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Orange County Observer (Hillsborough): A Democratic weekly published in Hillsborough from 1880. It provides detailed local reporting, with partisan coverage of elections and race. Read issue by issue for this index, 1880–1909.Open the sourceAll sources
Searched the full chronology of 9,006 dated events and 77 storylines, not only the highlights. Showing 201–400 of 980, 200 to a page.Back to highlights
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Reconstruction and the New South · 1866–1899
- 1880s
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Hedgpeth and McCollum open a store on the corner north of the court house
Thomas Hedgpeth and M. W. McCollum opened a dry goods and grocery store in the corner house north of the Hillsborough court house, lately occupied by merchant W. E. Steward, who moved one door west.
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Commissioners order a stock-law district east, north and south of Chapel Hill
On a petition from the owners of three-fourths of the land lying east, north and south of Chapel Hill along the Durham, Oxford, Raleigh and Hillsboro roads, the county commissioners ordered the stock put up there and allowed gates on those public roads. The same session approved a separate stock-law association of several McCauley landowners, on condition that it build gates on its boundary.
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The Webb & Co. tobacco partnership in Hillsborough is dissolved
James Webb Jr., Joseph C. Webb and George C. Corbin gave notice that their tobacco manufacturing firm, Webb & Co., was dissolved, leaving the two Webbs to collect its debts and wind up its business. The firm had been making tobacco in Hillsborough since at least 1881.
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W. M. Stroud & Co. of University Station dissolves
The partnership of W. M. Stroud of University Station and H. W. Harris, trading as W. M. Stroud & Co., was dissolved by mutual consent, with Stroud taking over its accounts.
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Hillsborough's Black Odd Fellows march to their annual thanksgiving service
Members of Bud of Hope Lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, a Black lodge, met at their hall in the Berry building and marched in procession, with John Webb as marshal, to the Methodist church for their annual thanksgiving service.
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Three Black men are convicted of manslaughter in the killing of student Jacob Freeze
Pat Brewer, Jesse Harris and Frank Kirby, Black men indicted for the 1886 killing of university student Jacob A. Freeze, were tried at Hillsborough before Judge Fred Phillips from March 30 to April 2. A jury of nine white and three Black men convicted them of manslaughter; Brewer was sentenced to ten years and Harris and Kirby to five years each in the penitentiary, and they appealed.
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The legislature repeals the Mecklenburg road law in Orange County
The General Assembly repealed the Mecklenburg road law, which had governed road work in Orange County for two years, returning the county to the old system of road overseers calling out their hands.
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Hillsborough elects Joseph A. Harris mayor
With no opposing ticket and only about half the registered voters taking part, Hillsborough elected Joseph A. Harris, editor of the Orange County Observer, as mayor, with A. W. Graham, James A. Cheek, Henry Richards Jr., A. J. Ruffin, John Rosemond, James Webb Jr. and Jesse Hedgpeth as commissioners. The new board took office May 7 and chose Thomas D. Tinnin clerk and John Laws treasurer.
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Prisoners in the Freeze case try to break out of the Hillsborough jail
About eleven on Sunday night, May 8, Pat Brewer, Jesse Harris and Frank Kirby seized the jailer when he came up to let Brewer's wife visit, but they could not get out because the door had been locked from inside; night watchman Roach heard the struggle and the attempt failed.
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Hillsborough's town board bars burials of outsiders in the Black cemetery without a permit
The Hillsborough commissioners ordered that no one who died outside the town could be buried in the town's colored cemetery without a permit from the town constable. At the same meeting they named committees to plan a mayor's office and guard house and to look into lighting the streets.
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J. W. Allen, a Black barber, opens a shop in Hillsborough
J. W. Allen, a Black barber, rented a room in town and opened for business, offering first-class shaves.
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The university's catalogue lists 201 students
The University of North Carolina's new catalogue listed 201 students, the same as the year before, with fifteen teachers, eighteen lecture rooms, six laboratories and museums, a library of 25,000 volumes and a reading room taking eighty papers and journals; the law school was reported flourishing.
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Eagle Lodge celebrates St. John's Day at Hillsborough with an address by Judge Walter Clark
Eagle Lodge No. 71, A. F. & A. M., marched to the Baptist church, where Dr. Pride Jones installed its new officers and Judge Walter Clark gave the address before a crowd from town and country. A festival that night raised $58.
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Bingham Township farmers form a club and call a county farmers' meeting
Farmers of Bingham Township organized a farmers' club at Oaks, with Alex. McIver as president and S. S. Webb as secretary, and called on every township to send delegates to Hillsborough on July 30 to form a county farmers' club and institute.
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John Rosemond sells his share of J. Rosemond & Son, which becomes E. A. Rosemond & Bro.
The Hillsborough firm of J. Rosemond & Son was dissolved when John Rosemond sold his interest to a son, and the business went on at the old stand as E. A. Rosemond & Bro., selling groceries, confectionery and soda water.
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Black residents gather in Hillsborough to celebrate the Fourth of July
A large crowd of Black people came into Hillsborough on Monday, July 4, to celebrate Independence Day, and the day passed quietly despite passing showers.
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Bishop Lyman ordains William L. Reaney a priest at St. Matthew's
Bishop Lyman ordained the Rev. William L. Reaney of Burlington to the priesthood at the morning service at St. Matthew's Church, with the Revs. Marshall, Bush and Murphy joining in the laying on of hands. That night the bishop confirmed two young men.
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An iron bridge over the West Eno nears completion
Builders were finishing a new iron bridge over the West Eno in early July, and the paper expected it to be done within days.
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C. M. Parks builds a two-story brick addition to his Bazar
Contractor C. W. Brown built C. M. Parks a two-story brick store, 22 by 45 feet with a glass front, south of Parks's Bazar in Hillsborough. Roofed with tin in mid-September and fitted with large plate glass in late October, the 'Bazar, Junior' held millinery and clothing rooms.
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Chapel Hill's new Methodist church goes up under the Rev. Mr. Griffith
By early August the new Methodist church at Chapel Hill was well under way, and a Chapel Hill correspondent credited its pastor, the Rev. Mr. Griffith, with pushing the building forward without funds in hand.
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Governor Scales names A. W. Graham a state director of the North Carolina Railroad
When a Mr. Craig resigned as one of the State's directors of the North Carolina Railroad, Governor A. M. Scales appointed Hillsborough lawyer A. W. Graham to the vacancy.
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Hillsborough's commissioners levy the town tax
The Hillsborough town commissioners levied a tax of 20 cents on each $100 of real and personal property and 60 cents on each poll.
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Black minister and physician A. W. Shields speaks at Hillsborough on education
The Rev. A. W. Shields, M.D., a Black man from Washington, D.C., spoke at Hillsborough on 'Education and Reformation,' urging Black residents to educate themselves, go to work and quit bad habits, before an audience of white and Black citizens.
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County commissioners order repairs to the court house cupola
The county commissioners named D. C. Parks, Charles F. Crabtree and George Laws a committee to have needed repairs made to the court house cupola, and by December Richard Berry, a Black painter, was painting it.
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W. W. Allison, long a magistrate in Cedar Grove Township, dies
W. W. Allison, 73, said to have been the first magistrate ever elected in his township and to have held the office for many years, died in Cedar Grove Township and was buried at Eno church.
