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Local figure

Frank Nash

Frank Nash grew up at the Nash-Kollock school in Hillsborough and moved back to the town in 1894. He wrote Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), was mayor of Hillsborough from 1907 to 1911 and Orange County attorney from 1910 to 1914, and served as assistant attorney general of North Carolina from 1918 to 1931.

Source: NCpedia: Nash, Francis (Frank) (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)

1855–1932 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

2 works about Frank Nash are indexed here, as are 4 works by Nash. 1 held at OCPL →

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineProhibition and the blockaders in Orange County, 1901–19301901–1930 · 22 events · Hillsborough's fight over its saloons gave way to a long struggle against illegal stills across Orange County. In 1903 the town elected a board chosen mostly on the prohibition ticket, which refused every saloon license, and the barrooms closed that June. In 1905 the county commissioners refused the licenses a new town board recommended, and the town voted against liquor dispensaries. The county voted against state prohibition in 1908, though the state carried it, and in 1919 Orange's representative voted against ratifying national prohibition. Blockading, the illegal distilling of whiskey, went on: in 1920 Louis Graves wrote in the New Republic that Orange had the largest distilling operations in the state, and officers kept capturing stills through 1930. StorylineThe county road bonds of 1911–19121911–1912 · 6 events · Orange County's first bonds, $250,000 to build roads, passed narrowly in 1912 and left a debt not cleared until 1953. Support built through 1911, with delegates to a state good roads convention and a talk to farmers by State Geologist Joseph Hyde Pratt, but the commissioners put off a bond election until spring. In February 1912 a Chapel Hill meeting named a citizens' committee to work for the bonds, and on March 19 the county voted 919 to 831 to borrow the money, with a good roads commission to pick the roads. Work waited while Frank Nash made up a case on the county road law for the state Supreme Court. The bonds sold about a year after the vote. StorylineHighways through Orange County, 1911–19241911–1924 · 17 events · Hillsboro fought to be on the Central Highway, and between 1911 and 1924 hard roads were built across Orange County. In 1911 Hillsboro, joined by delegations from Durham and Mebane, pressed its claim, and the trustees chose the route by way of Hillsboro and Mebane. In 1919 the commissioners let the national highway across the county. The 1921 Highway Act, championed by Harriet Morehead Berry of Hillsborough, paid for a state network whose Central Highway ran through the town. The state bridged the Eno at Hillsboro in 1922, and the Durham-Hillsboro highway opened in 1924, after paving had sent traffic through Chapel Hill and onto a private detour whose owner charged drivers. StorylineThe 1915 road law and the county road supervisor, 1915–19171915–1917 · 10 events · In 1915 Senator Frank Nash's act directed the Orange County commissioners to spend the road tax on the roads of the county at large rather than township by township, and to elect a county supervisor of roads. A. W. Clarke became superintendent of roads that March. In 1916 the county placed the Chapel Hill to Durham road and the road from Carrboro to the Alamance line under the federal engineer and authorized the superintendent to buy equipment to work convicts on the roads. By 1917 inspectors counted 37 miles of central highways and many more miles of Class A and Class B roads, and the commissioners were ordering straightening, bridge work and a sand-clay road.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 25 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Frank Nash returns to Hillsborough to live and write After breakdowns in health ended most of his Tarboro law practice, Frank Nash moved back to Hillsborough, where he had grown up at the Nash-Kollock school. He stayed about twenty years and began writing historical romances and local history. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NCpedia: Nash, Francis (Frank) (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  2. Hillsborough elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris and an all-Democratic town board Hillsborough voters elected Democrat Joseph A. Harris mayor over Republican Nathan W. Brown, 82 to 52, with a Democratic board of commissioners. The new registration, ordered after the old book was lost, listed 72 white and 71 Black voters, and about 25 Black men voted the Democratic ticket. People: Joseph A. Harris, N. W. Brown, Clarence Dupre Jones, Frank Nash, H. Winder Webb, Dudley M. Laws Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 9, 1896, p. 3
  3. Hillsborough's commissioners take up revised town ordinances and order them printed and posted The Hillsborough board went through a revision of the town ordinances section by section and ordered them printed and posted. The mayor named standing committees for public property, streets, finance, cemeteries, and the pump, clock and scales. People: Joseph A. Harris, Frank Nash, Clarence Dupre Jones, H. Winder Webb, Dudley M. Laws Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 23, 1896, p. 3
  4. The Orange bar meets to honor the late Calvin E. Parish The lawyers of the Orange bar met at the court house during superior court, with Maj. John W. Graham presiding, and adopted resolutions for Calvin E. Parish, who had died on November 20 in his 67th year. The tribute recalled his forty years in Hillsborough as postmaster before and during the war, several terms as mayor, and service in the state Senate (1874, 1880) and House (1876). People: Calvin E. Parish, John W. Graham, Frank Nash, Chester D. Turner Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Paul C. GrahamSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), March 30, 1899, p. 2
