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Joseph Allison

Gen. Joseph Allison was elected many times to represent Orange County in the legislature and served eight years as clerk of the county court before poor health led him to decline reelection. He died at his home in the county in July 1861.

Source: Hillsborough Recorder: Obituary of Gen. Joseph Allison, July 24, 1861, p. 3

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Select a title to open its page or chronology entry.

Jacksonians and Whigs in Orange County, 1824–18391824–1839 · Orange County voted for Andrew Jackson in 1824 and by a wide margin in 1828, but by the late 1830s Whigs and Van Buren men were contesting its seats. Willie P. Mangum, chosen senator in 1830 as a Jacksonian, broke with Jackson over the removal of the bank deposits, and an Orange meeting approved his course in 1834. In 1836, after many county leaders broke with Jackson, supporters of Hugh L. White and of Martin Van Buren held rival meetings at the Hillsborough court house, and Orange went for Van Buren. Van Buren men took three Orange seats from the Whigs in 1838, and in 1839 Orange favored Dr. William Montgomery for Congress over the Whig George W. Haywood. The Log Cabin campaign in Orange County, 1840–18411840–1841 · 11 events · In 1840 Orange County's Whigs and Democratic Republicans contested both the presidential race and the county's seats in the legislature. In August Orange elected Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham and two other Whigs, with the Democratic Republican Cadwallader Jones Jr. taking the fourth seat, and the Recorder declared Orange a Whig county. In September Mangum and Democratic Senator Bedford Brown debated for two days at Hillsborough's Masonic Hall, and Chapel Hill held a Whig log cabin festival, though the University faculty asked the candidates not to speak there. In November the county gave Harrison a majority of 191 over Van Buren, and William A. Graham went on to the U.S. Senate.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 21 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Land later farmed by the Allison family near Caldwell is granted The tract under the Joseph Allison house near Caldwell comes from a 1759 land grant, one of the few colonial grants the survey tied to a surviving farm. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 90
  2. Cedar Grove Methodist Episcopal Church builds its first church The congregation put up a small frame sanctuary facing east on what is now Efland-Cedar Grove Road, on land given by Joseph Allison and John Kelly. It was enlarged on the south side in 1876 and later torn down; its site lies just east of the 1939 stone church. People: Joseph AllisonNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District, National Register nomination (1998), pdf p. 22
  3. Orange County's candidates for the Assembly and sheriff take the field By July 12, 1834, the candidates for Orange County's August 14 election were William Montgomery and Hugh Waddell for the state Senate; Joseph Allison, John Stockard, William McCauley and William R. Hall for the House of Commons; William A. Graham for the Hillsborough borough seat; and James C. Turrentine and William Nelson for sheriff. Earlier lists that summer had named Thomas D. Crane and, briefly, Burrhus Cheek for the Senate. People: William Montgomery, Hugh Waddell, William McCauley, William A. Graham, James C. Turrentine, William Nelson, Joseph Allison, John StockardSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), July 12, 1834, p. 3
  4. 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. People: William Montgomery, James C. Turrentine, William A. Graham, Joseph Allison, John StockardSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 20, 1834, p. 3
  5. 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. People: William Montgomery, James Strudwick Smith, James Mebane, Joseph Allison, James A. CraigSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 15, 1835, p. 3
  6. 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. People: William A. Graham, James Mebane, John Stockard, Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 14, 1835, p. 3
  7. 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. People: Joseph Allison, John StockardSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 18, 1836, p. 3
  8. Brigadier General Joseph Allison orders the fall reviews of his militia brigade By order of Brig. Gen. Joseph Allison, the regiments of his brigade of North Carolina militia, including a regiment in Orange, were called out for review on set days in October 1837, each man equipped as the law required.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder: Brigade review order, August 4, 1837, p. 3
  9. 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. People: Joseph Allison, John StockardSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, April 13, 1838, p. 3
  10. 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. People: Hugh Waddell, Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Joseph Allison, John StockardSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 23, 1838, p. 3
  11. 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. People: John Stockard, Cadwallader Jones, Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 4, 1840, p. 3