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The Episcopal Convocation of Raleigh meets at St. Matthew's Church
The Episcopal Convocation of Raleigh opened at St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough on Wednesday, September 14, and held services with sermons and evening addresses there through Friday.
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Orange County farmers organize the Orange County Club at the court house
After a July 30 mass meeting addressed by Kemp P. Battle, farmers met at the court house on September 17, adopted a constitution and by-laws reported by S. S. Webb, and elected Alexander McIver of Oaks president of the Orange County Club, with William D. Latta, N. D. Bain and Thomas H. Hughes as the other officers. Twenty-nine farmers enrolled, and a committee was named to consider forming a farmers' institute.
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Bud of Hope Lodge, Hillsborough's Black Odd Fellows, celebrates its anniversary
Members of Bud of Hope Lodge, the Black Odd Fellows of Hillsborough, celebrated their anniversary with a parade of some 76 members led by the Durham Brass Band and Chief Marshal Sam Wilson, joined by guests from Durham and elsewhere, and closed the day with a ball in Webb's warehouse.
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Prohibitionists organize a club at New Hope
A prohibition club was organized at New Hope on Saturday, October 1, with a minister as its president, as prohibitionists in the county began to organize.
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The Hillsboro Colored Normal School opens under Hampton graduate L. C. Jenkins
The Hillsboro Colored Normal School opened with Miss L. C. Jenkins, a graduate of Hampton Institute, as its teacher. By January 1888 it had enrolled forty-five pupils, and its backers were asking for help to build an academy by October 1888.
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County commissioners order a new bridge at Purefoy's mill near Chapel Hill
The county commissioners named William F. Stroud, James Y. Merritt and Thomas Lloyd a committee to let the building of a bridge at Purefoy's mill near Chapel Hill to the lowest bidder, reusing the good timber in the old bridge.
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County commissioners put the stock law in force in Chapel Hill Township
On a petition signed by 383 freeholders, three-fourths of those in Chapel Hill Township, the county commissioners declared the stock law adopted there, to take effect January 1, 1888, without an election or a tax to build fences.
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T. J. Norcom opens a boys' school in the Hillsborough academy building
Professor T. J. Norcom opened a school for boys in the Hillsborough academy building on Tuesday, October 11, but left town suddenly after teaching six pupils for about as many days.
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A. A. Springs closes out his Hillsborough store to manufacture tobacco
Merchant A. A. Springs began selling his whole stock of dry goods, groceries and hardware at cost so he could give his full attention to manufacturing tobacco.
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Charley Lindsay opens a new store at Chapel Hill
Charley Lindsay opened a large new store at Chapel Hill and promised to undersell the town's other merchants, as Chapel Hill merchants laid in unusually large fall stocks.
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The Black Baptist State Convention meets at Hillsborough
North Carolina's Black Baptist State Convention met at the Black Baptist church in Hillsborough and adjourned on Saturday, October 22, after a week of business. Black residents of the town lodged and fed more than a hundred delegates, who chose New Bern for the next year's meeting.
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Secretary of State William L. Saunders searches Orange County's old records for state history
William L. Saunders, North Carolina's secretary of state, spent some days in Hillsborough searching the county's old records and books for material on the history of North Carolina.
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State Superintendent S. M. Finger lectures at the University on the public school problem
Major S. M. Finger, state superintendent of public instruction, lectured at the University on 'The Public School Problem,' arguing that North Carolina lagged behind other states in education and answering those who opposed public schools over taxes and the schooling of Black children.
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Three Black men convicted in the killing of student Freeze go to the penitentiary
After the state Supreme Court upheld their convictions in Orange Superior Court for the killing of University student Jacob A. Freeze at Chapel Hill, Sheriff John K. Hughes took Pat Brewer, sentenced to ten years, and Frank Kirby and Jesse Harris, five years each, to the penitentiary at Raleigh.
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Hillsborough's commissioners sell the Public Spring Lot
The town sold its Public Spring Lot, one of the public lots set aside when Hillsborough was laid out, for $100. The finance committee's report for the year ending May 1, 1889 lists the sale.
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Hillsborough's Black Independent Literary Society installs its officers at the A.M.E. church
The Independent Literary Society, a Black society about three months old that met at the A.M.E. church in Hillsborough, installed officers with Rev. J. E. C. Barham as president and C. P. Turrentine as secretary. It set a public debate for February 6 on whether Black Americans should emigrate to a colony of their own or remain in the United States.
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Merchant and tobacco maker A. A. Springs assigns his business to D. H. Hamilton
A. A. Springs, a Hillsborough merchant and manufacturer of plug tobacco, made an assignment for his creditors to Maj. D. H. Hamilton, who offered the stock of goods for sale at cost. Within a few weeks Springs had arranged to settle his debts and make a new start.
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Baptist minister A. D. Blackwood dies at Chapel Hill
The Rev. A. D. Blackwood, a Baptist minister of long service, died at Chapel Hill after several weeks of severe illness.
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Bud of Hope Lodge of Black Odd Fellows marks its second anniversary with a procession
Members of Bud of Hope Lodge No. 2694, a Black Odd Fellows lodge in Hillsborough, celebrated its second anniversary by marching from their hall in the Berry building to the Black Baptist church, where Rev. C. L. Davis preached the anniversary sermon. John Webb was marshal of the procession.
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Prisoners overpower the jailer and break out of the Hillsborough jail
David Holmes and James P. Hopkins overpowered jailer Hayes when he brought breakfast, took his keys, freed James Hogan and fled; the sheriff's party caught Holmes and Hopkins within hours, and Hogan was taken in Chatham County. On the night of March 11 Hopkins and Holmes's son broke out again through a hole in the wall, the jail's third escape since New Year's.
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Fire destroys eight wooden buildings near the Hillsborough court house
A fire that started on the roof of Robert Faucette's shoe shop before dawn burned a row of eight old wooden buildings in downtown Hillsborough, among them D. M. Laws's three buildings, the John Laws & Son tin shop and buildings owned by Samuel T. Smith, Israel Turner, George Hill and Lewis Jenkins. The court house roof caught several times before townspeople, white and Black, held the fire to the row.
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Samuel M. Gattis is admitted to practice law in the Orange County court
Samuel M. Gattis, licensed by the state Supreme Court in February, was introduced by A. W. Graham and admitted as an attorney of the Orange Superior Court at the opening of its spring term. In April he opened a law office in the court house.
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F. N. Strudwick withdraws from the Hillsboro Recorder
F. N. Strudwick, who had become co-owner and editor of the revived Hillsboro Recorder in 1887, withdrew from the paper.
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Three Farmers' Alliance chapters organize at Cedar Grove, Fairfield church and Ray's school house
Three subordinate chapters of the Farmers' Alliance were organized in Orange County in a single week, at Cedar Grove, at Fairfield church and at Ray's school house in Cedar Grove Township, a month after state lecturer Col. G. B. Pickett had spoken at the court house.
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Orange Republicans name convention delegates and back James B. Mason for state auditor
The Orange County Republican convention at Hillsborough, with Wilson Brown in the chair, chose Isaac R. Strayhorn and Henry N. Brown as delegates to the state convention and James B. Mason and Lewis Jenkins to the congressional convention, with London Whitted and Haywood Beverly among the alternates. It endorsed Mason for state auditor and declared against the existing system of county government.
