Robert F. Hoke

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 11 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1873 Robert F. Hoke obtains a charter for the Chapel Hill Iron Mountain Railroad While the university was closed, Robert F. Hoke, owner of an iron mine north of Chapel Hill, obtained a state charter for a railroad to carry ore from Iron Mountain to the North Carolina Railroad. People: Robert F. Hoke Place: Orange County · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadUNC Press, UNC A to Z: University Railroad
2. by May 5, 1875 The railroad agrees to build a depot at University Station to ship iron ore Col. Buford of the railroad's lessees agreed, at General Hoke's request, to build a depot at University Station if neighbors supplied the ground and lumber. Its main business was to be shipping ore from Hoke's iron mine near Chapel Hill, which had sent 32 tons to Lincolnton for smelting and had 200 more tons ready. People: Robert F. Hoke Place: University Station · Also named: A. S. BufordSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 5, 1875, p. 2
3. 1879 The railroad is rechartered as the State University Railroad The legislature rechartered the stalled iron-mine line as the State University Railroad, shifting its purpose to a rail link for the university, with UNC president Kemp P. Battle working alongside Hoke to raise funds. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Robert F. Hoke Place: Orange County · Also mentions: State University RailroadOrangePolitics: Road to Iron Mountain: The railroad comes to Chapel Hill
4. by December 6, 1879 Robert F. Hoke subscribes $5,000 to the University Railroad for the iron mine company Gen. Robert F. Hoke subscribed $5,000 to the University Railroad on behalf of the Iron Mine Company, which owned the iron ore near Chapel Hill. People: Robert F. Hoke Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University RailroadThe Chapel Hill Ledger, December 6, 1879, p. 3
5. 1880 Robert F. Hoke raises subscriptions to run the railroad toward Chapel Hill When iron prices rose in 1880 and shipping ore to Pennsylvania furnaces paid, Gen. Robert F. Hoke, who owned most of Iron Mountain north of Chapel Hill, began organizing the branch line from University Station. His Iron Mountain Company put up $6,000, the largest single pledge, and Julian S. Carr was among the other subscribers. People: Julian S. Carr, Robert F. Hoke Place: University Station to West End (now Carrboro) · Also mentions: University StationTown of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 10
6. about 1880 Robert F. Hoke serves as unpaid superintendent of the State University Railroad As the branch from University Station toward Chapel Hill got under way, university president Kemp P. Battle became president of the railroad company and General Robert F. Hoke its superintendent, both without salary, by Battle's account. John Holt managed the convict work force and Captain Fry was the civil engineer. The Chapel Hill Ledger reported that on January 8, 1880, the new directors, Hoke among them, elected Battle president and Andrew Mickle paid secretary and treasurer, and named Hoke to the committee to secure the convicts. People: Kemp Plummer Battle Place: Orange County · Also named: John A. Holt, John Holt, Andrew Mickle · Also mentions: University StationSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 246 · Also: The Chapel Hill Ledger, January 10, 1880, p. 2; The Chapel Hill Ledger, March 27, 1880, p. 3
7. 1880-1882 State convicts build the University Railroad Governor Thomas J. Jarvis supplied state convicts at low hire to grade the line from University Station to Chapel Hill, while the Richmond and Danville company laid the rails. A white convict was shot dead while fleeing, and a Black convict named Fries died of gangrene after a whipping by the road's managers, which the solicitor found no ground to prosecute. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Alexander Boyd Andrews, Robert F. Hoke, Thomas Jordan Jarvis, Frederick N. Strudwick Place: Orange County · Also mentions: University StationSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 246
8. January 8, 1880 University Railroad directors elect Kemp P. Battle president and Andrew Mickle treasurer Meeting right after the stockholders, the directors elected Kemp P. Battle president and Andrew Mickle secretary and treasurer at $200 a year, put Col. Thomas M. Holt on the board in Battle's place, and named Hoke and A. B. Andrews to arrange for convict labor and a survey. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Andrew Mickle, Robert F. Hoke, Alexander Boyd Andrews Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas M. HoltThe Chapel Hill Ledger, January 10, 1880, p. 2
9. January 8, 1880 University Railroad stockholders organize and run the line to University Station Stockholders of the University Railroad Company met at President Battle's office with $10,160 of stock taken. After Julian S. Carr and Paul C. Cameron argued for Durham, they adopted Battle's resolution to locate the road from Chapel Hill to University Station, elected Cameron, Hoke, McCauley, Carr and Battle directors, and called in a quarter of the stock. People: Paul C. Cameron, Kemp Plummer Battle, Robert F. Hoke, Julian S. Carr, David McCauley Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University StationThe Chapel Hill Ledger, January 10, 1880, p. 2
10. January 21, 1880 Julian S. Carr gives up on a Durham route for the University Railroad Writing from Durham, Julian S. Carr told the Ledger that the friends of a Durham connection had abandoned it, because Robert F. Hoke and the iron mine company declined to supply iron for the longer line, and that he had little hope for the road to University Station. People: Julian S. Carr, Robert F. Hoke Place: Durham (then Orange County, now Durham County) · Also mentions: University StationThe Chapel Hill Ledger, January 24, 1880, p. 3
11. Commencement 1882 Commencement celebrates the railroad's arrival, and Battle calls Hoke its father At the 1882 commencement an hour was set aside in Gerrard Hall to celebrate the railroad's coming to Chapel Hill. Kemp P. Battle told the history of the line and called General Robert F. Hoke the source of the enterprise and the father of the State University Railroad Company. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Paul C. Cameron, Thomas Jordan Jarvis Place: Gerrard HallSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), pp. 251-252