Key local figure

Mary “Polly” Burke

Mary "Polly" Burke (1782–1869), only child of Governor Thomas Burke, taught Hillsborough children from about 1818 to 1834 in a log schoolhouse beside her East Queen Street home. Her school is cited as a forerunner of the Burwell School, and she helped organize Hillsborough Presbyterian Church.

Source: NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams

Also found in catalogs as Mary Williams Burke.

2 indexed works are connected with this person, and the index includes one work by Mary “Polly” Burke.

Search these 2 works Research sources View indexed works ↓

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By Mary “Polly” Burke

Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, Churton & West Tryon Streets, Hillsborough, Orange County, NC

Hooper, William; Church of England; Murphy, Archibald; Graham, William A; Hogg, James; Nash, Frederick; Hancock, Samuel; Berry, John; Witherspoon, John Knox; Nash, Mary Goddard, Kollock; Burke, Mary Williams; Kirkland, William; Webb, James; Strudwick, Edmund; Bingham, William J; Burwell, Robert; Bur · 1933

Historic American Buildings Survey documentation, compiled after 1933, of the brick Hillsborough Presbyterian Church at Churton and West Tryon Streets: three photographs, four data pages and a caption page. Names tied to the church's story include William Hooper, Archibald Murphy, William A. Graham, Frederick Nash, William J. Bingham and Edmund Strudwick, and its history touches on the Revolutionary War and slavery.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

About Mary “Polly” Burke

Hillsborough Historical Society Journal: Vol.1, No.1, July 1998

Hillsborough Historical Society · 1998

First issue of the Hillsborough Historical Society Journal, July 1998, drawing on Mary Claire Engstrom's research on the town. Pieces cover William Churton, the surveyor who laid out Hillsborough; Edmund Fanning and the town in the Regulator troubles and the Revolution; the Third Provincial Congress, which met at Hillsborough in 1775; and figures and places of the old town: Mary Burke, known as Polly, the Presbyterian minister John Knox Witherspoon, Dr. Thomas Webb and Faddis Tavern.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

NC Cardinal

Eliza Mary Bond Weissinger papers, 1785-1868.

Weissinger, Eliza Mary Bond, 1805-1875 · 1785

Papers of Eliza Mary Bond Weissinger (1805-1875), 435 items in half a linear foot dated 1785 to 1868, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4443. Subjects include family and women's social life at Hillsborough and at Marion, Alabama, together with real property in the southern states and slavery.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Burke, Mary Williams, 1782-1869.

UNC

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 5 dated events in the chronology →

June 5, 1810 Polly Burke buys her house on East Queen Street Mary Williams Burke, the only child of Governor Thomas Burke, bought a modest house on East Queen Street in Hillsborough for four hundred dollars on June 5, 1810, when she was twenty-eight. She added the east bay to the house, which was later enlarged and named Heartsease.Search the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams
September 25, 1816 Polly Burke helps organize the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church In September 1816 Mary W. Burke joined eight other people and the Rev. John Knox Witherspoon to organize the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, which acquired the town's brick church built in 1810. She rented pew 13 on the first pew list and supported the church for the next eighteen years. People: John Knox WitherspoonSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams
November 6, 1817 Dr. James Webb deeds land for Polly Burke's log schoolhouse On November 6, 1817, Dr. James Webb deeded to his neighbor Mary W. Burke a strip of his lot on East Queen Street, where a log schoolhouse was built for her to teach the Webb children. Known as Miss Polly Burke's School, it took neighborhood children from about 1818 to 1834 and is cited as a forerunner of the Burwell School. People: James WebbSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams
August 1834 Polly Burke leaves Hillsborough for Alabama In August 1834 Mary W. Burke sold most of her household goods and moved to Greensboro, Alabama, with her niece's family, part of a wider migration of Hillsborough people to Alabama. After her nephew-in-law died there she settled in Marion, where she taught again for many years. People: George Mulholland JohnstonSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams
1837 Polly Burke's Queen Street house passes to Dennis Heartt's family On May 4, 1837, Mary W. Burke, then living in Alabama, gave Dr. James Webb power of attorney to dispose of her remaining Hillsborough property. Her East Queen Street house was sold that year to the family of Recorder editor Dennis Heartt, who named it Heartsease and added a Greek Revival wing about 1840. People: James Webb, Dennis HearttSearch the index · Open Orange: Heartsease

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 3 with a known location.

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.

Heartsease Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries · Hillsborough · 2 events here
Burwell School Schools and academies · Hillsborough · 1 event here
Hillsborough Presbyterian Church Churches and lodges · Hillsborough · 1 event here
Hillsborough Recorder Libraries, museums and media · Hillsborough · 1 event here

All places and the county map →

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as Mary “Polly” Burke, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

James Webb 2 entries, including Dr. James Webb deeds land for Polly Burke's log schoolhouse (November 6, 1817)
Dennis Heartt 1 entry: Polly Burke's Queen Street house passes to Dennis Heartt's family (1837)
George Johnston 1 entry: Mary W. Burke deeds her Queen Street house to George Johnston, keeping one room (1832 and 1833)
George Mulholland Johnston 1 entry: Polly Burke leaves Hillsborough for Alabama (August 1834)
John Knox Witherspoon 1 entry: Polly Burke helps organize the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church (September 25, 1816)

Search further

The index lists works with an Orange County connection. To find everything else about Mary “Polly” Burke, search these catalogs.

Books about Mary “Polly” Burke

Books by Mary “Polly” Burke

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UNC Libraries (opens in a new tab) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Duke Libraries (opens in a new tab) Duke University, Durham
NC Cardinal (opens in a new tab) The State Library of North Carolina and public libraries across the state

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Searched with the catalog heading Burke, Mary Williams, 1782-1869, so the results are about this person and not others with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

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Research sources

Additional research sources

Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.

Background context: NCpedia: Mary Polly Burke NCpedia Dictionary of North Carolina Biography entry
Places to visit: Heartsease, 113 East Queen Street, Hillsborough (Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS NC-159) Library of Congress The house she owned from 1810 to 1837.
Read contemporary evidence: State Archives catalog: 1 collection naming Mary “Polly” Burke State Archives of North Carolina Collection descriptions for manuscripts, county records, and state records held by the State Archives of North Carolina
Read contemporary evidence: Orange County Register of Deeds: sales of enslaved people naming Mary "Polly" Burke Orange County Register of Deeds: Slave Records 3 records, 1803 to 1845, naming her as seller, buyer or trustee of enslaved people: Deed Book 10/247, 25/63, 31/409.
Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for Mary “Polly” Burke NC LIVE An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
Ask locally: Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection (OCPL) The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
Ask locally: Local History Help Hours and request form OCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form

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