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Hillsborough re-elects Joseph A. Harris mayor over Samuel M. Gattis
Hillsborough voters re-elected editor Joseph A. Harris mayor over Samuel M. Gattis, 79 to 39, and chose D. C. Parks, George Laws, Thomas Hedgpeth, James Webb Jr., James A. Cheek, Henry Richards Jr. and D. Y. Mebane as town commissioners.
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The Orange County Farmers' Alliance organizes with Sheriff John K. Hughes as president
Delegates of the subordinate alliances met at the court house in Hillsborough and organized a County Alliance, electing Sheriff John Knox Hughes president, Thomas J. Oldham vice-president, W. V. Andrews secretary and N. D. Bain treasurer. They set regular meetings every three months, beginning the first Friday in July.
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Magistrates elect a new board of county commissioners and set the 1888 county tax
Meeting at the court house, the justices of the peace elected W. D. Woods, James Y. Merritt and Sidney G. Strayhorn county commissioners for two years from December and joined the commissioners in setting the 1888 county tax at 40 cents on $100 of property. With the board of education they re-elected Rev. J. L. Currie superintendent of public instruction.
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Hillsborough's town board decides to build a brick mayor's office and guard house
At its regular meeting the Hillsborough board of commissioners elected Henry Richards Jr. town clerk in place of Thomas D. Tinnin, who had resigned, and decided to build a brick house for the mayor's office and guard house.
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Chapel Hill Democrats organize a Cleveland, Fowle and Bunn Club
Chapel Hill Democrats organized a Cleveland, Fowle and Bunn campaign club with W. N. Pritchard as president and R. E. Carr as corresponding secretary. By the next morning 61 members had enrolled and forty beaver hats and bandannas had been ordered by express.
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Paul C. Cameron resigns as president of the university's alumni association
Paul C. Cameron of Hillsborough resigned the presidency of the University Alumni Association because his hearing had failed, and the association chose a successor.
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County commissioners let Hillsborough build a mayor's office and guard house on the court house square
At their July meeting the county commissioners gave Hillsborough's mayor and town commissioners leave to put up a brick building on the southwest corner of the court house square for a mayor's office and guard house.
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Hillsborough Township Democrats organize a Cleveland and Fowle Club
Democrats of Hillsborough Township met at the court house and organized a Cleveland and Fowle Club, electing James Webb Jr. president, M. W. McCollum and D. H. Hamilton vice presidents and E. L. Cooley secretary. Webb declined the post, and at the next meeting McCollum moved up to the presidency.
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Superintendent Currie holds an institute for Orange County's Black teachers
County superintendent J. L. Currie held a week's institute for the county's Black teachers, three weeks after the session for white teachers. Thirteen teachers attended.
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Superintendent Currie holds the county teachers' institute for white teachers at Hillsborough
County superintendent J. L. Currie, helped by B. C. Patton and W. W. Andrews, held a week's institute for Orange County's white teachers at Hillsborough. Twenty-one teachers enrolled; the days went to the branches taught in the public schools and the evenings to lectures and debates on education that were open to the public.
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Orange County Democrats nominate their county ticket and leave the sheriff's race open
The Democratic county convention at the court house nominated Thomas M. Cheek for the House, John Laws for register of deeds, D. M. Laws for treasurer, Dr. A. C. Jordan for coroner and James O. Webb for surveyor, and recommended Thomas H. Hughes to the senatorial convention. With only two or three votes against, it postponed indefinitely any nomination for sheriff, leaving the field to Sheriff John K. Hughes.
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Thomas Blount Hill, longtime senior warden of St. Matthew's, dies at Hillsborough
Thomas Blount Hill died at the Hillsborough home of his son-in-law Joseph C. Webb and was buried in St. Matthew's churchyard. A native of Halifax County, he had served St. Matthew's Episcopal Church for many years as lay reader and senior warden and as its delegate to the diocesan convention.
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M. W. McCollum leases the Occoneechee Hotel from D. C. Parks
M. W. McCollum rented the Occoneechee Hotel from D. C. Parks and prepared to take charge of it at the turn of the month, with Mrs. McCollum, who had experience in the business, to help run it.
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Postmaster Parish moves the Hillsborough post office into the brick building east of Rosemond's store
Postmaster H. L. Parish moved the Hillsborough post office around the corner into the brick building east of Rosemond's store. That was evidently Parish's own building, where the post office was when fire destroyed it on November 27.
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Orange County Republicans nominate Wilson Brown for sheriff and a full county ticket
After a caucus of more than an hour, the Republican county convention at the court house named Wilson Brown for sheriff, Thomas F. Lloyd of Chapel Hill for the House, Milton E. Craig for register of deeds, Irvin A. Hogan for treasurer and Dr. John R. Hogan for coroner, and recommended James A. Cheek for the state Senate. H. C. Thompson of Chapel Hill Township presided, and Col. James E. Boyd, elector for the state at large, spoke afterward.
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Fowle and Dockery debate the governor's race at Hillsborough
Daniel G. Fowle, the Democratic candidate for governor, and Oliver H. Dockery, the Republican, held a joint discussion before a large crowd at Hillsborough, introduced by Samuel M. Gattis. Fowle defended the county government system and the Democrats' record on taxes and schools; Dockery argued for a protective tariff and for replacing the county commissioners with boards of audit and finance.
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Hillsborough sends money to the yellow fever sufferers of Jacksonville
During the Jacksonville yellow fever epidemic, Eagle Lodge No. 71 gave $10 for stricken Masons there and the Observer opened a subscription list at a reader's request. The $6 raised through the paper was sent to the mayor of Jacksonville on October 3, and the acting mayor, D. T. Gerow, wrote back to thank the givers.
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Senator Zebulon B. Vance speaks at the Hillsborough court house
U.S. Senator Zebulon B. Vance spoke on the issues of the campaign to a good crowd at the court house, answering an invitation the Hillsborough Democrats had voted in September.
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Orange County gives Cleveland and Fowle majorities and re-elects Sheriff John K. Hughes
Orange County gave Grover Cleveland 1,613 votes to Benjamin Harrison's 1,297 and Daniel G. Fowle 1,610 to Oliver H. Dockery's 1,288, though the Hillsborough box went Republican. Sheriff John K. Hughes, running as an independent, beat Republican Wilson Brown 1,804 to 1,105; the Democrats John Laws and D. M. Laws won as register of deeds and treasurer, and Thomas M. Cheek and John T. Nichols took the two House seats for Orange and Durham.
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Hillsborough church women give a dinner for St. John's Hospital in Raleigh
The Ladies Aid Society, made up of women from the Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist churches of Hillsborough, served a dinner at the Masonic Hall for the benefit of St. John's Hospital in Raleigh and cleared more than $50.
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Hillsborough's commissioners order twelve street lamps
Hillsborough's town commissioners told their street committee to buy twelve street lamps and arrange for lighting them, and passed an ordinance fining anyone who broke a street lamp $25.
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Fire destroys the Parish and Berry buildings and the Recorder printing office in Hillsborough
A fire before dawn burned Postmaster Harry L. Parish's brick building, which held the post office, his store and the Hillsboro Recorder's printing office, then spread to the three-story Berry building next door. The Recorder lost its press, type and subscription books.
