Skip to content

Local figure

Nelson Parrish Hall

Nelson Parrish Hall (1817–1902), a farmer, bought 267 acres of the Rev. Ira Ellis's land on the Eno River west of Hillsborough, with the brick Ellis house, in 1878, and may have lived there from about 1870. The mill on the river across the road took his name as Hall's Mill.

Source: NC Historic Preservation Office: Historic Structures Survey Report, Replace Bridge No. 11 on Hall's Mill Road (2016)

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Nelson Parrish Hall. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Nelson Parrish Hall’s life and work. Suggest a source.

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens in the chronology.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 21 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Ira Ellis's mill, later Hall's Mill, is working on the Eno west of Hillsborough A mill stands on the Eno west of Hillsborough by the middle of the nineteenth century, part of the Rev. Ira Ellis's home place; it took the name Hall's Mill after Nelson P. Hall acquired the Ellis house and land. Only its stone dam, a stone foundation and the trace of the race survived. People: Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 118 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, January 2, 1867, p. 3
  2. Orange County seats a Board of Superintendents for its common schools At its February 1852 term the county court elected an eight-man Board of Superintendents of Common Schools, among them William H. Brown, who at some point served as the board's chairman. That year a new state law obliged such boards to name committees to examine would-be teachers rather than merely allowing it. People: Samuel Wellwood Hughes, William H. Brown, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), pp. 22-23
  3. The county court sets up commissioners to direct the Soldiers' Fund At its May term the Orange County court ordered that three commissioners in each taxable district appoint committeemen in every captain's district, who would decide which soldiers' families and other persons should receive aid from the county's Soldiers' Fund, and it named the commissioners for the Hillsborough, St. Mary's, St. Mark's, St. Thomas's, Caswell and Orange districts. People: John Wall Norwood, Matthew Atwater, Harrison Parker, Nelson Parrish HallHillsborough Recorder, June 10, 1863, p. 3
  4. The Court of Wardens of the Poor holds its last meeting The seven-member wardens' court, which had run poor relief and the county poorhouse, met for the last time before the new board of county commissioners took over its work. People: Lemuel Lynch, John Wesley Carr, James C. Turrentine, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 188
  5. Nelson Hall runs a flour and grist mill near Caldwell In 1869 Nelson Hall, a large landowner in the Caldwell area, was operating a flour and grist mill alongside his farm, one of several planters who took up a side business after the war. People: Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 29
  6. The county commissioners cut Orange County's tax rate Meeting from August 6 to 25 to revise the tax lists, the county commissioners under chairman Jones Watson lowered the county tax below its former 42 cents, making the combined state and county rate 68 cents. The Recorder credited Watson with freeing the county from debt. People: Jones Watson, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 12, 1877, p. 3
  7. Nelson P. Hall buys the Ellis house and 267 acres on the Eno Nelson Parrish Hall bought 267 acres of the Ellis land with the brick house, though his family may have lived there since about 1870, when his son Simeon was listed as a miller. The mill on the Eno across the road took the Hall name as Hall's Mill. People: Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: MdM Historical Consultants, Historic Structures Survey Report, Replace Bridge No. 11 on Hall's Mill Road (SR 1336) over the Eno River, Orange County (2016), filed as ER 17-0159
  8. Orange magistrates elect a new board of county commissioners The county's magistrates elected five county commissioners, keeping three including chairman Jones Watson and replacing W. T. Patterson and N. P. Hall with Joseph W. Latta and N. D. Bain; the new board was sworn in on December 2 and re-elected Watson chairman. People: Jones Watson, Nathaniel D. Bain, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 14, 1878, p. 3
  9. Nelson P. Hall chairs the Orange County Board of Commissioners Nelson P. Hall presided over the county commissioners through the stock-law and road-tax years of the mid-1880s, serving as chairman of the three-man board that sat from December 1882, the five-man board of 1884 and the three-man board of 1886. People: Matthew AtwaterSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 13, 1883, p. 2
  10. Orange Presbytery makes Eno, Little River, Stony Creek and Grier's one field under James L. Currie Meeting at Tarboro, Orange Presbytery formed a new pastoral field of the Stony Creek, Grier's, Eno and Little River churches with the Rev. James L. Currie as pastor. Currie, who had resigned the Chapel Hill church that summer, was to live near Fairfield. People: Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 17, 1883, p. 3
  11. 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
