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Churches and lodges

Eno Presbyterian Church

Eno Presbyterian Church counts its beginning from 1755, when the missionary Hugh McAden preached to Presbyterian settlers near the Eno River southeast of present Cedar Grove. After a forest fire destroyed its church at the old site in 1893, the congregation built again at Cedar Grove in 1897 to 1899.

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.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Eno Presbyterian Church. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

Held at OCPL

History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina

Ellis, A. A. · 1980 · The Church

A 1980 edition, issued by the church, of A. A. Ellis's history of Eno Presbyterian Church at Cedar Grove, Orange County. Twenty unnumbered pages with illustrations and portraits. Ellis's original history of the congregation appeared in 1955.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, N. C

Ellis, A. A. · 1955 · Eno Presbyterian Church

A. A. Ellis's short history of Eno Presbyterian Church at Cedar Grove in northern Orange County, published by the church in 1955, 22 pages with illustrations and portraits. Subjects include the religious aspects of the Civil War among Presbyterians, along with Presbyterian and church history for Orange County.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Eno Presbyterian Church alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

History and Architecture of Orange County, North Carolina

Mattson, Richard L. · 1996 · Unpublished manuscript

Richard L. Mattson's manuscript survey of the history and architecture of Orange County, completed in September 1996. Its 78 pages cover the county's historic buildings and structures and end with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Orange County multiple property documentation form: "Historic resources of Orange County."

1993

National Register multiple property documentation form on the historic resources of Orange County, completed in 1993. Kelly Lally and M. Ruth Little led the first phase of the survey, and Jody Carter and Todd Peck the second. It runs 123 pages with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

[Architectural field surveys for Orange County : collected for the Historic and architectural resources of the Tar-Neuse River basin report]

1974 · Survey and Planning Branch, Historic Preservation Section, Division of Archives and History

Historic building survey forms for Orange County gathered in 1974 by the state's Historic Preservation Section for a report on the Tar-Neuse River basin. About 400 pages of forms covering buildings in Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and the countryside; a form can carry a description, historical notes, location, a photograph and a floor plan.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

[Map of Orange County].

1849

Large manuscript map of Orange County on linen, tracing ownership and chains of title for notable tracts with the dates each passed to new owners. Hachures show relief, and it marks principal towns, roads, railroads, mines, creeks, rivers and lakes. The date is uncertain; both 1849 and 1913 have been given for it.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Map of Orange County, N.C.

Tate, George W. · 1891 · George W. Tate

Facsimile, dated 1940, of George W. Tate's 1891 map of Orange County. It shows towns, roads, railroads such as the North Carolina Rail Road and the Chapel Hill line, residences, schools, churches, mills and mines, with portraits and pictures of buildings in the margins.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

A map of Orange County, N.C.

Noble, M. C. S. (Marcus Cicero Stephens), 1855-1942 · 1915

Marcus Cicero Stephens Noble drew this 1915 map to show how Orange County's original territory was divided, tracing the formation of Caswell, Person, Alamance, Durham, Chatham, Randolph, Guilford and Rockingham counties out of it. Topics include county boundaries and the history of political divisions in the Piedmont. Surviving as a photocopy on a sheet 31 by 23 centimeters.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC
Show 2 more surveys and maps

Soil map, North Carolina, Orange County sheet

United States · 1918 · United States Government Printing Office

Color soil map of Orange County issued in 1918 by the U.S. Government Printing Office at one inch to the mile, 68 by 46 cm. Besides soil types it marks roads and railroads, the Southern Railway among them, churches, schools, mills, stores, cotton gins, iron mines, cemeteries and the county home, and it names the townships of Bingham, Cedar Grove, Chapel Hill, Cheeks, Eno, Hillsborough and Little River.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Map of Orange County, N.C. : 1939