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Prospectors find coal at Patterson's mill in Chapel Hill Township
In November 1888 Maj. W. A. Guthrie showed coal from U. D. Patterson's land near Patterson's Mills in Chapel Hill Township and took an option on 1,200 acres. By late May 1890 an expert miner was blasting at Patterson's mill in search of coal, and in June the Durham Sun reported that Guthrie showed coal from the Patterson place, that the vein was thickening, and that the first bushel had sold for $10.
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Rev. G. W. Harman accepts the pastorate of the Hillsborough Baptist church
Rev. George W. Harman of Rutherfordton accepted a call from the Hillsborough Baptist church. He came with his family in December, moved into the parsonage and preached his first Sunday sermon on December 16, taking charge on January 1, 1889, when Rev. C. C. Newton's pastorate ended.
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Superior court convicts Abe Mebane of manslaughter for the killing of Charlie Jones
At the fall term of superior court, a jury that stood seven for murder and five for manslaughter returned a compromise verdict of manslaughter against Abe Mebane, a Black youth who had struck and killed Charlie Jones, also Black, with a rock as they left the Black Baptist church in Hillsborough on the night of September 26. Mebane was sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary.
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A new board of county commissioners takes office with H. P. Jones as chairman
The new Orange County commissioners, W. D. Woods, James Y. Merritt and Major H. P. Jones, were sworn in by A. L. Holden of Little River Township, elected Jones chairman and approved the bonds of the newly elected county officers. At the same meeting Dr. Pride Jones reported his resignation as clerk of the superior court.
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Hillsborough church men organize a Young Men's Christian Association at the Presbyterian manse
Men from the town's churches met at the Presbyterian manse on a Monday night, adopted a constitution and bylaws, and elected Charles M. Parks president and Joseph A. Harris secretary. The next meeting was called for the manse on December 10.
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The Hillsborough firm of Hedgpeth & McCollum assigns its property to creditors
Hedgpeth & McCollum, Hillsborough merchants, made an assignment to Samuel M. Gattis for the benefit of their creditors, with debts estimated at $1,600 and assets of about $2,000.
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H. L. Parish lets a contract to rebuild his burned store in brick
Less than two weeks after the November 27 fire, postmaster H. L. Parish let the contract for a two-story brick store to replace his burned building, to be finished by February 1, 1889, while workmen repaired the other buildings the fire had damaged.
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John Rosemond, Polish exile and former Hillsborough commissioner, dies
John Rosemond, who fought in the Polish rising of 1830-31, served with New York volunteers in the Mexican War, worked as a pressman at the Raleigh Standard and stood for the Union in 1860-61, died in Hillsborough in his 79th year; after the war he had settled in the town and served as one of its commissioners.
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County commissioners stop aid to paupers outside the poorhouse
The Orange County commissioners resolved to give no more aid to paupers living outside the county poorhouse except in extreme cases.
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James Webb Jr. & Bro. buy out C. M. Parks's Hillsborough business
James Webb Jr. & Bro. bought C. M. Parks's entire business, his brick store, stock, goodwill and fixtures, in a deal thought to exceed $50,000, which the paper called the largest business transaction ever made in the county; Parks retired after 28 years in trade.
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The Orange County Sunday School Convention meets at Hillsborough
Seventeen delegates of the county's Sunday schools met in convention at the Hillsborough Methodist church with Rev. W. F. Wilhelm in the chair, heard addresses by Revs. G. W. Harman and W. B. North, and chose delegates to the state convention at Charlotte.
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A new post office called Jordan Grove opens in Orange County
A post office named Jordan Grove was established in Orange County, with Col. W. H. Jordan as postmaster.
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Allen J. Ruffin, A. A. Springs and Thomas D. Turner incorporate the Hillsboro Tobacco Company
Allen J. Ruffin, Alexander A. Springs and Thomas D. Turner incorporated the Hillsboro Tobacco Company for ten years to buy, sell, handle and manufacture leaf tobacco at Hillsborough, Durham or elsewhere, with $3,000 capital in sixty $50 shares and power to grow to $20,000.
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Sheriff John K. Hughes asks Governor Fowle for help for Orange County's hungry
After a delegation of Black citizens asked him to seek aid, Sheriff John K. Hughes wrote to Governor Fowle that crop failures had left many Orange County people, white and Black, short of meat and bread, a hardship the paper called the worst since the war.
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H. L. Parish moves back into a new brick store on the site of his burned one
Builders Nichols and Benton finished a new brick store for merchant and postmaster H. L. Parish, and he moved back to the stand where he had been burned out the previous November; the post office stood next door, between Parish's and Rosemond's stores.
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Black builders James Nichols, Peter Benton and Alex Webb form a contracting firm
James Nichols, Peter Benton and Alexander Webb, a carpenter, a brick mason and a plasterer, all Black, began contracting together in Hillsborough as Nichols, Benton & Webb; they had just finished H. L. Parish's brick store and were building a two-story house for Robert Faucette.
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Dr. Pride Jones, former legislator and clerk of court, dies near Hillsborough
Dr. Pride Jones, born in Halifax County in 1815, who had represented Orange in the legislature, held Governor Holden's special commission against the Ku Klux after the war and later served as clerk of superior court, died at his home near Hillsborough and was buried with Masonic honors from St. Matthew's Church.
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Hillsborough's town commissioners first meet in the new brick mayor's office and guard house
The town board met for the first time in its new brick building on the courthouse square, with the mayor's office in front and two cells for prisoners behind. The building committee accepted the work and the board ordered $560 paid in full.
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County commissioners' chairman H. P. Jones leaves Orange for the Pacific Northwest
Major H. P. Jones, chairman of the Orange County commissioners, left Hillsborough to run the Washington and Oregon business of the grocery and tobacco house of Mann, Sadler & Co., leaving a vacancy on the board; the paper credited him with putting the county's finances in order.
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Hillsborough rings its bells and its churches join in a Washington centennial service
On the hundredth anniversary of George Washington's inauguration the town bells rang at sunrise, and the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian congregations held a joint service in the Presbyterian church with prayers by four ministers and a sermon by Rev. W. F. Wilhelm.
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Julian S. Carr's carload of meal is given out to Orange County's destitute
A carload of meal paid for by Julian S. Carr of Durham was handed out in April at Hillsborough by Joseph A. Harris and at Chapel Hill by commissioner J. Y. Merritt to families without bread, without regard to color, sect or religion; by April 20 it was all gone.
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Hillsborough re-elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris over Devereux Turner
Hillsborough re-elected Joseph A. Harris mayor over Devereux Turner by 49 votes and chose D. Y. Mebane, M. W. McCollum, James A. Cheek, George Laws, Joseph G. Cooley, A. J. Ruffin and S. J. Lynch as commissioners without opposition; the new board kept James Carmichael as constable and John Laws as treasurer.
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The Hillsboro Mills are sold at a court-ordered sale
Commissioner A. W. Graham sold the Hillsboro Mills, the corn and flour mills on four acres inside the town limits once run by Turner & Jones, at the court house door under a decree in Evans Turner against Pride Jones and Pride Jones Jr.
