In 1778 an unknown Hessian officer recorded his observations on the war. "Call this war by whatever name you may, only call it not an American Rebellion: it is nothing more or less than a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Rebellion."1

The seeds of resistance to British authority were sown in Presbyterian Churches that made captains and colonels out of deacons and elders."2

Because of their strong feelings against the Crown, strengthened by what has been called the "Presbyterian Ethic,"  the Scots-Irish settlements and their meeting houses, as well as the homes of their ministers and leaders became the rallying points for those of like sentiments, while at the same time gathering the wrath of the British and their Tory allies.  As a result, many of the Scots-Irish settlements became targets of Tory raids and destruction during the course of the war.3

Patrick Ferguson had made it known that upon leaving Kings Mountain, he intended to "spend one night in Bethel Church, leave it in ashes by day-light... and be on the east side of the Catawba before nightfall.4  Ferguson never made it off of the mountain, and died during the battle of King's Mountain.

A grid map of historic Bethel Cemetery is available here.