Charles Wilson Harris

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

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

1. March 1795 Charles Wilson Harris joins the new university as professor of mathematics Harris joined the faculty in March 1795, weeks after the university opened, as professor of mathematics. On June 3, 1795 he organized the students into the debating club that became the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.Search the index · NCpedia: Harris, Charles Wilson
2. June 1, 1795 Harris sets up a small store of medicine for students and neighbours Writing from the university on June 1, 1795, Harris told his uncle, a physician, that with no doctor nearer than Hillsborough he would keep a small stock of medicine for students and the neighbourhood, at cost. He enclosed a plan of the university lands and village. People: David Ker, Charles HarrisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Letter from Charles Harris to Dr. Charles Harris, June 1, 1795
3. June 3, 1795–August 29, 1796 UNC’s Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies take shape UNC students held the first recorded meeting of a Debating Society on June 3, 1795, and voted on July 2 to split in two, the new body being the Concord Society. They took the names Dialectic and Philanthropic in late August 1796 and for over a century served as debating clubs, student government and keepers of large libraries. People: Hinton James, Charles Wilson HarrisUNC Libraries, University Archives: Dialectic Society of the University of North Carolina Records, 1795-1964 (historical note)
4. December 1795 Trustees adopt William R. Davie's plan dividing the university into a preparatory school and professorships Davie's plan put English at the center, let French stand beside the classics and set up chairs of moral and political philosophy, natural philosophy, mathematics, chemistry with agriculture and the mechanic arts, and languages. The board elected Samuel McCorkle a professor, but he declined when refused extra pay in place of the president's house. People: David Ker, William Richardson Davie, Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, Charles Wilson HarrisDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 93
5. Summer to December 1796 Charles Wilson Harris acts as presiding professor After David Ker resigned under pressure from the trustees in the summer of 1796, Harris acted as presiding professor until his own resignation that December. He had persuaded Joseph Caldwell to join the faculty in October 1796. People: David Ker, Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · NCpedia: Harris, Charles Wilson
6. September 22, 1796 David Gillespie receives the earliest document resembling a university diploma Leaving to help Andrew Ellicott fix the southern boundary of the United States, Gillespie was given a certificate of his studies signed by professors Charles W. Harris and Samuel Holmes and teacher William Richards. Governor Samuel Ashe attached a certificate under the state seal. People: Samuel Ashe, Charles Wilson HarrisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 77
7. October 1796 Joseph Caldwell arrives in Chapel Hill as professor of mathematics Joseph Caldwell, a Princeton graduate and tutor, moved to Chapel Hill in October 1796 to teach mathematics at the new university. He became presiding professor the next year. People: Charles Harris, Charles Wilson HarrisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Joseph Caldwell, 1773-1835 (biography)
8. 1802 A trustee committee reports on the examination at the 1802 commencement Adlai Osborne, Henry Potter and Charles W. Harris made the trustees' report on the commencement examination, listing the preparatory school's classes from spelling and grammar through Latin authors and French. People: Charles Wilson HarrisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 168