On September 9, 1775, the NC Provincial Congress appointed William Skinner as a Lt. Colonel under Col. Miles Harvey in the Perquimans County Regiment of Militia. Lt. Col. William Skinner was with his regiment at the battle of Great Bridge, VA on December 9, 1775.

On December 20, 1777, the NC General Assembly appointed William Skinner as Brigadier General over the Edenton District Brigade of Militia, finally replacing Brig. Gen. Edward Vail, Sr., who had died on June 5, 1777. Brig. Gen. William Skinner resigned his commission on May 9, 1779, and he was soon thereafter replaced by John Pugh Williams, who declined to serve, then was ultimately replaced by Isaac Gregory.

William Skinner was a delegate to the Fourth Provincial Congress of April 1776 at Halifax; and, the Fifth Provincial Congress of November 1776, also at Halifax. He was elected to represent Perquimans County in the NC Senate in 1777 and 1785. He resigned his Senate seat in 1777 to accept the position of State Treasurer.

William Skinner, the son of Richard Skinner and Sarah Creecey, was born on December 25, 1728 in Perquimans County, NC. He was a delegate to the Colonial Assembly in 1761 and 1762. He first married the widow Sarah Gale Corprew on May 28, 1752, and they had four known children - William Gale, Penelope, Elizabeth, and Lavinia. He married a second time to the widow Dorothy Black McDonald, and they had two known children - William and Caroline. He died on January 26, 1798 in Perquimans County, NC.

Click Here for a good online biography of William Skinner provided by NCPedia.org.

Click Here for an online version of the last will and testament of William Skinner, dated 8/15/1797.