  5. Frank Nash publishes Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary Nash collected his articles on the town from the Charlotte Observer and the North Carolina Booklet into a book, printed in Raleigh by Edwards & Broughton. It was reprinted in 1953. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NCpedia: Nash, Francis (Frank) (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography) · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 7, 1903, p. 3
  6. Durham wins an injunction against the Eno Cotton Mills for fouling the Eno The City of Durham, which drew its drinking water from the Eno, obtained a temporary order in early February barring the Eno Cotton Mills at Hillsboro from running sewage and filth into the river. After arguments at Durham on February 10, Judge G. S. Ferguson continued the injunction to a final hearing but suspended it until April 20 so the mill could put in a purifying system approved by the State Board of Health. People: John W. Graham, Frank Nash, Samuel Mallett Gattis Place: Eno Cotton Mill, West Hillsborough · Also named: G. S. Ferguson · Also mentions: Eno Cotton MillsOrange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 22, 1906, p. 3
  7. Attorney Frank Nash inherits the old Strudwick office and makes it his office and home Frank Nash inherited the former Strudwick medical and law office at 139 West King Street and used it as both his law office and his home. It has been a private house since 1924. Place: 139 West King Street, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), Section 7, p. 76 (Dr. Edmund Strudwick Office)
  8. Frank Nash serves as mayor of Hillsborough During Nash's four years as mayor the town laid its first concrete sidewalks, and plans for a public library began to take shape. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NCpedia: Nash, Francis (Frank) (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  9. An Orange County Anti-Saloon League is organized after Charles B. Aycock speaks for prohibition Former governor Charles B. Aycock spoke for state prohibition to a large crowd in the Hillsborough courthouse, several merchants closing their stores so their clerks could hear him, and Rev. Charles E. Maddry of Greensboro then organized an Orange County Anti-Saloon League with Frank Nash as chairman, Nathan W. Brown as secretary and an executive committee drawn from every township. People: Charles B. Aycock, Charles Edward Maddry, Frank Nash, N. W. Brown, Samuel Mallett Gattis Place: Courthouse, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 23, 1908, p. 3
  10. Hillsboro's commissioners order Churton Street macadamized The Hillsboro town commissioners authorized their street committee to borrow up to $3,500 and begin at once to macadamize Churton Street from the Misses Cate's south to the river bridge. People: Frank Nash Place: Churton Street, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 4, 1908, p. 3
  11. Southern Railway president W. W. Finley speaks at Chapel Hill after a stop at Hillsboro W. W. Finley, president of the Southern Railway, spoke at Chapel Hill on railway transportation and the South. On the way he and other railway officials stopped at Hillsboro, where Mayor Frank Nash and others drove them through town and showed them the court house and town clock before they boarded his private car at Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm. People: Frank Nash Place: Chapel Hill; Hillsborough · Also named: W. W. Finley, Julian S. CarrSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 3, 1909, p. 4
  12. Frank Nash serves as attorney for Orange County Nash was the county attorney for four years, while also an elder of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and chairman of the county Democratic executive committee. Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Hillsborough Presbyterian ChurchSearch the index · NCpedia: Nash, Francis (Frank) (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
Show all 25 dated events
  1. The Observer publishes a special Hillsboro edition on the town's trade and officials The Orange County Observer gave its front pages to a review of Hillsboro, put at about 1,500 people with two gingham mills and a shuttle factory, and to sketches of its merchants and county officers. It reported $16,000 spent in five years on macadam streets and cement sidewalks. People: Joseph A. Harris, Frank Nash Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 25, 1910, p. 1
  2. County commissioners order a survey for a macadam road from Hillsboro to Duke's farm At their July meeting the Orange County commissioners authorized Frank Nash, Shepperd Strudwick and Paul C. Collins to have a macadam road surveyed from Hillsboro to Duke's farm and report back on July 10. People: Frank Nash, Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961), Paul C. Collins Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 6, 1911, p. 5
  3. The Central Highway trustees choose the Hillsboro and Mebane route The trustees of the state's Central Highway decided to route the road by way of Hillsboro and Mebane. Joseph Hyde Pratt sent word of the decision to Frank Nash. People: Joseph Hyde Pratt, Frank Nash Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 6, 1911, p. 5
  4. Julian S. Carr addresses a Black educational congress at Dickerson Chapel Gen. Julian S. Carr spoke to the Christian Educational Congress of Black churchgoers at Dickerson Chapel A.M.E. Church in Hillsboro. Col. Frank Nash introduced him before a very large audience, with some white listeners present. People: Julian S. Carr, Frank Nash Place: Dickerson Chapel A.M.E. Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 21, 1911, p. 5
  5. The road commissioners halt road work until the county road law is tested in the Supreme Court The Orange County road commissioners decided not to begin road work until the legality of the county's road law was settled. In a joint session with the county commissioners, Frank Nash was authorized to make up a case and submit it to the state Supreme Court. People: Frank Nash Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 8, 1912, p. 5
