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Hillsborough Recorder: A weekly published in Hillsborough from 1820, Whig before the Civil War and Conservative after it. It provides detailed local reporting. After 1865 it opposed the Freedmen's Bureau, the Union League and Governor Holden and played down Klan violence. Read issue by issue for this index, 1820–1879.Open the sourceAll sources
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Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865
- 1820s
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The 1820 census counts 23,492 people in Orange County
The fourth federal census counted 23,492 people in Orange County: 16,777 white residents, 6,153 enslaved people and 562 free people of color. It listed 7,315 people engaged in agriculture, 483 in manufactures and 43 in commerce.
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The Hillsborough Recorder begins publication
Dennis Heartt began publishing the weekly Hillsborough Recorder in February 1820, at three dollars a year. The paper ran until 1879, and its surviving issues are a main record of nineteenth-century Hillsborough and Orange County.
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The Hillsborough Recorder
Dennis Heartt began the Hillsborough Recorder in February 1820 and published it for nearly fifty years, a Whig paper before the Civil War whose shop also printed books, among them George Moses Horton's poems in 1845; William W. Holden learned printing there. Heartt gave up the paper in January 1869, and John D. Cameron, its editor from 1872, moved it to Durham in 1879.
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Judge Murphey sentences William B. Sparrow to hang for the murder of John Hunt
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, Judge Murphey sentenced William B. Sparrow, held in the county jail for the murder of John Hunt, to be hanged in May.
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A. Mason and William Clifton buy a Hillsborough tavern stand and open it as the Traveller's Inn
A. Mason and William Clifton bought the well-known Hillsborough tavern stand that had belonged to Henry Thompson, buying it from a Petersburg firm, and opened it as the Traveller's Inn with Clifton running it.
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William B. Sparrow is hanged at Hillsborough for the murder of John Hunt
William B. Sparrow was hanged before a large crowd after his petition for executive clemency failed; that morning he was taken from the jail to the church, where Shepherd K. Kollock preached to him. Riding home from the hanging, spectator John T. Ray of Stoney Creek fell while racing horses and died the next morning.
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County justices elect Thomas Clancy sheriff and John F. Forest state's attorney
The Orange County justices elected Thomas Clancy sheriff and John F. Forest state's attorney for the county for the coming year.
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A new seminary opens on Jane Burrough's land in Orange County under Ashbourn Davey
A seminary lately set up on Mrs. Jane Burrough's land in Orange County was running under Ashbourn Davey, with a course meant to prepare pupils for the university and trustees setting its sessions.
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The Hillsborough still-making firm of James Jeffers & Co. is wound up after Jeffers's death
After partner James Jeffers died in late April, surviving partners Josiah Turner and James S. Smith put the firm's stills, copper, pewter and tinware up for sale on June 15; on June 20 they announced that they would carry on the still-making business themselves.
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William Huntington and John Van Hook Jr. dissolve their Hillsborough partnership
William Huntington and John Van Hook Jr. dissolved the firm of Wm. Huntington & Co. by mutual consent; Huntington kept the business, selling watches, jewelry and silver ware and repairing watches.
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Samuel Hancock is elected a Hillsborough town commissioner
Brickmason Samuel Hancock was elected a commissioner of the town of Hillsborough in place of Thomas Clancy, who had resigned.
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Orange County elects Michael Holt to the state senate over Duncan Cameron
Orange County voters chose Michael Holt over Duncan Cameron for the state senate, 695 to 555, and sent Willie Shaw and James Mebane to the House of Commons ahead of William Barbee. The borough of Hillsborough re-elected John Scott to the Commons.
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William Norwood of Hillsborough is appointed a Superior Court judge
The governor and council appointed William Norwood of Orange County a judge of the Superior Court in place of Archibald D. Murphey, who had resigned. Norwood was assigned the Wilmington circuit that fall.
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Hillsborough's commissioners order a ladder for every house
The Hillsborough town commissioners passed an ordinance requiring a ladder at each house as a guard against fire. The town had no engine, buckets, fire hooks or pump, and water had to be carried from springs a quarter to half a mile off, so citizens urged repairing the well in the public square and buying an engine.
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Child and Clancy dissolve and join John Van Hook in a new mercantile firm
James Child and Thomas Clancy dissolved their partnership by mutual consent and the same day formed John Van Hook and Co. with John Van Hook to carry on the mercantile business, selling dry goods and hardware for cash only.
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The Hillsborough Recorder moves its office west of the market house
The Hillsborough Recorder moved its printing office to the house opposite Dr. Smith's office, about 150 yards west of the market house.
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The census counts 806 people in Hillsborough, 343 of them enslaved
The 1820 census found 806 inhabitants in the town of Hillsborough: 232 white males, 343 enslaved people, 28 free people of color, and about 200 white females.
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William Lockhart, Hillsborough's magistrate of police, dies
William Lockhart, magistrate of police for the town of Hillsborough, died at his home in the town. James Phillips and John Young administered his estate.
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Thomas Harris is elected Hillsborough's magistrate of police
Hillsborough elected Thomas Harris magistrate of police for the town to fill the vacancy left by the death of William Lockhart.
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A revival adds many members to the Presbyterian church in Hillsborough
The Synod of North Carolina reported that a revival in Hillsborough had added many members to the church there, with twenty to thirty more still under deep conviction.
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A revival brings about sixty people into the Cross Roads congregation
The Synod of North Carolina reported a revival in the Cross Roads congregation, where many had lately joined the church and about sixty people had become subjects of the awakening.
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Martin Murphey and Levi Whitted dissolve their partnership
The firm of Murphey & Whitted was dissolved by mutual consent, and Martin Murphey alone was left to settle its accounts.
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A camp meeting at Salem meeting house reports about seventy conversions
A camp meeting held at Salem meeting house in Orange County from August 22 to 27 drew a large crowd, and about seventy people professed conversion before it closed.
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The Cane Creek Agricultural Society asks Orange County farmers to share their experiments
A committee of the Cane Creek Agricultural Society of Orange County, chaired by John Newlin, urged farmers to report their improvements and trials to it, and proposed a tax on distilling grain heavy enough nearly to prohibit it.
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Hillsborough elects Dr. James S. Smith its member of the House of Commons
The borough of Hillsborough returned Dr. James S. Smith, the town physician and former congressman, as its member of the House of Commons.
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Josiah Crudup wins the Hillsborough district's seat in Congress
Josiah Crudup was elected to Congress from the Hillsborough district, which took in Orange County, by a majority of 1,139 votes.
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Orange County elects Michael Holt, Willie Shaw and James Mebane to the General Assembly
Orange County voters returned Michael Holt to the state senate and Willie Shaw and James Mebane to the House of Commons.
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Orange County's wheat crop largely fails
The Cane Creek Agricultural Society reported that the county's wheat crop had largely failed and that the corn crop would be no more than enough, leaving the coming year's food supply in doubt.
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A committee seeks builders for a brick academy in Hillsborough
The Hillsborough Academy building committee advertised for contractors to put up a brick academy large enough for about 150 students, taking proposals until the first Monday in December; Joseph A. Woods was its secretary and held the plan.
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James Mebane of Orange is elected Speaker of the House of Commons
On the fifth ballot, after Alfred Moore of Brunswick withdrew, the House of Commons chose James Mebane of Orange as its Speaker over James S. Smith of Hillsborough.
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The firm of Thomas & John Faddis is wound up after John Faddis Jr. dies
After merchant John Faddis Jr. died suddenly in Hillsborough on September 27, Stephen Moore was authorized to settle the accounts of the late firm of Thomas & John Faddis.
