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Local figure

N. W. Brown

N. W. Brown was a Hillsborough businessman and civic leader in the early twentieth century. In 1907 he was serving as United States commissioner at Hillsboro, and in 1913 he became the first vice president of the new Hillsboro Building and Loan Association. During the First World War he helped organize the county's Red Cross chapter in June 1917 and in September 1918 was elected county chairman of the United War Work campaign.

Source: Documenting the American South: Annie Sutton Cameron. A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina.…

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Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 19 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Nathan W. Brown takes over the Hillsborough post office and moves it to the Cheek building Nathan W. Brown, 21-year-old son of Henry N. Brown Sr., took charge of the Hillsborough post office in place of H. L. Parish, whom the Republican administration had removed after three years, and moved the office into the Cheek building north of the court house.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 18, 1889, p. 3
  2. Postmaster Nate W. Brown opens a book and stationery store in the Hillsborough post office building N. W. Brown, the Hillsborough postmaster, opened a book store in the post office building, selling school books, novels for sale or rent, stationery and blank legal forms and taking newspaper subscriptions.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 25, 1890, p. 3
  3. Eugene L. Hassell takes charge of the Hillsborough post office and moves it to Churton Street After a summer-long contest in which an earlier appointee, Mr. Parrish, was never commissioned, Eugene L. Hassell received his commission as Hillsborough postmaster in succession to Nate W. Brown. He took charge at once and moved the office into the Churton Street building occupied by James Webb, just south of Maj. John W. Graham's law office. People: N. W. BrownSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 16, 1893, p. 3
  4. Hillsborough elects former Republican postmaster N. W. Brown mayor Hillsborough's town election made N. W. Brown mayor and chose seven commissioners, among them W. H. Newman, E. A. Rosemond, Dr. J. S. Spurgeon, J. G. Cooley and James A. Cheek. The new board met the next day and made John Hayes constable and Rosemond treasurer. People: John Sanford SpurgeonSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 12, 1894, p. 3
  5. Orange County citizens organize corn relief for drought-stricken Nebraska A meeting at the Hillsborough court house organized relief for drought-stricken Nebraska farmers and named committees in every township to collect corn and seed, not money, for delivery to Charles S. Cooley at Hillsboro by February 5. By February 9 Cooley had received more than 200 bushels, with more held up by bad roads. People: N. W. Brown, Samuel Mallett GattisSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 26, 1895, p. 2
  6. N. W. Brown's suit to unseat Hillsborough mayor Joseph A. Harris goes forward in superior court At the fall term of Orange Superior Court, Judge Starbuck overruled the demurrer in a suit brought by N. W. Brown, the defeated Republican candidate for mayor of Hillsborough, and gave leave to answer within 30 days. Brown asked the court to declare the office vacant because mayor-elect Joseph A. Harris had not filed an itemized statement of his election expenses within ten days of the election, as the law required. People: Joseph A. HarrisSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 2, 1895, p. 3
  7. Hillsborough elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris and an all-Democratic town board Hillsborough voters elected Democrat Joseph A. Harris mayor over Republican Nathan W. Brown, 82 to 52, with a Democratic board of commissioners. The new registration, ordered after the old book was lost, listed 72 white and 71 Black voters, and about 25 Black men voted the Democratic ticket. People: N. W. Brown, Clarence Dupre Jones, Frank NashSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 9, 1896, p. 3
  8. Postmaster Cheek moves the Hillsborough post office back to King Street Postmaster J. Clyde Cheek moved the Hillsborough post office into a building on King Street near the court house, in the same place it had occupied when N. W. Brown was postmaster. People: N. W. BrownSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 15, 1897, p. 3
  9. Hillsboro Township names separate committees for the town district's white and Black schools Meeting at the court house, the Hillsboro Township school committee appointed committeemen for each school district in the township and, because of the large number of children, named separate committees for the white and the Black schools of Hillsboro District No. 15. Major John W. Graham, James A. Cheek and C. R. Lassiter took the white school; Thomas H. Webb, N. W. Brown and Dr. J. S. Spurgeon took the Black school. People: John W. Graham, N. W. Brown, John Sanford SpurgeonSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 3, 1899, p. 2
