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 work about Lawrence Thompson is indexed here.

Search this work Research sources View indexed works ↓

Life and Orange County connections

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

StorylineThe sheriff and the taxes: Orange County's sheriffs, 1752–17771752–1777 · 19 events · In colonial Orange County the sheriff collected the taxes, and how sheriffs and their deputies collected them became a grievance that fed the Regulation. The governor chose sheriffs from names the county court sent him, beginning with Alexander Mebane, who returned 1,113 tithables for 1752 and 1753. Thomas Hart's short account and the Assembly bill excusing him from taxes, deputies' seizures of deer skins and livestock, and Tyree Harris's extra charge on late payers came before the 1768 depositions and the rescue of a seized horse at Hillsborough. Regulators whipped Sheriff John Lea in 1769. In 1777 the first court under statehood named Mebane's son sheriff.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. 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, Lawrence Thompson, John Gray Place: Orange County · Also named: James Dickey, Alexander MebaneSearch 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 Thompson Place: Corbin Town, later Hillsborough · Also named: Josiah Dixon, Francis CorbinLefler 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, John Gray, Lawrence Thompson Place: Orange County · Also named: Alexander MebaneSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 168

People named in the same events

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.

Indexed works

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

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.

Included because: Its title names this person.

Duke NC State

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 Lawrence Thompson 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 Lawrence Thompson

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

These searches use Lawrence Thompson’s name without birth or death dates, so results 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.

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