Herman Husband

Herman Husband (December 3, 1724 – June 19, 1795) was an American farmer, pamphleteer, author, and preacher best known as a leader of the Regulator Movement, a populist rebellion in the Province of North Carolina in the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War. Husband was twice elected to the North Carolina assembly but was expelled during his second term.

Early life Husband was born on December 3, 1724, in Cecil County, Maryland, to William Husband and Mary Kinkey/Kankey. He was likely named after his maternal grandfather, Herman Kankey. Herman was raised as an Anglican. His paternal grandfather William Husband's family came from England, and were originally indentured servants, who later turned to being land owners and slave owners. His mother's side of the family (Kankeys) came from Hamburg in Germany, and his maternal grandfather Herman Kankey was a religious tavern keeper who also was a critic of slavery.

One of the many to be inspired to the Great Awakening after hearing George Whitefield preach, he became a "New Light" Presbyterian and then a Quaker.

Affiliation with Benjamin Franklin Moving to Loves Creek in what is now Siler City, North Carolina and later to Sandy Creek in what is now Randolph County in the 1750s, Husband established himself as a farmer and religious leader. He was later asked to leave the Quaker Meeting and he did so but continued to follow many of their tenets including strict pacifism. Philosophically he was drawn to the wisdom of Ben Franklin. Husband and Franklin kept up a correspondence through John Willcox, a merchant of Cross Creek, now Fayetteville, North Carolina, who went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, twice annually to purchase goods. John Willcox was the son of Thomas Willcox whose paper mill in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, manufactured paper used by Benjamin Franklin for his publications. Husband was thus in receipt of political pamphlets of a patriotic nature which he reprinted and circulated among his fellow citizens. His health had deteriorated during his time in jail. His burial location is unknown. His descendant was US Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel.