GREENSBORO, N.C. —- An amateur historian's research has forced the state to scrap a marker that claimed that the leader of a militia who challenged corrupt tax collectors in the 1700s was later a state lawmaker.

Historian Warren Dixon argued that the marker erected in 1963 recognized the accomplishments of two men, both named James Hunter. One led a band of backwoods men known as the Regulators into the 1771 Battle of Alamance -- one of the first acts of rebellion against British rule in North Carolina.

The other was a member of the state Legislature from 1772-82 and a state auditor. He also fought at the 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse, according to the North Carolina Genealogical Journal. He is the one most likely to have been buried near the former marker...

Dixon has told state officials about one more possible error. There is a historical marker in Siler City that commemorates a second leader of the Regulators, Herman Husband. The marker says his home was nearby, but Dixon found another parcel in Randolph County owned by Husband that he believes was his actual home.

The state has accepted Dixon's research and will place a new marker at the site this spring, but will not destroy the existing one, Hill said.