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John Van Hook & Co. dissolves and Thomas Clancy & Co. takes over its store
John Van Hook, James Child and Thomas Clancy dissolved the firm of John Van Hook & Co. by mutual consent, and Clancy and Child formed Thomas Clancy & Co. to carry on business in the same house.
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Methodist trustees seek a builder for a church in Hillsborough
A committee including Thomas Snipes, William Shepherd and Thomas Loring advertised that it would let the contract for building a Methodist Episcopal church in Hillsborough to the lowest bidder at the market house on Saturday, December 15.
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The Orange County Bible Society is formed at Hillsborough
Hillsborough people formed the Orange County Bible Society as an auxiliary of the American Bible Society, with the Rev. John Witherspoon as corresponding secretary. It was one of nine Bible societies founded in North Carolina in the first weeks of 1822.
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Hillsborough elects Jonathan P. Sneed magistrate of police and seven town commissioners
Voters at the courthouse elected Jonathan P. Sneed magistrate of police for the coming year, with John Young, William H. Adams, John Taylor, John Scott, Thomas N. S. Harris, John Faddis and James Child as town commissioners. Child then refused to qualify, and the sheriff called a new election for March 9 to fill his place.
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A coroner's jury finds John Bracken murdered at a still house near the High Rock Ford
After John Bracken died of beatings and scalds received one night at Thomas Palmer's still house near the High Rock Ford, his body was taken up and a coroner's jury found him murdered by persons unknown but suspected Calvin Palmer and Joseph Cook, who were sent to jail for trial.
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A University Bible Society is formed at Chapel Hill
Members of the university formed the University Bible Society, an auxiliary of the American Bible Society, with Joel Holleman as corresponding secretary.
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Dr. James Webb offers free smallpox vaccination in Hillsborough
The Hillsborough Recorder announced in February 1822 that Dr. James Webb had fresh vaccine matter and would vaccinate anyone who applied, free of charge, at his shop every Wednesday from noon to two o'clock. The notice cited smallpox recently brought into the Tarborough area.
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Superior court acquits Joseph Cook and sends Thomas Palmer's murder case to Guilford
At the spring superior court in Hillsborough, Joseph Cook, charged as an accessory in the killing of John Bracken, was acquitted for lack of proof that he took part, and the murder case against Thomas Palmer, indicted by the grand jury, was moved to the Guilford County superior court for trial.
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The Orange County Agricultural Society is organized at Hillsborough
A meeting at Hillsborough during superior court week organized an agricultural society for Orange County, with William Kirkland in the chair and John Taylor Jr. as secretary, adopted a constitution and offered premiums for the largest yields of corn, cotton, turnips and potatoes on reclaimed land; Duncan Cameron, James Mebane, William Norwood and Dr. James S. Smith formed its corresponding committee.
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Hillsborough's Sunday school teaches sixty to eighty children and appeals for money
The managers of the Hillsborough Sunday school, then teaching sixty to eighty children of the town and neighborhood, appealed to the townspeople for money to buy books for pupils too poor to buy their own.
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University trustees appoint Ethan A. Andrews professor of languages
Meeting at the executive office in Raleigh, the university's trustees appointed Ethan A. Andrews of Berlin, Connecticut, professor of languages.
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The Hillsborough Masonic Lottery holds its first drawing
The managers of the Hillsborough Masonic Lottery, raising money for a lodge building, held the first day's drawing of five hundred numbers and published the prizes, with the second day's drawing set for July 5.
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Thomas D. Watts becomes sheriff of Orange County
Thomas D. Watts succeeded Thomas Clancy as sheriff of Orange County and announced his summer rounds to collect the 1821 taxes at Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and some twenty other places in the county.
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Hillsborough celebrates the Fourth of July with a reading, an oration and a dinner at Faddis's
Hillsborough citizens marked the forty-sixth anniversary of independence by gathering at the church at eleven, where John Scott read the Declaration of Independence and Robert N. Ogden gave an oration. They then dined at Mr. Faddis's and drank twenty-odd toasts, among them ones to the university, internal improvements, the Orange Agricultural Society and a state constitution that 'wants mending.'
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The Orange Agricultural Society meets at Hillsborough and elects Duncan Cameron president
The Orange Agricultural Society met in Hillsborough with a quorum, elected Duncan Cameron president, William Norwood first vice president, William Kirkland treasurer and John Taylor secretary, and named a corresponding committee. The meeting also took up claims for the premiums the society offered and voted money to several of them.
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An equinoctial storm unroofs buildings and fells trees at Hillsborough
After a long dry spell, a storm set in at Hillsborough on September 24 and peaked early on Saturday, September 28, when about two hours of violent east-southeast wind and rain unroofed one or two buildings, blew down chimney tops and left the streets filled with fallen trees. Orchards and woods around the town were flattened.
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Superior court at Hillsborough sentences Willie Dodson to the whip and the pillory
At the fall superior court in Hillsborough, Willie Dodson was convicted and sentenced to six months in the county jail, thirty-nine lashes on October 3 and an hour in the pillory on the first day of the next county court. He was also convicted of perjury, but the court withheld judgment on that count, citing his former good character and his family's standing.
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The Synod of North Carolina meets at Hillsborough
The Presbyterian Synod of North Carolina opened its session at Hillsborough with a sermon by the moderator, the Rev. J. M. Wilson. Heavy rains the week before kept most of the western members away.
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The Union Hotel company calls its Hillsborough stockholders for their last installment
William Kirkland, president of the stock company that owned Hillsborough's Union Hotel, called on the stockholders to pay their last installment of $14.85 a share by November 28 and summoned them to a general meeting at the hotel in court week.
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The synod forms the Education Society of North Carolina at Hillsborough
During its session at Hillsborough the Synod of North Carolina formed the Education Society of North Carolina to help poor and pious young men study for the ministry, and adopted its constitution. Joseph Caldwell was chosen president, Frederick Nash a vice president, Dr. James Webb treasurer and Shepard K. Kollock secretary, with Elisha Mitchell among the managers.
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An Orange County meeting declares the state constitution defective and names four delegates for the reform convention
Delegates from the county's militia captains' districts met at the Hillsborough court house, resolved that the state constitution was defective and ought to be amended, and endorsed the Raleigh convention movement. They recommended Thomas Ruffin, Willie P. Mangum, James S. Smith and Michael Holt as Orange's delegates to the November meeting at Raleigh and asked the sheriff to open a poll for delegates at the next election.
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The university graduates twenty-seven seniors and makes Bishop Ravenscroft a Doctor of Divinity
At its commencement the University of North Carolina conferred the bachelor's degree on twenty-seven seniors, among them Richmond M. Pearson, Victor M. Murphey and Alfred M. Scales, and master's degrees on four alumni. It gave an honorary Doctor of Divinity to John S. Ravenscroft, the new Episcopal bishop of North Carolina.
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Citizens near Murphey's mills hold a Fourth of July muster, oration and dinner
Citizens near Murphey's mills celebrated Independence Day with David Nelson presiding, a reading of the Declaration by Victor M. Murphey and an oration by Dr. James A. Craig. A band led the procession, two infantry companies under Captains Russell and McDaniel fired a round for each state, and Captain William Jones served the dinner before twenty-four toasts.
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Hillsborough celebrates the Fourth of July with a procession, oration and toasts
Townspeople assembled at the court house and marched to the church, where Priestly H. Mangum read the Declaration of Independence and William Littlejohn gave the oration, with prayers by the Reverends Witherspoon and Kollock. After a dinner provided by Mr. Faddis the company drank thirteen toasts at the mountain spring, one declaring the state constitution defective and in need of amendment.
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The Orange County Bible Society holds its first anniversary meeting
The Auxiliary Bible Society of Orange County met at Hillsborough, heard its first annual report and re-elected Judge William Norwood president. The board reported that it had given out 110 of the 100 Bibles and 75 Testaments received from the American Bible Society in a county of 23,492 people, cut annual dues to one dollar, and moved future anniversaries to the first Monday in August.
