Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Local figure

James Sprunt

James Sprunt paid for most of the 1919–1920 remodeling of the Presbyterian church on East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill as a memorial to his wife, Luola Murchison Sprunt. The church was dedicated as the Sprunt Memorial Presbyterian Church on November 28, 1920.

Source: Open Orange: 209 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church (original)

1846–1924 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

1 work about James Sprunt is indexed here.

Search this work Research sources View indexed works ↓
James Sprunt, engraving, 1916
James Sprunt, engraving, 1916

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

  1. James Sprunt endows a fund for historical monographs at UNC By the fall of 1899 James Sprunt had set up a fund at the university for publishing yearly historical monographs, known after 1910 as the James Sprunt Historical Publications. The first monograph appeared in June 1900. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News and Observer (Raleigh), October 1, 1899, p. 14 · Also: NCpedia: Sprunt, James
  2. Henry Weil of Goldsboro gives the university library $1,000 Henry Weil of Goldsboro, a university trustee, gave the university library $1,000. The gift was listed that fall with Julian S. Carr's dormitory and James Sprunt's fund for historical monographs among recent trustee gifts. People: Julian S. Carr, James Sprunt Place: University library, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Henry WeilSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 30, 1899, p. 3
  3. UNC gives James Sprunt an honorary doctor of laws The university, where Sprunt served as a trustee, awarded him an honorary LL.D. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NCpedia: Sprunt, James
  4. James Sprunt gives $30,000 for a new Presbyterian church at Chapel Hill At the Presbyterian Synod meeting in Fayetteville, Dr. R. Murphy Williams announced a gift of $30,000 from Dr. James Sprunt of Wilmington to build and equip a new church at Chapel Hill for the Synod's work among University students. Williams said work on the building would begin soon, while a planned $25,000 endowment was put off. Place: Presbyterian Synod, Fayetteville (gift for Chapel Hill) · Also named: R. Murphy WilliamsSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), November 8, 1917, p. 1
  5. The new Presbyterian church on Franklin Street is dedicated as Sprunt Memorial The new Presbyterian church at 209 East Franklin Street, built by James Sprunt of Wilmington as a memorial to his wife, Luola Murchison Sprunt, was formally dedicated as the Sprunt Memorial Presbyterian Church. It had been under construction for about two years and in use for about a month. The pastor, William D. Moss, accepted it for the congregation. People: William Dygnum Moss, James Sprunt Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: East Franklin StreetSearch the index · DigitalNC: The Charlotte Observer, November 29, 1920, p. 1 · Also: The Tar Heel, November 2, 1920, p. 1; NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel Hill Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomin; Open Orange: 209 E. Franklin St. / Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church
  6. Three donors start a Campus Fund to beautify the University grounds James Sprunt of Wilmington, John Sprunt Hill of Durham and W. C. Coker of Chapel Hill each gave $1,000 to start a Campus Fund for beautifying the University campus, announced in an alumni pamphlet titled 'The Campus Beautiful'. People: James Sprunt, John Sprunt Hill, William Chambers Coker Place: UNC campus, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 11, 1923, p. 2

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as James Sprunt, 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.

Indexed works

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

Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton papers, 1895-1961.

Hamilton, Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac, 1878-1961 · 1895

Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton (1878-1961) taught history at Chapel Hill, and his papers, 1895 to 1961, amount to roughly 9,500 items in 25.5 linear feet in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 1743. Diaries sit among the material. Topics include the collecting of archival materials and the Southern Historical Collection itself, Reconstruction, the nineteenth century Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina, the state Democratic Party, and figures such as R. D. W. Connor and Albert Ray Newsome.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Sprunt, James, 1846-1924.

UNC

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 1 with a known location.

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.

All places and the county map →

Research sources

Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Background

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for James Sprunt Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

Local help

Search further

Search other catalogs and collections for this name. Results may include other people with the same name and have not been reviewed by the Friends.

Books about James Sprunt

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Catalog searches use the Library of Congress name heading: Sprunt, James, 1846-1924. Historical-record searches use the person’s name and may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Picture: James Sprunt, engraving, 1916. Public domain. James Sprunt, Chronicles of the Cape Fear River (1916); via the Internet Archive

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Browse New Arrivals → Meet Local Authors → Explore Local Publishers →
Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026