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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
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Reconstruction and the New South · 1866–1899
- 1890s
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Postal clerks on the Greensboro-Goldsboro train give Hillsborough two mails a day
The Post Office Department put postal clerks on the regular mail train between Greensboro and Goldsboro, which gave Hillsborough two mails daily.
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Hillsborough has its town pump water analyzed and the well cleaned
Chemist H. B. Battle tested the water of Hillsborough's town pump on Churton Street and found too much mineral matter. The well was then cleaned out and the trough, the likely cause of excess chlorine, taken away.
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The State Farmers' Alliance moves its headquarters to Hillsborough
The North Carolina Farmers' Alliance moved its state offices to its new property at Hillsborough, and its executive committee met there for the first time in mid-January. The committee voted to press ahead with the Alliance's planned enterprises, chief among them a shoe factory, and state business agent T. Ivey and secretary Barnes moved their families to the town.
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Hillsborough residents feel an earthquake shock
Many people in Hillsborough and the country around it felt what they took to be an earthquake shock between half past eight and nine on the night of February 10.
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Several hundred attend an Alliance rally at the State Alliance headquarters
Several hundred people came to an Orange County Farmers' Alliance rally at the State Alliance headquarters in the old academy barracks at Hillsborough. Senator Mewborne gave an Alliance speech that kept clear of politics, a dinner followed, and the county Alliance held a private meeting with members from other counties in the afternoon.
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Fire breaks out in the Cedar Grove Academy building
A defective flue set the third story of the Cedar Grove Academy building on fire and burned a hole about the size of a barrel in the ceiling before the pupils put it out and saved the building.
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The State Dairymen's Association meets at Occoneechee Farm
The North Carolina Dairymen's Association held a two-day meeting at Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm near Hillsborough, with the members as Carr's guests on the farm.
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The clerk of court redraws Orange County's election precincts
Under the 1895 election law calling for a polling place for about every 350 voters, Superior Court clerk D. F. Crawford set new precinct lines and polling places for the county. Chapel Hill township was split into North and South Chapel Hill, Patterson's and Cole's Store; Hillsborough township into East Hillsboro at the court house, West Hillsboro at Zach Cunningham's store, University Station and Cheek's Crossing; and Cedar Grove township into Carr's, Cedar Grove and Toler's, while the Bingham and Little River boxes stayed as they were.
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T. M. Jordan & Co. moves its drugstore at Caldwell to a new stand
Thomas M. Jordan and his brother Dr. Archibald C. Jordan ran a store and pharmacy at Caldwell. In 1896 the firm moved its stock of drugs from the old stand, and Jordan told customers he had moved the drugstore to West Caldwell.
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D. C. Parris and J. T. Shaw open the Hillsboro Drug Company
Dr. D. C. Parris and J. T. Shaw opened the Hillsboro Drug Company, a new drugstore next door to the post office, and Parris moved his medical office to the rear of the store.
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Work begins on the Eno Cotton Mills as James Webb Jr. breaks ground for the railroad siding
Construction of the Eno Cotton Mills at Hillsborough began when James Webb Jr. broke the first dirt on the mill's railroad siding. The builders meant to keep at it without a stop until the factory was finished and running.
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A storm with hail and lightning sweeps Orange County
A heavy storm crossed Orange County with hail in many places. Lightning killed a young man named Cates at his father's home south of Hillsborough and struck a house in Little River Township, and the wind blew down the hay barn at Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm.
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A gold find near Efland draws the state geologist
A Durham man named Wright, who had been digging for gold on a farm near Efland, began crushing ore and found some gold. By late April the state geologist, a Chapel Hill professor, had come to look at the mine, and Bur Forrest contracted with J. H. Mebane to go into gold mining.
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Measles and mumps spread through Orange County
The county superintendent of health, Dr. D. C. Parris, reported measles, mumps and catarrhal fever throughout Orange County for April. Around Caldwell measles and mumps were still going in May, and several people there had died of pneumonia.
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The Orange County Republican convention endorses McKinley in a stormy session
The Orange County Republican convention at Hillsborough endorsed William McKinley for president, Jeter Pritchard for the Senate, Thomas Settle for Congress and James B. Mason for judge. In a disorderly meeting a Black delegate defeated Thomas F. Lloyd, a Chapel Hill merchant and university trustee, for delegate to the state convention, an account county chairman James A. Cheek later disputed.
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Hillsborough elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris and an all-Democratic town board
Hillsborough voters elected Democrat Joseph A. Harris mayor over Republican Nathan W. Brown, 82 to 52, with a Democratic board of commissioners. The new registration, ordered after the old book was lost, listed 72 white and 71 Black voters, and about 25 Black men voted the Democratic ticket.
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The county commissioners adopt a special road law for Orange County
The county commissioners adopted a special road law for Orange County under an 1895 act introduced by Representative James A. Cheek, and called the township road supervisors in to learn it. Each township could keep roads up with labor owed by local men, who could buy out at sixty cents a day, or by a road tax spent by an elected township road master.
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James Webb Jr. lays the first brick of the Eno Cotton Mills
James Webb Jr. laid the first brick of the Eno Cotton Mills building at Hillsborough. Henry Richards of Hillsborough, who had overseen the building of several Alamance County mills, took charge of the brickwork.
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Hillsborough's commissioners take up revised town ordinances and order them printed and posted
The Hillsborough board went through a revision of the town ordinances section by section and ordered them printed and posted. The mayor named standing committees for public property, streets, finance, cemeteries, and the pump, clock and scales.
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Caldwell Institute holds its commencement, with an address by Rev. M. McG. Shields
Caldwell Institute held its commencement before a crowd too large for the academy. Students, teachers and visiting ministers marched from the music hall to the academy, and Rev. M. McG. Shields of Burlington spoke for an hour on success and how to obtain it.
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The university's 1896 catalogue counts 534 students
The university's catalogue for 1896 listed 534 students: 333 in the college, 58 in law, 30 in medicine and 140 in the summer school for teachers, taught by 38 professors and instructors in 108 courses across fourteen departments.
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The county commissioners keep the state list of public school books at lower prices
The Orange County commissioners, who then ran the county schools, kept the state list of textbooks for the public schools, at lower prices than before.
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George T. Winston resigns the university presidency to head the University of Texas
President George T. Winston resigned as head of the University of North Carolina to accept the presidency of the University of Texas.
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Fifth District Republicans meet at Hillsborough and nominate Spencer Adams for judge
Republicans of the Fifth Judicial District met in convention at Hillsborough and nominated Spencer Adams of Caswell County for judge of the superior court.
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Orange County Populists nominate a county ticket at Hillsborough
The People's Party county convention met at Hillsborough and nominated candidates for sheriff, the state House and other county offices, and named a committee to confer on fusion, though leading Populists predicted three separate tickets in Orange.
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Josiah Turner announces for the House as a free silver fusion candidate
Josiah Turner Jr. of Hillsborough declared himself a free silver fusion candidate for Orange County's seat in the state House of Representatives.
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The Farmers' State Alliance meets at Hillsborough and denounces the North Carolina Railroad lease
The North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance held its state session at its Hillsborough headquarters, re-elected its officers and passed a resolution denouncing the lease of the North Carolina Railroad to the Southern Railway Company.
