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

Local figure

Lawrence Thompson

Lawrence Thompson was one of Orange County's first officials. In 1754 the county court named him, with James Watson and Josiah Dixon, a commissioner and trustee of the new county seat, then called Corbin Town and later Hillsborough. He was appointed sheriff in 1755, and a 1759 act of the assembly called him the late sheriff and let him collect a tax for 1756 that he had paid out of his own estate.

Source: Documenting the American South: Colonial and State Records of North Carolina

1 indexed work is connected with this person.

Search this work Research sources View indexed works ↓

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

An Act to impower Lawrence Thompson late Sherriff of Orange County to Collect and Receive a Tax of Two Shillings Proclamation Money laid on the Taxable Persons in the County of Orange by an Act of Assembly of this Province

1760

An act of 1760 empowering Lawrence Thompson, late sheriff of Orange County, to collect and receive a tax of two shillings proclamation money laid on the taxable persons of the county. Sheriff and tax legislation are among its subjects, with Arthur Dobbs, James Hasell, Alexander Duncan and Samuel Swann named. From Colonial Office volume CO 5/336, North Carolina Acts 1755 to 1760.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

Duke NC State

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Justices recommend John Gray for sheriff With Alexander Mebane's term running out, the court sent the governor three names, with 10 votes for John Gray, 8 for Lawrence Thompson and 6 for James Dickey. Gray, the justices' favorite, was appointed. People: Matthew Rowan, John Gray, Lawrence ThompsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 168
  2. The county court names trustees for Corbin Town James Watson, Josiah Dixon and Lawrence Thompson became commissioners and trustees of the county seat, then called Corbin Town after Francis Corbin, Earl Granville's land agent. People: James Watson, Lawrence ThompsonLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 19
  3. Lawrence Thompson is appointed sheriff of Orange County In 1755 the county court sent the governor three names for sheriff, John Patterson, Lawrence Thompson and Alexander Mebane, and Thompson received the appointment. He had run second to John Gray in the justices' vote two years before. People: John Patterson, Lawrence ThompsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 168

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as Lawrence Thompson, 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.

Research sources

Resources picked for this person, each with a note on what it holds. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further.

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Lawrence Thompson Library card 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
  • 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

Ready-made searches in other catalogs and collections. Results are not checked against this person.

Books about Lawrence Thompson

More catalogs that show where copies are

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Searched by name. The catalogs give no dates for this person, so results may include other people with the same name. The historical records searches look for the name as written, so they can turn up other people with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

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

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