  10. Hillsborough elects Mayor Norwood and a five-member town board under its amended charter In the first town election under the amended charter, Hillsborough chose Mayor Norwood and Commissioners James Webb, James A. Cheek, O. J. Forrest, N. W. Brown and Fletcher R. Faucett, with Brown polling 92 votes. The new board took the oath on May 9, elected R. L. Faucett clerk and re-elected Dr. J. S. Spurgeon treasurer. People: N. W. Brown, John Sanford SpurgeonSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 16, 1901, p. 3
  11. Mayor Norwood breaks a tie to license Hillsborough's three saloons for another year With Commissioner Fletcher R. Faucett absent, the town board split two to two on James A. Cheek's motion to license William F. Jackson, Theodore Turner and Cheek himself to sell liquor for twelve months from July 1, and Mayor Norwood cast the deciding vote for the licenses. James Webb and Cheek voted yes and N. W. Brown and O. J. Forrest voted no; the county commissioners granted the three their retail licenses on July 1. People: N. W. BrownSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 6, 1901, p. 3
  12. Hillsborough votes for prohibition for the first time and elects Joseph A. Harris mayor For the first time in the town's history the prohibition ticket carried Hillsborough's election: Joseph A. Harris was elected mayor, and O. J. Forrest, N. W. Brown, P. H. Smith and A. F. Crabtree won on the prohibition ticket with James Webb on the license ticket, giving a board expected to refuse saloon licenses after July 1. People: Joseph A. Harris, N. W. BrownSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 7, 1903, p. 3
Show all 19 dated events
  1. Hillsborough elects a town board expected to license saloons Joseph A. Harris was re-elected mayor, and voters chose Shepperd Strudwick, William A. Hayes, Calvin R. Lassiter, Stephen E. Cole and George C. Lynch as commissioners over the old dry board of O. J. Forrest, A. F. Crabtree, N. W. Brown and P. H. Smith. The new ticket was understood to favor licensing barrooms, which the old board had refused for two years. People: Joseph A. Harris, Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961), N. W. BrownSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 4, 1905, p. 3
  2. Stockholders organize the Hillsboro Clay Manufacturing Company and elect Shepperd Strudwick president Stockholders of the Hillsboro Clay Manufacturing Company met and elected directors, who chose Shepperd Strudwick president and treasurer, A. J. Ruffin vice president and H. N. Brown Jr. secretary and general manager. Work on a brick plant a mile and a half east of town on the Southern Railway was to begin at once, on an authorized capital of $100,000 with $20,000 paid in. People: Allen Jones Ruffin, Paul C. Collins, J. Cheshire Webb, N. W. BrownSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 10, 1907, p. 2
  3. An Orange County Anti-Saloon League is organized after Charles B. Aycock speaks for prohibition Former governor Charles B. Aycock spoke for state prohibition to a large crowd in the Hillsborough courthouse, several merchants closing their stores so their clerks could hear him, and Rev. Charles E. Maddry of Greensboro then organized an Orange County Anti-Saloon League with Frank Nash as chairman, Nathan W. Brown as secretary and an executive committee drawn from every township. People: Charles B. Aycock, Charles Edward Maddry, Frank Nash, N. W. Brown, Samuel Mallett GattisSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 23, 1908, p. 3
  4. N. W. Brown buys a King Street store house beside the post office N. W. Brown bought the vacant lot and store house on King Street between the post office building and the Misses Forrest's millinery store, planning a glass front and other improvements.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 21, 1911, p. 5
  5. The Hillsboro Building and Loan Association is organized in the back of the West End Drug Store Six incorporators put up $5,500 to start the Hillsboro Building and Loan Association, with Charles H. Robertson as president and druggist C. M. Andrews as secretary-treasurer. Andrews took members' payments at his drug counter until 1926. People: Charles H. Robertson, Charles M. Andrews, N. W. BrownSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, October 5, 1950, p. 10 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 13, 1961, p. 27
  6. Orange County raises about $2,000 in a Y.M.C.A. war fund drive A Y.M.C.A. drive ran November 11-19, 1917, led by N. W. Brown, G. K. Collins and T. M. Grant. At a packed court house rally on November 18, with Maj. John W. Graham presiding, pledges reached $1,400, and the rest of the $2,000 was raised afterward. People: John W. Graham, Samuel Mallett Gattis, N. W. BrownSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 71
  7. Orange County organizes for the United War Work drive A court house meeting on September 19, 1918, elected N. W. Brown county chairman for the United War Work drive. The county raised $7,485; Carrboro gave $1,240 on a $500 quota, and Hillsborough Township, under Elizabeth Cornelius, gave $2,300. People: R. H. Claytor, N. W. BrownSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 72

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

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