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Professor emeritus Charles Phillips dies
Phillips, who came to Chapel Hill at four, graduated in 1841, taught mathematics for decades and chaired the faculty at the 1875 reopening, left Chapel Hill at the end of April 1889 to live with his sons in Alabama and died on the way, at his son-in-law John S. Verner's home in Columbia, South Carolina. His body was brought back and buried in the Chapel Hill cemetery, and a tablet in the Presbyterian church records his work in building it.
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Nathan W. Brown takes over the Hillsborough post office and moves it to the Cheek building
Nathan W. Brown, 21-year-old son of Henry N. Brown Sr., took charge of the Hillsborough post office in place of H. L. Parish, whom the Republican administration had removed after three years, and moved the office into the Cheek building north of the court house.
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Hillsborough men organize the Orange Cattle Club
The Orange Cattle Club was organized with C. M. Parks as president, Joseph A. Harris secretary, James Norwood treasurer and Thomas D. Turner chief marshal, and set a cattle show at Hillsborough for June 3.
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Former Supreme Court justice Thomas Ruffin Jr. dies at Hillsborough
Thomas Ruffin Jr., son of Chief Justice Ruffin, a solicitor, Confederate lieutenant colonel, superior court judge and associate justice of the state Supreme Court from 1881 to 1883, died at his home near Hillsborough; a procession led by the boys of the Peace and Beneficial Club he had founded followed him to St. Matthew's churchyard.
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Hillsborough holds the first Orange County cattle show
The Orange Cattle Club held its first cattle show in the court house yard, with about a hundred head in the parade, addresses by John W. Graham and Giles Mebane and butter premiums to Mrs. C. M. Parks, Mrs. John Berry and Miss Margaret Norwood; ten Black citizens, among them Abel Payne, Richard Berry and Jerry Cain, showed cows.
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Justices and commissioners elect a new board of education and school superintendent
In joint session on June 3 the justices and commissioners chose John Thompson, W. V. Andrews and D. S. Parker as the county board of education. The next day, at a joint meeting of the commissioners and the new board, B. C. Patton was elected county superintendent of public instruction in place of the Rev. J. L. Currie, who had resigned.
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Orange County's Confederate veterans organize a county association
Between two and three hundred Confederate veterans met at the court house on the Fourth of July and organized an Orange County veterans' association, electing John W. Graham president, D. H. Hamilton vice-president and John P. Lockhart secretary.
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Orange County holds summer institutes for white and Black teachers
Superintendent B. C. Patton, assisted by W. V. Andrews and John Thompson, held a week's institute for white teachers at the Masonic Hall beginning July 22 and one for Black teachers beginning July 29; nineteen white and twenty-two Black teachers attended, and the Black teachers closed theirs with a vote of thanks.
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The Keystone Bridge Company replaces the wooden railroad bridge over the Eno at Hillsboro with an iron one
Crews of the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh began replacing the wooden railroad bridge over the Eno near the Hillsboro depot with an iron bridge, expecting to finish by August 10. Trains kept running across it at three miles an hour.
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County commissioners and justices vote to borrow for court house repairs
Meeting jointly, the county commissioners and justices of the peace authorized the commissioners to borrow money to repair and alter the court house and to provide seats for the public, after a July 4 attempt to meet had failed for want of a quorum of magistrates.
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Frederick N. Strudwick and C. E. Parish open a law partnership in Hillsborough
Frederick N. Strudwick and C. E. Parish formed the Hillsborough law firm of Strudwick & Parish, with an office near the hotel.
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Henry N. Brown Jr. adds a room to his Hillsborough plug tobacco factory
Henry N. Brown Jr. built an addition to his plug tobacco factory in Hillsborough to keep up with demand for his tobacco.
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Joseph S. Kinion's workmen remodel the Orange County court house
Under Joseph S. Kinion, workmen put a new tin roof on the court house, took out the gallery, moved the jury rooms to the front under the clock over the north entrance and turned the rest of the second floor into a court room seating about 250 outside the bar. The county reported $1,204.70 spent on the alterations by December 1.
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Little River Presbyterian Church installs W. F. Wilhelm as pastor
At two days of services Little River Presbyterian Church received twenty-seven new members, baptized seventeen people and installed W. F. Wilhelm as its pastor, with Dr. Johnston, evangelist of Orange Presbytery, preaching the installation sermon.
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Edwin A. Alderman holds a week's institute for Orange County's white teachers
State institute conductor Edwin A. Alderman held a week-long institute for the county's white teachers at Hillsborough, closing on November 1 with addresses by Alderman and State Superintendent Finger at the court house on public schools and public education.
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The Hillsborough tobacco manufacturers Hooker & Crisp dissolve their firm
J. W. Hooker and R. L. Crisp dissolved their tobacco manufacturing firm, Hooker & Crisp, by mutual consent, with O. D. Hooker filling its outstanding orders.
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Hillsborough's town board puts about forty Town Commons building lots up for bids
The town commissioners named James A. Cheek, S. J. Lynch and D. Y. Mebane to take bids on some forty or more building lots in the Town Commons, with every sale to be confirmed by the board.
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Hillsborough holds a public meeting and memorial service for Jefferson Davis
Citizens meeting at the court house with D. Y. Mebane in the chair adopted resolutions on the death of Jefferson Davis, drafted by C. E. Parish, D. H. Hamilton and J. G. Cooley, and a memorial service followed at the Presbyterian church, conducted by W. F. Wilhelm.
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Webb & Morrow, merchants at Oaks, make an assignment
The Oaks firm of Webb & Morrow deeded several tracts of land and its stock of goods in trust for its creditors, with Sheriff John K. Hughes and James O. Webb as trustees; its debts were put at $5,000 to $10,000, and the failure was laid to hard times and slow collections.
- 1890s
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County commissioners decide to send the destitute to the poor house instead of granting outside aid
At their January meeting the county commissioners settled the accounts of the clerk, sheriff and treasurer and, facing requests for help for the outside poor, resolved to be sparing and to offer the destitute a place in the county poor house instead.
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The county board of education apportions the school fund at about 80 cents a child
Meeting on Monday, the Orange County Board of Education divided the school fund at about 80 cents per child of school age, well below earlier years, and settled with the sheriff on the school fund through December 31, 1888.
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Conductor George N. Waitt is moved to the University Railroad
George N. Waitt, for many years a conductor between Greensboro and Goldsboro, was transferred to the University Railroad branch to Chapel Hill, with Peyton Brown taking his old run.
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Postmaster Nate W. Brown opens a book and stationery store in the Hillsborough post office building
N. W. Brown, the Hillsborough postmaster, opened a book store in the post office building, selling school books, novels for sale or rent, stationery and blank legal forms and taking newspaper subscriptions.
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Thomas M. Kirkland is commissioned postmaster at Chapel Hill
Thomas M. Kirkland received his commission as Chapel Hill's postmaster and was to take charge of the office at the end of the week.
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The Hillsborough YMCA elects delegates to the state convention
Meeting on Monday night, the Young Men's Christian Association of Hillsborough chose Charles M. Parks and C. E. Parish as delegates, with S. M. Gattis and Joseph A. Harris as alternates, to the state YMCA convention at Goldsboro in March.
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Hillsborough's commissioners close barber shops on Sunday and bar the public from bar rooms that day
At their regular meeting the town commissioners amended the town ordinances to forbid opening a barber shop on Sunday, with a fine of up to ten dollars, and passed a new ordinance barring saloon keepers from letting anyone but themselves and their clerks into their places on Sunday, with half of each ten-dollar fine going to the informer.