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The Farmers' State Alliance shoe factory at Hillsborough shuts down
After the Farmers' State Alliance ordered a loan on its Hillsborough shoe factory so it could run, the factory was stopped within two days and its workers sent home, with about $12,000 already invested.
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University trustees elect Edwin A. Alderman president
The university's trustees elected Professor Edwin A. Alderman president of the University of North Carolina, succeeding George T. Winston.
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Clerk names registrars for an entirely new registration of voters
Superior court clerk D. F. Crawford named registrars for every Orange County precinct under the election law of 1895 and ordered an entirely new registration of voters in Hillsboro, Cedar Grove and Chapel Hill townships.
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William Jennings Bryan speaks from his train at the Hillsborough depot
Democratic presidential nominee William J. Bryan stopped at Hillsborough on his North Carolina tour, was introduced by S. M. Gattis, spoke for two or three minutes to several hundred people and shook hands.
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Orange County Democrats nominate S. M. Gattis for the House and a county ticket
The Orange County Democratic convention met in the court house, nominated S. M. Gattis for the state House and a full county ticket headed by Sheriff John K. Hughes, and then heard R. B. Glenn speak for free silver.
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Congressional candidates W. W. Kitchin and Thomas Settle debate at the Hillsborough court house
W. W. Kitchin and Thomas Settle, rival nominees for Congress in the Fifth District, held a joint debate on free silver before a standing-room crowd in the Hillsborough court house.
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Orange County Republicans nominate B. E. Teague for the House and a county ticket
Orange County Republicans nominated B. E. Teague for the state House, D. S. Miller for sheriff and a county ticket; afterward Judge D. L. Russell and H. A. Gudger spoke to several hundred people in the court house yard.
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B. S. McKenzie preaches his farewell sermon as rector of St. Matthew's
Rev. B. S. McKenzie, rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church for more than four years, preached his farewell sermon to a large congregation. He and his family left that week for a new home at Rocky Mount.
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Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm puts Orange first in the state for registered cattle and hogs
The state Agricultural Department's register of blooded stock ranked Orange first among North Carolina counties for registered cattle and hogs, nearly all of them on Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm, which had 112 registered cattle.
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The Alliance Weekly, published at Hillsborough, stops
The Alliance Weekly, published at the Farmers' State Alliance headquarters in Hillsborough, was discontinued; its editor said it had run at a loss since the first of the year.
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Eighteenth District Democrats nominate E. S. Parker and leave a Senate seat for the Populists
Meeting at Hillsborough, the Democratic convention of the 18th Senatorial District (Durham, Orange, Alamance and Caswell) nominated Capt. E. S. Parker of Alamance for the state Senate by acclamation. It left the second seat open and offered to join the Populists in filling it, for the sake of free silver; C. E. Parish of Orange sat on the new district committee.
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Eighteenth District Republicans nominate James A. Cheek for the state Senate
The Republican senatorial convention, meeting at Hillsborough, nominated James A. Cheek for the Senate and left the district's other seat vacant in the hope that the Populists would fuse with them and name the second senator.
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Eighteenth District Populists endorse E. S. Parker and name their own Senate candidate
The Populist senatorial convention at Hillsborough completed the district's fusion ticket, nominating D. C. Mangum of Durham County and endorsing the Democrat E. S. Parker. When Mangum declined, the Populist senatorial committee met at Hillsborough on October 26 and named James E. Lyon in his place.
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Orange County has twenty-one post offices
The U.S. Official Postal Guide listed twenty-one post offices in Orange County: Blackwood, Border, Bradshaw, Breeze, Caldwell Institute, Carr, Cedar Grove, Chapel Hill, Efland, Faucette, Gath, Hillsboro, Joppa, Law, Lindsay, Meredith, Oaks, Rock Springs, Teer, Toler and University Station.
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Orange Democrats and Populists fuse on a county ticket
Orange County's Democrats and Populists agreed on a joint county ticket. The Populist Albert H. Holmes replaced the Democratic nominee S. M. Gattis for the House, the Populist William B. York ran for treasurer, and the Populist Thomas J. Hogan replaced James Laws Jr. among the commissioner candidates, alongside Democrats such as John K. Hughes for sheriff and John Laws for register of deeds.
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Orange County voters elect township magistrates and constables
At the general election Orange County's voters chose justices of the peace and a constable in each township; in Cedar Grove Township, for example, Democrats W. A. Allison (constable) and S. J. Hall won, and in Bingham Township the Populist John W. McCauley became constable. The state attorney general later ruled that magistrates elected in 1896 would not take office until August 1897.
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The Democratic-Populist fusion ticket carries Orange County
Orange County's voters elected the whole fusion ticket: Albert H. Holmes (Populist) to the House, John K. Hughes sheriff, John Laws register of deeds, W. B. York treasurer, Dr. C. D. Jones coroner, James O. Webb surveyor, and M. W. Moore, N. V. Ray and Thomas J. Hogan county commissioners. W. W. Kitchin carried the county for Congress by 401 votes.
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The fall term of Orange Superior Court is not held because Judge McIver is ill
The fall term, already put off to Thursday, November 5, so that everyone could vote in the election of court week, did not open. On the morning of November 4 Judge James D. McIver telegraphed Sheriff John K. Hughes that his doctor would not let him come to Hillsborough, and the Observer expected the commissioners to ask Governor Carr for a special term to clear the dockets.
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Hillsborough's town board orders the Town Commons lots sold
By order of the town board, its committee (including D. M. Laws and H. Winder Webb) advertised about forty numbered lots in the Town Commons for sale at auction at the court house on March 8, 1897, on credit, with the town guaranteeing title. The town also gave notice that it would ask the legislature to amend its charter.
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Builder James Nichols finishes a new Hillsborough house for Mary Gordon
Mrs. Mary Gordon and her daughter Bessie moved into a handsome new house in Hillsborough, built for them by her son T. Ed. Gordon of Asheville, who had left the town a few years before. The contractor was James Nichols, a Black builder whose work the paper called first class in every respect.
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Eno Cotton Mill's buildings near completion and its first cottages are occupied
Work on the Eno Cotton Mill at West Hillsborough was well along: about a million bricks had gone into the two-story main building, some 252 feet long, and several mill cottages were finished and occupied. The company, capitalized at $100,000 with Allen J. Ruffin as president and Thomas H. Webb as superintendent, planned to start with 10,000 spindles and hoped to run by April.
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D. N. Caviness leaves the Hillsborough Methodist charge after four years
At the end of his fourth year, the Methodist conference moved Rev. D. N. Caviness from the Hillsborough church and circuit to the East Durham station, and he and his family left Hillsborough on December 23. A minister transferred from the Virginia Conference was named to the Hillsborough Circuit.
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Orange electors seek two more county commissioners from the minority party
Under a new state law, a group of Orange County electors swore the required affidavit before the clerk of court to have the judge appoint two more county commissioners from a party other than that of the newly elected board's majority (two Democrats and a Populist). The two appointees would sit with full powers, and no county money could be spent without four votes.
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The Greensboro Steel and Iron Company leases the iron mine at Chapel Hill
The Greensboro Steel and Iron Company leased the iron mine at Chapel Hill, whose high-grade ore it meant to use in its furnaces.
