Chronology

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1. Colonial and Regulator years · 1680–1774

2. late 1767 or early 1768
   Founding or opening · Hillsborough William Johnston and James Thackston go into business as Hillsborough merchants

   Johnston, a Scottish merchant of means related to the Johnston governors, came to Hillsborough and formed a partnership with James Thackston. Their store stood at the southwest corner of King and Churton streets.

3. 1768
   Snow Hill William Johnston offers Richard Bennehan a partnership in the Little River Store

   William Johnston offered Richard Bennehan a one-third partnership in the Little River Store on his Snowhill plantation near Hillsborough. Bennehan moved to North Carolina in late 1768 or early 1769 to manage it.

4. late 1770
   Protest or organizing · Hillsborough Hillsborough officials and merchants pledge to defend one another after the riot

   Just after the September 1770 riot, Francis Nash, Edmund Fanning, Alexander Martin, Thomas Henderson, Jesse Benton, William Johnston, Adlai Osborne and others formed an association for mutual aid and protection. Many members lived too far apart to help one another in a sudden emergency.

5. September 30, 1770
   Protest or organizing · Hillsborough Hillsborough's leading men write to Governor Tryon for protection after the riot

   James Watson, Francis Nash, Thomas Hart, Robert Lytle, William Johnston, James Thackston and James Monro wrote from Hillsborough describing the Regulators' insolence at the superior court, said they stood hourly in danger of their lives and estates, and asked Tryon to adopt whatever measures he judged proper.

6. Revolution and early republic · 1775–1799

7. During the Revolution
   Snow Hill William Johnston produces gunpowder, lead and flints at Snow Hill

   During the Revolution Hillsborough merchant William Johnston apparently produced gunpowder, lead and rifle flints at his Snow Hill plantation northeast of the town.

8. August to September 1775
   Law, policy or court · Hillsborough The Provincial Congress forms the Hillsborough District and its committee of safety

   The Congress grouped Orange, Granville, Chatham and Wake counties into a Hillsborough District with a thirteen-member committee of safety; John Atkinson, John Butler and William Johnston sat for Orange. Thomas Person and John Kinchen represented the district on the Provincial Council.

9. May 1778
   Law, policy or court · Orange County Orange magistrates tender the state oath across the county

   The county court named two magistrates in each district to offer the oath to people suspected of disloyalty, and they returned lists of those who took and refused it to the May 1778 term. At that term James Hogg, William Johnston and Samuel Strudwick were cited again, and those who still declined were given sixty days to leave.

10. February 12, 1779
    Founding or opening · Hillsborough General Assembly charters an academy near Hillsborough named Science Hall

    Meeting at Halifax, the General Assembly passed an act to establish an academy in the neighborhood of Hillsborough, naming William Hooper, Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, James Hogg and others as trustees. The act named the school Science Hall and gave its trustees the same powers as those of Liberty Hall in Mecklenburg County.

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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.