Stanaland, E. A. · 1939 · E.A. Stanaland

Hand colored map of Orange County drawn by E. A. Stanaland and published at Parrott, Georgia, in 1939. It shows towns and townships, roads and railroads, and marks the schools and churches standing in the county. One sheet, 58 by 36 centimeters.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

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

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection at the Main Library in Hillsborough whose titles, catalog subjects or descriptions are about this site. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Foundational · NC 285 ELL History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina Ellis, A. A. · 1980

    A 1980 edition, issued by the church, of A. A. Ellis's history of Eno Presbyterian Church at Cedar Grove, Orange County. Twenty unnumbered pages with illustrations and portraits. Ellis's original history of the congregation appeared in 1955.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 285 ELL History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, N. C Ellis, A. A. · 1955

    A. A. Ellis's short history of Eno Presbyterian Church at Cedar Grove in northern Orange County, published by the church in 1955, 22 pages with illustrations and portraits. Subjects include the religious aspects of the Civil War among Presbyterians, along with Presbyterian and church history for Orange County.

Where to look next on the shelf

These books don’t necessarily mention Eno Presbyterian Church, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

Histories of the town and county

  • Foundational · NC 975.656 ORA Orange County--1752-1952 1953

    Hugh Talmage Lefler and Paul W. Wager's history of Orange County across its first two centuries, 1752 to 1952, prepared for the county's bicentennial. It covers government and politics, biography and the county's families, and doubles as a genealogical reference. Published in Chapel Hill by the Orange Printshop in 1953, 389 pages with illustrations and an index; this copy is a later reprint.

Buildings and surveys

  • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

    Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

  • Foundational · NC 917.56 ORANGE An Inventory Of Sites Of Cultural, Historic, Recreational, Biological, And Geological Significance In The Unincorporated Portions Of Orange County Orange County (N.C.) · 1986

    County planning department survey of significant sites in the unincorporated parts of Orange County, published in 1988, 95 pages with maps. The survey covers cemeteries, church buildings and archaeological sites on the cultural side, and plants, animals, endangered species, wildlife refuges, geology and recreation areas on the natural side. Useful for local historians, genealogists tracing burial grounds and land planners alike.

  • Foundational · NC 363.69 HIS Historic Preservation Element: Orange County Comprehensive Plan ; Orange County, North Carolina Orange County (N.C.) · 1996

    The historic preservation element of Orange County's comprehensive plan, prepared for the county Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Department by the Jaeger Company of Gainesville, Georgia, and adopted on 1 April 1996. Partly financed by National Park Service funds through the state Division of Archives and History, it sets county policy on historic buildings and sites and their conservation. 59 pages plus 50 unnumbered, with illustrations and maps, some folded and in color.

Land, family and burial records

  • Start here · NC 333.16 CHILTON The Land Grant Atlas of Old Orange County Chilton, Mark · 2012

    Mark Chilton's oversized atlas plotting eighteenth-century land grants across the original Orange County, which stretched well beyond today's boundaries into what became Alamance and Durham counties. Published in Carrboro by Hand Made Books beginning in 2012, the set was planned in four volumes: Henry McCulloh's great tract number 11 and the land north of it; the Saxapahaw old fields (volume 2); Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and the Johnston Tract; and Durham, Rougemont and McCulloh's tract number 12. Maps and color illustrations, 41 cm.

  • Start here · NC 306.097 KEN Kinship and Neighborhood in A Southern Community: Orange County, North Carolina, 1849-1881 Kenzer, Robert C. · 1987

    Robert C. Kenzer's study of kinship and neighborhood in Orange County between 1849 and 1881, the decades before and after the Civil War, tracing family ties and neighborhood networks through the county's records. Published by the University of Tennessee Press in 1987, 251 pages with illustrations, maps, portraits and a bibliography. Topics include kinship, neighborhoods and social conditions in the county in the nineteenth century.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.509 STO Tombstone Inscriptions: Recorded From Private or Abandoned Cemeteries in Alamance and Orange Counties, North Carolina Stokes, Durward T. · 1979

    Durward T. Stokes's transcriptions of tombstone inscriptions from private and abandoned cemeteries in Alamance and Orange counties, dated at Graham, N.C., August 25, 1979. A photocopied typescript of 60 leaves with 10 preliminary pages, it preserves names and dates from family and neglected burial grounds and is a genealogical source for both counties.

