Frederick Debow was born in New Jersey in about 1746. As a young man he moved with his family to Orange County, North Carolina. He married Rachel Rogers in Caswell County, North Carolina in March 1771 and the couple eventually had at least seven children together. During the American Revolution, he served at various times as a private and later captain in the Caswell County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia and was responsible for guarding the members of the North Carolina General Assembly then meeting at Hillsborough, North Carolina. He also served for a time in a mounted unit and patrolled the state's southern border. Later, he acted as a Deputy Commissary and Wagon Master in Continental Army. He was responsible for General John Butler's baggage wagons following the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Sometime after that battle, Debow and his brother-in-law Archibald Murphy returned to Debow's home on Cane Creek near present-day Semora. While they slept, Rachel Debow kept watch for British soldiers in the area. Debow then joined General Nathanael's Greene's army and served throughout the remainder of the war. After the war, the Debow family continued to reside on Cane Creek in Caswell County, later Person County, before moving to Tennessee. He died in Smith County, Tennessee in the fall of 1809.