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James S. Smith's building commission starts Hillsborough's brick Masonic Hall
In July 1823 commissioners James S. Smith, Thomas Clancy and J. P. Sneed advertised in the Hillsborough Recorder for proposals to build a brick Masonic Hall in the town. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1823, for the Greek Revival hall designed by William Nichols and built by local brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock.
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Orange County voters elect Ruffin, Holt, Mangum and Smith delegates to the reform convention
At the August election Orange County voters chose Thomas Ruffin, Michael Holt, Willie P. Mangum and James S. Smith as the county's delegates to the November convention meeting at Raleigh on amending the state constitution. The sheriff also took a separate vote for and against a convention.
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Elisha Mitchell publishes his study of the beetle that girdles hickory twigs
Professor Elisha Mitchell of the university published a natural-history account of the insect he called Lamia amputator, which saws off hickory and persimmon twigs to lay its eggs. He described watching the beetle at work and finding the ground under the hickories by the university covered with the cut limbs each fall.
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Petitions for a new county west of the Haw circulate at the Haw River regimental muster
At the Haw River regimental muster petitions for a separate county were put before the men and many signed. One plan would divide Orange in two; another would form a new county from parts of Orange, Chatham, Randolph and Guilford with the Haw River as its northeast line. Michael Holt refused to sign, arguing Orange was too small to make two counties.
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The General Assembly passes a bill incorporating the trustees of the Female Academy in Hillsborough
Mr. Scott brought a bill into the House of Commons on November 20 to incorporate the trustees of the Female Academy in the town of Hillsborough, and the House sent it to the Senate, which read it three times, passed it and ordered it enrolled on November 23.
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A post office is established at Red Mountain in northern Orange
The Post Office Department established a new post office at Red Mountain in Orange County, one of the new North Carolina offices opened in the first half of 1825.
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President Joseph Caldwell publicly defends the university's professorship of rhetoric and logic
Joseph Caldwell answered critics who called the university's professorship of rhetoric and logic a needless expense, setting out the branches the president and professors had to teach and arguing that a college must give religious instruction. He asked that a successor be appointed to the professorship without delay.
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A hail storm breaks window glass in Hillsborough and destroys fields of grain
A hail storm with thunder and lightning struck Hillsborough about one o'clock and in two or three minutes broke nearly every pane of glass in west-facing windows. Stones measured up to about seven inches around, and the storm destroyed several fields of wheat and oats and damaged fruit trees as it moved east.
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Orange citizens resolve to stop candidates from treating voters with liquor
A meeting of Orange County citizens at the court house, with Dr. James S. Smith in the chair, declared that candidates' custom of treating voters with liquor was injurious to morality. It asked each militia captain to call his company together to choose two delegates to a convention at Hillsborough during the next county court to devise a plan against the practice. A first meeting on May 24 under Gen. Jehu Byrd had called it.
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The West Cane Creek Agricultural Society asks James Mebane to stand for the Commons
The West Cane Creek Agricultural Society resolved that its chairman, John Newlin, ask James Mebane whether he would serve in the House of Commons if elected. Mebane agreed to run but said that, because of the electioneering of recent years, he would not canvass and would leave the choice to the voters.
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Orange County buys Trollinger's bridge on Haw River and opens it free of toll
Commissioners appointed by the county court to buy Trollinger's bridge over Haw River completed the purchase, and the bridge became free of toll.
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The university graduates its class of 1825 and gives Nathaniel Macon an honorary LL.D.
The University of North Carolina graduated a class of about forty at its commencement, among them William J. Bingham, Samuel L. Holt and others from Orange, and Marshall Polk of Tennessee. The trustees conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws on Senator Nathaniel Macon and the degree of Master of Arts on Senator John H. Eaton of Tennessee and two other alumni.
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Hillsborough celebrates Independence Day with a procession, an oration and a dinner
Hillsborough celebrated the Fourth at the Presbyterian church, where Abraham Rencher read the Declaration of Independence, John W. Norwood gave the oration and the Rev. Mr. Witherspoon opened and closed with prayer. A large party dined in the afternoon and drank toasts, and in the evening the town's old field piece, used at public rejoicings for half a century, burst when overloaded, injuring no one.
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The governor and council appoint Thomas Ruffin of Hillsborough a Superior Court judge
The governor and council of state appointed Thomas Ruffin of Hillsborough a judge of the Superior Court in place of George E. Badger, who had resigned.
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Orange County voters return Willie P. Mangum to Congress and send William Montgomery to the state Senate
In the county election Willie P. Mangum carried Orange over Josiah Crudup for Congress, 1,353 to 716, and was re-elected for the district. Dr. William Montgomery won the Senate seat over Michael Holt, William McCauley led the poll for the House of Commons with 1,059 votes, and John Scott was returned for the borough of Hillsborough without opposition.
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The Orange County Sunday School Society reports nineteen schools across the county
At its annual meeting the Orange County Sunday School Society chose Dr. James Webb president and heard its second annual report, which listed nineteen schools in connection with the society, from Hillsborough, Eno, Bethlehem and Cross Roads to Haw River, Mountain Creek and Chapel Hill. The managers said a lack of suitable teachers had kept them from meeting the county's needs.
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An earthquake shock is felt in Hillsborough
A sharp earthquake shock struck Hillsborough at about ten minutes before eleven on the night of Sunday, March 9, with a sound like nearby thunder that set wainscoting and stairs cracking. The same shock was felt at Raleigh and Milton and, as later reports showed, from Baltimore to Columbia, South Carolina.
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Orange Superior Court convicts William Singleton of manslaughter in the death of Wesley Cheek
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, a jury found William Singleton, indicted for the murder of Wesley Cheek on November 15, 1827, guilty of manslaughter instead. He was sentenced to be branded on the left hand, held in jail until November 13, 1828, and to pay the costs of prosecution.
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The Orange Peace Society condemns party spirit and treating at elections
Meeting on March 28, the Orange Peace Society resolved that any candidate who stirred sectional feeling or treated voters with liquor to win their votes was unfit for public trust, and that men who scoffed at neighbors who voted differently acted against the peace of the republic. It asked editors to print the resolutions over the name of its secretary, Joshua Lindley.
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The Orange County Bible Society counts Hillsborough's families, readers and Bibles
A committee of the Bible Society of Orange County visited every family in Hillsborough and counted 477 white residents in 67 families, 375 of them able to read and 159 in school, with 261 Bibles among them. It found one household without a Bible and supplied it within the hour, and the society planned the same canvass for the whole county that year.
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A hard frost and snow after a mild winter kill gardens and the fruit crop
After a winter so mild that a ripe strawberry was picked in an open field on March 23, a sudden severe frost set in on Friday, April 4, and snow covered the ground on Sunday morning, April 6. Most garden vegetables around Hillsborough were killed and the year's fruit was given up as lost.
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A battalion muster in Orange County votes 256 to 61 for Jackson over Adams
Men at a battalion muster in Orange County on Saturday, May 24, took a vote on the coming presidential election: 256 for Andrew Jackson and 61 for John Quincy Adams.
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James Mebane takes a flour boat down the Haw and Cape Fear from Murphey's Mills
James Mebane set out from Murphey's Mills in a boat sixty feet long, able to carry a hundred barrels of flour, and brought it safely down the Haw and Cape Fear rivers in five or six days, the first time the Haw had been navigated from so high up. Onlookers at once raised a subscription for a second boat of the same size to carry flour to Fayetteville in the winter.
