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Searched the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, not only the highlights. Showing 1–19.Back to highlights
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Revolution and early republic · 1775–1799
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Three of David Fanning's men are hanged at Hillsborough
Seven captured raiders were tried before Judge John Williams, with Alfred Moore prosecuting and William R. Davie defending in his first case. Three were hanged despite Fanning's threats, and Burke commuted the other four sentences to a year in the Continental army.
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The convention appoints a committee of privileges and elections with three members from each district
The convention set up a 27-member committee of privileges and elections, three from each district, which went on to rule on the disputed returns. Alexander Mebane of Orange County sat on it with Thomas Person, William R. Davie and James Iredell.
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The convention names a select committee to draft its rules of debate
On its first day the convention asked William R. Davie, Thomas Person, James Iredell, Elisha Battle, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Samuel Spencer and a member named McDonald to propose rules for its discussion of the Constitution.
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The committee of the whole adopts Willie Jones's resolution for a declaration of rights and amendments before ratification
After a day of debate on the resolution, Davie asked that the amendments be taken one at a time, but the committee approved the resolution as it stood by a large majority. Kenan reported it to the convention, which ordered it to lie on the table overnight.
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The convention adopts a declaration of rights and twenty-six amendments to be laid before Congress before ratification
On Thomas Person's motion the convention concurred with its committee of the whole, resolving that a declaration of rights of twenty articles and twenty-six amendments to the most ambiguous and exceptionable parts of the Constitution be laid before Congress and a convention of the states before North Carolina would ratify. On Willie Jones's motions it also recommended a state impost matching whatever Congress laid, urged redemption of the paper currency, and ordered the resolutions sent to Congress and the twelve other states.
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University of North Carolina is chartered
Meeting in Fayetteville, the General Assembly adopted William R. Davie's bill chartering the University of North Carolina. The act named some forty trustees and, instead of an appropriation, gave the school escheated property and uncollected debts; the trustees later placed it in southern Orange County, where Chapel Hill grew up around it.
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Benjamin Smith gives the university 20,000 acres of western land
Davie announced at the trustees' first meeting that Smith of Brunswick County had given land he received for Revolutionary service, in what became Obion County, Tennessee. It sold some 25 years later for $14,000, and Smith Hall, now the Playmakers Theatre, bears his name.
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The university's trustees hold their first meeting, at Fayetteville
Senate Speaker Charles Johnson chaired the meeting, and Alexander Mebane and James Hogg attended for Orange County. Davie and Hogg were charged with printing the two subscription papers, one under the charter's terms and one for outright gifts.
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The Assembly grants the university the proceeds of escheated property
Alongside the charter, a second act gave the new university the proceeds from property that fell to the state for want of heirs.
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The Assembly lends the university trustees 5,000 pounds for its buildings
Trustees meeting at New Bern named a committee to seek the loan, and Davie argued for it before the Commons. It passed 57 to 53 in the Commons and 28 to 21 in the Senate.
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Orange County leads the state in pledges to the university
By July, Davie and Willie Jones reported 909 pounds 4 shillings pledged in Orange against 804 pounds in Halifax, out of $6,723 statewide. William Cain and Walter Alves of Orange were among the three largest subscribers at $200 each, and Jesse Neville of Orange gave $100.
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Commissioners mark out the sites of the university's buildings and grounds
Davie, Alfred Moore, Alexander Mebane and Thomas Blount met on the Chapel Hill tract and fixed the building sites, with land set aside for offices, avenues and ornamental grounds.
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Old East cornerstone is laid
William Richardson Davie and fellow trustees laid Old East’s cornerstone; October 12 is observed as University Day.
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The first town lots in Chapel Hill are sold at auction
After the Old East cornerstone was laid, the commissioners auctioned the village lots on the spot; 29 lots brought more than 1,500 pounds, and one was held back for the president's house.
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UNC holds its first public examination, announced by Governor Spaight
The University's first public examination took place at Chapel Hill on July 13, 1795, after notice appeared in the newspapers over the signature of Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight. The governor's wife, Mary Spaight, was the only woman present, and about a dozen men attended, including William R. Davie, James Hogg, Alfred Moore and James Glasgow.
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Trustees adopt William R. Davie's plan dividing the university into a preparatory school and professorships
Davie's plan put English at the center, let French stand beside the classics and set up chairs of moral and political philosophy, natural philosophy, mathematics, chemistry with agriculture and the mechanic arts, and languages. The board elected Samuel McCorkle a professor, but he declined when refused extra pay in place of the president's house.
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Trustees forbid students to visit village taverns without leave and allow dancing lessons
Meeting at the July examinations, the board barred tavern visits without a professor's permission and gave the preparatory teachers authority over all students. The same meeting let students attend dancing schools with faculty consent.
Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865
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William R. Davie receives the university's first honorary Doctor of Laws
The University of North Carolina awarded William R. Davie an honorary LL.D. in 1811, the first Doctor of Laws it conferred; honorary master's degrees had gone to Joseph Caldwell and others in 1799. Davie had sat on the board of trustees from 1789 to 1807.
Early twentieth century · 1900–1944
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The university opens Davie Hall for botany and zoology
Ordered by the trustees in June 1907 and begun late that year, the university's new building for botany and zoology, named William R. Davie Hall, was finished for the fall 1908 session. It was renovated and expanded in 1967.
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Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 2, 2026.