  6. The General Assembly puts Orange County's road tax into one county-wide fund under a county road supervisor Senator Frank Nash's act told the county commissioners to spend the road tax, after interest and sinking fund on the road bonds, on the roads of the county at large rather than township by township, and to elect a county supervisor of roads for a two-year term. The News reported the bill enrolled and ratified. People: Frank Nash Place: Orange CountySearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), January 28, 1915, p. 1
  7. A Red Cross mass meeting at the Hillsborough court house enrolls new members On the eve of draft registration, J. C. Webb presided over a mass meeting at the court house where Edward Bond of Edenton, a soldier back from the Mexican border, and Rev. Alfred S. Lawrence spoke, and Frank Nash introduced Mrs. Palmer Jerman of Raleigh on the purpose of the Red Cross. Six young women then enrolled members. People: Alfred Stratton Lawrence, Frank Nash, J. Cheshire Webb Place: Court House, Hillsborough · Also named: Edward Bond, Mrs. Palmer JermanSearch the index · State Archives of North Carolina, Military Collection, WWI Papers, Box 2, Folder 37: Orange County Red Cross History (typescripts, 1918-1919), scan 2
  8. The Council of Defense forms a committee to handle soldiers' business affairs On July 9, 1917, the Orange County Council of Defense formed a Soldiers' Business Aid Committee, chaired by Frank Nash, to attend to any business a soldier wanted looked after. The Red Cross later cited it as the reason the county needed no separate civilian relief committee. People: Frank Nash, Mack P. Efland Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 44
  9. A Liberty Bonfire on the court house square rallies Hillsborough for the Second Liberty Loan On the night of Tuesday, October 23, young Billy Hayes lit a Liberty Bonfire at the corner of the court house square, and seven speakers gave three-minute talks. The county's four banks sold $132,550 in second-loan bonds, and a women's committee under Mrs. James H. Webb raised $79,800. People: Frank Nash, John W. Graham, Samuel Mallett Gattis, Paul C. Collins Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Billy Hayes, Mrs. James H. WebbSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 62
  10. W. S. Roberson joins the county's legal advisory board for draft questionnaires A legal advisory board was formed to help Orange County men fill out the government's draft questionnaires, with Major John W. Graham, Frank Nash and W. S. Roberson as members. People: W. S. Roberson, Frank Nash, John W. Graham Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 45
  11. Hillsborough dedicates a tablet crediting Daniel Boone with an expedition from the Old State House During a day of patriotic meetings and a war bond drive, Hillsborough dedicated a steel tablet at the site of the Old State House stating that frontiersmen under Richard Henderson, led by Daniel Boone, set out from there for Kentucky on March 17, 1776. A Trading Path tablet was added to the monument on July 4, 1931. The inscription is disputed: the American Revolution tour AmRevNC says Boone was not with the party that left the courthouse that day. People: Daniel Boone, Richard Henderson, Frank Nash Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina: Old State House, Indian Trading Path and Boone Trail Highway Marker (#5), Hillsborough
  12. Hillsborough holds the county homecoming celebration for returned soldiers On July 16, 1919, about 15,000 people came to Hillsborough to welcome home Orange County's soldiers and sailors, with a parade, Gov. Bickett's address at the court house and a dinner for about a thousand guests in Cameron Park. J. Cheshire Webb chaired the celebration, and the county Red Cross voted $300 toward its cost, money the celebration fund turned out not to need. People: Frank Nash, Julian S. Carr, John W. Graham, J. Cheshire Webb, Samuel Mallett Gattis, Thomas W. Bickett Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Cameron ParkSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 112 · Also: State Archives of North Carolina, Military Collection, WWI Papers, Box 2, Folder 37: Orange County Red Cross History, Hillsborough chapter h
  13. The Orange Printshop reprints Frank Nash's Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary The Orange Printshop of Chapel Hill reissued Frank Nash's Hillsboro: Colonial and Revolutionary, first published in 1903, adding an index and a biographical sketch of the author by Judge John J. Parker. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: John J. Parker · Also mentions: The Orange PrintshopSearch the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 31 (1954), p. 108

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Frank Nash, 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

Works about or by Frank Nash. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By Frank Nash

More about the Hillsboro clock

Nash, Frank, 1855-1932 · 1932

Frank Nash's short piece on the Hillsborough town clock, pages 88 and 89 of a 1932 publication. Nash, a Hillsborough lawyer and local historian who died that year, adds to the story of the town's famous eighteenth-century clock, now in the courthouse cupola.

UNC

The History of Orange County

Nash, Frank · 1910

Frank Nash's History of Orange County, Part I, as it appeared in the North Carolina Booklet for October 1910 (volume 10, number 2), published in Raleigh by the North Carolina Society, Daughters of the Revolution. This copy is detached from the periodical and runs from page 55 to page 113. An early narrative history of the county.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.656 NOR UNC DPLA

Frank Nash papers, 1726-1965 (bulk 1900-1919).

Nash, Frank, 1855-1932 · 1726

Four thousand items across six linear feet make up the Frank Nash papers, spanning 1726 to 1965 and thickest from 1900 to 1919, in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 539. Nash lived from 1855 to 1932, and the papers concern judges and lawyers, prohibition in North Carolina, state roads, the Nash and Kollock School at Hillsborough, women's education, and Frederick Nash.

UNC

Start at OCPL

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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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