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Eno Will

Eno-Will was a leader of the Eno Indians and related tribes whom John Lawson met on his 1701 journey. Lawson was entertained at Occaneechi, then on the Eno River near Hillsborough, and at Adshusheer, a combined Eno, Shakori and Adshusheer village 14 miles east of Occaneechi.

Source: NCpedia: Eno Indians (Jean B. Anderson, Encyclopedia of North Carolina, 2006)

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Eno Will. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Eno Will’s life and work.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 1 dated event in the chronology →

  1. Enoe Will agrees at Occaneechi Town to guide John Lawson to the English settlements Within two hours of John Lawson's arrival at Occaneechi Town on the Eno, Enoe Will came into the king's cabin and agreed to guide Lawson's party to the English, leaving his pay to their discretion. The next morning they set out for Adshusheer, his town about 14 miles east, which Lawson described as Shoccories mixed with Eno and Adshusheer people with Will as their chief man. People: John Lawson Place: Occaneechi Town, on the Eno near Hillsborough · Also named: Enoe WillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: John Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina (1709), pp. 55-57

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Eno Will, 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.

Background on Occaneechi Town and the Great Trading Path

Background reading on Occaneechi Town and the Great Trading Path. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss Eno Will. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Ghost Fields

Bradley, John · 2021

John Bradley's interview with John Blackfeather Jeffries, an elder of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, whose tribal grounds lie in northern Orange County near Hillsborough. Occaneechi history and Native history in North Carolina and Virginia, the tribe's older homeland, are its subjects. Published in 2021.

Hillsborough's Representation of History and the Incorporation of the Occaneechi Story

Smith, Lisa A. · 1994 · University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Lisa A. Smith's 1994 paper on how Hillsborough presents its past and how the story of the Occaneechi, the Native people whose town stood on the Eno near Hillsborough around 1700, has been brought into that public history. 47 leaves, filmed by the University of North Carolina Library on a microfilm reel with two other items.

UNC

The Historic Occaneechi: an archaeological investigation of culture change : final report of 1986 investigations

1987

Microfilm copy of one of the Research Laboratories of Anthropology reports on the mid-1980s excavations at the Occaneechi Town site near Hillsborough, dated 15 May 1986 and later numbered research report 4. The work was funded by a National Geographic Society grant, and the reel, filmed by the University of North Carolina Library, reproduces 171 leaves including a bibliography.

The Historic Occaneechi: An Archaeological Investigation of Culture Change (Final Report)

Dickens, Roy S. · 1986

Roy S. Dickens's final report on the 1986 excavations at the Occaneechi Town site on the Eno River near Hillsborough, prepared by the Research Laboratories of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina and dated May 1987. Funded by a National Geographic Society grant and later numbered as the laboratories' research report 8, it covers the archaeology of the Occaneechi and culture change at the site. 171 leaves with illustrations, maps and a bibliography.

Bean Woman

Wynters, Criss · 2024

Criss Wynters's children's book retelling an Occaneechi folk story, published in 2024. Its Orange County connection is the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, based in the northern part of the county.

Siempre aqu̕i

Rojas-Patino, Alegr̕a · 2024

Alegría Rojas-Patino's bilingual Spanish and English graphic novel for young adults, published in 2024. This science fiction story of time travel is set in Durham, North Carolina, with Occaneechi people, cicadas and extraterrestrial beings among its elements. The Occaneechi town site lies on the Eno near Hillsborough in Orange County.

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Our People: Occaneechi Band of Saponi Nation

Knick, Stanley G. · 2008 · Native American Resource Center, UNC Pembroke

A 28-minute documentary video from the Native American Resource Center at UNC Pembroke in which members of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation speak about their history, culture and identity. Speakers include Tony Hayes, Forest Hazel, Vivette Jeffries-Logan, Sharn Jeffries, John Jeffries, Wanda Whitmore-Penner and Tammy Hayes Hill, and their words are set against photographs of the community's past and present. Produced by Stanley G. Knick and issued on DVD in 2008. Their ancestors' town stood on the Eno at present-day Hillsborough.

In the Heart of Tradition: The Eight State-Recognized Tribes of North Carolina

Knick, Stanley G. · 2005 · Native American Resource Center, UNC Pembroke

A 29-minute documentary video on the eight state-recognized Indian tribes of North Carolina and the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, produced in 2005 by the Native American Resource Center at UNC Pembroke with Stanley G. Knick. Among the tribes covered are the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, whose home ground includes northern Orange County, along with the Lumbee, Coharie, Haliwa-Saponi, Meherrin, Waccamaw and Eastern Band of Cherokee. One DVD, sound and color.

UNC

Red, White and Black: Race Formation and the Politics of American Indian Recognition in North Carolina

Nowell, Jeremiah James, Jr. · 2000

Jeremiah James Nowell Jr.'s 2000 study of race formation and the politics of American Indian recognition in North Carolina, with the Occaneechi people, whose present-day band is based in Orange and Alamance counties, among its subjects. Topics include the political, economic and social conditions of Native peoples in the state. xvii and 313 leaves with illustrations and maps.

UNC

Political Legitimization of Native American Identity Among the Occaneechi People

Morrow, Christina D. · 1999

Christina D. Morrow's 1999 study of how the Occaneechi people of North Carolina have sought political recognition of their Native American identity, 81 leaves. Subjects include the Occaneechi Indians of North Carolina, with the many variant spellings of the tribe's name from Acconeechy to Okenechee. The Occaneechi community today is centered near Hillsborough and Mebane, which gives the study its Orange County connection.

UNC

Excavating Occaneechi Town: Archaeology of an Eighteenth-Century Indian Village in North Carolina

Davis, R. P. Stephen, Jr.; Livingood, Patrick C.; Ward, H. Trawick; Steponaitis, Vincas P. · 1998 · University of North Carolina Press

A CD-ROM publication from UNC Press (1998) presenting the archaeology of Occaneechi Town, the eighteenth-century Occaneechi village on the Eno River at Hillsborough known to archaeologists as the Fredericks site, excavated by UNC archaeologists. Text, images and data describe and interpret what was found, and an 'Electronic Dig' module lets students plan their own research strategy and work through the site themselves. Comes with an eight-page guide; requires a PC.

Occaneechi-Saponi Descendants in the North Carolina Piedmont: the Texas Community

Hazel, Forest · 1991

Forest Hazel's 1991 study of the Occaneechi-Saponi descendants living in the Texas community of Orange County, near Mebane, tracing the families of that settlement. It concerns Occaneechi genealogy and Indians of North America in North Carolina. A starting point for anyone researching the county's Indigenous families.

Research sources

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Background

  • John Lawson (1674-1711)North Carolina History Project Mainly about Lawson; it covers the 1701 journey on which Enoe Will guided him from Occaneechi.

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Eno Will 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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