Local figure
Mark Morgan
Mark Morgan (about 1715 to about 1777) was one of the first white settlers in the Chapel Hill area and one of its biggest landowners, holding many thousands of acres in early Orange and Chatham counties; Morgan Creek is named for him. He was a militia officer, a justice of the peace and an enslaver, and sat in the General Assembly for 1753-54.
Source: Orange County Courthouse Mural: Mark Morgan
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Mark Morgan. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Mark Morgan’s life and work. If you know a useful source, tell us.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 5 dated events in the chronology →
- Mark Morgan is granted land in the New Hope Creek section Morgan secured land in the New Hope Creek section of eastern Orange. By 1755 he held more enslaved people than anyone else in the county.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 15
- Mark Morgan sits in the General Assembly for Orange County Mark Morgan, a justice of the peace and militia officer who had settled on Morgan Creek near present Chapel Hill, was a member of the colonial General Assembly for Orange County for the 1753-54 session.Search the index · MosaicNC (NC Office of Archives and History): Morgan, Mark
- Eight percent of Orange families hold people in slavery In 1755 only 8 percent of the county's families held enslaved people, and the largest holder, Mark Morgan, held six. People: Mark MorganLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 16
- Mark Morgan fails to qualify for his captaincy at the Orange regiment's general muster Reporting on the Orange regiment's general muster, Lieutenant Colonel Josias Dickson told Governor Arthur Dobbs that Mark Morgan had notice of his appointment as captain but did not attend to be qualified. Major Alexander Mebane listed Morgan among captains who refused to act and proposed Thomas Loyd in his place. People: Arthur DobbsSearch the index · MosaicNC: Letter from Josias Dickson to Arthur Dobbs, 12 April 1755
- Trustees fix the university at Chapel Hill and list its Orange County land donors Meeting on December 5, 1792, the trustees voted unanimously to place the university at New Hope Chapel Hill and recorded nine donors of Orange County land, among them Matthew McCauley (150 acres) and William McCauley (100 acres). Each donor could have one student educated free of tuition. People: John Hogan, Edmund Jones, Mark MorganSearch the index · UNC Libraries, History on the Hill: Original Donors to the University and the Myth of Free Tuition
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Books about Mark Morgan
More catalogs that show where copies are
- Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
- Durham County Library (opens in a new tab) Public library next door in Durham
- UNC Libraries (opens in a new tab) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Duke Libraries (opens in a new tab) Duke University, Durham
- NC Cardinal (opens in a new tab) The State Library of North Carolina and public libraries across the state
Photographs, papers, and newspapers
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Research sources
Additional research sources
Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.
- Background context: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), pp. 15, 16 FamilySearch
- Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for Mark Morgan NC LIVE 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
- Ask locally: Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection (OCPL) The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Ask locally: Local History Help Hours and request form OCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
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