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Professor Ethan A. Andrews resigns the university's chair of ancient languages
Professor Andrews resigned the chair of ancient languages at the University of North Carolina to take a professorship at the Dwight brothers' New Haven Gymnasium in Connecticut.
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Fire destroys the Rev. Elijah Graves's house on Cane Creek
The Rev. Elijah Graves's dwelling house on Cane Creek burned on the night of Friday, June 6, and his family narrowly escaped. The paper understood that an enslaved man in the household, unwilling to stay at the place Graves had just moved to, set the fire to force a return to the old one; he was jailed the next day to await trial.
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Hillsborough celebrates Independence Day with a procession, an oration and a Masonic Hall dinner
Hillsborough marked the fifty-second anniversary of independence with cannon and bells at dawn, a service at the Presbyterian Church, and a procession from the court house back to the church, where John Scott read the Declaration and Nathaniel J. Palmer gave the oration. The company then dined at the Masonic Hall and drank thirteen toasts, among them one to internal improvement.
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The Orange County Bible Society sets out to put a Bible in every home that lacks one
The managers of the Orange County Bible Society resolved to find out which households in the county had no Bible and to supply them, and sent an agent to the places where taxes were listed to take names. They asked magistrates and assembly candidates to help and named Dennis Heartt as agent to collect gifts.
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Orange County elects James Mebane to the Senate and John Stockard and Hugh Waddell to the Commons
Orange County voters chose James Mebane for the state Senate and John Stockard and Hugh Waddell for the House of Commons, while the borough of Hillsborough returned Frederick Nash by 42 votes to 40. Polls were held at Hillsborough, Mason Hall and about nine other places across the county.
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The Orange bar meets at the court house to mourn Bartlett Yancey
After the day's court adjourned, the lawyers of the Orange bar met at the court house in Hillsborough with Judge Thomas Ruffin in the chair to honor Bartlett Yancey of Caswell, the former congressman and Speaker of the state Senate. On Frederick Nash's motion they resolved to wear mourning for three months.
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Citizens of western Orange meet at the Hawfields to back Andrew Jackson for president
Citizens of the western part of Orange met at James Johnston's house in the Hawfields, with Maj. John Thompson in the chair, and resolved to oppose John Quincy Adams and support Andrew Jackson. They named a committee of correspondence to work with the county's Jackson committee and asked for an amendment so that the people would choose the president directly.
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Orange County votes for Andrew Jackson over John Quincy Adams
Orange County gave the Jackson electors more than a thousand votes to 440 for the Adams ticket in the presidential election. Polls were held at Hillsborough, Mason Hall and nine other places, and the Jackson ticket led at most of them.
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Daniel L. Barringer keeps the Hillsborough district seat in Congress over Orange's James A. Craig
Voters of Orange, Wake and Person re-elected Gen. Daniel L. Barringer to Congress over Dr. James A. Craig of the Hawfields after a bitter canvass in which Nathaniel J. Palmer of Hillsborough also ran.
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Orange County elects William Montgomery, Thomas H. Taylor and John Stockard to the legislature
Orange County voters chose Dr. William Montgomery for the state Senate and Thomas H. Taylor and John Stockard for the House of Commons, and the town of Hillsborough returned Frederick Nash to the Commons.
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Citizens form the Orange County Temperance Society
Citizens of Hillsborough and the county met at the court house and organized the Orange County Temperance Society, auxiliary to the American Temperance Society, whose members pledged to give up distilled spirits except as medicine and neither to make nor sell them.
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A Chapel Hill meeting sets out to make New Hope Creek navigable
A meeting at Chapel Hill, with James Mebane in the chair, adopted Joseph Caldwell's resolutions to clear New Hope Creek for boats from Patterson's mill to the Haw, named committees to rally the people along the creek and to have it surveyed mile by mile, and raised a subscription toward the survey.
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The Orange County Bible Society finds a thousand families without a Bible
Meeting at Salem meeting house, the Orange County Bible Society elected William Norwood president and reported that its agents had found about a thousand families in the county without a Bible; it resolved to supply every one through paid agents the next spring and then to join the state society's drive.
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The legislature elects Thomas Ruffin of Hillsborough to the Supreme Court
The General Assembly elected Thomas Ruffin a judge of the state Supreme Court in place of the late Judge Taylor, choosing him over John D. Toomer on the third ballot.
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The Hawfields and Cross Roads Temperance Society is organized
After a first meeting on September 5, 1829 at which twenty-five people took the total-abstinence pledge, the Hawfields and Cross Roads Temperance Society organized on December 25, 1829. Its report of July 4, 1834 counted 437 members, at least nine or ten distilleries stopped since 1829 and two merchants who had quit selling spirits.
- 1830s
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Joseph Caldwell turns down the presidency of the University of Alabama
President Joseph Caldwell declined an invitation to head the new University of Alabama and stayed at Chapel Hill, as he had declined other offers before. The item praised his long devotion to the North Carolina university.
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An Orange County meeting at the court house condemns nullification
A county meeting that filled the Hillsborough court room, by one estimate three to four hundred people, adopted with one dissenting voice a resolution against nullification and for the Union. A second resolution calling the tariff unjust set off a debate among Patrick H. Winston, Willie P. Mangum, Dr. James S. Smith and Congressman Daniel L. Barringer that ended in a disputed count.
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Willie P. Mangum declines a public dinner offered by his Orange County supporters
Senator Willie P. Mangum declined a public dinner offered by a committee of Walker Anderson, Samuel Child, W. Montgomery, Allen C. Jones, V. M. Murphey and John Scott on behalf of a meeting that had approved his course in the Senate. He wrote that Orange had never so honored its public men and that such dinners belonged to great occasions.
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Hillsborough elects John Scott magistrate of police and seven town commissioners
Hillsborough's annual town election chose John Scott magistrate of police and James S. Smith, John U. Kirkland, William H. Phillips, Hugh Waddell, William Nelson, George M. Johnston and Samuel Child commissioners for the year.
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Commissioners open a subscription book for the Bank of North Carolina in Hillsborough
Commissioners named by the governor under the act establishing the Bank of North Carolina opened a book for stock subscriptions at William F. Strudwick & Co.'s store in Hillsborough, to stay open sixty days. The commissioners were James S. Smith, Frederick Nash, Alfred Moore, James Webb and William A. Graham.
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An Orange County meeting condemns Jackson's removal of the deposits
Citizens of Orange met at the court house after May county court adjourned, chose Col. Cadwallader Jones chairman, and the next day adopted resolutions calling President Jackson's removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the United States unauthorized, declaring a national bank necessary, and approving the course of Senator Willie P. Mangum and Representative Daniel L. Barringer.
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Elisha Mitchell speaks to the North Carolina Institute of Education on common schools
During commencement week the North Carolina Institute of Education met on Wednesday morning, and that afternoon Professor Elisha Mitchell addressed its members and the public on common schools, with the governor and a number of trustees present for the week.
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The university makes Thomas Ruffin, George E. Badger and Bishop Ives Doctors of Laws
At its 1834 commencement the University of North Carolina conferred the LL.D. on Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, George E. Badger and Bishop Levi S. Ives, the D.D. on the Rev. Andrew Syme of Petersburg, Virginia, and the master's degree on six alumni.
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Hillsborough celebrates the Fourth of July with an oration and a dinner at the Masonic Hall
Citizens went from the court house to the Presbyterian church, where Hugh Waddell read the Declaration of Independence and Allen C. Jones gave the oration, then dined at the Masonic Hall with Alfred Moore presiding and drank thirteen regular toasts and many volunteer toasts, several aimed at Jackson and Van Buren. A court house meeting on June 18 under Maj. Allen J. Davie had named the committees.
