These dissenters, in Virginia at least, were first and foremost Presbyterian, followed by Baptists, Quakers, and then a plethora of Continental European groups such as Lutheran, Huguenot, on down to fairly obscure such as Dunkards.
The dissenters were treated poorly by the establishment, there were rebellions and conflicts that are now poorly understood by most if they're even aware at all, but the seeds for the founding of our nation were planted in those conflicts. King George and others referred to our Revolution as the Presbyterian Rebellion. Scotch-Irish for the most part, forced west into the Shenandoah Valley and beyond due to this persecution.
I'd suggest that the mutilation you encountered spun off of this, especially since the religion of the perpetrator was deemed noteworthy. Your ancestor Very likely professed the established state religion, Anglican. His attacker did not, and likely suffered for it. I'd suggest retaliation of some sort.
In other words, there is quite likely much more to that story, imho, if you care to pursue it. It may not reflect well upon your ancestor. My attitude is, it's history, I'll be thankful toward every one of those ancestors I discover regardless of whether or not they had a highly favorable reputation. Some will, some won't, but without them all, there would be no “you.”
One of my most illustrious ancestors was nearby the area of which you speak. Robert “King” Carter, the wealthiest man in all the colonies at that time, rivalled only by the Rennselaers of New York. I descend through his second wife Elizabeth Landon. Landon Carter was my fourth great grandfather, fought in the revolution and achieved a level of authority while so doing, opened a land office in the western reaches of North Carolina distributing land grants to veterans of the Revolution and other settlers of what soon became Tennessee.
Some underhandedness there, his legacy was not all squeaky clean. Let's just say he saw an opportunity and took advantage to become rather well off. Too bad none of it filtered down to me, lol, other than a fairly grand family history for just one of my many lines, most of which would be best described as humble.
It's a fascinating pursuit, and you'll learn some history along the way that unfortunately gets short shrift these days,