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Local figure

John Kinchen

John Kinchen (about 1745–1794), a Halifax lawyer, moved to Hillsborough in 1770 and practised law there for about ten years, keeping a plantation called Tar Hill near St. Mary's. Orange County sent him to the Provincial Congresses of 1775 and 1776, and as a state senator in 1779 he introduced the bill for an academy at Hillsborough.

Source: NCpedia: Kinchen, John (Henry W. Lewis, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 1988)

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

Search works on Third Provincial Congress at Hillsborough, 1775 Research sources View background reading ↓

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Lawyer John Kinchen moves from Halifax to Hillsborough Kinchen sold 1,300 acres in Northampton County and moved to Hillsborough to practise law in Orange County's growing courts. He kept his law office in town and bought a plantation called Tar Hill in the St. Mary's community, staying about ten years.Search the index · NCpedia: Kinchen, John (Henry W. Lewis, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 1988)
  2. Orange County sends Thomas Burke, John Kinchen and Francis Nash to the second Provincial Congress The second Provincial Congress met at New Bern a day ahead of the royal legislature, with Burke, Kinchen and Nash as Orange's delegates. In the legislature itself Orange sat Ralph McNair and Thomas Hart, and Thomas Nash sat for Hillsborough. People: Francis Nash, Thomas Hart, Ralph McNair, John KinchenSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 42
  3. The Provincial Congress forms the Hillsborough District and its committee of safety The Congress grouped Orange, Granville, Chatham and Wake counties into a Hillsborough District with a thirteen-member committee of safety; John Atkinson, John Butler and William Johnston sat for Orange. Thomas Person and John Kinchen represented the district on the Provincial Council. People: John Butler, William Johnston, Thomas Person, John KinchenLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 43
  4. Provincial Congress at Hillsborough elects a Provincial Council to govern between sessions On September 9, 1775, the Congress at Hillsborough elected a thirteen-member Provincial Council to direct the army and militia during its recess: Samuel Johnston for the province at large and two members for each of the six districts, among them Abner Nash and James Coor for New Bern and Thomas Person and John Kinchen for Hillsborough. People: Samuel Johnston, Samuel Ashe, Willie Jones, Samuel Spencer, Waightstill Avery, Thomas Person, Cornelius Harnett, John KinchenSearch the index · Colonial and State Records of North Carolina: Minutes of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, Aug 20 to Sep 10, 1775 (vol. 10, pp. 164–220)
  5. A special Hillsborough District court fails to sit when John Penn does not appear Governor Richard Caswell named John Kinchen and John Penn judges of a special court of oyer and terminer for the Hillsborough District. Penn did not come, Kinchen would not sit alone, and no court was held. People: John Penn, Richard CaswellSearch the index · NCpedia: Kinchen, John (Henry W. Lewis, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 1988)
  6. General Assembly charters an academy near Hillsborough named Science Hall Meeting at Halifax, the General Assembly passed an act to establish an academy in the neighborhood of Hillsborough, naming William Hooper, Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, James Hogg and others as trustees. The act named the school Science Hall and gave its trustees the same powers as those of Liberty Hall in Mecklenburg County. People: Alexander Martin, Nathaniel Rochester, Thomas Hart, James Hogg, Thomas Burke, William Hooper, William Johnston, John KinchenDocumenting the American South: Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1779 (Colonial and State Records, vol. 24)

Places in this person’s story

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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.

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Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as John Kinchen, 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.

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Background on Third Provincial Congress at Hillsborough, 1775

These works give background on Third Provincial Congress at Hillsborough, 1775, the wider story this person is part of. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

The journal of the proceedings of the Provincial Congress of North-Carolina : held at Hillsborough on the 20th day of August, 1775

1775 · Printed by James Davis

Official journal of the third North Carolina Provincial Congress, which met at Hillsborough beginning August 20, 1775, in the months between Lexington and independence. Printed by James Davis at New Bern in 1775 by authority of the congress, 40 pages, it is counted among the state's book rarities. It concerns the Provincial Congress and the Revolution in North Carolina.

UNC

The Historic Hillsborough Commission cordially invites you to its celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Third Provincial Congress which met in Hillsborough, North Carolina, August 20, 1775-September 10, 1775

1975 · Historic Hillsborough Commission

The Historic Hillsborough Commission's printed invitation and program for its 1975 celebration marking two hundred years since the Third Provincial Congress met at Hillsborough, from August 20 to September 10, 1775. One folded sheet of four unnumbered pages. Subjects include the Provincial Congress and the town, and the item records how Hillsborough observed the bicentennial of the session held there.