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William Cain Sr. dies at ninety-one
William Cain Sr. died in Orange County on the evening of July 28, 1834, aged ninety-one. His son and executor William Cain sold the crops and stock of his Flat River plantation, his home plantation and his mill that November.
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Orange County sends William Montgomery to the state Senate and Joseph Allison and John Stockard to the Commons
Orange County voters returned Dr. William Montgomery to the state Senate, Col. Joseph Allison and Col. John Stockard to the House of Commons, and James C. Turrentine as sheriff. Hillsborough's borough seat went to William A. Graham without opposition.
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Hillsborough's primary school closes for want of pupils
Robert H. McCaulley, who had taken over the town's primary school from Mr. Paul after passing the examination the town commissioners required before the principal of the Hillsborough Male Academy, closed it after about three weeks with three scholars and gave a public reading at the court house to cover his costs.
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Orange County's members-elect back a state-aided railroad
All the members elected for Orange County declared themselves for beginning at once a railroad from Beaufort to Raleigh, with the state taking two-fifths of the stock, and the editor reported that the county no longer hesitated on the question.
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Fire destroys Dr. James S. Smith's stable in Hillsborough
Early on the morning of November 5, 1834, fire destroyed Dr. James S. Smith's stable in Hillsborough and some hay; a wind blowing the other way saved his house. The paper judged it the work of an arsonist and noted that George Laws's stable in town had burned in the same way one or two weeks before while his family was away.
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Mary A. and James M. Palmer buy the Union Hotel from Samuel Child
Mary A. Palmer and James M. Palmer bought the Union Hotel in Hillsborough from Col. Samuel Child and announced that they would keep it themselves, with the stage lines through the town stopping at their house.
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Hawfields citizens celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans at Gravelly Hill
Citizens of the Hawfields gathered at Gravelly Hill for a barbecue, toasts and cannon fire to mark the twentieth anniversary of Jackson's victory at New Orleans, with Samuel N. Tate presiding. One toast looked to a brick building then about to go up on the hill.
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Hillsborough citizens meet to mourn university president Joseph Caldwell
A town meeting chaired by Frederick Nash resolved to wear crape for thirty days in memory of Dr. Joseph Caldwell and asked the university's executive committee to have an alumnus deliver a eulogy at Chapel Hill before the next commencement. William M. Green offered the resolutions and Hugh Waddell spoke.
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The governor names Judge Frederick Nash of Hillsborough to revise the state's statute laws
The governor appointed Judge Frederick Nash of Hillsborough one of the commissioners to revise and digest the statute laws of North Carolina, in place of Gavin Hogg, who had resigned.
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Hillsborough elects its magistrate of police and town commissioners
Hillsborough voters chose C. M. Latimer magistrate of police and elected seven town commissioners for the year, among them Richardson Nichols, John U. Kirkland, John Scott, Stephen Moore, Thomas Faucette and James Palmer. William Nelson was chosen town constable on February 10.
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Elisha Mitchell becomes acting president of the university after Caldwell's death
Senior professor Elisha Mitchell was appointed president of the University of North Carolina pro tem after Joseph Caldwell's death, so that classes went on without a break.
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Former sheriff Thomas D. Watts dies at Chapel Hill
Thomas D. Watts, lately sheriff of Orange County, died at Chapel Hill.
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A Red Mountain meeting nominates Thomas Ruffin and Frederick Nash for the constitutional convention
Citizens of eastern Orange met at Red Mountain and nominated Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin and Judge Frederick Nash as the county's delegates to the constitutional convention, after Senator Willie P. Mangum, also nominated, asked to be excused because men deep in party politics should not revise the constitution.
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A Hawfields muster meeting nominates convention candidates and demands their views on the religious test
After a militia muster at David Mebane's in the Hawfields, a meeting chaired by Dr. James A. Craig nominated William Montgomery, James S. Smith and James Mebane for the constitutional convention, added Joseph Allison, and resolved to support no candidate who would not state his views on the 32nd article (the religious test for office) and on judges' salaries.
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Convention candidates James S. Smith and William Montgomery publish their platforms
Dr. James S. Smith published an address to Orange voters favoring the end of borough representation, election of the governor by the people and biennial sessions, while opposing any change to the 32nd article; Dr. William Montgomery published his own opposition to striking out the 32nd article and to protecting judges' salaries. Both were elected delegates on May 21.
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Lightning kills James Clancy in his Hillsborough house
During a night thunderstorm lightning struck James Clancy's house in Hillsborough, tore down a corner post and killed Clancy as he was closing a window; his wife, in bed nearby, was unhurt.
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Trustees put off electing a university president and keep Elisha Mitchell in charge
The university trustees, meeting in Raleigh to choose a successor to Joseph Caldwell, postponed the election until December, left Professor Elisha Mitchell as acting president, raised the president's salary to 2,000 dollars and appointed William H. Owen of Caswell tutor of languages.
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Orange returns Joseph Allison to the Senate and John Stockard and James Forrest to the Commons
In the August election Orange County voters chose Gen. Joseph Allison for the state Senate and Col. John Stockard and James Forrest for the House of Commons, defeating James Mebane for the Senate seat; William A. Graham was returned for the town of Hillsborough without opposition.
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James Forrest, newly elected to the Commons, dies at his home
James Forrest, about 46, elected to the House of Commons from Orange the month before and one of the county's wardens of the poor, died at his home in the county. The sheriff and the county's members later proposed November 23 for an election to fill his seat.
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Orange voters approve the amendments to the state constitution
At polls held over three days, Orange County voters approved the amendments to the state constitution framed by the convention at Raleigh that summer. Hillsborough voted 150 to 24 in favor; only the Lee's Store and W. Horner's precincts returned majorities against.
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Hillsborough elects Dennis Heartt magistrate of police and seven town commissioners
Hillsborough voters chose Dennis Heartt, editor of the Recorder, as magistrate of police for the coming year and elected seven town commissioners, among them Dr. Edmund Strudwick, John Scott, William H. Phillips and Stephen Moore.
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Orange County supporters of Hugh L. White meet at the court house
More than a hundred Orange County opponents of Martin Van Buren met at the Hillsborough court house during county court week, endorsed Hugh L. White for president, John Tyler for vice president and Edward B. Dudley for governor, and named James Mebane, Dr. Edmund Strudwick and Harrison Parker to meet Granville and Person delegates and choose a district elector. James S. Smith, Hugh Waddell and James Mebane spoke, and the meeting adjourned to the Wednesday of superior court week to name candidates for the legislature.
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Commissioners call for bids to build a stone jail at Hillsborough
James S. Smith, Cadwallader Jones and James Webb, acting as commissioners, asked builders for proposals for a two-story stone jail 45 feet long, showing the plan and specifications on request and taking bids until mid-March.
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Jury acquits Alston Durham of murder on the ground of insanity
A superior court jury acquitted Alston Durham of murdering Sarah Durham, the wife of his cousin, on the ground that he was insane. The Recorder accepted the verdict but noted evidence that he had long planned the killing.
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Superior court sentences James Adcock to hang for burglary
At the spring term of the Orange superior court, Judge Donnell presiding, James Adcock was convicted of breaking into the house of Mrs. Elizabeth Caruthers at night and taking a pocket book and other small articles, and was sentenced to hang on the last Saturday in May.
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Orange County Van Buren men meet at the court house
Supporters of Martin Van Buren and Richard M. Johnson met at the Hillsborough court house with Col. John Stockard in the chair, endorsed Richard Dobbs Spaight for governor, and named Gen. Joseph Allison, Dr. Allen Parks, Williamson Parish, Capt. Benjamin Hurdle, William N. Pratt, Henry Fogleman and John Jones as delegates to the district convention that would choose an elector.
