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Giles Mebane

Giles Mebane (1809–1899) was born in Orange County near the present town of Mebane, in the part that became Alamance. He tutored at the university after graduating in 1831, represented Orange County in the House of Commons from 1844 to 1849, and on January 1, 1849 introduced the bill that created Alamance County.

Source: NCpedia: Mebane, Giles (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)

1809–1899 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

1 work about Giles Mebane is indexed here.

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Giles Mebane, engraving published 1908
Giles Mebane, engraving published 1908

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Select a title to open its page or chronology entry.

The Orange County Bible Society, 1822–18461822–1846 · In 1828 the Orange County Bible Society resolved to supply every household in the county that had no Bible. Hillsborough people had formed the society on January 7, 1822 as an auxiliary of the American Bible Society. Early in 1828 a committee visited every Hillsborough family and found one household without a Bible, which it supplied within the hour; that summer the managers turned to the whole county and named Dennis Heartt agent to collect gifts. In October 1829 the society reported about a thousand families in the county without a Bible and resolved to supply them through paid agents. In September 1846 citizens organized a new county Bible society at Hillsborough under Giles Mebane. Dividing Orange: the fight that made Alamance County, 1842–18511842–1851 · 16 events · From 1842 to 1849 Orange County fought over division and over a tax for a new courthouse that western voters saw as a move to fix the county seat and block division. In 1842 a meeting at the High Falls of Haw River resolved to keep petitioning for a central division, and voters rejected one. After the county court laid an $8,000 courthouse tax in 1844, meetings called the tax unjust, but voters rejected division again, by 292 votes. In 1849 a bill introduced by Giles Mebane created Alamance County west of a line nine miles west of Hillsborough, Orange voters approved it on April 19, and the new county's court first met on June 4.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 18 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Giles Mebane stays at Chapel Hill as a university tutor After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1831, Giles Mebane remained in Chapel Hill as a tutor before starting to practice law.Search the index · NCpedia: Mebane, Giles (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  2. Giles Mebane asks to read law under Thomas Ruffin In 1832 Giles Mebane wrote to Thomas Ruffin that he understood Ruffin had all the students he could take, but asked to spend half his time under Ruffin's direction, or at least to borrow books from his library and be examined. Mebane did receive his legal education under Ruffin. People: Thomas RuffinSearch the index · Internet Archive: Fannie Memory Farmer, "Legal Education in North Carolina, 1820-1860", North Carolina Historical Review 28 (1951), p. 275
  3. Hillsborough meeting sends Frederick Nash to the Salisbury railroad convention Hillsborough citizens met to choose a delegate to the internal improvement convention at Salisbury, with Col. Charles M. Latimer in the chair and Dr. Allen Parks as secretary. Latimer urged a railroad from the Yadkin to Raleigh crossing Orange near Hillsborough, and on Giles Mebane's motion the meeting chose Frederick Nash to represent the citizens of Orange. People: Giles Mebane, Frederick NashSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 14, 1836, p. 3
  4. Whig district convention at Hillsborough nominates William A. Graham, who declines, and then George W. Haywood Delegates from Wake, Person and Orange met at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough on May 31, 1839, with Weston R. Gales in the chair, and unanimously nominated William A. Graham for Congress against Dr. William Montgomery. Graham declined for private and domestic reasons, and the convention then chose George W. Haywood of Wake, who accepted by letter from Raleigh. People: W. R (Weston R.) Gales, William A. Graham, Hugh Waddell, Giles Mebane, William MontgomerySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 6, 1839, p. 3
  5. The county court names superintendents of common schools for Orange County At its August 1839 term the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions appointed nine superintendents of common schools for the county, among them Andrew Watson, John Stafford, John Trolinger, Giles Mebane, William Barbee, James A. Craig and Silas M. Link, and called them to meet at the Hillsborough court house on September 13. People: Giles Mebane, William Barbee, James A. CraigSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 5, 1839, p. 3
  6. Orange County Whigs meet at the Masonic Hall and nominate Henry Clay for president A Whig meeting at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough, chaired by Dr. James S. Smith and addressed by Senators Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham, nominated Henry Clay for president and Governor John M. Morehead for re-election. It refused to recognize President Tyler as a Whig and called for delegates from every captain's district to meet at Hillsborough at the May court to name the party's ticket for the General Assembly. People: James Strudwick Smith, Edmund Strudwick, Giles Mebane, Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Henry Kollock Nash, Harrison ParkerSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 25, 1841, p. 3
  7. A meeting at the High Falls of Haw River demands a central division of Orange County A large meeting at the High Falls on Haw River, chaired by William Montgomery, resolved to keep petitioning the legislature for a central division of Orange County, condemned the recent attempt to tax the county $10,000 for a new court house, and pledged to support no legislative candidate who opposed division. A substitute offered by Giles Mebane to settle the question by a popular vote at the August election was voted down. People: William Montgomery, Giles MebaneHillsborough Recorder, May 5, 1842, p. 3
