William Kirkland

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 11 dated events in the chronology →

1. By 1793 William Kirkland opens his own store in Hillsborough William Kirkland, who left Ayr, Scotland, to work in the mercantile trade, had married and opened his own store in Hillsborough by 1793.Search the index · Open Orange: Ayr Mount
2. October 16, 1801 Hillsborough Academy reopens for boys and girls under Andrew Flinn The academy's trustees announced that it had reopened on a larger plan for youth of both sexes under the Rev. Andrew Flinn, teaching Latin, Greek, English, mathematics and bookkeeping. People: William Kirkland, Duncan Cameron, William Cain Sr., Walter AlvesInternet Archive: Charles L. Coon, North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840: A Documentary History (1915)
3. March 18, 1803 Hillsborough Academy trustees engage Thomas Baron after George Johnston fails to arrive The academy trustees, Walter Alves among them, announced that George Johnston had not taken charge as promised and that they had engaged Thomas Baron, a Harvard graduate, to teach languages, arithmetic, geography and mathematics. People: William Kirkland, Duncan Cameron, George JohnstonSearch the index · Internet Archive: Charles L. Coon, North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840 (1915)
4. 1804 Suit by William Kirkland and others leads to the sale of Hannah and her children Legal proceedings brought by William Kirkland, Catlett Campbell, Jacob Greer and Isaac Mordecai against Robert Bell placed Hannah and her children Jenny and David in the hands of the sheriff. Sheriff Samuel Turrentine sold the three at public auction at the Hillsborough Market House to Duncan Cameron for 200 pounds. People: Duncan Cameron, William KirklandOn These Grounds (UNC Libraries): 1804, Sale of Hannah, Jenny, and David
5. August 1, 1811 William Kirkland gives four enslaved people to Thomas and Anne Ruffin Out of affection for his son-in-law Thomas Ruffin and his daughter Anne, William Kirkland of Ayr Mount conveyed to Ruffin a woman named Juley, her two children, John and an infant, and a young girl, all of them already in the Ruffins' household. The deed was proved at the Orange County court that August. People: William Kirkland, Thomas Ruffin, Anne Kirkland RuffinOrange County Deed Book 13, pp. 574-575 (Register of Deeds images read 2026-10-01); abstract in the Register of Deeds' slave records
6. 1815 Ayr Mount is completed Scottish-born merchant William Kirkland built Ayr Mount, a Federal-style brick plantation house near Hillsborough, in 1815. Its brick was made on the plantation, and carpenter John J. Briggs, a mason named Collier and joiner Elhannon Nutt worked on the house. People: William KirklandSearch the index · Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation: Ayr Mount
7. February 1820 William Kirkland opens a cash store in Hillsborough Kirkland advertised in February 1820 a new cash store in his former house, stocked with cloth, blankets, guns, tools and hardware. He also sought a young clerk.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 272
8. about 1821 The Rev. William Mercer Green builds the first house on the land later called Montrose Around 1821 the Rev. William Mercer Green, rector of St. Matthew's, built the first house on land he had acquired from William Kirkland; the tract had first belonged to James Hogg. William A. Graham bought it in 1842. People: William KirklandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 320 St. Mary's Road, Montrose
9. 1825 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 HearttSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), pp. 131-132
10. 1836 William Kirkland dies, leaving Ayr Mount to his widow William Kirkland died in 1836 and left his estate to his wife, Margaret Scott Kirkland; their son John Umstead Kirkland later acquired Ayr Mount from her estate. The inventory taken after his death lists twenty enslaved people, some of whom worked at his store, tannery and other businesses in Hillsborough. People: John U. KirklandSearch the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: National Register nomination, Ayr Mount (OR0002, 1971)
11. August 5, 1869 Orange County holds its first township elections Voters in each township chose magistrates, a clerk, a constable and school committeemen for the first time. In Chapel Hill Township 540 of 565 registered voters cast ballots. People: William Kirkland, Jones Watson, Andrew Mickle, John Wesley CarrSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 196