David Fanning (loyalist)

David Fanning was a Loyalist leader in the American Revolutionary War in North and South Carolina. Fanning participated in approximatelyminor engagements and skirmishes, and in 1781, captured the Governor of North Carolina, Thomas Burke, from the temporary capital at Hillsborough. Additionally, Fanning was captured by Patriot forcestimes throughout the war, each time escaping or receiving a pardon. After the British defeat in the war, Fanning fled to Canada, where he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1791 to 1801 representing Kings County. After being convicted of rape in 1801, Fanning was expelled from New Brunswick, and settled in Nova Scotia, where he lived the remainder of his life.

Fanning was born October 25, 1755 in Amelia County, Virginia. His father was David Fanning, and he grew up in Johnston County, North Carolina. He developed a childhood scalp condition which, according to oral traditions collected by early North Carolina historian Eli Caruthers, resulted in longterm baldness. Fanning and his sister were orphaned in 1764 by the death of their father, and in 1773, David settled on a tributary of the Reedy River in South Carolina. At the onset of the Revolutionary War, Fanning was also an officer in a local militia unit in the South Carolina upcountry. In 1775, that region leaned in favor of the Loyalists, and Fanning lent himself to that cause.

Source: Wikipedia