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Two added county commissioners named by Judge Spencer Adams take their seats
Two additional county commissioners appointed by Judge Spencer B. Adams, one of them A. J. Gordon, took the oath and sat with the Orange County board for the first time. The enlarged board then gave the county printing to the Orange County Observer for two years.
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Orange County counts 4,904 school-age children
Apportioning the public school fund, the county commissioners counted 4,904 children of school age (6 to 21) in Orange County and set aside $1.25 for each.
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The Orange County Medical Society asks the legislature to repeal the tax on physicians
The Medical Society of Orange County met and passed resolutions asking the county's state senator and representative to work for repeal of the $10 state tax on physicians.
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Grippe spreads through Hillsborough and the county
Grippe ran through Hillsborough and the surrounding county; the Observer called it the worst outbreak the town had seen, though most cases were mild. The county health superintendent, Dr. D. C. Parris, also reported measles, whooping cough and a case of typhoid in January.
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L. Leitch preaches his first sermon as the new Hillsborough Methodist pastor
L. Leitch, the new pastor of the Hillsborough Methodist circuit, preached his first sermon in the Methodist church in Hillsborough. He and his family had moved into the parsonage on Churton Street at the turn of the year, but grippe kept him in bed for weeks.
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Teacher London A. Whitted dies at Chapel Hill
London A. Whitted, a well-known Black schoolteacher, died at his home in Chapel Hill and was buried two days later in the Black cemetery at Hillsborough. Chapel Hill's Black community adopted resolutions calling him one of its best citizens, signed by a committee of P. L. LaCour, Anthony Peden, Wilson Caldwell, E. D. Allen and Basil Jones.
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Kemp P. Battle opens the university faculty's spring lecture series
Kemp P. Battle gave the first of a series of public lectures by the university faculty in Gerrard Hall, speaking on the Anti-Federalists' objections to the Constitution. Lectures by Gore, Hume, Wilson, Ball, Williams and Cobb were set for the rest of the spring term.
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University trustees elect C. W. Toms professor of pedagogy
Meeting at Raleigh, the university trustees elected C. W. Toms, of the Durham graded school, professor of pedagogy. At the same meeting they opened the postgraduate course to women.
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Jerry Mason, who served university students for more than fifty years, dies
Jerry Mason, an elderly Black man who had waited on students at the University of North Carolina for more than fifty years, died at Chapel Hill. The Durham Herald, quoted by the Observer, said he was very widely known and had many friends among white residents.
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The solicitor drops the murder case against John Clark for lack of evidence
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court the solicitor entered a nol pros in the case of John Clark, charged with the murder of Nancy Ivey, with leave to reopen it if enough evidence could be found.
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Wash Atwater gets fifteen years for an assault near Chapel Hill
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, the first held since the fall 1896 term was not held, a jury convicted Wash Atwater, a Black man, of assault with intent to commit rape near Chapel Hill, and Judge O. H. Allen sentenced him to fifteen years at hard labor, the most the law allowed. He had been arrested in Chatham County on February 13; the paper noted strong feeling around Chapel Hill but no attempt at a lynching.
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James Webb Sr., senior warden of St. Matthew's, dies at 81
James Webb Sr., for many years a vestryman of St. Matthew's Church and its treasurer as junior warden before becoming senior warden, died at his home near Hillsborough at 81. He was buried in the family lot in the St. Matthew's churchyard after a funeral led by S. Paxson Watters before a very large congregation.
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A late freeze kills most of Orange County's peaches and plums
Frosts on several mornings after March 26 and a hard freeze on April 2, when the thermometer read 21 degrees, killed nearly all the peaches and plums in the county.
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St. Matthew's Church gets a new slate roof
A crew of workmen was covering St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Hillsborough with a new slate roof.
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The Eno Cotton Mill's engine and boilers arrive
The 200-horsepower engine and two boilers for the Eno Cotton Mill arrived at Hillsborough, and the mill's tall smokestack was nearly finished. The mill was expected to be in full operation within a few weeks, and by late April machinists were setting the boilers.
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The legislature gives Orange County a May term of superior court for civil cases
The General Assembly passed a bill giving Orange County a second spring term of superior court, to sit for one week in late May and try civil cases only. The first such term was set for May 24.
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County commissioners call a graded-school tax vote for the Chapel Hill school district
Acting under a new act of the legislature, the county commissioners ordered an election for May 3 in Chapel Hill School District No. 24 on a special property and poll tax to support graded schools for white and Black children. They named W. E. Lindsay, W. F. Lloyd and A. J. McDade registrars.
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Hillsborough elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris and its first Black town commissioner, Samuel L. Whitted
Hillsborough voters returned Joseph A. Harris as mayor and chose seven commissioners in an election held under the amended state election law, with no regular party nominations. Samuel L. Whitted, elected with Black votes and those of a few white Republicans, was by the paper's account the first Black man ever elected a town commissioner.
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Caldwell Institute's trustees accept J. H. McCracken's resignation and elect Thomas T. Candler principal
Caldwell Institute held its commencement on May 23 and 24, with a sermon by Rev. E. E. Rose and an annual address by Dr. Crawford of Trinity Park, Durham. That evening the trustees accepted principal J. H. McCracken's resignation and elected Thomas T. Candler, a young man from the University of North Carolina, in his place.
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An earthquake shock is felt at Hillsborough
An earthquake shock was distinctly felt at Hillsborough at about 3 o'clock one afternoon. It reminded people of the Charleston earthquake but was lighter, and coming by day it caused less alarm; little or no damage was reported.
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W. A. Hayes moves his drug store from Churton Street to King Street
Druggist W. A. Hayes moved his Hillsborough drug store from Churton Street to Laws' old stand on King Street.
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Anne Ruffin Cameron, widow of Paul C. Cameron, dies in Hillsborough
Anne Cameron, widow of Paul C. Cameron and daughter of Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, died at her home in Hillsborough. Her funeral was held at St. Matthew's Church the next day, with her grandsons as pallbearers, and she was buried in the churchyard beside her husband.
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Orange commissioners call a school-tax vote in every township
Acting under the 1897 school law, the county commissioners on June 7 ordered an election in every township on August 10 on a special tax for the public schools.
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Charity Atwater leaves Chapel Hill to rejoin a husband taken from her in slavery
Charity Atwater, an elderly Black woman and the mother-in-law of Wilson Caldwell, left Chapel Hill to join her husband, now Robert Warren of Oskaloosa, Iowa. As Robert Kirby he had been taken to Tennessee as a slave; after the war he went to Iowa with a Union general, prospered, and sent money for her to come.
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J. Clyde Cheek succeeds Eugene L. Hassell as Hillsborough postmaster
Eugene L. Hassell resigned as Hillsborough postmaster to work for the American Tobacco Company, and J. Clyde Cheek, a clerk at the state Republican headquarters during the 1896 campaign, was appointed in his place. Cheek was signing the post office notices as postmaster by July 8.
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The university's 1897 catalogue counts 549 students, its largest attendance since
The University of North Carolina's 1897 catalogue counted 307 students in the college, 34 in the medical school and 158 in the summer school, 549 in all without duplicates, the largest attendance since 1851. It offered 110 courses in 14 departments and opened all graduate courses to women.
