Chronology

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1. Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865

2. February 19, 1829
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill forbids Sunday work and Sunday trading

   Two 1829 ordinances barred work at ordinary jobs and buying or selling on Sundays in Chapel Hill, except for necessity or mercy. White and free Black residents faced fines, merchants and shopkeepers a ten-dollar fine for opening, and enslaved people whipping unless a fine was paid.

3. February 19, 1829
   Slavery and freedom · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill forbids enslaved people to hire their own time or live on their own

   The 1829 town code made it unlawful for an enslaved person to hire out his or her own time or live apart from the direct care of a free white person in Chapel Hill. Those found doing so could be whipped or jailed in the Orange County jail as runaways.

4. February 19, 1829
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill orders its white men into patrol companies

   The first town ordinance divided the white men of Chapel Hill aged 21 to 50, other than the sitting commissioners, into patrol classes. Each captain had to turn out his company two nights a week from 8 or 9 in the evening and report under oath to the magistrate of police, with fines for captains and members who failed.

5. February 19, 1829
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill requires its men to work on the town streets

   All white men of Chapel Hill aged 18 to 45, except the commissioners, and all Black men aged 16 to 50 were made liable to work on the town streets when called. The commissioners could hire an overseer paid by the day from town funds, and anyone who skipped a call was fined up to fifty cents.

6. February 19, 1829
   Slavery and freedom · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill requires written passes for enslaved people on its streets

   A town ordinance barred enslaved people from the streets, lanes and lots of Chapel Hill on Sundays and between 8 at night and 5 in the morning unless they carried a written pass from an owner or overseer. They also needed written permission to sell anything in town. The patrol could whip offenders or take a one-dollar fine.

7. February 19, 1829
   Appointment, election or service · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill's board creates the offices of town constable, treasurer and clerk

   The 1829 code had the commissioners appoint a town constable each year, paid the same fees as county constables, along with a yearly treasurer and clerk. Fines collected under the ordinances went to the treasurer for town use, and the board set a quorum of three commissioners with the magistrate of police and fined members who missed meetings.

8. February 19, 1829
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill's commissioners pass a code of town ordinances

   The board of commissioners for Chapel Hill adopted fifteen ordinances for the government of the town and had them printed by Dennis Heartt at Hillsborough. The last section repealed all earlier town ordinances and resolutions on the same matters.

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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.