Tom Blount was born in about 1675 and became the leader of the Upper Tuscarora who resided in the vicinity of the Tar and Roanoke Rivers. During the Tuscarora War, unlike the Lower Tuscarora, Blount led his people on a neutral course, electing to not lead his people on a war against the colonists. After the war, Blount and those Tuscarora that remained in the colony resided in southwestern Bertie Precinct. Though the colonists saw and treated Blount as the king of Tuscarora, the nation doubtless had a more complex leadership structure. Still, Blount acted as one of the primary liaisons between his tribe and the neighboring colonists. He died sometime before March 1739.