Colonel Alexander McAllister, a patriot and Revolutionary hero, is buried near Old Bluff Church. He served as colonel of the Cumberland County militia; represented Cumberland County in the First Assembly at Newbern in December 1773 and the Second Assembly at Newbern in March 1774; sat in the Provincial Congress at Hillsboro in August 1775 and at Halifax in April 1776; served on the Committee of Safety for the Wilmington District; was appointed by the Provincial Congress on August 23, 1775, to meet with Highlanders and explain the nature of the controversy with Great Britain; and served in the North Carolina Senate in 1787, 1788, and 1789.