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The late William H. Jordan's home place in Cedar Grove Township is put up at auction
Under a court decree, Jennie Jordan McDade, executrix of William H. Jordan, offered his 260-acre home place at the courthouse door in Hillsborough to pay the estate's debts, subject to the life estate of his widow, Mary F. Jordan.
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Postmaster Cheek moves the Hillsborough post office back to King Street
Postmaster J. Clyde Cheek moved the Hillsborough post office into a building on King Street near the court house, in the same place it had occupied when N. W. Brown was postmaster.
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County commissioners exempt the Eno Cotton Mills from 1897 taxes
On a motion by Commissioner Holden, the Orange County commissioners voted three to two to exempt the Eno Cotton Mills from county taxes for 1897, to encourage new manufacturing. The board reversed the vote the next month.
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Every Orange County township votes down the special school tax
In the statewide election on local taxes for public schools, every township in Orange County voted against the special school tax, 1,417 to 279. The tax would have added ten cents on each $100 of property and thirty cents on each poll for the township schools.
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The Farmers' State Alliance meets at Hillsborough and elects John Graham president
The Farmers' State Alliance held its annual session at its headquarters near Hillsborough, with forty-nine counties represented. It elected John Graham of Warren County president, cut its officers' salaries, enlarged its executive committee to five and set aside money to restart its Hillsborough shoe factory.
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Flora Shumaker is appointed postmaster at University Station
Mrs. Flora Shumaker was appointed postmaster at University Station.
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County commissioners put the Eno Cotton Mill back on the tax list
The Orange County commissioners reconsidered their August vote and kept the Eno Cotton Mill on the 1897 tax list at the $50,000 assessment the mill had accepted. Commissioner T. J. Hogan then explained the board's votes in a public letter after taxpayers objected to the exemption.
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Hillsborough's town board levies the 1897 town tax and orders the last Commons lots sold
Hillsborough's town commissioners levied the 1897 town tax at 15 cents on each $100 of property and 45 cents on each poll, filled two vacant seats and ordered the remaining Town Commons lots sold. The sale of 39 lots was then advertised for December 16 under a private act of 1897.
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Chapel Hill physician Dr. A. B. Roberson dies
Dr. Roberson, described as a prominent and well-to-do physician, died at his home in Chapel Hill on Monday night, October 11, after some time in poor health.
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The Farmers' State Alliance votes to reopen its Hillsborough shoe factory under W. O. Roberts
Meeting in the State Treasurer's office in Raleigh, the Alliance leaders decided to start up their idle shoe factory at Hillsborough at once and engaged W. O. Roberts of Abbeville as superintendent and manager; a committee then went to Hillsborough to look over the plant.
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D. E. Forrest becomes postmaster at Cedar Grove
D. E. Forrest was appointed postmaster at Cedar Grove in place of B. C. Patton.
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Former Orange legislator Henry K. Nash Sr. dies and is buried from St. Matthew's
Henry Kollock Nash, a son of Judge Frederick Nash, had practiced law at Hillsborough, represented Orange County in the legislature and served for some years as district solicitor. He died at Tarboro on November 3 at 80, and his body was brought home to Hillsborough for a funeral from St. Matthew's Church the next morning.
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The western union of the Mount Zion Baptist Association holds its first session at Hillsborough
Delegates from ten churches met at the Hillsborough Baptist church for the first session of a union of the western division of the Mount Zion Baptist Association. The local Baptist pastor presided, Rev. Mr. Cleveland of Chapel Hill preached, and the union named an executive committee and planned its next session.
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Faucette, Whitted & Co. dissolves and S. L. Whitted carries on the store
The Hillsborough dry goods and grocery firm of Faucette, Whitted & Co. was dissolved, and S. L. Whitted continued the business alone at the old stand north of the court house, one door east of the post office.
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Former Recorder owner John D. Cameron is buried at St. Matthew's
Col. John D. Cameron, the newspaperman who had owned the Hillsboro Recorder, died on December 9 and was brought to Hillsborough for burial in St. Matthew's churchyard, where Bishop Joseph B. Cheshire and Rev. S. Paxson Watters read the service.
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Fire in S. L. Whitted's store is put out before it reaches the wooden row by the court house
Fire broke out in the ceiling of Samuel L. Whitted's store north of the court house about 7 p.m. on January 17; townspeople cut into the ceiling and put it out with slight damage. Had the store been closed, the paper said, the whole wooden row north of the court house might have burned.
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The Junior Order council moves into the Presbyterian session house
Orange Council No. 52 of the Junior Order United American Mechanics rented and fitted up the Presbyterian session house at Tryon and Churton streets as its hall and first met there on January 17, initiating two members and installing E. L. Cooley as councilor.
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Blacksmith H. D. Brown becomes postmaster at Efland
H. D. Brown, a blacksmith, was appointed postmaster at Efland, five miles west of Hillsborough, and was to move the office into a new store where patrons would call for their mail.
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County commissioners vote to borrow $5,000 to pay off the county's 8 per cent notes
Commissioners M. W. Moore, A. J. Gordon and A. L. Holden voted, over the opposition of N. V. Ray and Commissioner Hogan, to borrow $5,000 at 6 per cent to retire $2,000 in 8 per cent notes given years before for court house improvements and the county orders then outstanding. The board could not find a lender at that rate.
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Newman & Smith close their Hillsborough store
The merchants Newman & Smith closed their business at the turn of the year, the only change in Hillsborough's trade that the new year brought.
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Orange County counts 4,820 school-age children as the school fund is divided
The county Board of Education, sitting January 3 to 5, counted 4,820 children of school age in Orange County and divided the school fund among the township districts at about $1.30 a child.
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R. G. Allsbrook moves the Hillsboro Male Academy into the Barracks
Principal R. G. Allsbrook moved the Hillsboro Male Academy from the academy building to the Barracks in West Hillsborough.
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Hillsborough feels an earthquake shock
A distinct earthquake shock was felt at Hillsborough a few minutes after 3 o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday, February 6.
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University enrollment stands at 502
The University at Chapel Hill counted 502 students, not including the summer school.
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Superior court convicts Chapel Hill men of selling liquor without a license
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, Virgil Long was convicted in five cases of retailing liquor without a license at Chapel Hill and given thirty days on the public roads for each; June Edwards also got thirty days on the roads, Benton Sykes was found guilty and Madison Nunn was acquitted. The cases followed a sweep of warrants against the village's liquor sellers in late January.
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A late frost kills fruit at Rock Spring and damages it around Hillsborough
A late frost killed nearly all the fruit at Rock Spring and badly damaged the fruit around Hillsborough. Wheat in the Rock Spring neighborhood still looked fine.
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Robert Bingham sues to keep Preston Gray from using the Bingham School name at Mebane
Maj. Robert Bingham, superintendent of the Bingham School at Asheville, sued out an injunction before Judge W. A. Hoke to stop Preston L. Gray from calling the former Presbyterian High School at Mebane the William Bingham School, saying the name invaded his school's charter. Gray claimed his was the true Bingham School.