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Federal revenue officers break up a still on Little River northeast of Hillsborough
Deputy Collector Crawford and other revenue officers raided a still on Little River about eight miles northeast of town, destroyed the beer, cut up the still and arrested a man found asleep in the still house, who was jailed when he could not give bond for the federal court at Greensboro.
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Revenue officers kill Henry McMannen, a Black man, at his house in Little River township
Searching for illicit stills about seven miles northeast of Hillsborough, federal revenue officers went with Henry McMannen to his new log house; the officers said he fired a shotgun at agent S. Kirkpatrick, wounding him in the face, and was shot dead. Others in the county said he was killed without cause, and the Rev. Sam P. Terry swore out murder warrants against the officers before magistrate A. L. Holden.
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Col. Davis is asked to move his military school from La Grange to the Hillsborough barracks
After Col. Davis's military school at La Grange closed over meningitis among the cadets, he was invited to bring the school to Hillsborough and use the empty barracks, and the Observer urged the town to work for it.
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The university opens a free three-month course for teachers
The university offered a three-month course meant to train teachers, free of tuition and with no entrance examination, beginning in late February; teachers were told to write to President Battle for a circular.
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A special term of Orange Superior Court opens to clear the civil docket
Called by Governor Fowle, a special one-week term for civil cases opened at Hillsborough with Judge R. F. Armfield presiding, a week before the regular spring term; its calendar included suits against the Richmond and Danville Railroad and the state's suits on the late clerk's bond.
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Judge Armfield's hearing at Hillsborough on the McMannen killing ends with the officers in federal hands
A large crowd came to Hillsborough for Judge Armfield's habeas corpus hearing on the revenue officers charged with killing Henry McMannen. The officers' lawyers withdrew their petition, the sheriff reported he had given them up to the U.S. marshal on a federal writ, and Armfield let them go; at Greensboro on March 14 federal Judge Dick bound them over to the April term of the federal court.
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Cedar Grove residents vote to build a school building to be called Cedar Grove Academy
A meeting of Cedar Grove citizens decided to put up a large school building named Cedar Grove Academy, elected a board of trustees with John McCracken as chairman, and named an executive committee to buy a lot and build; the lot was bought and work begun at once, with completion hoped for by early summer.
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The Orange grand jury indicts Durham editor Hackney for libeling Sheriff Hughes
After the Durham Recorder printed a false report that Judge Armfield had jailed Sheriff John K. Hughes over the revenue officers' case and that the prisoners had jumped bail, the Orange County grand jury returned a true bill for libel against its editor, Hackney.
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A debating society is organized at the old Quaker church north of Hillsborough
A debating society was organized at the old Quaker meeting house a short way north of town, meeting every Tuesday night.
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An Orange County grand jury indicts five revenue officers for the murder of Henry McMannen
At the spring term the grand jury returned a true bill for murder against revenue officers S. Kirkpatrick, A. C. Patterson, L. M. Cates, A. J. Dodson and W. J. Dickson for killing Henry McMannen.
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Cedar Grove citizens put up a new academy building and plan a chapel in memory of Samuel W. Hughes
Citizens of Cedar Grove were building a handsome academy near the site of Samuel Wellwood Hughes's old school, now under Rev. J. R. Game of South Carolina. The trustees proposed a chapel beside it named for Hughes and asked his former pupils for a dollar or more each toward it.
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Josiah Turner moves his saddle and harness shop from Hillsborough to Durham
Saddle and harness maker Josiah Turner closed his Hillsborough shop and reopened opposite the post office in Durham, inviting his Orange County customers to follow.
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Register of Deeds John Laws is found liable for licensing an underage marriage
In a suit brought by W. P. Cole, Orange Superior Court gave a $200 judgment against Register of Deeds John Laws for issuing a marriage license to Cole's underage daughter; Laws appealed.
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Robert Foster is convicted of manslaughter for the killing of Thomas Day
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, Robert Foster, a Black man, was tried for killing Thomas Day, also Black, in November 1889; the jury found him guilty of manslaughter and he was sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.
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The Orange County Farmers' Alliance sets up a trade exchange in Hillsborough
The Orange County Alliance, which had opened an Alliance exchange elsewhere in the county about two weeks before, rented a store building in Hillsborough for a second exchange and elected a manager; by mid-March the Hillsboro Exchange had stockholders and an office in town.
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The court holds the bondsmen of former clerk Pride Jones liable on his accounts
In several suits brought by the solicitor for the state, Orange Superior Court rendered judgments against James A. Cheek, Thomas H. Hughes, D. M. Laws and Mrs. Sally Collins, sureties on the bond of the late clerk of superior court Pride Jones; the defendants appealed.
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The government gives the Hillsborough depot mail route to a new low bidder
The contract to carry the mail between the Hillsborough post office and the railroad depot went to S. S. N. Crawford, the lowest of eight or ten bidders, ending David Roach's seventeen years on the route; the paper said the town thought Roach had been badly treated.
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Caldwell Institute trustees give the school building to J. H. McCracken as principal
Meeting on April 5, the trustees of Caldwell Institute gave J. H. McCracken the use of the building for a male and female school starting with the fall term, and he engaged Miss Mary R. Holeman to teach music. His notices set sessions to open the second Tuesday of August and of January.
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Federal judge Dick discharges the revenue officers who killed Henry McMannen
At a habeas corpus hearing in the U.S. court at Greensboro, Judge Dick freed the three Orange deputies, Dodson, Dickson and Cates, for want of evidence, and by late April he filed an opinion discharging revenue agents Kirkpatrick and Patterson as well. The officers had shot and killed Henry McMannen, a Black man, at his house in Little River Township in February; the Observer wrote that the people would not be satisfied with the ruling.
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The veteran carrier on the Hillsboro post office and depot mail route retires
The longtime carrier who took the mail between the Hillsboro post office and the railroad depot retired. The man first awarded the contract, Crawford, declined it, so the government gave it to the next lowest bidder, a Black man named Day.
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The Alliance Exchange board at Hillsboro names S. T. Forrest manager
After Mr. Andrews resigned as manager of the Farmers' Alliance Exchange at Hillsboro, its board of directors chose S. T. Forrest to fill the place.
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Fire destroys Delia Lee's house in Hillsboro
A small dwelling owned and lived in by Delia Lee, a Black woman, burned to the ground about one o'clock in the afternoon. The paper reported much sympathy for her and a liberal sum of money raised to help.
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Susan Washington Graham, widow of Governor William A. Graham, dies and is buried at Hillsboro
She died at Judge Walter Clark's home in Raleigh on the night of May 3. Her body was brought to Hillsboro, and after a service at the Baptist church on May 5 she was buried beside her husband in the Presbyterian churchyard.
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Hillsboro re-elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris with a seven-man town board
The town election returned Joseph A. Harris as mayor with commissioners Robert Faucette, Harry L. Parish, Hayes, S. J. Lynch, Henry N. Brown Jr., James A. Cheek and George Laws. Clerk S. M. Gattis swore them in on May 13, and on May 19 Parish gave bond as treasurer and the board named standing committees, with Cheek heading streets.
