Local figure
Bennehan Cameron
Bennehan Cameron, son of Paul C. Cameron, was born in 1854 at Fairntosh Plantation in what was then Orange County and was a trustee of the University of North Carolina from 1891 to 1925. He managed the family plantation at Stagville, served in both houses of the state legislature, and was president of the Bankhead National Highway Association from 1920 to 1925.
Source: UNC Libraries, Southern Historical Collection: Bennehan Cameron Papers, 1866-1962 (#3623)
1854–1925 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Bennehan Cameron. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Bennehan Cameron’s life and work. Suggest a source.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →
- Paul Cameron buys university land put up for sale When part of the university's land around Chapel Hill was put up for sale, Spencer, fearing for places like Piney Prospect and the Roaring Fountain, wrote begging Paul C. Cameron to buy it, and Bennehan Cameron and John W. Graham came to bid for him. Cameron later left Spencer a few acres of it in his will. People: Paul C. Cameron, Bennehan Cameron, John W. Graham, Cornelia Phillips Spencer Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 275
- Bennehan Cameron serves as a university trustee from Orange County Bennehan Cameron, elected a trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1891 and listed from Orange County, served on the board until his death in 1925. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · UNC Libraries, Southern Historical Collection: Bennehan Cameron Papers, 1866-1962 (#3623)
- Paul C. Cameron's will is read and his executors qualify Cameron's handwritten will, found in his travelling valise, divided an estate the paper thought worth over a million dollars, ordered lands including the old Military Academy grounds sold, and left the house and lands east of Hillsborough to his widow and then to Mildred Cameron. Anne Cameron, Bennehan Cameron, John W. Graham and R. B. Peebles qualified as executors. People: John W. Graham, Paul C. Cameron Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Anne Cameron, R. B. PeeblesSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 17, 1891, p. 3
- Alumni pledge money for an Alumni Hall at the centennial banquet At the banquet marking a hundred years since the university opened, alumni and classes pledged gifts toward an Alumni Hall, led by Julian S. Carr with $3,000 and Thomas M. Holt with $1,000. The building, modeled on the Boston Public Library, had its cornerstone laid in 1898. People: Julian S. Carr, Marion Butler, David Gaston Worth, Bennehan Cameron Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas M. Holt · Also mentions: Alumni HallSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 523 · Also: The News and Observer (Raleigh), June 6, 1895, p. 1
- The trustees' visiting committee backs new buildings and urges an infirmary At the June 1906 trustees meeting the visiting committee of John W. Fries, Henry A. London and Bennehan Cameron backed President Venable's call for $2,000 more a year and his building plans, urged an infirmary worthy of the university, and found student conduct very good. People: Francis Preston Venable Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: John W. Fries, Henry A. LondonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), pp. 656-657
- Orange County holds a county-wide school commencement at Hillsboro The schools of the county gathered at Hillsboro for an Orange County Commencement, with literary contests, prizes and a dinner, in Burnside Park lent by Col. Bennehan Cameron, who spoke. The county board of education thanked the Hillsboro Betterment Association, the town's business men, Dr. L. A. Williams of the university and Chapel Hill's Mayor W. S. Roberson, among others. People: Bennehan Cameron, W. S. Roberson Place: Burnside Park, Hillsborough · Also named: L. A. WilliamsOrange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 11, 1916, p. 1
- Col. Bennehan Cameron is buried in the Episcopal churchyard at Hillsborough Col. Bennehan Cameron was buried in the Episcopal cemetery at Hillsborough, with Josephus Daniels of Raleigh among the honorary pallbearers, the Weekly's Hillsboro column reported. People: Josephus Daniels Place: Episcopal churchyard (St. Matthew's), HillsboroughSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 12, 1925, p. 4
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 them all.
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.
- Alumni Building University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
- Burnside Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries · Hillsborough · 1 event here
- St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church Churches and lodges · Hillsborough · 1 event here
People named in the same events
People named in the same dated entries as Bennehan Cameron, 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.
- John W. Graham 2 entries, including Paul Cameron buys university land put up for sale (November 12, 1880)
- Paul C. Cameron 2 entries, including Paul Cameron buys university land put up for sale (November 12, 1880)
- Cornelia Phillips Spencer 1 entry: Paul Cameron buys university land put up for sale (November 12, 1880)
- David Gaston Worth 1 entry: Alumni pledge money for an Alumni Hall at the centennial banquet (June 5, 1895)
- Francis Preston Venable 1 entry: The trustees' visiting committee backs new buildings and urges an infirmary (June 1906)
- Josephus Daniels 1 entry: Col. Bennehan Cameron is buried in the Episcopal churchyard at Hillsborough (June 10, 1925)
- Julian S. Carr 1 entry: Alumni pledge money for an Alumni Hall at the centennial banquet (June 5, 1895)
- Marion Butler 1 entry: Alumni pledge money for an Alumni Hall at the centennial banquet (June 5, 1895)
- W. S. Roberson 1 entry: Orange County holds a county-wide school commencement at Hillsboro (May 3, 1916)
Start at OCPL
Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.
- Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.209 AND
Piedmont Plantation: The Bennehan-Cameron Family and Lands in North Carolina
Anderson, Jean Bradley · 1985
Jean Bradley Anderson's history of the Bennehan and Cameron families and their plantations, Stagville and Fairntosh, on lands that lay in Orange County until Durham County was formed from it in 1881. Published by the Historic Preservation Society of Durham in 1985, the book follows plantation life and ownership across several generations, with genealogical tables, a map, portraits, a bibliography and an index; 227 pages plus plates.
Research sources
Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.
Records of the time
- Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 275Internet Archive Digitized books, newspapers, and records, readable online
- Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 523Documenting the American South Primary-source texts on Southern history
Collections and databases
- Cameron Family Papers, 1757-1978Southern Historical Collection (UNC) People, families, and organizations
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Bennehan Cameron Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
- Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries
Local help
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison Meet with the Local History Liaison at the Main Library, usually Mondays from noon to 3 p.m., or send a question using the online request form
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Books about Bennehan Cameron
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- Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
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Photographs, papers, and newspapers
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Historical records and collections
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- ArchiveGrid (opens in a new tab) Papers held by archives across the country
- FamilySearch (opens in a new tab) Census, vital, and other records of Orange County residents by this name; a free account shows more
- Find a Grave (opens in a new tab) Memorials by name and year of death
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