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Judge Hoke rules that the Mebane school may keep the Bingham School name
Judge Hoke dissolved the injunction Col. Robert Bingham had sought and ruled that Preston Lewis Gray and the widow and children of Col. William Bingham were entitled to call their school the Bingham School. Col. Bingham was left free to use the name as well.
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John T. Shaw unseats Mayor Joseph A. Harris by one vote
Hillsborough voters elected John T. Shaw mayor over the sitting mayor, Joseph A. Harris, by 74 votes to 73, with one vote for P. B. Ruffin. They chose E. G. Sherrill, E. A. Rosemond, Dr. C. D. Jones, S. E. Cole, F. R. Faucette, George A. Durham and J. R. Roach as town commissioners.
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Orange Populists endorse a union of the silver forces in county convention
The Orange County Populist convention met in the court house with R. L. Strowd in the chair and R. M. Shields as secretary. It voted unanimously to endorse the call by chairmen Jones, Butler and Towne to unite the silver forces, and named delegates to the state, judicial, congressional and senatorial conventions.
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Orange Democrats choose convention delegates and back S. M. Gattis for solicitor
The Orange County Democratic convention, chaired by W. C. Cole of Chapel Hill Township, chose delegates to the state, judicial and congressional conventions and instructed its judicial delegates to work for Samuel M. Gattis for solicitor. At the district convention in Durham on May 25 the nomination went to Boone of Durham on the first ballot.
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Caldwell Institute trustees vote to build a new academy
At the Caldwell Institute commencement the trustees met and voted to build a new academy building, in appreciation of principal Thomas T. Candler's work. Several trustees pledged a hundred dollars apiece and others gave building materials, with work to start in the summer or fall.
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Typhoid fever makes an early start in Hillsborough
Typhoid fever broke out early in the season in Hillsborough, with at least two cases under treatment, and the town was urged to clean up premises and use lime and disinfectants freely.
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Eighteenth District Populists nominate Devereux Turner for the state Senate at Hillsborough
Populists of the 18th Senatorial District met in the Hillsborough court house under E. H. Wilson of Chapel Hill and nominated Devereux Turner of Orange for the state Senate by acclamation after Thomas J. Oldham withdrew. Only Alamance and Orange sent delegates; Durham and Caswell were not represented.
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Orange Democrats name their 1898 county ticket with S. M. Gattis for the House
Orange County Democrats put up a county ticket for the 1898 election with Samuel M. Gattis for the House, John K. Hughes for sheriff, Ed. A. Dickson for treasurer, James O. Webb for surveyor, Dr. D. C. Parris for coroner, and James Laws Jr., W. A. Maddry and James M. Monk for county commissioners.
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The Union Mercantile Company takes over S. L. Whitted's Hillsborough store
A new firm, the Union Mercantile Company, joined with S. L. Whitted, the Black merchant, at his old stand in Hillsborough, agreeing to settle his debts and carry on a general store under the company name. Its later notices place the store next door east of the post office.
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Hillsborough quarantines itself against smallpox in Alamance County
The town board passed an ordinance putting Hillsborough under quarantine against Burlington, Graham, Haw River and all of Alamance County, with arrest and a fine of up to $25 for anyone entering from there, and posted special policemen at the trains and on the Alamance roads. The board rescinded the quarantine on March 30 as the Burlington outbreak waned.
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The Orange bar meets to honor the late Calvin E. Parish
The lawyers of the Orange bar met at the court house during superior court, with Maj. John W. Graham presiding, and adopted resolutions for Calvin E. Parish, who had died on November 20 in his 67th year. The tribute recalled his forty years in Hillsborough as postmaster before and during the war, several terms as mayor, and service in the state Senate (1874, 1880) and House (1876).
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Dr. N. H. Cobb resigns as pastor of the Hillsborough Baptist church
Dr. N. H. Cobb, pastor of the Baptist church at Hillsborough for the past three years, resigned and preached his farewell sermon on Sunday night, March 26.
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L. B. Whitted & Co., general merchants at Carr, dissolve
The general store partnership of L. B. Whitted & Co. at Carr was dissolved after the death of partner W. J. A. Cooper, with L. B. Whitted as surviving partner settling its accounts.
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Devereux Turner and George Lynch buy into the Hillsboro Drug Company
Devereux Turner, Dr. D. C. Parris, George Lynch and a fourth partner bought into the Hillsborough drug business and announced they would form a stock company and incorporate it as the Hillsboro Drug Co. By May the company was advertising its new soda fountain.
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The Eno Cotton Mill installs more machinery for 5,000 added spindles
The proprietors of the Eno Cotton Mill at Hillsborough were putting in more machinery to add 5,000 spindles.
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Hillsborough elects Joseph A. Harris mayor again over Chester D. Turner
Hillsborough voters returned Joseph A. Harris as mayor, 73 votes to 28 for Chester D. Turner, a year after he lost the office to John T. Shaw. The new board sworn in on May 8 was H. L. Parish, J. A. Cheek, D. M. Laws, George A. Durham, James H. Hedgpeth, E. A. Rosemond and S. J. [surname lost].
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Chapel Hill re-elects Algernon S. Barbee mayor under its new charter
At the first town election under Chapel Hill's new charter, Algernon S. Barbee was re-elected mayor for the fourth time over William Roberson, and aldermen named Lloyd, Pickard, Ward, Kluttz and a professor were chosen. The "good road" Democrats claimed the result.
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Twenty-five Black converts are baptized in the Eno at the town bridge
Twenty-five Black converts, twenty-two women and three men, were baptized in the Eno River at the Hillsborough town bridge on a Sunday afternoon, watched by several hundred white and Black onlookers.
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Lisbon P. Berry has a house built on King Street by Black contractor James Nichols
Lisbon P. Berry, the Presbyterian Sabbath School missionary to the state's Black people, was having a residence built on King Street in Hillsborough, with James Nichols, a Black contractor, to finish it by July 1.
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Former Orange sheriff Richard M. Jones dies near Hillsborough
Former sheriff Richard M. Jones, one of the oldest and best known men in the county, died in his 87th year at his son W. M. Jones's home about two miles southwest of Hillsborough and was buried at Hillsborough after services by Rev. H. S. Bradshaw. His widow died ten days later.
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William Shambley sells his gold mine south of Hillsborough
William Shambley sold the gold mine on his farm south of Hillsborough to A. W. Graham of Oxford and G. C. Farthing of Durham, gold having been found there that spring.
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Orange County signs $5,000 in six per cent bonds and delivers them to Dr. Sterling Ruffin
The chairman of the county commissioners and clerk John Laws signed $5,000 of Orange County bonds at 6 per cent interest, and the bonds went to their buyer, Dr. Sterling Ruffin of Washington. The August Gast Bank Note and Lithograph Company of St. Louis printed them.
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Hillsboro Township names separate committees for the town district's white and Black schools
Meeting at the court house, the Hillsboro Township school committee appointed committeemen for each school district in the township and, because of the large number of children, named separate committees for the white and the Black schools of Hillsboro District No. 15. Major John W. Graham, James A. Cheek and C. R. Lassiter took the white school; Thomas H. Webb, N. W. Brown and Dr. J. S. Spurgeon took the Black school.
