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Local figure

William Huntington

William Huntington (1792–1874) was a Hillsborough silversmith and engraver, trained by his father, the silversmith Roswell Huntington. He opened his own shop in the town by 1815 and also ran a blacksmith shop and sold flour and patent medicines. He served twelve years as a town commissioner. He trained Lemuel Lynch and was his partner from 1834 to 1836, and he died in Marion, Alabama.

Source: NCpedia: Huntington, William

1 indexed work is connected with this person.

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

Salt Spoon

Huntington, William, 1792-1874 · 1820

Coin silver salt spoon of about 1820 to 1830 by the Hillsborough silversmith William Huntington, 1792 to 1874. An uncommon form, it has an oval bowl on a very long handle with small square shoulders and bears the period monogram JAN.

Why this is here: Listed as its creator.

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 739.2 HOG Huntington Silversmiths, 1763-1885 Hogan, William Johnston · 1977

    William Johnston Hogan's study of the Huntington silversmiths and their silver, chiefly Roswell Huntington, who lived from 1763 to 1836, and William Huntington, from 1792 to 1874. The Sir Walter Press of Durham published it in 1977 as a Philip Scott book, 136 illustrated pages with a bibliography and an index.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 5 dated events in the chronology →

  1. William Huntington opens his own silversmith business in Hillsborough Trained by his father, the engraver Roswell Huntington, William Huntington sets up his own Hillsborough shop, selling silver along with gravestones, flour and medicine and running a blacksmith shop. People: William HuntingtonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 332
  2. The Orange County Sunday School Union asks the Assembly to fund its schools The Orange County Sunday School Union petitioned the General Assembly for 25 cents a year per pupil for its 22 Sunday schools, which taught 800 to 1,000 children, many from poor families, to read. John Scott of Hillsborough presented it in the House of Commons, which turned it down. People: James Webb, William Kirkland, William Norwood, John Knox Witherspoon, Dennis Heartt, John Wall Norwood, William HuntingtonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), pp. 131-132
  3. John Wall Norwood becomes treasurer and then a ruling elder of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church In 1834 Norwood succeeded the silversmith William Huntington as treasurer of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. In 1835 he was confirmed a ruling elder, a post he held until his death. People: William HuntingtonSearch the index · NCpedia: Norwood, John Wall
  4. Lemuel Lynch and William Huntington work as partners in Hillsborough Back in Hillsborough by March 1834, the silversmith Lemuel Lynch went into a two-year partnership with William Huntington, in whose shop he had trained. Afterward he kept his shop alone, perhaps with help from his sons or apprentices. People: William HuntingtonSearch the index · NCpedia: Lynch, Lemuel (Mary R. B. Peacock, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 1991)
  5. Lemuel Lynch sets up as a silversmith and jeweler in Hillsborough Lemuel Lynch, who learned his trade from William Huntington and had kept shops in Greensboro and Concord, begins working in Hillsborough, where he stayed for the rest of his life. People: Lemuel Lynch, William HuntingtonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 333

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 and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

All places and the county map →

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as William Huntington, 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

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Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for William Huntington Library card An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
  • 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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Books about William Huntington

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Historical records and collections

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