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Hillsboro's finance committee reports the town's accounts for the year to May 1
The committee found treasurer John Laws holding $417.30 in town and cemetery funds, part of the cemetery money from lots sold, and found the mayor's fines of $35.80 properly accounted for. The board ordered the report printed, a custom of past years, with Commissioner George Laws voting no.
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Hillsboro commissioners refuse a liquor license after the town's merchants object
A petition asked leave to sell spirituous liquors in Charles C. Smith's house next door to Robert Faucette's shoe shop. C. E. Parish presented a remonstrance signed by most of the town's business men, Faucette sent word that he opposed it, and the new board voted the license down four to two.
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B. C. Patton becomes postmaster at Cedar Grove
B. C. Patton, who kept a high school and academy at Cedar Grove, was named postmaster there, apparently after the post fell vacant with the death of T. C. Ellis.
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James H. Hedgpeth buys the Hillsboro house lately occupied by A. A. Springs
Hedgpeth bought from a Mr. Cole the house in Hillsboro lately occupied by A. A. Springs.
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Rev. G. W. Harman resigns the Hillsboro Baptist pastorate for Monroe
Harman resigned as pastor of the Baptist church at Hillsboro and preached his last sermon there in mid-May. On May 20 he and his family left for Monroe, where he had taken the Baptist pastorate.
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The university's 1889-90 catalogue lists 200 students
The catalogue showed 200 students, more than the year before, with 33 in the law school. It announced a medical and pharmaceutical department under Dr. R. H. Whitehead and departments of civil, electrical and mining engineering for September, and a new bachelor of letters course with electives after the first year.
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Census enumerators begin the 1890 count in Orange County
Seven enumerators went to work: Miss M. E. Allison for Cedar Grove, Dr. John Berry for Little River, Frank Pickard for Bingham, two men for Chapel Hill, and T. L. Tinnin and C. D. Turner for Hillsboro.
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County commissioners and justices set the 1890 county tax levy
Meeting jointly, they fixed the county tax for 1890 at 25 cents on each $100 of property, with a 9-cent levy for pensions and a poll tax whose amount cannot be read in the copy.
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County justices choose D. E. Morrow for the board of commissioners
Electing members of the county board of commissioners, the justices chose D. E. Morrow in place of D. H. Hamilton, who had declined to run again.
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County justices vote $250 toward Col. George W. Tate's map of Orange County
After Maj. Robert Bingham and C. E. Parish spoke for it, the justices of the peace voted $250 to Col. George W. Tate toward a proposed county map, with only two votes against.
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The Misses Nash and Miss Kollock's school closes its session with a concert
Pupils gave a program of songs and piano pieces under Miss Kanouse at the school's closing exercises, which a correspondent praised for its training in music. The school announced its 63rd term to open September 4.
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Town commissioner Robert Faucett dies in Hillsboro
Faucett, a Confederate veteran and shoemaker elected to the town board in May, died at home in his 67th year after about six weeks' illness. After a Methodist service on June 11 he was buried with Masonic honors in the new cemetery, and the town's merchants closed their stores during the funeral.
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Orange County Democrats call township meetings and a county convention
Meeting at Hillsboro, the county Democratic executive committee under chairman S. M. Gattis called township conventions for June 28 and a county convention at the court house on July 4 to choose delegates to the state, judicial and congressional conventions, giving each township ten votes.
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L. P. Berry of Hillsboro is named a delegate to the International Sunday School Convention
Prof. L. P. Berry, a Black man of Hillsboro, was chosen by the North Carolina Colored Sunday School Association as a delegate to the sixth International Sunday School Convention at Pittsburgh, June 24 to 27, and said he would attend.
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Orange County's wheat crop is the poorest farmers can remember
Farmers said the 1890 wheat crop in the county was the poorest they had known, with no more than a third or half of a crop made.
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The Corner store of H. N. Brown Jr. & Bro. fails and assigns to a trustee
The general merchants H. N. Brown Jr. & Bro., whose store was known as The Corner, and a second firm of H. N. Brown Jr. made an assignment to H. N. Brown Sr. as trustee, who offered the stock for sale. Maj. John W. Graham advised on winding up both firms, a few weeks after the store had marked its second anniversary.
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Orange County Democrats meet in convention and choose delegates to the state and congressional conventions
The county Democratic convention met at the court house on July 4, elected delegates to the state convention at Raleigh and the congressional convention at Durham, and the executive committee then called a second county convention for July 30 to name the legislative and county ticket.
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Hillsborough's town commissioners fill Robert Faucett's seat and levy the 1890 town tax
Meeting on a Monday night, the town board elected Robert Faucett's son to the seat left vacant by his father's death and levied the town's property and poll tax for 1890. The paper added that the town owed nothing, had money in the treasury and had made no arrest in nearly three months.
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The Methodist Durham District Sunday School Conference meets at Hillsborough
The district's Sunday school conference opened in the Hillsborough Methodist church on a Tuesday night and held well-attended sessions, with delegates from nearly every charge in the district. It elected E. J. Parrish president and chose Roxboro for its 1891 meeting.
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Orange County Democrats nominate their legislative and county ticket and instruct for Vance
The county convention at the court house, with every township represented, nominated R. N. Hall Jr. of Little River for the House, S. M. Gattis for clerk, John K. Hughes for sheriff, John Laws for register of deeds and D. M. Laws for treasurer. It passed a resolution instructing Orange's legislators to vote to return Zebulon Vance to the Senate.
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A roof fire on a two-story Queen Street building is put out before it spreads
The Methodist church bell and the cry of fire brought the town running to a two-story building on Queen Street whose roof had caught. The fire was found early, reached with a ladder and put out with little damage.
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W. E. North leaves the Chapel Hill Methodist pulpit for the St. Louis Conference
The pastor of the Methodist church at Chapel Hill was transferred to the St. Louis Conference, and a minister from Raleigh was appointed to Chapel Hill for the rest of the conference year.
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The Orange County Farmers' Alliance names H. P. Jones its crop statistician
At the State Alliance president's request, county Alliance president W. C. Cole appointed Major H. P. Jones county crop statistician and asked the sub-alliances to report crop conditions to him at once and every quarter after.
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Black Republicans of Orange meet at the court house and nominate Lisbon P. Berry for the state Senate
A large mass meeting of Black Republicans, called to order by lawyer and teacher Lisbon P. Berry, condemned the county's white Republicans for keeping every office and appointment and resolved to act independently. It nominated Berry for the Senate from the 20th district and endorsed a Black state convention at Raleigh.
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D. Y. Mebane and E. A. Rosemond dissolve their firm
The partnership of Mebane & Rosemond was dissolved by mutual consent, with E. A. Rosemond left to collect its debts and settle its accounts.
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The King's Daughters hold a festival at the Masonic Hall to raise charity funds
The King's Daughters sold ice cream, flowers and other things at an evening festival in the Masonic Hall to raise money for charitable work, and the paper called it a complete success.
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Cedar Grove Academy opens its fall term in a new schoolhouse
Under Rev. J. B. Game the academy opened in a newly built, painted and plastered schoolhouse with 40 students, and more enrolled in its first week.
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Jerry Cain, a Black schoolteacher, dies near Hillsborough
Jerry Cain, a Black schoolteacher, died at his home near town after a few days' illness.
