Richard Bennehan

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1768 William Johnston offers Richard Bennehan a partnership in the Little River Store William Johnston offered Richard Bennehan a one-third partnership in the Little River Store on his Snowhill plantation near Hillsborough. Bennehan moved to North Carolina in late 1768 or early 1769 to manage it. People: William JohnstonSearch the index · UNC Libraries, Southern Historical Collection: Cameron Family Papers finding aid (#00133)
2. 1776 Richard Bennehan buys the land that began the Stagville plantation Bennehan bought land northeast of Snow Hill on the west side of the Flat River, the start of what became the Stagville-Fairntosh plantation complex.Search the index · NCpedia: Bennehan, Richard (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
3. December 10, 1776 Orange County votes again after the Halifax Congress voids its October return The Congress first upheld the sitting Orange members on November 21, then on November 28 ordered a new election run by named commissioners over as many as three days. Held December 10, it returned Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, Alexander Mebane, John Butler and John McCabe, who took their seats just before the state constitution was adopted. People: Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, John Butler, Richard BennehanSearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 56
4. May 1777 The county court orders the road from Bennehan's to New Hope Chapel finished The road ordered earlier from Richard Bennehan's to New Hope Chapel had been cleared only as far as John Patterson's, so the May 1777 court named an overseer to clear the rest.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 174
5. 1778 Richard Bennehan lists 31 enslaved people for taxes On the 1778 tax list Richard Bennehan of Stagville, one of the largest landholders in Orange County with 4,065 acres, reported 31 enslaved people. Most Orange households of the period held no one in slavery. People: Richard BennehanNC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 16
6. 1787 Richard Bennehan buys land from Judith Stagg and opens the Stagville Store After William Johnston's death in 1785 Bennehan opened his own store, on land he bought from Judith Stagg, which became the Stagville Store.Search the index · NCpedia: Bennehan, Richard (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
7. 1790 The first federal census counts 2,060 enslaved people in Orange County The first federal census counted 12,216 people in Orange County: 10,055 white residents, 2,060 enslaved people and 101 other free persons. No other Piedmont county held as many enslaved people, and Richard Bennehan (24) and William Hooper (22, in Hillsborough) were the largest holders. People: Richard Bennehan, William HooperLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 95-96
8. October 1793 Richard Bennehan gives shells for mortar for Old East Bennehan donated fifty bushels of shells for making mortar for the university's first building. In 1796 he gave an air pump and thirty-two books.Search the index · NCpedia: Bennehan, Richard (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
9. 1799 Richard Bennehan builds the Stagville house Bennehan built the house he called Stagville. By then he owned about 4,000 acres, worked by 44 or more enslaved people. The same year he joined the university's board of trustees.Search the index · NCpedia: Bennehan, Richard (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)