Author: James C. Fosdyck
My 5th great grandfather Luke Robinson is identified as a patriot in “Interesting Revolutionary Incidents and Sketches of Character, Chiefly in the Old North State” by Reverend Eli Washington Caruthers (1793-1865). Reverend Caruthers travelled the region and interviewed living witnesses to the various incidents he recorded in his book. This Luke Robinson is the father of John Robinson (SAR Record Copy 171977 – John Robinson).

About 1753 Luke Robinson married Christian/Christina Ussery daughter of William Ussery. William Ussery, and probably Luke Robinson, resided in Lunenburg County, Virginia prior to moving to North Carolina.

Luke Robinson engaged in patriotic service in Anson and Montgomery Counties, North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War:

In 1768 Luke Robinson took a land grant at the confluence of Cheek's Creek and Little River. He was a mill owner, a Whig, active in regulator affairs. A conservative leader at the riots at Anson Courthouse and Hillsboro County. He raised petitions and personally presented them to Governor Tryon. In 1771 he served in Captain Lawrence Thompson's Company of Regulators. On 15 Sep 1781 Robinson's farm was the rendezvous for the militia call up of Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford. Nine hundred fifty (950) infantrymen and two hundred (200) cavalry reported. Two troops assigned to Captain Richard Simmons of Rowan County and Major Joseph Graham of Mecklenburg County. Calvary to Major Robert Smith of Mecklenburg County. A few days at Robinson's, then two weeks training at Monroe Bridge. Then down Drowning Creek to McPhaul's Mill in Bladen County (presently Robeson County) and the famous "Hacking Battle" of Raft Swamp, aka: The Battle of Raft Swamp, (15 Oct 1781).

In 1764, even before the American Revolution, in the frontier counties of North Carolina, settlers threatened to rebel against unfair and oppressive practices on the part of corrupt government officials. They demanded that officeholders be held to a stricter account, and in 1768, formed a group known as the Regulation. In 1771, an armed rebellion of backcountry farmers called Regulators battled with North Carolina royal governor William Tryon's militia. The spark for this conflict was growing resentment in the Carolina colony against the taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and illegal fees imposed by the British Crown. In response, the Regulators were formed and began to fight back. Though the rebellion was crushed, a few years later their tactics became a model for the colonists fighting the British in the American Revolutionary War.

The name of Luke Robinson is among the more than 250 signers of the “North Carolina Regulator’s Petition,” October 9, 1769. During May and June 1771 Luke Robinson served in Captain Lawrence Thompson's Regulator’s Company. On May 16, 1771, on a field in Piedmont Region of North Carolina, Regulators clashed with North Carolina Governor William Tryon's militia.
At a point after the American Revolutionary War, a Loyalist Major named James Cotton filed a claim against the British government “for his losses during the Revolution.” The claim includes a list of those owing him debts and obligations. Cotton alledged his accounts book fell into the hands of the enemy (American forces) in February, 1776. Luke Robinson is on the list. A random check of Cotton’s debtors reveals there are at least a dozen patriots on his list. Undoubtedly these men, including Luke Robinson, were more than financial enemies of the Loyalist James Cotton, they were American patriots. Like Luke Robinson, these men also signed the “North Carolina Regulator’s Petition,” October 9, 1769.
As early as 1764 Luke Robinson and many of his contemporaries opposed (occasionally in open hostility) taxes, dishonest government officials, and illegal fees imposed by the British Crown. Luke and many of those same men joined in continued opposition to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War.