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Orange County Republicans reorganize and elect James A. Cheek county chairman
A Republican mass meeting at the court house accepted Wilson Brown's resignation as county chairman, elected James A. Cheek in his place, endorsed Isaac R. Strayhorn for solicitor and called a county convention for September 27. It resolved to back no one who would not support the county ticket and Alexander McIver for Congress.
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B. C. Patton gives up his Cedar Grove high school to go into business
Patton, whose 'High School and Academy' at Cedar Grove had been advertised for a fall term, decided not to teach the coming session and to open a store at Cedar Grove instead.
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C. S. Cooley & Son put a new two-horse hearse into service
The furniture and undertaking firm finished a two-horse hearse it had been building for several months, black with silver mountings, and offered it free to its customers.
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Henry Richards Jr. buys the Jesse Cole house on King Street for his boarding house
Richards bought the Jesse Cole house and lot on King Street, opposite Lynch's jewelry store, planning repairs and then moving his boarding house there.
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R. E. Lyon prepares to open a granite quarry near Hillsborough
Lyon showed the Durham Globe a green and pink mottled granite that took a high polish and said he would soon begin work at the quarry, a short distance from Hillsborough.
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The state drops charges against three of five revenue men accused of killing Henry McMannen
At the August term of Orange Superior Court, the solicitor entered a nol pros for L. M. Cates, W. J. Dickson and A. J. Dodson, three of the five men charged with killing Henry McMannen. A later account says the case against the officers was moved to federal court.
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Cedar Grove Academy is incorporated
Simeon J. Hall, Robert H. Hughes and Artemus A. Compton incorporated Cedar Grove Academy before the clerk of superior court to run a school for the youth of the area, for thirty years, with $2,500 in stock in $5 shares.
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County commissioners name registrars and judges for a new registration of Orange voters
Ahead of the November 4 election, the commissioners appointed a registrar and poll judges for each of twelve precincts, from Hillsborough and Chapel Hill to Jackson's Shop. The law required an entirely new registration, so every voter had to register again.
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The county commissioners re-elect A. V. Jordan superintendent of the poor
Meeting at the county poorhouse, the commissioners re-elected A. V. Jordan to run it for another term, and the paper said he had given entire satisfaction.
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The Misses Nash and Miss Kollock's school opens its 63rd term with its largest enrollment in years
The Hillsborough school for girls and young women began its 63rd term with the largest opening it had had in years, and its accommodations were nearly full.
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Black Republicans of Orange form their own county executive committee and back Berry and London A. Whitted
At a second meeting in the court house, Black Republicans took steps to organize a county executive committee made up entirely of Black members. After an address by C. W. Moore of Greensboro, the Black candidate for Congress in the Fifth District, local speakers declared for Lisbon P. Berry for the Senate and London A. Whitted for the House.
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Orange County Republicans meet at the court house and endorse a county ticket
The county Republican convention endorsed a slate for the legislature and the county offices and heard the party's congressional candidate, Alexander McIver, speak for about an hour. Within weeks several men on the slate said in print that they had not agreed to run, and one called the meeting the "white Republican" convention.
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Senator Zebulon Vance speaks to Orange County voters at Hillsborough
Senator Vance addressed the people of Orange at Hillsborough during the fall campaign. The paper reported that M. W. (Mike) Moore, a leading county Republican, called it the best speech he had ever heard and left his party two days later.
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Congressional candidates B. H. Bunn and Alexander McIver hold joint debates across Orange County
Democrat B. H. Bunn and Republican Alexander McIver, rivals for Congress, met in joint discussion at six Orange County stops from Cedar Grove to Chapel Hill, closing at Hillsborough on Saturday night, where C. D. Turner spoke in McIver's place.
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Fourteen Black converts are baptized in the Eno River before a crowd of hundreds
Thirteen women and one man, all Black, were baptized in the Eno at Hillsborough while three or four hundred people looked on. The report named neither the church nor the minister.
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Black candidates Lisbon P. Berry and London A. Whitted address voters at the court house
Lisbon P. Berry and London A. Whitted, the two Black candidates for the legislature, spoke at the Hillsborough court house, and Swain Kirkland spoke for them. The Observer called the speeches creditable and noted many white people in the audience.
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J. W. Hooker & Bro. sell the Central Warehouse in Hillsborough to E. A. Rosemond
The Hookers sold the Central Warehouse and the stables behind it to E. A. Rosemond, who was expected to build a brick blacksmith shop on the stable site and turn the warehouse into a livery stable and harness shop.
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Democrats carry the county offices in Orange County's general election
Orange voters chose the whole Democratic ticket by wide margins, among them Sheriff John K. Hughes, Superior Court Clerk Samuel M. Gattis, Register of Deeds John Laws and Treasurer D. M. Laws, and with Durham sent R. N. Hall Jr. and a Durham Democrat to the state House. Constables were also elected in five townships.
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Charles D. McIver holds a county institute for white teachers at the court house
Charles D. McIver ran a week-long institute for Orange County's white public school teachers, open to the public, at the Hillsborough court house and closed it with an address on the people's relation to education. Attendance was thin, with seventeen teachers present on the third day out of more than forty in the county.
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The Colored Farmers' Alliance calls meetings at Chapel Hill and Hillsborough for its state lecturer
Robert Davis, secretary of the Colored Farmers' Alliance, announced that the order's state lecturer, the Rev. W. A. Pattillo, would address the public at Chapel Hill and at Hillsborough.
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Col. George W. Tate nears the end of his map survey of Orange County
Surveyor George W. Tate wrote that his survey for a map of Orange would be finished within days, after he had covered every part of the county. His letter describes historic places west of Hillsborough, among them the site of Maddock's Mill, the old Tryon road and Jesse Benton's unmarked grave, which he asks the county to preserve.
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Hillsborough Methodists hold a protracted revival meeting
Pastor W. H. Puckett, helped for the first week by L. L. Johnson of Carr Church in Durham, held nightly revival services at the Methodist church. The paper reported large congregations and several conversions.
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Hillsborough's Young Men's Christian Association marks its second anniversary
The association held anniversary exercises in its hall, heard its second annual report and an address by the Rev. W. F. Wilhelm, and received gifts of books for its library.
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The Orange County commissioners begin a new term and swear in the county officers
Commissioners D. H. Hamilton, William D. Woods and James Y. Merritt, the same board as before, took the oath from Clerk Samuel M. Gattis and chose Hamilton chairman again. They accepted the bonds of the sheriff, register, treasurer, clerk, coroner, surveyor and five township constables and swore them in.
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The Methodist conference sends J. E. Bristowe to the Hillsborough Circuit
The North Carolina Conference, meeting at Wilson, appointed J. E. Bristowe to the Hillsborough Circuit and E. H. Davis to Chapel Hill, and moved W. H. Puckett, the Hillsborough preacher for three years, to the Smithfield Circuit.
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Cedar Grove Academy closes its first fall term in the new building with 80 students
Principal J. B. Game reported that the academy's fall term closed on December 19 with 80 enrolled and a student entertainment that Friday night. He expected 100 in the spring term, planned uniforms for the boys and was thinking of hiring another teacher.
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Fire destroys the Bingham School academy building and hall
The academy building and hall at the Bingham School burned on the morning of December 24, probably from a defective flue. The building was insured, and the school planned to carry on with classes in the barracks, which were not damaged.
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