Martha Dandridge Custis Washington made her own mark as the first First Lady and symbol of motherhood in the new nation.

James Moore rose from a respected militia officer to a key Revolutionary leader, helping organize North Carolina’s resistance and contributing to the American victory at Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. Promoted to brigadier general, he died in 1777 remembered as one of the state’s most distinguished soldiers of the Revolution.

Tony Small, a formerly enslaved man, saved British soldier Lord Edward FitzGerald after the Battle of Eutaw Springs in 1781. Grateful, FitzGerald freed Small, who became his assistant and followed him to Ireland. They remained close until FitzGerald's death in 1798, after which Small settled near London.

Peter Harris, a Catawba Indian who survived a devastating smallpox epidemic as a child, served bravely in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, fighting in key battles like Stono Ferry and Rocky Mount; despite his contributions, he later petitioned South Carolina for a pension, poignantly describing himself as "one of the lingering embers of an almost extinguished race," and was granted $60 a year just before his death in 1823.