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

Local figure

James C. Turrentine

James C. Turrentine was sheriff of Orange County in the 1830s and 1840s and later a Hillsborough merchant. As a warden of the poor he helped run the county poorhouse until the wardens' last meeting in 1868. In August 1864, as presiding justice of the county court, he called the justices together to provide for soldiers' families, and in 1868 Governor Holden named him a justice of the peace.

Source: The Hillsborough Recorder, August 17, 1864

2 works about James C. Turrentine are indexed here.

Search these 2 works Research sources View indexed works ↓

Life and Orange County connections

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

  1. Orange County's candidates for the Assembly and sheriff take the field By July 12, 1834, the candidates for Orange County's August 14 election were William Montgomery and Hugh Waddell for the state Senate; Joseph Allison, John Stockard, William McCauley and William R. Hall for the House of Commons; William A. Graham for the Hillsborough borough seat; and James C. Turrentine and William Nelson for sheriff. Earlier lists that summer had named Thomas D. Crane and, briefly, Burrhus Cheek for the Senate. People: William Montgomery, Hugh Waddell, William McCauley, William A. Graham, James C. Turrentine, William Nelson, Joseph Allison, John Stockard Place: Orange County · Also named: William R. Hall, Thomas D. CraneSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), July 12, 1834, p. 3
  2. Orange County sends William Montgomery to the state Senate and Joseph Allison and John Stockard to the Commons Orange County voters returned Dr. William Montgomery to the state Senate, Col. Joseph Allison and Col. John Stockard to the House of Commons, and James C. Turrentine as sheriff. Hillsborough's borough seat went to William A. Graham without opposition. People: William Montgomery, James C. Turrentine, William A. Graham, Joseph Allison, John Stockard Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 20, 1834, p. 3
  3. Orange County voters elect James C. Turrentine sheriff In the August 1834 election Orange County chose James C. Turrentine as sheriff with 1,344 votes, while the borough of Hillsborough returned William A. Graham to the House of Commons. People: William A. Graham Place: Orange CountySearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), August 16, 1834, p. 3
  4. Orange Whig convention nominates Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham for the legislature Delegates from every captain's district met at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough and nominated Willie P. Mangum for the state Senate and William A. Graham, Nathaniel I. King, Col. James Graham and Dr. Michael W. Holt for the House of Commons. The nominating committee also named Sheriff James C. Turrentine, but withdrew him after Hugh Waddell argued that ministerial officers should not depend on party politics. People: Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Hugh Waddell, James Strudwick Smith, James C. Turrentine Place: Masonic Hall, Hillsborough · Also named: Nathaniel I. King, James Graham, Michael W. HoltSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 28, 1840, p. 3
  5. Hillsborough men form the Washington Temperance Society of Orange County Meeting at the court house, Hillsborough men organized a Washington Temperance Society on the total-abstinence pledge, adopted a constitution and elected Col. Henry Webb president. The drive followed talks in the village by John F. Carey of the Baltimore Washingtonians, and about half the adult men of Hillsborough signed the pledge. People: James C. Turrentine, William Bingham (1835-1873), George Laws, Lemuel Lynch, Walter A. Norwood, Stephen Moore Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Henry Webb, John F. CareySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 18, 1841, p. 3
  6. Delegates form the Orange County Temperance Society at Hillsborough A convention of delegates from the county's temperance societies met at the court house and organized the Orange County Temperance Society, auxiliary to the state society, with every member of a local society counted a member. It elected Thomas Clancy president, James C. Turrentine recording secretary and William J. Bingham corresponding secretary, and set an annual meeting in Hillsborough each August. People: James C. Turrentine, Walter A. Norwood Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas Clancy, William J. BinghamSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 26, 1842, p. 3
  7. Orange elects its whole Whig ticket Orange voters returned the entire Whig ticket, sending Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Giles Mebane, Chesley F. Faucett, Loftin K. Pratt and John B. Leathers to the House of Commons by an average majority of 157, and re-elected Sheriff James C. Turrentine over William Nelson. The county also gave its own William A. Graham a majority of nearly 200 over Michael Hoke for governor. People: Hugh Waddell, Giles Mebane, James C. Turrentine, William A. Graham Place: Orange County · Also named: Chesley F. Faucett, Loftin K. Pratt, John B. Leathers, Michael Hoke, William NelsonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 8, 1844, p. 3
  8. The Orange County Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts is organized Farmers and mechanics meeting at the courthouse in Hillsborough on Tuesday of August court, August 23, 1853, organized the Orange County Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts under a subscription agreement circulated that summer, with Paul C. Cameron as president, James C. Turrentine as treasurer and Edwin A. Heartt as secretary. The legislature had lately voted aid to such county societies. People: Paul C. Cameron, John Wall Norwood, James C. Turrentine Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Edwin A. HearttSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 24, 1853, p. 3