  12. County justices and commissioners levy a ten-cent road tax At their annual June meeting the county justices and the Board of Commissioners levied a tax of ten cents on each $100 of property to work the roads under the new public road law. Taxpayers could pay it in cash to the sheriff or work it off on the roads under the district supervisors. People: Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 8, 1885, p. 3
Show all 21 dated events
  1. 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
  2. Commissioners order the stock-law fence built around Chapel Hill Township Meeting to receive the election returns, the county commissioners declared the stock law in full force in Bingham, Cedar Grove, Hillsborough and Little River townships. They ordered everyone contracted to build the line fence around Chapel Hill Township to finish it without delay and kept D. F. Morrow and Merritt Cheek on as a committee to let further contracts. People: Merritt Cheek, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 21, 1885, p. 3
  3. Orange magistrates cut the county board to three commissioners Meeting at the court house, the county's justices of the peace reduced the board of county commissioners from five members to three and elected Matthew Atwater, Nelson P. Hall and E. C. Thompson to take office in December. In joint session with the commissioners they re-elected J. L. Currie superintendent of public instruction, set the county taxes and levied a road tax of seven cents on each $100 of property, payable in work on the roads or in cash. People: James L. Currie, Matthew Atwater, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 12, 1886, p. 3
  4. County commissioners reroute the old Raleigh road by Mount Hermon church On July 5 the county commissioners adopted a jury's report laying off a public road from the Raleigh road south of Mount Hermon church to the Durham road near the Oxford crossing. On August 2 they closed the old Raleigh road from W. A. Strayhorn's to the Chapel Hill road near University Station and made the Mount Hermon church road from Strayhorn's to the Durham road a public road. People: Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 14, 1886, p. 3
  5. Commissioners order a stock-law district east, north and south of Chapel Hill On a petition from the owners of three-fourths of the land lying east, north and south of Chapel Hill along the Durham, Oxford, Raleigh and Hillsboro roads, the county commissioners ordered the stock put up there and allowed gates on those public roads. The same session approved a separate stock-law association of several McCauley landowners, on condition that it build gates on its boundary. People: Matthew Atwater, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 12, 1887, p. 3
  6. Farmers of the Fairfield neighborhood organize a Farmers' Club at Fairfield Church Farmers of the Fairfield neighborhood met at Fairfield Church and organized a Farmers' Club, electing N. P. Hall president, David Thompson vice president, Frank Smith treasurer and N. D. Bain Sr. secretary. They named delegates to the county farmers' meeting called at Hillsborough for August 27. People: Nathaniel D. Bain, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Hillsboro Recorder, August 25, 1887, p. 2
  7. County commissioners put the stock law in force in Chapel Hill Township On a petition signed by 383 freeholders, three-fourths of those in Chapel Hill Township, the county commissioners declared the stock law adopted there, to take effect January 1, 1888, without an election or a tax to build fences. People: Matthew Atwater, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 8, 1887, p. 3
  8. County commissioners let a school district vote a local tax for a four-month school The county commissioners gave a school district permission to hold an election on levying a tax, on top of its school fund, so it could run a four-month school. People: Matthew Atwater, Nelson Parrish HallHillsboro Recorder, November 10, 1887, p. 3
  9. Martha Hall sells the Ellis house to Sheriff R. D. Baine After Nelson Hall died, his widow Martha bought the house and farm from his estate and sold them two years later to Orange County sheriff R. D. Baine. People: Robert D. Bain, Nelson Parrish HallSearch the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: MdM Historical Consultants, Historic Structures Survey Report, Replace Bridge No. 11 on Hall's Mill Road (SR 1336) over the Eno River, Orange County (2016), filed as ER 17-0159

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.

All places and the county map →

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Nelson Parrish Hall, 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.

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.

Background

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Nelson Parrish Hall 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

Search further

Search other catalogs and collections for this name. Results may include other people with the same name and have not been reviewed by the Friends.

Books about Nelson Parrish Hall

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

These searches use Nelson Parrish Hall’s name without birth or death dates, so results may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026