  8. Giles Mebane represents Orange County in the House of Commons Giles Mebane sat for Orange County in the House of Commons from 1844 to 1849, until the western part of the county, where he was from, became Alamance County.Search the index · NCpedia: Mebane, Giles (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  9. Orange elects its whole Whig ticket Orange voters returned the entire Whig ticket, sending Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Giles Mebane, Chesley F. Faucett, Loftin K. Pratt and John B. Leathers to the House of Commons by an average majority of 157, and re-elected Sheriff James C. Turrentine over William Nelson. The county also gave its own William A. Graham a majority of nearly 200 over Michael Hoke for governor. People: Hugh Waddell, Giles Mebane, James C. Turrentine, William A. GrahamSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 8, 1844, p. 3
  10. Sidney Smith is elected to the House of Commons for Orange County Orange County's 1846 election sent Giles Mebane, Chesley F. Faucett, John B. Leathers and Sidney Smith to the House of Commons, with Hugh Waddell in the state Senate. People: Giles Mebane, Hugh WaddellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: R. D. W. Connor, ed., A Manual of North Carolina (1913), p. 741
  11. Citizens organize a new Orange County Bible Society Citizens met in the Presbyterian session house in Hillsborough, adopted a constitution for a county Bible society and elected Giles Mebane president, David L. Swain and others vice presidents, Stephen Moore treasurer and the Rev. Dr. Alexander Wilson secretary. People: Frederick Nash, Giles Mebane, David L. Swain, Stephen Moore, Alexander Wilson, Andrew MickleSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 24, 1846, p. 3
  12. Orange Whig convention nominates Hugh Waddell and a Commons ticket Meeting at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough on Tuesday of May court with Dr. Edmund Strudwick presiding, the Whig county convention nominated Hugh Waddell for the state Senate and Giles Mebane, Josiah Turner Jr., Isaac Holt and John B. Leathers for the House of Commons; when Leathers withdrew days later, a court-week meeting of Whigs named William W. Guess in his place. People: Hugh Waddell, Edmund Strudwick, Giles Mebane, Josiah Turner Jr.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 31, 1848, p. 3
Show all 18 dated events
  1. Giles Mebane introduces the bill to form Alamance County from western Orange On January 1, 1849, Giles Mebane, a member for Orange County, introduced a bill to create a new county from part of Orange. It passed, and he named the county Alamance.Search the index · NCpedia: Mebane, Giles (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  2. Orange County railroad meeting backs a central route through Orange and Guilford A county meeting at the Hillsborough court house, chaired by Dr. Edmund Strudwick, adopted William A. Graham's resolutions that the central railroad should run through Orange and Guilford, pledged enough subscriptions to grade the road through the county, and named ten delegates to the Salisbury railroad convention in June. Graham and Giles Mebane spoke. People: William A. Graham, Edmund Strudwick, Giles Mebane, Dennis Heartt, David L. Swain, Cadwallader Jones, John Wall Norwood, John U. Kirkland, James PattersonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 21, 1849, p. 3
  3. Hillsborough meeting resolves to build a plank road to Milton Citizens of Orange and neighboring counties met in Hillsborough during court week and resolved to build a plank road from Hillsborough to Milton, naming committees to sell stock in $50 shares and to ask the next legislature for a charter and state aid. Hugh Waddell urged a branch to Haywood by way of Chapel Hill. People: Giles Mebane, Hugh Waddell, Josiah Turner Jr., John U. Kirkland, Cadwallader JonesSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 8, 1854, p. 3
  4. The university confers degrees on sixty-nine graduates After the annual report was read on commencement day, the university conferred degrees on sixty-nine members of the graduating class, the faculty giving each a bound Bible, and awarded master's degrees in course to about twenty earlier graduates. Governor Bragg and nine other trustees attended. People: Thomas Bragg, David L. Swain, William A. Graham, William Horn Battle, Charles Manly, Giles MebaneSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
  5. North Carolina Railroad stockholders hold their annual meeting at Hillsborough The North Carolina Railroad's stockholders met at Hillsborough, heard the president's report of the year's earnings, a large share of them from Confederate government traffic, and elected directors including Thomas Webb and Giles Mebane. The directors added an installment to the sinking fund for the company's bonds, declared an eight percent dividend, and the next week reappointed Webb president. People: Thomas Webb, Giles MebaneSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 16, 1862, p. 3
  6. Orange sends Josiah Turner to the House and votes down A. W. Graham In the state election Orange chose Josiah Turner, running independently against the Democratic ticket, and the Democrat M. A. Angier for the House, Turner leading Angier by more than 500 votes; the county voted against A. W. Graham for the Senate and John R. Hutchins for the House, the district's Senate seats went to Giles Mebane and George Williamson, and the Democratic county ticket was elected as nominated. People: Josiah Turner Jr., Giles Mebane, Augustus Washington Graham, John R. HutchinsSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 7, 1878, p. 3

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Giles Mebane, 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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Indexed works

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Giles Mebane

McCormick, John Gilchrist · 1900 · Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies

A sketch of Giles Mebane, the North Carolina legislator who died in 1899, written by John Gilchrist McCormick and detached from the January 1900 issue of the North Carolina University Magazine. The Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies printed it at Chapel Hill.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Mebane, Giles, 1809-1899.

UNC

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Picture: Giles Mebane, engraving published 1908. Public domain. Engraving by E. G. Williams & Bro.; Samuel A. Ashe, ed., Biographical History of North Carolina, vol. VII (1908); via the Internet Archive

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