VAUGHAN — Nathaniel Macon and patriots like him set the standard for generations to come.

Steve Avent, Northeast District vice president of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, says a few words in remembrance of Nathaniel Macon during an SAR patriot grave marker dedication ceremony Saturday. (Todd Wetherington/Daily Herald) Advertisement

“The thing is, if they hadn’t done what they did, it would be for naught,” said Ken Wilson, vice president of the Halifax Resolves Chapter of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, which dedicated a grave marker in Macon’s honor Saturday. “They set the precedent. All we’re doing is following in their footsteps.”

As Veterans Day approaches Tuesday, it’s easy to forget the contributions of the soldiers of the American Revolution, said Steve Avent, Northeast vice president of the NCSSAR.

Sgt. Robert James, Warren County High School ROTC instructor, agreed. “We may not think that far back,” he said following the ceremony. “These guys were veterans, too. It’s very important.”

Macon, a Warren County native, was the focus of the brief ceremony at his gravesite on a bucolic plantation called Buck Spring. Before the SAR plaque was placed at his grave — at his request he asked for no tombstone but for mourners to pile rocks where he was buried — the only marker noting him was a historical marker.

Macon joined the New Jersey militia in 1776 while a student at what is now known as Princeton University.

Coming back to Warren County in late 1777, he studied law and history at the county courthouse but never applied for a license to study law.

The British invasion of the South in 1780 saw him join the army, an elected lieutenant in his brother’s company. He declined, however, Wilson told a small audience, and served as a private.

He was a North Carolina senator who was elected without his knowledge or consent. When he left the army, he refused pay for his service and pension.

He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1785 but declined to serve but did serve in the state senate as a member of many important committees, Wilson noted.

Macon is also noted for his opposition to Federalist policies, Wilson said, and believing “the Constitution was conferring too much power on a new government.”

He was known for simple political views that were blunt and unreserved, Wilson said. “He was an aggressive advocate of states’ sovereignty and an adherent of the doctrines of the old Republicans. Nathaniel was a North Carolinian first and an American second.”

During the marker ceremony, men dressed in American Revolution garb along with SAR officials either saluted or bowed while women would curtsy before the marker.

Avent said after the ceremony it has been interesting getting to learn more about Macon. “The issues they faced are still the hot-button issues we face,” he said.