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Orange commissioners drop the road tax and go back to work days on the roads
Sitting to revise the tax lists, the county commissioners decided to levy no road tax and went back to the old system under which every man liable to road duty owed a set number of days' work on the roads. Few taxpayers came to complain about their listings.
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The county school directors name township trustees and elect John Thompson superintendent
The new Orange County Board of School Directors, chaired by J. P. Lockhart, appointed school trustees for every township and elected John Thompson county superintendent. The trustees were told to organize, divide their townships into school districts and choose committeemen for each district.
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Hillsborough men organize Myrtle Lodge of the Knights of Pythias
A Knights of Pythias lodge, Myrtle Lodge, was organized and its officers installed at Hillsborough, with C. R. Lassiter as vice chancellor, William T. Nash as prelate and Dr. J. S. Spurgeon as master of finance. It set its meetings for every Tuesday night.
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John Manning's widow gives his law library to the university
The widow of John Manning, the university's late law teacher, gave his law library to the University of North Carolina. About the same time Henry Weill of Goldsboro gave the university library $1,000.
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Oscar F. Craig succeeds Flora Shumaker as postmaster at University Station
Oscar F. Craig, a son of Milton E. Craig, succeeded Miss Flora Shumaker as postmaster at University Station.
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The State Farmers' Alliance meets at its Hillsborough headquarters and merges two offices
The Farmers' State Alliance held its annual session at Alliance Headquarters near Hillsborough. Its officers reported the shoe factory's debt paid off and money in the bank; the delegates combined the offices of secretary-treasurer and business manager to free money for a state lecturer, and tabled a motion to move the business agency to Raleigh. Fewer than fifty delegates attended.
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The university elects Judge James MacRae professor of law
After James E. Shepherd resigned the law professorship, the University of North Carolina elected Judge James MacRae, one of its alumni, Professor of Law.
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Wade D. Bostic becomes pastor of the Hillsborough Baptist Church
Rev. Wade D. Bostic came to the Hillsborough Baptist Church as its new pastor, with his first services there set for Sunday, August 27.
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Work resumes at the iron mine near Chapel Hill
Work started again at the iron mine on the edge of Chapel Hill, which had been opened about ten years earlier and abandoned after a few months as not worth mining. A railroad track was to be laid to the mine so the ore could go to Greensboro.
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The university registers 437 students at the fall opening, 102 more than a year before
On registration Monday the University of North Carolina enrolled 437 students, 102 more than the year before, with more arriving afterward. The students came from eleven states, and one came from Japan.
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The Southern mail train and the Chapel Hill branch train collide at University Station
The regular Southern Railway mail train and a train on the Chapel Hill branch line collided at University Station on the morning of Monday, October 9, 1899. A conductor was slightly hurt.
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University enrollment reaches 480 a month into the fall term, a first-month record
On October 11, 1899, one month into the session, the university counted 480 students in its academic, law, medical and pharmacy departments, the largest enrollment it had ever reached in the first month of a term. By the close of the fall term on December 23 it had enrolled 485, not counting the summer school.
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Hillsborough women organize the Gen. George Burgwyn Anderson Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Fourteen women met in Hillsborough on October 26, 1899, and organized a chapter of the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, with Mrs. Robina Webb as president. They named it for Gen. George Burgwyn Anderson, a Hillsborough native who died of a wound received at Sharpsburg, and invited every eligible woman in the county to join.
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Hillsborough's commissioners cut the town tax to 15 cents on the $100
The Hillsborough town commissioners levied the 1899 town tax at 15 cents on the $100 of real and personal property and 45 cents on each poll, 5 cents less on property and 15 cents less on polls than the year before. The paper doubted that any town of Hillsboro's size in the state taxed so lightly.
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The Inter-State Telephone Company strings its line through Hillsborough
Construction foreman J. E. Cranwell put up poles and strung wire for the Inter-State Telephone Company at Hillsborough. Once the line reached Burlington it would complete a connection from Winston to Goldsboro and let Hillsborough talk with the towns along it.
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The Junior Order asks the county to build a public school house for Hillsborough
Meeting on November 15, 1899, Orange Council No. 52 of the Junior Order United American Mechanics resolved to ask the county Board of Education to spend the school money on hand and this year's taxes on a modern school building for Hillsboro township, which had 250 white children of school age and no adequate school house. The council pledged $10 to head a public subscription.
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Burglars break open the sheriff's safe in the Hillsborough court house
Burglars took tools from Al. Crabtree's shop, forced the front door of the court house and the door of the sheriff's office, and pried open Sheriff John K. Hughes's safe, taking about $200. Most of the money belonged to people for whom the sheriff had sold machinery as agent, and a small part was county funds; there was no clue to the thieves.
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Henry Weil of Goldsboro gives the university library $1,000
Henry Weil of Goldsboro, a university trustee, gave the university library $1,000. The gift was listed that fall with Julian S. Carr's dormitory and James Sprunt's fund for historical monographs among recent trustee gifts.
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New machinery is installed at the Chapel Hill iron mine
Machinery ordered for the iron mine at Chapel Hill arrived and was being installed, with the main shaft nearly 100 feet deep. A Captain Ewing said the ore would average 50 per cent pure iron.
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The Alliance shoe factory near Hillsborough turns out about forty pairs a day
The Farmers' Alliance shoe factory near Hillsborough was making about forty pairs of shoes a day, according to the Alliance's Progressive Farmer.
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H. S. Bradshaw is installed as pastor of Eno Presbyterian Church
The Rev. H. S. Bradshaw was installed as pastor of Eno Presbyterian Church at Cedar Grove on Sunday, December 31. He was also pastor of the Presbyterian church at Hillsborough, where he kept regular appointments through the winter.
Early twentieth century · 1900–1944
- 1900s
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The 1900 census counts 14,690 people in Orange County, 707 in Hillsborough and 1,099 in Chapel Hill
Figures from the 1900 census put Orange County's population at 14,690, a fall of 258 in ten years, while Hillsborough grew by 45 to 707 and Chapel Hill by 82 to 1,099. Chapel Hill and Hillsborough were the county's only towns.
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Orange County tobacco growers form a county association
Tobacco farmers meeting at Hillsborough organized a county Tobacco Growers' Association, with A. L. Holden of Little River Township as chairman and W. L. McDade of Cedar Grove Township as secretary. They chose M. W. Moore, A. L. Holden, James M. Monk, L. S. Watkins and a Mr. Walker as delegates to the state growers' convention at Raleigh on January 17.
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The county board counts 5,056 school children and divides the school fund
The County Board of Education finished apportioning the general school fund of $6,572.80 among the townships at $1.30 for each child of school age. The new school census counted 5,056 children, 3,304 white and 1,752 Black, about 400 more than the last count. The county's $710.80 share of the legislature's special $100,000 school appropriation was held back until the state money came in.
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A case of smallpox breaks out at the University
A medical student from Mount Airy came down with smallpox a few days after returning to the University from the Christmas vacation, and the University took steps to keep it from spreading. By early February he had recovered and gone home, and Chapel Hill was reported free of the disease.
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Julian S. Carr's gift clears the last debt on the Chapel Hill Methodist church
A gift from Julian S. Carr let the Methodist church at Chapel Hill pay off the last of its debt.
