Jethro Sumner

Jethro Exum Sumner was a North Carolina landowner and businessman, and an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Virginia, Sumners military service began in the French and Indian War as a member of the states Provincial forces. After the conclusion of that conflict, he moved to Bute County, North Carolina, where he acquired a substantial area of land and operated a tavern. He served as Sheriff of Bute County, but with the coming of the American Revolution, he became a strident Patriot, and was elected to North Carolinas Provincial Congress.

Sumner was born in Nansemond County, Virginia, in 1733 to Jethro and Margaret Sullivan Sumner. His family had originally settled in Nansemond County in 1691. Between 1758 and 1761, during the French and Indian War, he was a lieutenant in the Virginia Provincial forces in Pennsylvania under the command of William Byrd III. On November 25, 1758, Sumner participated in the capture of Fort Duquesne. He was made commander at Pennsylvanias Fort Bedford in 1760. After his regiment was disbanded in 1761, he returned home to Nansemond County. Between 1761 and 1764, he moved to Bute County in North Carolina, and married Mary Hurst of Granville County, with whom he would have three children. One daughter, Mary, went on to wed Thomas Blount, who would later serve multiple terms in the United States House of Representatives.

Source: Wikipedia