UNC

Copy of The Journal of the Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, held at Hillsborough on the 20th of August, 1775

1775

The provincial congress of North Carolina met at Hillsborough on 20 August 1775, and this copy of its journal records the delegates and their proceedings as the colony moved toward war. Samuel Johnston, Richard Caswell, Samuel Spencer and Thomas Wade are among the men named, with delegates drawn from Anson, Rowan and other counties. The congress sat in Orange County. Reference CO 5/318.

Duke NC State

Governor Martin's letter to the Earl of Dartmouth discussing resolutions made to pursue rebellious subjects in the provinces, pledging support and loyalty to other officials, and offering intelligence on the Continental Congress

1775

In 1775 Governor Josiah Martin wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth about resolutions to pursue rebellious subjects, pledged loyalty to other officials, and passed on intelligence about the Continental Congress. John Ashe, Farquhard Campbell and Thomas Gage are mentioned, with Fort Johnston and the Cape Fear among the places. Hillsborough is listed too, the town bearing the earl's title.

Duke NC State

Governor Martin's letter to the Earl of Dartmouth whilst aboard the Cruiser Sloop of War, notifying him that communication with Charles Town is totally cut off and of increasing influence of revolutionary committees

1775

Writing in 1775 from aboard the sloop of war Cruiser, Governor Josiah Martin told the Earl of Dartmouth that communication with Charles Town was entirely cut off and that revolutionary committees were gaining ground. John Ashe, William Dry and John Rutherford are named, and the places include Fort Johnston, the Cape Fear and Hillsborough, the town named for the Earl of Hillsborough.

Duke NC State

Samuel Johnston's letters to Governor Martin in reaction to his suspension from naval service following accusation of neglecting duties and committing crimes

1775

Letters Samuel Johnston of Edenton sent Governor Josiah Martin in 1775 after his suspension from naval service on accusations of neglected duties and crimes. The correspondence turns on administration, law and order, voting and impeachment, intelligence and the unrest of the opening Revolution. Hillsborough is among the North Carolina places the file names, and the papers sit in the secretary of state's correspondence.

Duke NC State
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Letter from Josiah Martin (no.39) regarding the attack at Fort Johnston, intercepted communications by rebels at Charleston and a meeting of a convention at Hillsborough

1775

Josiah Martin's dispatch numbered 39, of 1775, on the attack at Fort Johnston, rebel interception of communications at Charleston, and a convention meeting at Hillsborough. Subjects include the Continental Congress, ordnance stores, newspapers, sedition and colonial disaffection, with the Cape Fear River, New Bern and Philadelphia as places. Cited to Colonial Office volume CO 5/330, North Carolina letters to the Secretary of State, 1774 to 1780.

Duke NC State

Letter from Josiah Martin (no.40) regarding the current situation, his loss of communication with Charleston and the decrees of the Philadelphia Congress

1775

In dispatch 40 of 1775 Governor Josiah Martin described his situation, the loss of his communications with Charleston, and the decrees of the congress at Philadelphia. Hillsborough is named among the places, along with the Cape Fear River, and the topics include conventions, delegations, sedition, land sales and the navy. From Colonial Office volume CO 5/330, North Carolina letters to the Secretary of State.

Duke NC State

Letter from Josiah Martin (no.41) regarding the rebellion, the provincial congress at Hillsborough, the Continental Congress, the need for more support from government and his ideas for the colonies after the return to peace

1775

Dispatch 41, written by Josiah Martin in 1775, covers the rebellion, the provincial congress sitting at Hillsborough, the Continental Congress, his need for more support from government, and his ideas for the colonies once peace returned. Samuel Johnston, Abner Nash, Thomas Gage and Samuel Graves are named. Cited to Colonial Office volume CO 5/330, North Carolina letters to the Secretary of State, 1774 to 1780.

Duke NC State

Letter from Josiah Martin (no.42) regarding difficulties with communications, land bought illegally from the Cherokees and land granted to new arrivals from Scotland

1775

Martin's dispatch 42 of 1775 reports difficulties with communications, land bought illegally from the Cherokees, and land granted to new arrivals from Scotland. Hillsborough, Fort Johnston, the Cape Fear River, Virginia and South Carolina are the places named, with loyalism, oaths, boundaries and the provincial congress among the topics. From Colonial Office volume CO 5/330, North Carolina letters to the Secretary of State.

Duke NC State

Records of Provincial Conventions and Congresses, 1775

North Carolina. Provincial Congress · 1775

Papers of North Carolina's Provincial Congress for 1775, the year the colony's revolutionary assemblies took over from royal government: journals, resolutions, depositions, vouchers, election certificates and letters with the delegates in the Continental Congress. Orange County, Hillsborough and Perquimans County appear. Fifty-nine pages.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

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