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. 1752
   Orange County The act creating Orange County names James Watson a boundary commissioner and vestryman

   The 1752 act that created Orange County named James Watson one of three commissioners to run the dividing line between Orange and Granville, Johnston and Bladen counties, and one of the twelve first vestrymen of St. Matthew's Parish. Another act of the same session made him the county's receiver of the impost duty.

4. 1754
   Law, policy or court · Hillsborough The Assembly moves the county seat to the Eno crossing of the Western path

   Judging the Piney Ford site too far west, the Assembly directed that the courthouse, prison and stocks stand where the Western path crossed the Eno, on land where James Watson lived. The site, just east of the present courthouse, was the start of Hillsborough.

5. 1754
   Appointment, election or service · Corbin Town, later Hillsborough The county court names trustees for Corbin Town

   James Watson, Josiah Dixon and Lawrence Thompson became commissioners and trustees of the county seat, then called Corbin Town after Francis Corbin, Earl Granville's land agent.

6. 1755 to 1763
   Appointment, election or service · Hillsborough James Watson succeeds Richard Caswell as clerk of the Orange County court

   Watson, one of the town's first residents, was the second clerk of the county court from 1755 to 1763. He was named register of the county in 1772 and was reappointed under the state government shortly before his death.

7. December 1756
   Construction or physical change · Hillsborough Hillsborough's first courthouse is ready for use

   Until it opened, the county court met at the home of James Watson. It was the first of the four courthouses Hillsborough has had.

8. October 10, 1766
   Orange County James Watson brings Edmund Fanning's answer to the Regulators' meeting at Maddock's Mill

   When none of the county's officers came to the meeting, Watson arrived alone late in the day with word from Fanning that he considered it an insurrection. The delegates drew up Regulator Advertisement Number Three in his presence; Watson called it just and reasonable and promised to give copies to the county officials.

9. August 29, 1768
   Property or economic transaction · Hillsborough Hillsborough's town commissioners sign the earliest town deed on record

   James Watson, William Nunn, Edmund Fanning and Francis Nash, acting as commissioners for the town, sign the earliest of the Hillsborough town deeds kept by the Orange County register of deeds.

10. 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.

11. Revolution and early republic · 1775–1799

12. 1777
    Hillsborough James Watson becomes register of Orange County and a Hillsborough commissioner under the new state

    When county government resumed under statehood in 1777, James Watson was the county's register and one of the first commissioners of the town of Hillsborough, with William Johnston, James Hogg, John Shields and William Courtney.

13. 1777
    Hillsborough William Courtney is one of the first Hillsborough town commissioners under the state

    When the new state government was organized, the commissioners for the town of Hillsborough were William Johnston, James Hogg, John Sheels (Shields), William Courtney and James Watson.

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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.