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Local figure

William Courtney

William Courtney, a Quaker or of Quaker family and a fairly recent arrival in Hillsborough, kept a tavern in the town in 1777–1779 and was one of its first town commissioners under the state. He represented Hillsborough in the House of Commons in 1777 and 1778 and was a county magistrate and member of the county court.

Source: Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 71

2 indexed works are connected with this person.

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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.

Joint Standing Committees: Committee of Propositions and Grievances, Nov. 10 - Nov. 24

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1788

Reports of the General Assembly's Committee of Propositions and Grievances, 10 to 24 November 1788, in 124 images. The first day's business covered petitions from William Jamison, William Courtney and Wilson Taylor, and one from western inhabitants about the price of entering land. Later papers deal with loyalists, disabled veterans, orphans, sheriffs, pardons, and matters in Hillsborough and Orange County.

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

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Senate Bills (April 22): Bill to vest title of a lot in William Courtney, Esquire

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1780

Senate bill of April 1780 from the North Carolina General Assembly to vest title to a lot in William Courtney. It belongs to the Revolutionary-era business of confiscated loyalist property, and Hillsborough figures in it. Eight page images.

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

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 8 dated events in the chronology →

  1. James Watson becomes register of Orange County and a Hillsborough commissioner under the new state When county government resumed under statehood in 1777, James Watson was the county's register and one of the first commissioners of the town of Hillsborough, with William Johnston, James Hogg, John Shields and William Courtney. People: William Johnston, James Hogg, William CourtneySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 46
  2. William Courtney buys the East King Street lots from Ralph McNair William Courtney bought from Ralph McNair the lots at 141 East King Street where the house later called William Courtney's Yellow House stands. People: Ralph McNair, William CourtneySearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 141 E. King Street (William Courtney's Yellow House)
  3. William Courtney is one of the first Hillsborough town commissioners under the state When the new state government was organized, the commissioners for the town of Hillsborough were William Johnston, James Hogg, John Sheels (Shields), William Courtney and James Watson. People: William Johnston, James Hogg, James WatsonSearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 71
  4. William Courtney represents the town of Hillsborough in the House of Commons Courtney held Hillsborough's borough seat in the House of Commons in the Assemblies of 1777 and 1778. At the August 1778 session held in Hillsborough he sat on joint committees on Indian affairs and on claims.Search the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 71
  5. The Orange County court sits for the first time under the new state The May 1777 court recorded 22 justices commissioned by Governor Richard Caswell, and eleven took the state oath and their seats. It named Alexander Mebane Jr., son of the first sheriff, as the first sheriff under statehood and county treasurer, and appointed 33 road overseers. People: Richard Caswell, Nathaniel Rochester, John Butler, William Courtney, Alexander MebaneSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 173
  6. The Assembly orders a new courthouse built at Hillsborough Nathaniel Rochester and William Courtney oversaw the work. Planned in brick but built of wood because of wartime shortages, it was one room about 40 by 25 feet near the present courthouse site and served until fire destroyed it in late 1789 or 1790. People: Nathaniel Rochester, William CourtneySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 48
  7. William Courtney serves as state senator for Orange County In 1780 William Courtney was Orange County's senator in the General Assembly, while William McCauley and Mark Patterson represented the county and Thomas Tulloch the town in the House of Commons. People: William McCauleySearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 88
  8. William Courtney mortgages a man named Africa to William Cain William Courtney of Orange County pledged an enslaved man known as Africa to William Cain as security for 200 pounds, the bill of sale to be void if Courtney repaid the debt with interest by the following February 28. People: William Cain Sr., William CourtneyOrange County Deed Book 7, p. 321 (Register of Deeds images read 2026-10-01); abstract in the Register of Deeds' slave records

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 and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

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Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as William Courtney, 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.

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Books about William Courtney

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