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The dedication of a marker for Revolutionary War Patriot Thomas Biles will be held at the New London Cemetery at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Zelma Eudy, a Yadkin River Patriot Chapter member of DAR, joined DAR with Biles as her patriot.
Other individuals who descend from Biles are invited to attend, as well as others interested in honoring a Revolutionary War patriot.
Biles was born in 1752 in New Jersey. A few years later, his family moved to Rowan County in North Carolina. Biles later served as a private during the Revolutionary War.
On March 8, 1783, he married Tabitha Marbury. In 1797, Biles and his family moved to Montgomery County (now Stanly County), where they lived on a farm near the Narrows of the Yadkin River and near the head of Mountain Creek.
The community near the Biles family land later became known as Bilesville in honor of one of Biles’ sons.
According to local historian Fred T. Morgan, in 1891, the town residents began looking for a new name for the town.
Morgan shared that a mining engineer from London, England, was working to revitalize the nearby Parker Gold Mine, and it was he who suggested the name New London. The name was officially changed on March 7, 1891, when the town was incorporated by the General Assembly.
The marker dedication event to honor Thomas Biles is being sponsored by the Yadkin River Patriots Daughters of the American Revolution, Gov. John Archdale Colonial Dames 17th Century, Colson’s Mills Sons of the American Revolution, Stanly County Genealogy Society, and the Stanly County Historical Society.
New London Cemetery is on Spring Street in New London.
From U.S. Highway 52 N., turn right on Main Street into New London. Across from the fire station, turn right on Depot Street; the next right will be Spring Street.