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Henry Harris, held as a suspected runaway, is charged with burning the Orange County jail
At the spring term of Superior Court the case against Henry Harris, a man of color charged with setting fire to the county jail, was moved to Caswell County for trial. He had been jailed as a runaway because he could not prove his freedom, and he escaped soon after.
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Hillsborough commissioners forbid hitching horses to street trees
The town commissioners ordained that no one might tie a horse, mare, mule or jackass to any tree, or the fixtures around it, planted along the sidewalks of Hillsborough, on pain of a one-dollar fine, and that an enslaved offender would instead be whipped, up to fifteen lashes.
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Hillsborough meeting sends Frederick Nash to the Salisbury railroad convention
Hillsborough citizens met to choose a delegate to the internal improvement convention at Salisbury, with Col. Charles M. Latimer in the chair and Dr. Allen Parks as secretary. Latimer urged a railroad from the Yadkin to Raleigh crossing Orange near Hillsborough, and on Giles Mebane's motion the meeting chose Frederick Nash to represent the citizens of Orange.
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House of Commons rejects a bill to divide Orange and form Jefferson County
The House of Commons voted 65 to 48 against a bill to divide Orange County and form a new county named Jefferson, after a member named Graham argued that the constitution did not bar the division and Mills of Halifax opposed it as inexpedient. The House then refused to reconsider.
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Orange County citizens gather at Mount Willing each January to celebrate Jackson's New Orleans victory
Citizens met at the Mount Willing crossroads in western Orange County on January 7, 1837, to mark Andrew Jackson's 1815 victory at New Orleans with toasts, cheers and gunfire. The Recorder called the gathering an annual custom by 1842, when about 200 attended, and reported it again in 1844 with a procession from the crossroads.
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Governor Dudley names Cadwallader Jones of Hillsborough to the Board of Internal Improvement
Governor Edward B. Dudley nominated Cadwallader Jones of Hillsborough and William D. Mosely of Lenoir to the state Board of Internal Improvement, and the Council of State confirmed them without a dissenting vote.
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The Hillsborough Recorder proposes a convention of North Carolina editors
Dennis Heartt's Recorder proposed that the state's newspaper editors meet in convention at Raleigh on the first Monday in September to agree on rules for their trade; within two weeks the Raleigh editors took up the proposal and invited their brethren.
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An Orange County meeting nominates Willie P. Mangum for Congress
Citizens of Orange County meeting at the house of a Holt across the river blamed the money crisis on Jackson's interference with the currency, called for a new Bank of the United States and nominated Willie P. Mangum for Congress against William Montgomery. Mangum declined the nomination before the month was out.
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The university graduates nine seniors and makes Basil Manly a Doctor of Divinity
At its annual commencement the university gave the A.B. to nine seniors, among them William W. Avery, Peter W. Hairston and Pride Jones, honorary master's degrees to Henry W. Miller, Lemuel B. Powell and Michael W. Holt, and the Doctor of Divinity to the Rev. Basil Manly of Charleston.
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Orange Whigs meeting at the Cane Creek Cotton Factory back William A. Graham for Congress
Citizens of Orange met at the Cane Creek Cotton Factory with Richard Freeman in the chair and resolved to support William A. Graham of Hillsborough for Congress, after Willie P. Mangum, whom some of them had named in June, declined. They named a committee to work with Graham's supporters elsewhere in the Orange, Wake and Person district.
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The Presbyterian Female Benevolent Society holds its fair in the Masonic Hall
The Presbyterian Female Benevolent Society of Hillsborough held its fair in the Masonic Hall on the Wednesday of August court, with tables of goods and a dinner. It was not the society's first fair.
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A young man hangs the district's congressman in effigy at Chapel Hill
A young man at Chapel Hill, acting alone, hung the district's newly reelected congressman in effigy. The Raleigh Standard called it a disgraceful outrage by Whigs, and the Hillsborough Recorder replied that it was one person's act and that both parties had done the same.
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Benjamin Alston is killed in the upper end of Orange County
Benjamin Alston, a well-regarded young man, was killed in the upper end of the county by a man named Yarborough. The same day Yarborough beat another man so badly that his life was despaired of.
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William Montgomery beats William A. Graham for Congress as Orange gives him a smaller majority
Dr. William Montgomery of Orange won another term in Congress over the Whig William A. Graham, who had campaigned little while away for surgery. Orange gave Montgomery only a small majority, far below the 601 votes he had won the county by in an earlier race.
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Hillsborough bans plank kilns near houses
The Hillsborough town commissioners passed an ordinance forbidding anyone to keep a plank kiln, or dry plank by fire, within 150 feet of any dwelling house, shop or outhouse in town, on pain of a $50 fine for each offense.
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The Presbytery of Orange, meeting at Hawfields, backs the Presbyterian General Assembly
Meeting at Hawfields church, the Presbytery of Orange voted 33 to 5 to approve and sustain the measures of that year's General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church; two ministers and three ruling elders made up the minority.
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William Hooper resigns as the university's professor of ancient languages
The Rev. William Hooper accepted the presidency of a Baptist theological seminary and resigned his chair of ancient languages at the university, effective at the end of the session, leaving the trustees to fill it at their December meeting. Students met on December 8 and 9 and passed resolutions regretting his departure.
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The university enrolls more students than ever before
The university was reported to have more students than at any earlier time, among them 19 seniors, 27 juniors and 39 sophomores.
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Allen J. Davie imports English blooded stock and cattle
Major Allen J. Davie of Hillsborough brought in from Liverpool a number of blooded animals and cattle of an approved English breed. In December he sold one English stallion to a buyer in Patrick County, Virginia.
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A temperance convention at Green Spring takes aim at treating by candidates
Delegates from several temperance societies met at Green Spring and named a committee to address the people of Orange on candidates who treat voters to liquor; in June the committee published the address, quoting the state laws against treating that it said had been ignored.
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A Cedar Grove muster-day meeting names the Democratic ticket for Orange
Farmers and mechanics gathered at the Cedar Grove muster named Joseph Allison for the state Senate and John Stockard, Herbert Sims, George A. Mebane and Benjamin Trollinger for the Commons as the Democratic Republican ticket for the August election, with Maj. Joseph Armstrong in the chair.
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Juba, an enslaved man, is hanged at Hillsborough
Juba, an enslaved man held by Isaac Griffiths, was hanged at Hillsborough under the sentence of the March term of Orange Superior Court, Judge Toomer presiding, which had convicted him of raping a young white woman.
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A meeting at George Foust's votes that Orange County should be divided
Delegates from the militia companies of the Hawfields and Haw River regiments met at George Foust's, with Michael Holt in the chair, voted almost unanimously that Orange should be divided, chose the nine-mile point as the line by a large majority and named a committee to draw up a memorial to the General Assembly.
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New post offices open at Lipscomb's and at Junto
Two new post offices were established in the county: Lipscomb's, on the Oxford road, with William Lipscomb as postmaster, and Junto, with the Rev. Daniel W. Kerr as postmaster.
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The Van Buren party takes three Orange seats from the Whigs
In the August election Orange voters sent Joseph Allison to the state Senate over Hugh Waddell and elected Van Buren men to the Commons, a loss of three seats for the Whigs, while Willie P. Mangum missed a Commons seat after some of his votes at Chapel Hill were thrown out because the voters had not lived twelve months in the county.
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Joshua Berry is killed at his grog shop near the Person County line
Marcus Armstrong, refused more liquor at Joshua Berry's grog shop near the Person line, threw Berry over the railing of the piazza and broke his neck and back, killing him at once; Armstrong fled and had not been taken.
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Commissioners seek bids to repair the Eno bridge at Hillsborough
John U. Kirkland was one of five commissioners, with Cadwallader Jones, Edmund Strudwick, Josiah Turner and Catlett Campbell, who advertised for proposals to repair the bridge over the Eno at Hillsborough, with bids due in November.
