Mary Patton's Powder Mill

Mary Patton's Powder Mill. . , During the early years of European settlement in this valley, Mary McKeechan Patton (1751-1836) operated a gunpowder mill along Powder Branch not far to the south of this spot. Mary McKeechan was born in England and her family immigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 1760s. Mary served as an apprentice to a gunpowder maker while she was a girl and, in 1772, married John Patton, an Irish immigrant who served in the Pennsylvania militia. The Pattons had two children and operated a powder mill in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. During the early days of the Revolutionary War, the Pattons sold their mill and settled here, where they began operating a powder mill in 1777. In 1780, British Major Patrick Ferguson demanded that the settlers in this area stop resisting the British and pledge allegiance to King George III. If they did not, Ferguson warned, he would march over the mountains and lay the country waste with fire and sword. In response, more than 800 frontiersmen mustered at Sycamore Shoals, where local settlers helped to supply them for the coming battle. Significantly, Mary Patton provided at least 500 pounds of vital gunpowder. The force, called the Overmountain Men, marched into North Carolina, joined by other fighters along the way. On October 7, 1780, they won a remarkable victory over Ferguson at King's Mountain, helping to turn the tide of the war. The Patton powder mill continued operating until after the Civil War. , Source: R. A. Howard and E. A. Gerhardt, Jr., Mary Patton: Powder Maker of the Revolution (1980) , , Department of Appalachian Studies, East Tennessee State University