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Local figure

Allen Jones Ruffin

Allen Jones Ruffin (1857–1911), from an old Hillsborough family, founded the Eno Cotton Mill with James H. Webb Jr. in 1896, the first textile mill in Hillsborough and in present-day Orange County. In 1908 he gave the land north of Eno Street on which the mill workers' Eno Methodist Church was built.

Source: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register nomination (OR1300, 2011), section 8, pp. 10, 21

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Life and Orange County connections

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

StorylineHillsborough's tobacco market: factories and warehouses, 1877–18911877–1891 · 17 events · Hillsborough built up a tobacco market of warehouses and factories between 1877 and 1891, though the firms behind it dissolved or changed hands again and again. Pogue's warehouse held its opening sale in 1877, and in 1882 Major H. P. Jones received what the Observer called the first cablegram ever sent to Hillsborough, a Liverpool order for his Tar Heel smoking tobacco. In 1886 the Hookers' Central Warehouse gave the town a second warehouse. The Webb & Co. firm dissolved in 1887, A. A. Springs assigned his business in 1888, and Hooker & Crisp dissolved in 1889. E. A. Rosemond bought the Central Warehouse and in 1891 opened his warehouse at prices that pleased the farmers. StorylineEno Cotton Mill and its village1896–1984 · 54 events · Allen J. Ruffin and James Webb Jr. founded the Eno Cotton Mill at Hillsborough in 1896, and it began production in 1897 with a village of cottages for its workers. It added weaving in 1904 and gingham in 1909, rented its houses for 25 cents a week in 1915, reached about 600 workers in 1940, and became part of Cone Mills in 1952; the mill houses were moved in 1956, and the mill closed in 1984. StorylineMacadam for Hillsborough: the township road tax, bonds and paved streets, 1900–19081900–1908 · 10 events · Hillsboro Township taxed itself for roads and became the only Orange township to vote road bonds, and from 1905 Hillsborough's streets were macadamized, surfaced with crushed stone. In 1900 township voters carried a special road tax. In 1905 the township road commissioners set up a rock crusher west of the court house and began a macadam road from Churton and King streets to the depot. In 1907 township voters sought an election on $40,000 in road bonds, and the money built a few miles of macadam road. In 1908 the township road commission organized a chain gang of prisoners, and Street Commissioner T. Norfleet Webb's crew, using convict labor, macadamized Churton Street south to the river bridge for $3,085.47. StorylineThe Bellevue Manufacturing Company, 1904–19191904–1919 · 12 events · Organized in 1904 to build a knitting mill west of Hillsborough, the Bellevue Manufacturing Company soon enlarged its plans and by 1912 was weaving dress ginghams. It was incorporated on October 13, 1904, with Shepperd Strudwick as president. Early in 1905 the stockholders decided to raise the subscribed stock to add a spinning plant, and Charlotte mill designer Richard C. Biberstein planned the machinery. The engine was first fired on July 7, 1905, but a tank failure the next week delayed the start. The 2014 Hillsborough survey dates the mill to 1909, perhaps an enlargement or rebuilding. By 1912 it ran 5,000 spindles and 200 looms, and by 1919 it ran partly on electricity.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 17 dated events in the chronology →