  9. Hillsborough closes its graveyard for Black people to new burials The Hillsborough commissioners prohibited further burials in the town's graveyard for Black people from the next day and named a committee to set apart part of the town common as a new Black burying ground and to look for a site for a White burying ground. People: James C. Turrentine, John J. Freeland Place: Town common, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 21, 1854, p. 3
  10. Hillsborough elects a Know Nothing slate in its town elections In the town election of February 3, 1855, Hillsborough voters chose a Nativist (American Party) ticket: Lemuel Lynch as magistrate of police and James C. Turrentine, Josiah Turner Sr., George Laws, Charles M. Latimer, Levin Carmichael, Joseph Reese and J. J. Freeland as commissioners. The same year the county's congressional vote went to the Know Nothing candidate. People: George Laws, Lemuel Lynch, James C. Turrentine, John J. Freeland Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Levin Carmichael, Charles M. Latimer, Josiah Turner Sr.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 87 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, February 7, 1855, p. 2
  11. Hillsborough re-elects Josiah Turner Sr. a town commissioner In the town election Hillsborough chose Maj. James M. Palmer magistrate of police and elected Josiah Turner Sr., George Laws, James C. Turrentine, Lemuel Lynch, Levin Carmichael, Henry Richards and A. W. Hedgepeth commissioners. The board then re-elected Robert F. Pleasants town constable and John Laws treasurer. People: Josiah Turner Sr., James M. Palmer, George Laws, James C. Turrentine, Lemuel Lynch Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Levin Carmichael, Henry Richards, A. W. Hedgepeth, Robert F. Pleasants, John LawsSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 6, 1856, p. 2
  12. The Orange County Agricultural Society buys fair grounds near the railroad depot By March 12 the Orange County Agricultural Society had bought a site for its annual fair near the railroad depot at Hillsborough, on ground just south of the railroad in the Thompson field. Its committee asked for bids by April 1 to put up a building there, and on June 10 the executive committee ordered subscriptions collected for the house and for enclosing the grounds. People: John Wall Norwood, James C. Turrentine, Alexander Dickson, Pride Jones Place: South of the railroad in the Thompson field, near the depot, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 12, 1856, p. 2
Show all 25 dated events
  1. Orange County's American party convention names its legislative ticket A crowded American party convention at the Hillsborough court house, with Willie P. Mangum in the chair, heard speeches by Jones Watson and Henry K. Nash. A committee chaired by Harrison Parker recommended Josiah Turner Jr. for the state Senate and William N. Patterson and Frederick N. Strudwick for the House of Commons, and the convention ratified them unanimously. People: Harrison Parker, Willie P. Mangum, Jones Watson, Henry Kollock Nash, Josiah Turner Jr., William N. Patterson, Frederick N. Strudwick, James C. Turrentine Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 4, 1856, p. 3 ("Orange County American Convention")
  2. Hillsborough's commissioners pass ordinances against nuisances At a called meeting, Hillsborough's town commissioners made it an offense to keep a lot, house or cellar in a state that endangered the town's health, with a five-dollar fine and three dollars more for every day the nuisance stood after notice, and fined anyone who threw nuisances into the streets two dollars. An enslaved offender could instead be whipped, up to thirty-nine lashes, at the discretion of the magistrate of police. People: Lemuel Lynch, James C. Turrentine Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 30, 1856, p. 3
  3. The wardens of the poor order poorhouse repairs and a $1,000 loan After a called meeting on May 11, 1857 about the state of the poorhouse building, the wardens asked the county court on May 25 to summon the magistrates on the condition of the poor. They named a committee to repair the west building and let the superintendent borrow $1,000. People: John U. Kirkland, Pride Jones, James C. Turrentine Place: Orange County poorhouseSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 187
  4. The Hillsborough Savings Institution elects its directors and opens for deposits The Hillsborough Savings Institution completed its organization by electing seven directors, who chose Thomas B. Hill president and Thomas Webb cashier. The bank set Friday as its discount day and opened daily from three to four o'clock in Webb's office. People: Thomas Webb, George Laws, James C. Turrentine, Josiah Turner Sr., Thomas Blount Hill Place: Thomas Webb's office, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 4, 1859, p. 2
  5. Hillsborough elects Andrew Murdock magistrate of police and seven town commissioners Hillsborough voters chose Andrew Murdock magistrate of police and elected Josiah Turner Sr., William F. Strayhorn, James C. Turrentine, A. W. Hedgepeth, Thomas C. Hayes, Henry N. Brown and H. C. Strowd town commissioners. That evening the board re-elected John Laws town treasurer, chose Charles L. Cooley constable and collector and named Col. William McCauley weigh master. People: James C. Turrentine, Charles Loveland Cooley, Josiah Turner Sr. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Andrew Murdock, William F. Strayhorn, A. W. Hedgepeth, Thomas C. Hayes, Henry N. Brown, H. C. Strowd, John Laws, William McCauleySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 8, 1860, p. 3
  6. The Orange Opposition convention nominates Josiah Turner Jr., Jones Watson and Henry K. Nash A Constitutional Union (Whig and Opposition) county meeting on Tuesday of May court, with William A. Graham in the chair, nominated Josiah Turner Jr. for the state senate and Jones Watson and Henry K. Nash for the House of Commons on a platform of ad valorem taxation. The nominees accepted before the meeting. People: William A. Graham, Josiah Turner Jr., Jones Watson, Edmund Strudwick, James C. Turrentine, Henry Kollock Nash Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 30, 1860, p. 3