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William Jennings Bryan speaks at Chapel Hill
William Jennings Bryan, the Democrats' 1896 candidate for president, spoke at Chapel Hill the day after giving two speeches in Raleigh.
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Smallpox reaches Hillsborough and the postmaster's house is quarantined
Dr. William Strudwick and Dr. C. D. Jones, the county superintendent of health, found that Postmaster J. Clyde Cheek had smallpox, perhaps caught from handling the mail. The town commissioners then met and, since Hillsborough had no health officer of its own, acted under Dr. Jones to cut the Cheek house off from the public. Everyone on the premises was vaccinated, no other town case followed, and Cheek was well and out again by late March.
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Smallpox appears among telephone-line workers near University Station and White Cross
After a first case near University Station on February 19, two more smallpox cases turned up among Black workmen building the telephone line between Hillsborough and Greensboro, one near University Station and one between White Cross and Chapel Hill. On February 24 Dr. Harrill of Statesville, a smallpox expert, went out with county health superintendent Dr. C. D. Jones and confirmed both University Station cases; a suspected case in Brownsville, west of Hillsborough, proved to be measles. The county had no pest house, so each patient was quarantined at home and everyone exposed was vaccinated.
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Miners strike a vein of ore 120 feet thick at the Chapel Hill iron mine
Miners at the iron mine at Chapel Hill, leased by the Empire Iron and Steel Works of Greensboro, struck a vein of ore 120 feet thick. A shaft was being sunk to 200 feet with tunnels every 40 feet, and the mine was expected to turn out 200 tons a day once it was done.
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University trustees decide to keep the University open all year
The University trustees decided that the University would hold continuous sessions, lengthening the summer school to cover June, July, August and part of September so that it stayed open the whole year.
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Orange commissioners buy land for a smallpox pest house
On the advice of county physician Dr. C. D. Jones, the Orange commissioners bought 15 acres south of the railroad, a mile from Hillsborough, at $4 an acre and ordered a two-room pest house built there at once for smallpox patients. The tract had belonged to William Wheaton, a Black landowner.
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Gen. Francis H. Cameron is buried at St. Matthew's in Hillsborough
The body of Gen. Francis H. Cameron, a Hillsborough-born Confederate officer who died at his Richmond home on March 31, was brought to Hillsborough on April 2 and buried in St. Matthew's churchyard after a funeral in the church the next morning.
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Orange Democrats instruct their state delegates for a Senate primary
The Orange Democratic county convention, with C. W. Johnston in the chair, elected 21 delegates to the state convention, endorsed Charles B. Aycock for governor and unanimously instructed the delegates to work for a primary at the November election to choose a United States senator.
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Grippe kills four aged inmates of the Orange County Home
On their quarterly visit to the County Home for the Aged and Infirm on April 3, the county commissioners found a grippe epidemic there that had killed four very old inmates within ten days.
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Herbert Lloyd takes charge of the Chapel Hill post office
Herbert Lloyd became postmaster at Chapel Hill in April 1900; he had just taken charge when burglars blew open the office safe on April 18.
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Hillsborough re-elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris over William Strain
Hillsborough voters re-elected Democrat Joseph A. Harris mayor over Republican William Strain, 91 to 60, and elected the Democratic board of S. J. Lynch, James A. Cheek, James Webb Sr., E. A. Rosemond, O. J. Forrest, E. G. Sherrill and James H. Hedgpeth.
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Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor A. S. Barbee and its board
Chapel Hill's town election returned Mayor Algernon S. Barbee and the sitting board of commissioners, which was carrying out extensive street improvements.
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Orange Democrats nominate Samuel M. Gattis and the 1900 county ticket
The Orange Democratic county convention nominated Samuel M. Gattis for the House, John K. Hughes for sheriff, John Laws for register of deeds, E. A. Dickson for treasurer, James O. Webb for surveyor, Dr. D. C. Parris for coroner and W. A. Maddry, J. M. Monk and James Laws Jr. for county commissioners.
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Charles B. Aycock addresses a White Supremacy rally at Hillsborough
Charles B. Aycock, Democratic candidate for governor, spoke for two hours in the court house yard at Hillsborough for the suffrage amendment before a crowd put at 3,000 voters plus women and children. A horseback parade met him at the depot, the Gate City Brass Band of Greensboro played, and the Eno Cotton Mill and town businesses shut for the day.
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David Blount, sexton of St. Matthew's, dies in Hillsborough
David Blount, a Black Hillsborough man of about 70 who served as sexton of St. Matthew's Church, died on July 16. He had been Gov. William A. Graham's butler in Raleigh and Washington, went to the front in 1865 to attend two wounded Graham sons, and was with the Confederates who surrendered at Appomattox.
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Orange County narrowly votes down the suffrage amendment
In the state election the official Orange County canvass showed the suffrage amendment losing in the county by a handful of votes and the Fusion state ticket carrying it by two to nine votes, while Democrats won the legislative seats and county offices; Samuel M. Gattis beat Thomas E. Sparrow for the House, 1,488 to 1,420, and Sheriff John K. Hughes was re-elected.
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The State Farmers' Alliance, meeting near Hillsborough, asks for four-month schools and a child labor ban
Meeting at its headquarters near Hillsborough with its largest attendance in two years, the North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance petitioned the legislature for a special tax to keep public schools open four months, permanent support and free tuition at the state colleges, compulsory school attendance, a ban on employing young children in manufacturing, and reformatories for young offenders.
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The Alliance sells part of its shoe factory machinery and shuts the plant
The Farmers' State Alliance reported at its annual meeting that part of the machinery in its shoe factory near Hillsborough had been sold and that the factory would not reopen, for some time at least.
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J. W. Goodman preaches his first sermons as pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church
Rev. J. W. Goodman, who had been pastor of the Presbyterian church at High Point for two or three years, preached two sermons at Hillsborough as the new pastor of the Presbyterian church. His installation was set for the first Sunday in February.
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The American Bridge Company replaces the railroad bridge over the West Eno with a heavier iron bridge
A crew of about thirty men from the American Bridge Company of Pennsylvania tore out the old Southern Railway bridge over the West Eno, about two miles west of Hillsborough, and began putting up a much heavier iron bridge, which was expected to be finished about March 1.
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Fire destroys James A. Cheek's stores
Fire destroyed the stores of Hillsborough merchant James A. Cheek on March 17, 1901; in January 1902 Cheek offered a $300 reward for evidence to convict whoever set it.
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Lightning kills Black schoolteacher Alston A. Whitted near Hillsborough
Alston A. Whitted, a well-known Black schoolteacher, and his horse were killed by lightning between noon and 1 p.m. as he rode through the Strudwick plantation, about a mile south of Hillsborough and half a mile from his home. Their bodies were not found for two or three hours.
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The legislature amends Hillsborough's charter, cutting the town board to five and setting a $100 liquor license
The General Assembly passed an amendment to Hillsborough's town charter that reduced the board of town commissioners from seven members to five and fixed the town liquor license at $100 a year. Mayor Harris had prepared the changes in January for Representative S. M. Gattis to carry to Raleigh.