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Orange petitioners ask the legislature for a state lunatic asylum
A petition to the General Assembly for a state lunatic asylum circulated in Orange on the unanimous recommendation of the county justices at the August court, telling of three insane people kept at the poorhouse, two of whom the wardens of the poor had lately moved from the common jail into rooms prepared for them.
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Fire destroys the Cane Creek cotton factory
The Cane Creek Cotton Manufactory caught fire and burned to the ground; the paper did not know whether any of the machinery was saved.
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William A. Graham of Orange is elected Speaker of the House of Commons
When the General Assembly met, the House of Commons chose William A. Graham of Orange as Speaker over M. Hoke of Lincoln with 61 votes, on a strict party vote in which Orange's three Van Buren members voted against him.
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The House of Commons passes a bill to form Jefferson County from western Orange
The House of Commons passed, 61 to 53, Benjamin Trollinger's bill to lay off a new county named Jefferson from part of Orange, after beating back motions to postpone it and to rename it Blakely; Trollinger had also presented a petition from Orange citizens asking that the county not be divided.
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A bill to divide Orange County fails in the state Senate by four votes
A bill to divide Orange County passed the House of Commons but was lost in the state Senate by four votes during the session that ended January 8, 1839. In a March address to Orange voters, the county's legislators J. Allison, Herbert Sims, John Stockard and Benjamin Trolinger said they had backed division as they had pledged in the 1838 canvass.
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Hillsborough elects O. F. Long magistrate of police and seven town commissioners
Hillsborough voters chose O. F. Long magistrate of police and elected seven town commissioners, among them Lemuel Lynch, William H. Brown, Isaiah H. Spencer, William Nelson and John A. Faucett, at the town election on February 2, 1839.
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Whig district convention at Hillsborough nominates William A. Graham, who declines, and then George W. Haywood
Delegates from Wake, Person and Orange met at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough on May 31, 1839, with Weston R. Gales in the chair, and unanimously nominated William A. Graham for Congress against Dr. William Montgomery. Graham declined for private and domestic reasons, and the convention then chose George W. Haywood of Wake, who accepted by letter from Raleigh.
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A new post route runs from Hillsborough to Roxboro through Chalk Level
A new post route between Hillsborough and Roxboro, passing through the Chalk Level neighborhood, had recently been established by July 1839, and Chalk Level residents sought a post office of their own. A Mr. Nichols of Chalk Level, proposed as postmaster, said Dr. William Montgomery had written recommending the office and him.
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Orange County helps re-elect William Montgomery to Congress over George W. Haywood
In the congressional election of August 8, 1839, Orange County gave Dr. William Montgomery 1,513 votes to 1,343 for the Whig George W. Haywood, and Montgomery carried the Orange, Person and Wake district 2,916 to 2,553.
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The county court names superintendents of common schools for Orange County
At its August 1839 term the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions appointed nine superintendents of common schools for the county, among them Andrew Watson, John Stafford, John Trolinger, Giles Mebane, William Barbee, James A. Craig and Silas M. Link, and called them to meet at the Hillsborough court house on September 13.
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Orange Superior Court convicts a man of carrying enslaved people out of the state, then grants a new trial
At the September 1839 term of Orange Superior Court, a jury convicted a man indicted for stealing enslaved people belonging to Orange County residents and carrying them out of the state, returning its verdict late on the night of Thursday, September 12. The court then granted a new trial, apparently because of a flaw in the indictment.
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Whig district convention at Red Mountain nominates Dr. James S. Smith as Harrison elector
Whig delegates from Orange, Person and Granville met at Red Mountain and nominated Dr. James S. Smith of Hillsborough, who had served in Congress with Harrison and Tyler, as the district's elector for Harrison and Tyler, and asked him to canvass the whole district. Harrison Parker and Willie P. Mangum represented Orange; Dr. James L. Wortham of Granville chaired.
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A great freshet sweeps away bridges and mill dams on New Hope and Morgan's creeks
A tremendous rain south of Hillsborough carried away all the bridges on New Hope and Morgan's creeks, most of the mill dams and some of the mills, and badly damaged soil and fences. The Recorder called it the greatest freshet known in forty years.
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Hillsborough's commissioners forbid firing guns inside the town
The commissioners of the town of Hillsborough passed an ordinance forbidding anyone to fire a gun, pistol or other firearm within the town limits. A white person or free person of color faced a fine and jail until it was paid; an enslaved offender faced ten to twenty lashes unless the owner paid the fine. Militia parades and days of public review were exempt.
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One of Orange County's first common schools opens in the Hawfield district near Gravelly Hill
Families of a school district near Gravelly Hill opened a common school under the new state system, with Mr. Burnside as teacher, and the Recorder urged the other districts to follow their example. The first session closed on August 28, when Burnside marched his scholars to the Gravelly Hill station for a spelling exhibition and Col. Tate and Maj. Nelson drilled them as a military company.
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Orange Whig convention nominates Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham for the legislature
Delegates from every captain's district met at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough and nominated Willie P. Mangum for the state Senate and William A. Graham, Nathaniel I. King, Col. James Graham and Dr. Michael W. Holt for the House of Commons. The nominating committee also named Sheriff James C. Turrentine, but withdrew him after Hugh Waddell argued that ministerial officers should not depend on party politics.
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Orange Democrats nominate Gen. Joseph Allison and a full legislative ticket
A large Democratic Republican meeting at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough, chaired by Dr. Julius C. Bracken, nominated Gen. Joseph Allison for the state Senate and Col. John Stockard, Gen. Benjamin Trolinger, Cadwallader Jones Jr. and Col. William Horner for the House of Commons. It also named delegates to a state convention to choose a vice-presidential candidate.
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A common school opens in the Ball Mountain district under Stephen S. Lloyd
The common school of another Orange County district, which the paper names the Ball Mountain district, went into operation with Stephen S. Lloyd as teacher.
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Orange voters elect Willie P. Mangum to the state Senate and a mostly Whig delegation to the Commons
Orange County elected Whig Willie P. Mangum to the state Senate and Whigs William A. Graham, Nathaniel I. King and Dr. Michael W. Holt to the House of Commons; Democrat Cadwallader Jones Jr. took the fourth seat with votes from Whig friends. The county gave John M. Morehead a majority of about 500 over Romulus M. Saunders for governor, and the Recorder declared Orange a Whig county.
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Willie P. Mangum and Bedford Brown debate for two days at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough
A Whig meeting at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough turned into a two-day political debate when Senator Bedford Brown, a Democrat, asked to address the crowd. After Dr. James S. Smith opened, Brown and Willie P. Mangum spoke until dark on Tuesday and again through Wednesday, with Mangum closing a little before sundown.
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Whigs hold a log cabin festival at Chapel Hill
A large crowd of all parties gathered at the Whigs' log cabin in Chapel Hill to hear Dr. James S. Smith, the Harrison elector, speak for nearly two hours, then sat down to a dinner given by Whigs of the neighborhood, among them the Rev. William H. Merritt and William Barbee. Speaking resumed after dinner and went on until night, with former Governor Owen, Hugh McQueen, Maurice Waddell and William Albright.
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Orange County votes for the Harrison electors
Orange County gave the Whig electoral ticket for William Henry Harrison 1,639 votes and a majority of 191 over Martin Van Buren's ticket, voting at precincts from Hillsborough and Chapel Hill to Mason Hall and Turner's Mill.
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Orange voters elect Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Col. James Graham to the Commons
At a special election to fill the seats left by Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham, Orange County elected Whig Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Col. James Graham to the House of Commons by what the Recorder called handsome majorities.
