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Local figure

John DeBow

John DeBow (about 1745–1783) was a Presbyterian minister educated at the College of New Jersey. Ordained in 1776, he took the call to the Hawfields and Eno churches and also preached in the Hillsborough courthouse. He kept a school and asked the General Assembly to support it until a state university existed. He died of smallpox in September 1783 and was the first person buried in the new Hawfields cemetery.

Source: NCpedia: DeBow, John

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

StorylineHugh McAden, Henry Pattillo and the first Presbyterian congregations, 1753–17901753–1790 · 19 events · Orange County's Presbyterian settlers had congregations before they had ministers. Hugh McAden preached on the Eno and at the Hawfields in 1755 and 1756, and the settlements asked Hanover Presbytery for preachers, but none came regularly until Henry Pattillo became pastor of the Hawfields, Eno and Little River churches in 1765. Pattillo and his fellow ministers condemned the Regulators in 1768 and he preached to Tryon's troops; in 1770 they formed Orange Presbytery, which first met at Hawfields. In 1775 the Provincial Congress sent Pattillo to win former Regulators to the American cause, and about 1790 the old Pattillo field was split into two pastoral charges.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. John DeBow takes the Hawfields and Eno charge and preaches at New Hope DeBow, a young minister, succeeded Pattillo at the Hawfields and Eno about 1775 and preached at New Hope as he could. Craig calls him probably the first preacher with anything like a regular appointment there. People: John DeBow Place: New HopeSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: D. I. Craig, Historical Sketch of New Hope Church in Orange County, N.C. (1891), p. 22
  2. Hillsborough gets its first regular Presbyterian services After years of occasional preaching in the courthouse by David Caldwell, John DeBow and others, the Rev. Alexander McMillan began regular services there in 1777, shared with Little River and New Hope. Presbytery deposed him in September 1778, and the town had no organized Presbyterian church for many years. People: David Caldwell, John DeBow Place: Hillsborough courthouse · Also named: Alexander McMillanSearch the index · Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 70
  3. John DeBow, minister to the Hawfields, Eno and New Hope people, dies DeBow died at 38 and was buried at Hawfields church. Craig was told he was the first person buried in the present Hawfields churchyard. People: John DeBow Place: the HawfieldsSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: D. I. Craig, Historical Sketch of New Hope Church in Orange County, N.C. (1891), p. 22

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.

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People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as John DeBow, 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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  • NC LIVE: prepared search for John DeBow 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

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