Merritt Cheek

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 16 dated events in the chronology →

1. August 5, 1869 Orange County holds its first township elections Voters in each township chose magistrates, a clerk, a constable and school committeemen for the first time. In Chapel Hill Township 540 of 565 registered voters cast ballots. People: Jones Watson, Andrew Mickle, John Wesley Carr, Merritt Cheek, John R. HutchinsSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 196
2. 1872; again 1876 to May 1879 John H. Watson serves as Chapel Hill's magistrate of police and mayor Lefler and Wager list Watson as magistrate of police in 1872 and again from 1876 to 1878, and say the amended charter of 1879 created the office of mayor. The Chapel Hill Ledger already called him mayor: the town board elected him at its first regular meeting in May 1878, and he resigned in May 1879, when the newly elected board chose Merritt Cheek. People: Merritt CheekSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 364 · Also: The Chapel Hill Ledger, May 18, 1878, p. 3; The Chapel Hill Ledger, May 10, 1879, p. 3
3. August 8-10, 1878 Chapel Hill magistrates hear the Hendon burglary case and send four men to jail After a summer of break-ins at Chapel Hill, including a night attack on Mrs. S. L. Hendon in her house on June 15 for which the town board and Julian S. Carr offered rewards, magistrates John H. Watson, Merritt Cheek and S. H. Turrentine heard the case against four young men, two white and two Black. One confessed and testified for the state, and on August 10 the sheriff took all four to the county jail. People: John H. Watson, Merritt CheekSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, August 10, 1878, p. 3
4. March 14, 1879 An 1879 charter amendment gives Chapel Hill's mayor the powers of a justice of the peace An amendment ratified March 14, 1879 clothed the mayor of Chapel Hill with a justice of the peace's powers in Orange County, let the commissioners build or rent a lockup costing up to $300, capped town taxes at two-thirds of the state and county levy, and allowed a license tax of up to $5. The act speaks of the mayor as an office already in being; Lefler and Wager count Merritt Cheek, serving to 1881, as the first mayor. Until 1895 the board of commissioners chose the mayor. The Chapel Hill Ledger reported the bill passed by March 8 and called its main change letting the town's voters elect the mayor, whom the commissioners had chosen until then. People: Merritt CheekSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 364 · Also: Ordinances and Charter for the Government of the Town of Chapel Hill; The Chapel Hill Ledger, March 8, 1879, p. 2
5. May 6, 1879 The new Chapel Hill board elects Merritt Cheek mayor and William Creel constable After the old board handed over on election night and Mayor John H. Watson and the town attorney resigned, the new commissioners chose Merritt Cheek, a justice of the peace, as mayor and William Creel as town constable. At their meeting the next night Cheek was sworn in, Dr. T. W. Harris was made secretary and treasurer, and the weighmaster's duties went to the constable. People: John H. Watson, Thomas West Harris, Charles W. Johnston, Merritt CheekSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, May 10, 1879, p. 3
6. by January 24, 1880 Ruffin Cheek buys out Merritt Cheek's store in Chapel Hill Ruffin Cheek bought the entire stock of goods of Merritt Cheek, Chapel Hill's mayor, and took over the trade. People: Merritt CheekSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, January 24, 1880, p. 3
7. about April 1, 1880 Chapel Hill commissioners make the printed ordinances town law and call the town election The Chapel Hill commissioners declared the town ordinances, as printed in pamphlet form, to be the laws of the town. They also ordered the election of commissioners for the first Monday in May, with Merritt Cheek as registrar and Eugene Wilson and E. W. Woods as poll holders. People: Merritt CheekSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, April 3, 1880, p. 3
8. August 24, 1880 The Mount Zion Baptist Association meets at Durham The Mount Zion Baptist Association held its annual meeting at Durham, with L. J. Weaver, Merritt Cheek and William Creel among the delegates from Chapel Hill. People: Merritt CheekSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, August 28, 1880, p. 3
9. August 28, 1880 Chapel Hill Township Democrats hold their first primary election Chapel Hill Township Democrats chose their twelve delegates to the county convention by a primary vote, a plan the Ledger called entirely new, with Merritt Cheek and J. M. Alexander as poll holders. Voters also recorded preferences for the county offices, putting Charles W. Johnston first for the House and Merritt Cheek first for treasurer. People: Charles W. Johnston, Merritt CheekSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, September 4, 1880, p. 3
10. June 2, 1884 Orange County magistrates enlarge the board of commissioners from three to five Meeting at the court house, the justices of the peace voted to raise the number of county commissioners from three to five and elected N. P. Hall, D. F. Morrow, J. F. Lyon, W. H. Anderson and Merritt Cheek for two years from December 1. In joint session with the Board of Education they re-elected the Rev. James L. Currie county school superintendent by acclamation. People: James L. Currie, Merritt Cheek, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 7, 1884, p. 2
11. August 16, 1884 Chapel Hill Democrats organize a Cleveland and Scales Club After a mass meeting of Chapel Hill township Democrats chose delegates to the county convention, those present organized a Cleveland and Scales Club and enrolled 91 members. People: Samuel Mallett Gattis, Merritt CheekSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 23, 1884, p. 2
12. September 7, 1885 County commissioners levy a tax to fence in the stock-law townships The county commissioners levied a tax of 20 cents on each $100 of real estate in Hillsborough, Cedar Grove, Little River and Bingham townships to build the fence the new stock law required, and named Merritt Cheek and D. F. Morrow a committee with full power to have it put up. People: Merritt Cheek, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 12, 1885, p. 3