During their lifetime

  1. Hillsborough elects Joseph A. Harris mayor With no opposing ticket and only about half the registered voters taking part, Hillsborough elected Joseph A. Harris, editor of the Orange County Observer, as mayor, with A. W. Graham, James A. Cheek, Henry Richards Jr., A. J. Ruffin, John Rosemond, James Webb Jr. and Jesse Hedgpeth as commissioners. The new board took office May 7 and chose Thomas D. Tinnin clerk and John Laws treasurer. People: Joseph A. Harris, Allen Jones Ruffin, James Webb Jr., James A. Cheek, Augustus Washington Graham Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Henry Richards Jr., John Rosemond, Jesse Hedgpeth, Thomas D. Tinnin, John LawsSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 7, 1887, p. 3
  2. Allen J. Ruffin, A. A. Springs and Thomas D. Turner incorporate the Hillsboro Tobacco Company Allen J. Ruffin, Alexander A. Springs and Thomas D. Turner incorporated the Hillsboro Tobacco Company for ten years to buy, sell, handle and manufacture leaf tobacco at Hillsborough, Durham or elsewhere, with $3,000 capital in sixty $50 shares and power to grow to $20,000. People: Samuel Mallett Gattis Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Alexander A. Springs, Thomas D. TurnerSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), March 2, 1889, p. 3
  3. Hillsborough re-elects Mayor Joseph A. Harris over Devereux Turner Hillsborough re-elected Joseph A. Harris mayor over Devereux Turner by 49 votes and chose D. Y. Mebane, M. W. McCollum, James A. Cheek, George Laws, Joseph G. Cooley, A. J. Ruffin and S. J. Lynch as commissioners without opposition; the new board kept James Carmichael as constable and John Laws as treasurer. People: Joseph A. Harris, Allen Jones Ruffin, James A. Cheek, Joseph G. Cooley Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Devereux Turner, D. Y. Mebane, M. W. McCollum, George Laws, S. J. Lynch, James Carmichael, John LawsSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 11, 1889, p. 3
  4. James Webb Jr. and Allen J. Ruffin hire an architect for a cotton mill at Hillsborough James Webb Jr. and his partner Allen J. Ruffin went to Providence, Rhode Island, and engaged an architect named Makepeace, a native North Carolinian, to design their Hillsborough cotton factory. The mill was to stand on the knoll just west of the Southern Railway station, with brickmaking to start at once and building the next spring. People: James Webb Jr., Allen Jones Ruffin Place: Knoll west of the Southern Railway station, Hillsborough · Also mentions: Southern Railway stationOrange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 17, 1895, p. 2
  5. Allen J. Ruffin and James H. Webb Jr. found the Eno Cotton Mill Ruffin and Webb, both of old Hillsborough families, founded the Eno Cotton Mill on the north bank of the Eno west of town, chartered by special act of the General Assembly in 1896. It was the first textile mill in Hillsborough and in present-day Orange County. People: George A. Durham, James Webb Jr. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register nomination (OR1300, 2011), section 8, p. 10
  6. Eno Cotton Mill's buildings near completion and its first cottages are occupied Work on the Eno Cotton Mill at West Hillsborough was well along: about a million bricks had gone into the two-story main building, some 252 feet long, and several mill cottages were finished and occupied. The company, capitalized at $100,000 with Allen J. Ruffin as president and Thomas H. Webb as superintendent, planned to start with 10,000 spindles and hoped to run by April. People: Allen Jones Ruffin, James Webb Jr., George A. Durham Place: Eno Cotton Mill, West Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas H. Webb, H. Winder WebbOrange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 26, 1896, p. 3
  7. James Webb, a builder of the Eno Cotton Mills, dies at Hillsboro James Webb, merchant and manufacturer, died at his Hillsboro home on January 28, three days after returning from Texas for his health. With his brother Joseph C. Webb and A. J. Ruffin he had built the Eno Cotton Mills and a flour mill, and he was a director of the Raleigh and Neuse mills at Raleigh; he was buried at St. Matthew's on January 31. People: J. Cheshire Webb, Allen Jones Ruffin Place: Hillsborough; St. Matthew's Episcopal Church · Also named: James Webb · Also mentions: Eno Cotton MillsOrange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 4, 1904, p. 3
  8. The superior court orders the old Ruffin place sold to Nannie Russell Roulhac Under a superior court judgment, Allen J. Ruffin was named commissioner to convey the ten-acre Ruffin place to Mrs. Nannie Russell Roulhac of Rockingham County for $100 in cash and a mortgage note of $1,455. People: Allen Jones Ruffin Place: Ruffin-Roulhac House, Churton and Orange streets, Hillsborough · Also named: Nannie Russell RoulhacSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 5
  9. Shepperd Strudwick buys Allen Ruffin's land north of the future Bellevue mill Four years before the Bellevue mill was built, Strudwick acquired the tract north of the site from Ruffin, one of the Eno Cotton Mill's founders, probably to build company housing there. People: Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961), Allen Jones Ruffin Place: West HillsboroughSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 13
