [12] District in April 1776 and reelected within a month of his death.
Vail and his wife Susannah, whose maiden name is unknown, had four sons: Thomas, Frederick, Jeremiah, and Edward. Susannah was among the fifty-one "patriotic ladies" who participated in the Edenton Tea Party [2] on 24 Oct. 1774.
References:
John L. Cheney, Jr., ed., North Carolina Government, 1585–1974 (1974).
J. R. B. Hathaway, ed., North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vols. 1–2 (1900–1901). [13]
William S. Powell, ed., The Correspondence of William Tryon and Other Selected Papers, vol. 2 (1981).
William L. Saunders, ed., Colonial Records of North Carolina, vols. 5–7, 9–10 (1887–90). [14]
Vail family Bible (possession of Lillian Smith Hough, Eden, N.C.).
Virginia Gazette, 19 July 1754 [15], 4 July 1767, 24 May 1770 [16], 3 Nov. 1774 [17].
Image Credits:
"Photograph, Accession #: H.1952.61.14 [4]." 1890-1910. North Carolina Museum of History. (accessed March 21, 2014).
1 January 1996 | Smith, William S., Jr.