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Dr. James Webb counts 14 deaths in Hillsborough and its vicinity for
Dr. James Webb's bill of mortality for Hillsborough and its vicinity recorded 14 deaths in 1840 in a population he put at about 1,000: nine white (six women, two men and an infant) and five Black (one woman and four children), from causes he listed one by one, among them dropsy, heart disease, apoplexy and consumption.
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Hillsborough's town commissioners engage J. Odend'hal to teach the town's English academy
Hillsborough's board of commissioners, which owned the town's English Male Academy and had advertised for a teacher at the start of January, engaged J. Odend'hal, a teacher of eleven years' experience, and put the school under the board's superintendence to open on February 1, 1841.
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Hillsborough re-elects Stephen Moore magistrate of police and returns its town commissioners
In the annual town election, Hillsborough voters re-elected Stephen Moore as magistrate of police and returned the town commissioners for the coming year, among them John Berry, Edmund Strudwick, Lemuel Lynch, William H. Brown and James M. Palmer.
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John Tapp and his young son are killed, and a man he enslaved is jailed for the killings
John Tapp of Orange County and his son, a boy of about nine, were attacked on Thursday, February 18, 1841; Tapp was found dead a few hours later and the boy died soon after. A man Tapp held in slavery was arrested that evening and committed to jail for trial.
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A Person County murder case moved to Orange ends in a manslaughter verdict against Jarrot
Jarrot, a man enslaved by a Mr. Trotter of Person County, had been convicted at Person Superior Court of murdering Thomas Chatham; the state Supreme Court ordered a new trial and the case was moved to Orange. At Orange Superior Court a jury found him guilty of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to be branded and then discharged.
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Orange Superior Court convicts the man John Tapp enslaved of killing Tapp's son
At the spring term of Orange Superior Court, Judge Pearson presiding, the enslaved man charged with killing John Tapp and his son was tried on the indictment for the son's death, convicted, and sentenced to hang on Friday, April 16, 1841.
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Orange grand jury drafts a constitution for a county agricultural society
A meeting called for Thursday, March 11, 1841, to form a farmers' society did not take place because of bad weather and court business, so the grand jury of Orange Superior Court took up the plan and unanimously recommended a constitution for an Agricultural Society of Orange County, with a board of thirty managers and a yearly exhibition of livestock, implements and home manufactures with premiums, and asked the county's farmers to meet and adopt it.
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Whig district convention at Hillsborough nominates Dr. James S. Smith for Congress, then waits for Wake
Whig delegates from Orange and Person met in Hillsborough on March 12, 1841, with Michael Holt in the chair and Edwin A. Heartt as secretary, and nominated Dr. James S. Smith for Congress. Because Wake County had sent no delegates, Smith asked them to hold off, and the convention adjourned to March 27 and named a committee from Orange and Person to bring Wake in.
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Mickle and Norwood withdraw from the mercantile business
The firm of Mickle and Norwood announced it was leaving the mercantile business, asked its debtors to settle, and offered its remaining dry goods for cash or short credit.
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Congressional candidates Romulus M. Saunders and James S. Smith debate at Hillsborough
The two candidates for Congress, Democrat Romulus M. Saunders and Whig James S. Smith, met at Hillsborough and addressed the voters. Saunders defended the subtreasury, attacked the banks and opposed dividing the public-land money among the states.
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Dick is executed for the killing of John Tapp and his son
Dick, an enslaved man convicted at the last term of the Orange County Superior Court of murdering his enslaver John Tapp and Tapp's young son, was executed under his sentence.
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Hillsborough holds funeral honors for President Harrison
A procession of the town magistrates and commissioners, the Hillsborough Library Society, students of the Academy and the University, citizens and clergy marched from the court house to the Masonic Hall, where William A. Graham gave the funeral oration in place of an ailing Willie P. Mangum and the Rev. John Witherspoon led the prayers. A county meeting at the court house on April 10 had called the ceremony and agreed to wear mourning for ninety days.
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Romulus M. Saunders wins the district's seat in Congress though Orange County favors James S. Smith
In the special election for the Twenty-seventh Congress, Orange County gave the Whig James S. Smith 1,210 votes to 1,180 for the Democrat Romulus M. Saunders, with Smith carrying Hillsborough about 300 to 121 and Chapel Hill 130 to 60. Saunders won the Orange, Wake and Person district by 402 votes.
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The wardens of the poor publish three years of poorhouse accounts
The Orange County wardens of the poor reported that the county poorhouse had spent $3,440 between March 1838 and March 1841, about $1,150 a year, on thirty to thirty-five paupers, thirty-one at the time, under steward William Gattis and Mrs. Gattis. Two hired Black men worked the poorhouse farm and a Black woman washed and cooked, and the board had $1,053 on hand.
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A public debate at Mount Zion meeting house votes that temperance societies do good
A meeting at Mount Zion meeting house, near several distilleries, debated whether temperance societies had benefited the community, with Frederick Stafford in the chair and Eli Eulis as secretary. After an afternoon of argument by ministers and others on both sides, the crowd, drawn from Orange, Randolph, Chatham and Guilford, voted for the societies by more than three to one.
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Hillsborough's female seminary engages Moses Ashley Curtis as superintendent
The trustees of the Hillsborough female seminary, among them James S. Smith, Cadwallader Jones, William Cain, Hugh Waddell, Stephen Moore, Nathan Hooker and P. H. Mangum, engaged the Rev. M. A. Curtis as superintendent, kept the same women teachers, and set the next session to open on July 15.
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Hawfields citizens hold a muster and Independence Day dinner at Samuel N. Tate's store
Citizens of the Hawfields met at Samuel N. Tate's store on July 3 for a drill muster under Col. Thomas Jones and a celebration of Independence Day, with Jones as president of the day and Col. William Shaw as vice president. They dined and drank thirteen toasts, among them one to the university.
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The Cross Roads and Hawfields Temperance Society condemns candidates who treat voters
At its second annual meeting on July 3, the Cross Roads and Hawfields Temperance Society resolved unanimously against candidates treating voters with liquor during a canvass. It asked its secretary to write to the state temperance society so that the question could be put before the next legislature.
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The Hillsborough Debating Society leads the town's Independence Day celebration
The Hillsborough Debating Society marked Independence Day on Saturday, July 3, with a procession from the court house to the Masonic Hall, a prayer by the Rev. Robert Burwell, a reading of the Declaration by James Collins and an oration by George W. Reeves. Members and guests then dined at Major Palmer's Union Hotel, with Thomas Clancy presiding and Henry K. Nash as vice president.
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Orange County voters re-elect Joseph C. Norwood and John Taylor as court clerks
In the statewide election of court clerks on August 5, Orange County voters re-elected Joseph C. Norwood clerk of the Superior Court over George W. Bruce and Major John Taylor clerk of the County Court over Thomas Faucett and John W. Hancock. The Recorder printed the returns from eighteen precincts, from Hillsborough and Chapel Hill to Mason Hall and Turner's Mill.
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A dated event is a fact, filed on the page of the subject it belongs to: a person, a place, a theme, or a named event or history. Pages are subjects, with their own works and sources; the Place, community, or institution filter also gathers the institutions that recur in the entries without a page of their own. The page opens on the highlights; a search or any filter looks through every dated event and storyline, and each filter’s counts say how many entries choosing it would show alongside the others. A storyline is a longer history that gathers related dated events, and each storyline’s page lists its own. Counts give dated events and storylines separately. Dates come from the sources named on the cards and from the index’s event pages; where sources disagree, the card follows the county records. Entries marked approximate or needing research say so on the card; the rest were checked against the source named on it. The correction link under the entries opens the contact form; name the entry and its date and the Friends will check the source. Suggest an event →
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.
