Chronology

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1. Colonial and Regulator years · 1680–1774

2. 1752
   Orange County John Patterson is named one of the first vestrymen of St. Matthew's Parish

   The act of the 1752 Assembly that created Orange County and the Parish of St. Matthew named John Patterson among the twelve vestrymen who were to serve until the first vestry election.

3. September 9, 1752
   Law, policy or court · John Gray's house, near the Eno River The Orange County court holds its first session at John Gray's house

   Eight justices of the peace held the county's first Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions at John Gray's house near the Eno River, with Alexander Mebane as sheriff and Richard Caswell as clerk. They named fifteen road commissioners and several constables and laid a poll tax of one shilling on each tithable.

4. October 1754
   Property or economic transaction · Corbin Town, later Hillsborough Town treasurer John Patterson is told to hold back ten shillings a lot for public use

   The county court directed Patterson to keep ten shillings sterling from the price of each Corbin Town lot for public purposes.

5. 1755
   Appointment, election or service · Orange County Lawrence Thompson is appointed sheriff of Orange County

   In 1755 the county court sent the governor three names for sheriff, John Patterson, Lawrence Thompson and Alexander Mebane, and Thompson received the appointment. He had run second to John Gray in the justices' vote two years before.

6. Revolution and early republic · 1775–1799

7. May 1777
   Construction or physical change · Road from Richard Bennehan's to New Hope Chapel The county court orders the road from Bennehan's to New Hope Chapel finished

   The road ordered earlier from Richard Bennehan's to New Hope Chapel had been cleared only as far as John Patterson's, so the May 1777 court named an overseer to clear the rest.

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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.