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The university catalogue reports a record 529 students
The University of North Carolina's catalogue for 1900-1901, issued from the university press in March, counted 529 students apart from the summer school: 391 in the academic department, 64 in law, 42 in medicine and 32 in pharmacy, the largest enrollment in its history.
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A post office called Mohan opens in Little River Township
A new post office named Mohan was established in Little River Township, seven miles east of Hillsborough, with E. Marvin Lockhart as postmaster.
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Hillsborough elects Mayor Norwood and a five-member town board under its amended charter
In the first town election under the amended charter, Hillsborough chose Mayor Norwood and Commissioners James Webb, James A. Cheek, O. J. Forrest, N. W. Brown and Fletcher R. Faucett, with Brown polling 92 votes. The new board took the oath on May 9, elected R. L. Faucett clerk and re-elected Dr. J. S. Spurgeon treasurer.
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Mayor Norwood breaks a tie to license Hillsborough's three saloons for another year
With Commissioner Fletcher R. Faucett absent, the town board split two to two on James A. Cheek's motion to license William F. Jackson, Theodore Turner and Cheek himself to sell liquor for twelve months from July 1, and Mayor Norwood cast the deciding vote for the licenses. James Webb and Cheek voted yes and N. W. Brown and O. J. Forrest voted no; the county commissioners granted the three their retail licenses on July 1.
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County commissioners order new bridges over New Hope Creek, Cane Creek and Little River
The Orange County commissioners ordered new bridges built over New Hope Creek at Robson Station, over Cane Creek near Oaks, and over Little River at Anderson Toler's. At the same meeting they settled with the county treasurer and revised the jury list.
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Hillsborough's Daughters of the Confederacy hold Memorial Day on Jefferson Davis's birthday
Bad weather having prevented the observance on May 10, the Gen. George B. Anderson Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy held Memorial Day on June 3. Boys set small battle flags and women and girls strewed flowers on the graves of 24 Confederate soldiers in the Episcopal churchyard, those in the Presbyterian churchyard and more in the town cemetery.
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County commissioners stop aid to the outside poor unless they apply in person
The Orange County commissioners ordered that no help be given to the outside poor unless they applied in person or sent a certificate from reliable authority that they could not. Sitting as a pension board the same day, they approved 27 of 28 Confederate soldiers' applications and all 27 widows', against 16 soldiers and 26 widows on the county list the year before.
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A new law makes hunting on another's land in Orange County without written consent a misdemeanor
Chapter 410 of the Public Laws of 1901 made it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $5 to $10, to hunt game with or without dog, gun, net or trap on another person's land in Orange County without the written consent of the owner or his agent. The act took effect on August 1, 1901.
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Eleven Black convicts work Orange County's public roads under overseer W. P. Riley
Orange County had eleven Black convicts at work on its public roads under overseer W. P. Riley, and the October term of superior court sentenced five more men to the county roads.
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State aid pays for six rural school libraries in Orange County
The state issued warrants for its share of 210 rural school libraries, and Orange County received help for its full quota of six: five for white schools and one for a Black school at Chapel Hill.
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The Methodist conference sends J. T. Draper to the Hillsborough Circuit
The North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appointed Rev. J. T. Draper to the Hillsborough Circuit and sent the circuit's pastor, Rev. E. W. Fox, to the Garysburg Circuit.
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The county school board reports nine new schoolhouses and six rural libraries
Meeting at Hillsborough to apportion the school fund, the Orange County Board of Education reported nine new schoolhouses built in the past year: seven paid from the general fund, one paid by its district under the old law, and one given with an acre of land by George Pickard of White Cross. It also had six rural libraries running, the most the law allowed, and planned six more houses for 1902, though building costs left too little money for four-month terms for the county's 4,847 school-age children.
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Hillsborough's new railroad depot nears completion
A new railroad depot at Hillsborough, replacing the old one, was all but finished in late January 1902 and was expected to be a considerable improvement.
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Caldwell Institute starts a school library
Under Prof. Roberts, its head since August 1901, Caldwell Institute started a library with help from the school's society and well-wishers as the academy recovered from two unsettled years.
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Southern Bell puts a telephone in James Webb's store at Hillsborough
The Southern Bell Telephone Company installed a telephone for Hillsborough in the store of James Webb.
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Teacher Lizzie Holden publishes the song McKinley's Gone
Lizzie Holden, a county school teacher and daughter of A. L. Holden of Little River Township, published a song with music, McKinley's Gone, sold at the Hillsboro Bookstore for fifty cents.
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Van Fuller gets thirty years for burning S. P. Kirkpatrick's barn
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, Van Fuller, a Black man arrested in Virginia in January for barn burnings in the county, pleaded guilty to burning S. P. Kirkpatrick's barn and was sentenced to thirty years in the penitentiary. The same term sent Winnie Leak to the penitentiary for twenty years for arson.
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Kemp P. Battle settles Mary Ruffin Smith's estate at Hillsborough
Kemp P. Battle, an executor of Mary Ruffin Smith, settled her estate in full at Hillsborough after collecting more than $18,000; the residuary legatees, the two Episcopal dioceses of North Carolina, received about $6,500 each.
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The university catalogue counts 563 students and three new departments
The university's new catalogue listed 563 students besides 92 in the summer school (415 in the college, 61 in law, 62 in medicine and 29 in pharmacy) and a faculty of 58, and recorded new departments of economics, Romance languages and botany, a four-year medical course, two new buildings and a central heating plant.
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Unpaid poll tax keeps 875 Orange men from voting
When the May 1 deadline passed, Sheriff John K. Hughes reported that 375 white and 500 Black men in Orange County had not paid their 1901 poll tax, which under the new suffrage amendment barred them from voting that November.
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The State Farmers' Alliance meets at Hillsborough and moves its business office to Raleigh
Meeting at Hillsborough, the State Farmers' Alliance re-elected T. B. Parker secretary-treasurer and state business agent and decided to move the business agent's office to Raleigh while keeping its headquarters at Hillsborough.
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Orange Democrats name their 1902 county ticket
The largest Democratic county convention in years met at the court house and nominated W. N. Pritchard for the state Senate, S. M. Gattis for the House, D. H. Hamilton for clerk, Sheriff John K. Hughes for another term, John Laws for register of deeds, M. A. McCauley for treasurer over the sitting treasurer E. A. Dickson, and Thomas H. Wilson, A. F. Andrews and B. H. McKee for county commissioners.
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Orange County holds separate institutes for its white and Black teachers
Required teachers' institutes met at Hillsborough for a week, the white teachers in the court house under Prof. C. C. Crittenden of Wake Forest College and the Black teachers in a hall west of the court house under Prof. Charles H. Boyer of Raleigh, a Yale graduate, with large attendance at both. On August 23 State Superintendent J. Y. Joyner addressed the teachers of both institutes before one of the largest crowds seen in Hillsborough in years, urging consolidated districts and local school taxes.
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Daniel Morrow, Hillsborough's Black barber, dies
Daniel Morrow, the well-known Black barber of Hillsborough, died at his home of Bright's disease aged forty-five, leaving a widow and four daughters; his funeral at the A.M.E. church drew a large Black congregation and some of his white friends.
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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 4, 2026.