  10. Orange Presbytery holds its spring session at Hillsboro Orange Presbytery held its 272nd session in the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church from the evening of April 17 to the afternoon of April 20, opening with a sermon by the pastor of Durham's First Presbyterian Church and a welcome from H. S. Bradshaw. Townspeople housed the delegates, Allen J. Ruffin gave them an evening's entertainment, and the presbytery thanked the town by resolution before setting its fall session for Roxboro. People: Allen Jones Ruffin, H. S. Bradshaw Place: Presbyterian Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 26, 1906, p. 3
  11. Stockholders organize the Hillsboro Clay Manufacturing Company and elect Shepperd Strudwick president Stockholders of the Hillsboro Clay Manufacturing Company met and elected directors, who chose Shepperd Strudwick president and treasurer, A. J. Ruffin vice president and H. N. Brown Jr. secretary and general manager. Work on a brick plant a mile and a half east of town on the Southern Railway was to begin at once, on an authorized capital of $100,000 with $20,000 paid in. People: Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961), Allen Jones Ruffin, Paul C. Collins, J. Cheshire Webb, N. W. Brown Place: Office in the old Norwood building east of the court house; plant east of Hillsborough on the Southern Railway · Also named: H. N. Brown Jr.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 10, 1907, p. 2
  12. Hillsborough Township voters ask for a $40,000 good-roads bond election A meeting of Hillsborough Township voters in the court house unanimously asked State Senator John W. Graham to have the legislature authorize a vote on road bonds for thirty years, to be issued in $10,000 lots over up to four years for building the township's public roads. The meeting also asked that Churton and King streets be taken from the township road commission and put under the town, and named A. J. Ruffin, C. D. Jones and Shepperd Strudwick to handle the sale of the bonds. People: John W. Graham, Allen Jones Ruffin, Clarence Dupre Jones, Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961) Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also mentions: Churton and King streetsSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 14, 1907, p. 3
Show all 15 dated events
  1. Allen J. and Annie Gray Ruffin buy the James A. Cheek House The Cheek family, owners since about 1875, sells the Italianate house at 219 North Churton Street to Allen J. and Annie Gray Ruffin in October 1907, for $5,000 with five acres. Annie Gray Ruffin, by then a widow, sold it to Houston J. Walker in 1919. People: Houston J. Walker, James A. Cheek, Allen Jones Ruffin Place: James A. Cheek House, 219 North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Annie Gray RuffinSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 219 North Churton Street, James A. Cheek House · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 10, 1907, p. 3
  2. Eno Methodist Church is founded in West Hillsborough Eno Methodist Church began among the Eno Cotton Mill's workers, with services upstairs in the mill's company store, until 1908, when it moved into its own frame church on land Allen Ruffin gave. It had 147 members in 1953. People: Allen Jones Ruffin Place: West Hillsborough · Also mentions: Eno Methodist ChurchSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register nomination (OR1300, 2011), section 8 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
  3. The Eno Methodist congregation builds its church on land given by Allen Ruffin The congregation formed for Eno Cotton Mill workers first met in an upper room of a mill building. In 1908 it moved into a simple front-gabled frame church with pointed-arch windows and a small belfry, on land Ruffin donated facing the mill across the railroad tracks. People: Allen Jones Ruffin Place: Eno United Methodist Church, 903 Eno Street, West HillsboroughSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 16

After their death in 1911

Later events: estates and burials, and the buildings, honors and histories that remember them.

  1. Eno Cotton Mill rents its village houses to workers for 25 cents a week The Eno Cotton Mill, founded in 1896 by Allen J. Ruffin and James H. Webb Jr., built a company village for its fast-growing workforce, and by 1915 the company was renting the houses to employees for a quarter a week. The 1924 Sanborn map shows about 100 mill houses west and south of the mill. People: Allen Jones Ruffin Place: Eno Cotton Mill village, West Hillsborough · Also named: James H. Webb, James H. Webb Jr.NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 12 · Also: Eno Cotton Mill National Register nomination
  2. Houston J. Walker buys the James A. Cheek House from Annie Gray Ruffin Annie Gray Ruffin, widowed since she and Allen J. Ruffin bought the Cheek house in 1908, sold it to Houston J. Walker. Three years later Walker and his son Allen H. Walker Sr. opened Walker's Funeral Home in Hillsborough. People: Allen Jones Ruffin, James A. Cheek, Houston J. Walker Place: 219 North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Annie Gray Ruffin, Allen H. Walker Sr. · Also mentions: Walker's Funeral HomeSearch the index · Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 38

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, 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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People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Allen Jones Ruffin, 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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