Matthew McCauley, son of Erin McCauley and grandfather of Capt. Charles Maurice Tallyrand McCauley (1819-1896), entered the Continental Service in the spring of 1776 and served as a Lieutenant in the 10th NC Regiment and 6th Regiment for two years and one month. He served under Colonel Archibald Lytle, Generals Ashe, and Lincoln. Matthew McCauley was at Valley Forge with Washington’s army the winter of 1777/1778. In the summer of 1778 his Lieutenancy expired and he returned to New Hope. It was sometime later in the summer that Matthew McCauley received his Commission of Captain in the Continental Service. He was appointed Captain of a Company of militia in July 1781. On September 15 1781, he was taken prisoner when Tory forces under the command of Colonel Fanning captured the town of Hillsboro, North Carolina. He was taken along with other prisoners to Wilmington, NC where he was put aboard prison ship Eske to be taken by sea to Charleston, South Carolina. Six months later, at either the end of March or beginning of April, he was exchanged and returned home “in bad health and much sickness, and complained much of the bad usage he received from the British while on board the prison ship.” On September 1, 1782, he was drafted to raise troops for the Militia for a three month term in Hillsboro, and arrived back home around the first of December of that year. (ancestry.com post)
Together, Matthew and his brother William donated 250 acres for the University of North Carolina. The McCauley Family Papers, 1788-1872, are in the Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC.
In History of the University of North Carolina…1907 by Kemp P. Battle, noted under “The Donors of the Site,” Battle wrote:
Matthew and William McCauley were of the few who came over directly from the north of Ireland. They were from the county of Antrim. According to tradition Matthew, when a youth, became involved in one of the numerous insurrections against British rule, and, concealed in a hogshead, was shipped as freight to the colonies in the new world. Settling on Morgan's Creek he, by industry and skill, succeeded in buying much land and establishing a mill on that creek of such wide celebrity that the roads in the neighborhood were marked off by the number of miles to it. He owned also a blacksmith shop, which met with a large patronage in the days when nails and horseshoes were made by hand. His dwelling still stands, low-pitched, high-roofed, with small windows on the old Hillsboro and Pittsboro road. The mill has gone to decay.
Matthew McCauley was thrown on his own resources before having an opportunity to procure book education, but was a very intelligent man and good citizen. A story told on him seems to prove the truth of the statement that "there are no snakes in Ireland." Shortly after his arrival in Orange County he was struck by the beauty of a rattlesnake which crossed his path. He caught it, fortunately around the neck, and carried it to an old lady with the inquiry, "what is this pretty beast?" Following the terrified advice of the lady he succeeded in throwing it away so as to escape its poisonous fangs. Another story was considered very mirthful in the old days. A neighbor made him a gift of a pair of snuffers, most useful when home-made tallow candles were in vogue. He carried them home in triumph, and when the light became dim snuffed the candle with his fingers as usual and deposited the charred end of the wick in the snuffers with the triumphant remark that it was very "usiary," (useful).
He was a faithful soldier in the Revolutionary army. The General Assembly raised the grades of officers of the line, so that he was after the war a captain, but on the roster of Continental officers he is placed as first lieutenant of the 10th Regiment of Continental troops, his commission being dated April 19, 1777, Abraham Shepard being his colonel. While engaged under orders in recruiting service he was captured by the Tories and imprisoned for three months. Such was his hatred of Tories that even in old age, though of only medium size, he was eager to pick a quarrel and fight with any of that party whom he chanced to meet. He left many children. One of his sons settled in Kentucky. Another, a lawyer, William by name, was a student and then steward of the University. William left two sons, one of them, Samuel, was once Mayor of Monroe; the other, Charles Maurice Talleyrand McCauley, was a gallant captain in the Confederate army, a good lawyer and, as Senator from Union in the General Assembly, was always a supporter of the institution, which his grandfather helped to provide. A grandson, bearing the honored name of Matthew McCauley, resides on a part of the old plantation, though not in the old home.
William McCauley, a brother of the first Matthew, lived a few miles west of Chapel Hill in the district called the "Great Meadows," a leader in his county. He is the ancestor of the prosperous merchant of Chapel Hill, David McCauley, who is also a descendant of Matthew McCauley, by the "spindle," i.e., female line. William was a member of the lower house of the General Assembly during most of the Revolutionary War, and of the Senate from 1784 to 1788 inclusive. The confidence of the people of Orange was further shown to him by sending him as a delegate to the Convention of 1788 held at Hillsborough, which postponed the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. In common with the rest of the Orange delegates he voted for the postponement.
‘He Also Shall Become a People, and He Also Shall Be Great.' Gen. XLVIII, 19 / Matthew McCauley / 1750-1832 / Emigrant From County Antrim, Ireland, To North Carolina Before The Revolution; Lieutenant, 10th North Carolina Regiment, Continental Army; A Donor of 150 Acres of Land For The Founding of The University of North Carolina; Husband of Martha, Who Is Buried Beside Him. / This Tablet Is Erected by Descendants. 1939. (ancestry.com post)