  7. Hillsborough re-elects A. C. Murdock magistrate of police and chooses seven commissioners At Hillsborough's town election A. C. Murdock was re-elected magistrate of police without opposition, with 66 votes, and seven town commissioners were chosen from men who were not formal candidates, James C. Turrentine among them. A Mr. Cheek was elected town constable without opposition. People: A. C. Murdock, James C. Turrentine Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Plaindealer, February 6, 1861, p. 2
  8. The county court sets its 1865 levy for poor relief and soldiers' families The February court matched the state tax on land and polls and split the money: $15,000 for poor relief, $10,000 for county purposes and the rest for soldiers' families. The previous August, presiding justice James C. Turrentine had called all the justices together on the families' support. People: James C. Turrentine Place: HillsboroughLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 189
  9. Orange County court has four Black people publicly whipped for stealing The Hillsborough Bureau office's record of corporal punishment by the civil authorities notes that at the February 1867 term of the Orange County court, with James C. Turrentine presiding, four Black people were publicly whipped for stealing. Three weeks earlier Lt. Isaac Porter had reported no corporal punishment in the sub-district since the army's order forbidding whipping had been suspended. People: James C. Turrentine Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Isaac PorterSearch the index · Freedmen's Bureau, North Carolina Field Offices, Hillsboro: Letters and Endorsements Sent and Received, Vol. 128, transcription p. 111
  10. Orange County court binds out eight Black children as apprentices with the Bureau officer attending Lt. Isaac Porter attended the February 1867 term of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions at Hillsborough, with James C. Turrentine presiding and John W. Graham as county solicitor, and reported that the court made eight indentures of apprenticeship of Black children, all in his view in keeping with the Bureau's circular, and cancelled none. At the May term he reported no indentures made or cancelled. People: James C. Turrentine, John W. Graham Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Isaac PorterSearch the index · Freedmen's Bureau, North Carolina Field Offices, Hillsboro: Letters and Endorsements Sent and Received, Vol. 128, transcription p. 45
  11. The Bureau and James C. Turrentine distribute 150 bushels of corn to Orange County's poor The Bureau told Lt. Isaac Porter on April 10, 1867, that 150 bushels of corn given by citizens of Philadelphia were coming for Orange County's destitute, to be shared without regard to race, politics or religion under his and James C. Turrentine's supervision. When the shipment went to Charlotte by mistake, the Bureau's quartermaster paid $225 for 150 bushels bought locally, and Porter later reported that no distinction of color had been made: all eleven applicants from Chapel Hill were Black and all received corn. People: James C. Turrentine Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Isaac PorterSearch the index · Freedmen's Bureau, North Carolina Field Offices, Hillsboro: Letters and Endorsements Sent and Received, Vol. 128, transcription p. 18
  12. Lt. Thomas H. Hay reports on the May term of the Orange County court and its cases against Black defendants Hay attended the term that sat from May 25 to May 30, 1868 under chairman James C. Turrentine with John W. Graham as county solicitor. The court made indentures binding Black children and cancelled the indentures of five. In state cases against Black defendants, petit larceny brought four convictions, three acquittals and one continuance, bastardy two convictions and two continuances, and keeping a disorderly house one conviction. People: James C. Turrentine, John W. Graham Place: Orange County court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas H. HaySearch the index · Freedmen's Bureau, North Carolina Field Offices, Hillsboro: Letters Sent, Vol. 130, July 1867–Dec. 1868, transcription p. 114
  13. The Court of Wardens of the Poor holds its last meeting The seven-member wardens' court, which had run poor relief and the county poorhouse, met for the last time before the new board of county commissioners took over its work. People: Lemuel Lynch, John Wesley Carr, James C. Turrentine, Nelson Parrish Hall Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 188

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as James C. Turrentine, 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.

Show 24 more

Indexed works

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

To the citizens of Orange County : I have been for many years your Sheriff, and trust I have established some character among my fellow citizens for uprightness in the discharge of the duites of my office.

Turrentine, James · 1844

James C. Turrentine, for many years sheriff of Orange County, addressed his fellow citizens in this 1844 broadside, answering John Berry's charge that he had acted improperly in casting the deciding vote for Berry's opponent at a recent election. Thirty by nineteen centimeters, signed at the end.

Included because: Listed as its creator.

Duke

Papers,

Turrentine, Michael H. · 1800

Michael H. Turrentine of Hillsborough, an officer in the 31st North Carolina Regiment, wrote many of these 45 items while posted at Fort Caswell and Gatling's Battery during the Civil War. Earlier papers, from about 1838 to 1840, follow James Turrentine's work as Orange County sheriff, mostly on the land of Phillips and Elizabeth Moore. Other topics include a governor's race, prices paid for enslaved people, and Charleston and Savannah in wartime.

Included because: Listed as its creator.

Duke

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 them all.

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

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for James C. Turrentine 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 C. Turrentine

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

These searches use James C. Turrentine’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