  12. Orange County sends Democrat Joseph Allison to the state Senate while voting for Whig governor John M. Morehead Orange voters gave Governor John M. Morehead, the Whig, 1,576 votes to 1,172 for Louis D. Henry, yet elected Democrat Joseph Allison to the state Senate over Hugh Waddell and returned only one Whig, Henry K. Nash, to the House of Commons with Democrats John Stockard, Julius C. Bracken and Cadwallader Jones Jr. The Whig Recorder blamed poor Whig turnout and alleged illegal votes, and some Whigs spoke of contesting the result. People: Hugh Waddell, John Motley Morehead, Joseph Allison, Henry Kollock Nash, John Stockard, Cadwallader JonesSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 11, 1842, p. 3
Show all 21 dated events
  1. The Joseph Allison house is built near Caldwell A frame side-gable house is built in 1845 on the Joseph Allison place near Caldwell, on land that goes back to a 1759 grant. It had been remodeled by 1993. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 90
  2. Hawfields citizens celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans with Gen. Joseph Allison presiding Following an annual custom, citizens of the Hawfields gathered on Gravelly Hill to mark the 1815 victory at New Orleans, with Gen. Joseph Allison as president, Willie Mebane as vice president and Samuel N. Tate as secretary. Allison recalled the pleasure of his time with the Hawfields people during the War of 1812, and the toasts that followed were saluted with guns and cheers.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder: "Eighth of January,", January 23, 1845, p. 3
  3. Orange citizens hold funeral honors for Andrew Jackson at Mason Hall A large gathering of Orange citizens and the officers of the Hawfield Regiment marched in a funeral procession at Mason Hall in memory of Andrew Jackson, with minute guns, a prayer by Rev. Anderson Hughes and an oration by Cadwallader Jones Jr. People: Joseph Allison, Cadwallader JonesSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 24, 1845, p. 3
  4. Orange voters elect Richard M. Jones and Joseph Allison clerks of court In the county's August election, voters chose Richard M. Jones clerk of the Superior Court and Gen. Joseph Allison clerk of the County Court, replacing the longtime clerks. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 14, 1845, p. 3
  5. The Orange Volunteers dine at the Hillsborough House and elect John Cameron captain Townspeople gave the Orange Volunteers, raised for the Mexican War, a dinner at Robert F. Morris's Hillsborough House, where Cadwallader Jones Jr. and Gen. Joseph Allison addressed them. The company then marched to the court house and elected John Cameron captain and Shepard K. Nash first lieutenant, and was accepted as Company I, the ninth company of the North Carolina Regiment. People: Joseph Allison, Cadwallader JonesSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, January 21, 1847, p. 3
  6. The court grants Jehu Hall indentures for Charlotte Weldon and James Taburn, children of color The court found that Charlotte Weldon, daughter of Lydia Weldon, and James Taburn, son of Lucinda Taburn, both free women of color, had been bound to Jehu Hall in May 1839 and May 1842 without indentures ever being issued, and ordered indentures granted. In February 1846 Hall had written to Joseph Allison that he had paid for the indentures of two children of color bound to him, that the clerk Taylor kept putting off writing them, and asked Allison to send them by the bearer. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  7. George Laws becomes clerk of the Orange County court Laws succeeded Joseph Allison as clerk of the county court of pleas and quarter sessions at Hillsborough. Under the 1868 constitution he became clerk of the superior court and judge of probate. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 357
  8. Orange Democrats meet at the court house and name delegates to the state convention A county meeting of Democrats in the Hillsborough court house, with Gen. Joseph Allison in the chair and Calvin E. Parish as secretary, adopted resolutions from a committee led by John W. Norwood warning that continued Northern aggression on Southern rights would end in disunion, and commended Governor Ellis for re-election. It named a long list of delegates, among them Paul C. Cameron, Cadwallader Jones and Pride Jones, to the state Democratic convention at Raleigh on March 8, and Norwood then spoke for two hours. People: Calvin E. Parish, John Wall Norwood, John U. Kirkland, Paul C. Cameron, Pride Jones, Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 7, 1860, p. 2
  9. Gen. Joseph Allison, former legislator and county court clerk, dies Gen. Joseph Allison died at his home in Orange County early on the morning of July 23. He had been elected many times to represent the county in the legislature and served eight years as clerk of the county court before poor health led him to decline reelection. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 24, 1861, p. 3

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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People named in the same events

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