Robert Love (colonel)
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Colonel Robert Love was an American Revolutionary War soldier under the command of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. He is the founder of Waynesville, North Carolina which he named after his commanding officer.
Robert Love was born near the Tinkling Springs Church in Augusta County, Virginia, May 11, 1760. He was the son of Samuel and Dorcas Love.
Love entered military service in 1776 from what is now Wythe County, Virginia. After the revolution and with his parents being dead, he moved to what was then Washington County, North Carolina but is now part of Tennessee. About one year later, in 1782 he married Mary Ann Dillard, the daughter of Col. Thomas Dillard of Virginia. Love represented Washington County in the North Carolina Legislature in 1789. Love moved to Buncombe County, North Carolina in 1792 and was elected to the State Senate of North Carolina. He helped to establish the final state boundary line between North Carolina and Tennessee in 1821.
In 1809 Love donated land in Haywood County for a courthouse, jail and town square and formed Mount Prospect which was quickly renamed Waynesville after his commanding officer in the war.
Colonel Love's descendants currently reside in Virginia and Texas. These families continue the Masonic tradition of which he was a part.