In the chronology

Storyline about this site, with a page of its own:

  1. Hugh McAden preaches to the Eno Presbyterian settlers On August 10, 1755 the missionary Hugh McAden preached at Eno to a Presbyterian community already settled near the river, southeast of present Cedar Grove; the congregation counts its beginning from these years. The settlers asked Hanover Presbytery for supply preachers in 1756, and by church tradition the congregation was formally organized during the Synod mission of 1764. People: Hugh McAden Documenting the American South: William Henry Foote, Sketches of North Carolina (1846), pp. 166, 225-226, quoting Hugh McAden's journal of 1755 · Also: Kaye Graybeal, Cedar Grove district National Register nomination, 1997
  2. Hugh McAden preaches to the Eno and Hawfields settlements The traveling Presbyterian licentiate Hugh McAden preached to the Eno settlement on the second Sabbath of August 1755, lodging at John Anderson's house, and rode on to preach at the Hawfields on the fourth Sabbath. His journal is the earliest surviving description of either settlement. People: Hugh McAden Documenting the American South: William Henry Foote, Sketches of North Carolina
  3. New Hope Presbyterian Church traces its beginning to 1756 New Hope Presbyterian Church, south of Hillsborough on the road to Chapel Hill, counts 1756 as its founding year, when the Hawfields and Eno Presbyterians, with whom the New Hope families then worshiped, first asked Hanover Presbytery for preachers. Its early records burned in 1827; D. I. Craig judged it was formally organized later, most likely under Henry Pattillo after his 1765 call, and it first appears with its own minister in the 1795 Orange Presbytery minutes. People: Henry Pattillo New Hope Presbyterian Church: History of NHPC · Also: William Henry Foote, Sketches of North Carolina
  4. The Hawfields and Eno settlements ask Hanover Presbytery to send them ministers After Hugh McAden's visits, the Hawfields and Eno Presbyterians applied to Hanover Presbytery for supply preachers. None came regularly until the congregations called Henry Pattillo in 1765. People: Henry Pattillo, Hugh McAden Elizabeth Scott Carrington (Mrs. George Carrington), Historical Sketch of Hawfields Presbyterian Church (about 1946), scan p. 13
  5. Henry Pattillo preaches to the Eno congregation on his first supply tour Licensed by Hanover Presbytery in September 1757, Henry Pattillo was sent at once to hold services for churches that had no minister. His first tour took in congregations at Meherrin, Nutbush, Hico, Eno and several Virginia places. Internet Archive: Durward T. Stokes, "Henry Pattillo in North Carolina", North Carolina Historical Review 44 (1967), p. 379
  6. The Eno and Hico congregations ask Hanover Presbytery for Henry Pattillo By 1758 the Hico and Eno churches were established and petitioned the presbytery for a minister, asking particularly for Henry Pattillo. He took a call to Willis, the Byrd and Buck Island in Virginia instead, and came to the Eno churches only in 1765. Internet Archive: Durward T. Stokes, "Henry Pattillo in North Carolina", North Carolina Historical Review 44 (1967), p. 379
  7. Henry Pattillo becomes pastor of the Hawfields, Eno and Little River churches Henry Pattillo moved to Orange County as pastor of the Hawfields, Eno and Little River Presbyterian churches and served them for nine years, becoming known as "Father Pattillo." He was the first regularly installed minister at Eno. NCpedia: Pattillo, Henry (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  8. Henry Pattillo leaves the Hawfields and Eno churches Pattillo, who came to the Hawfields and Eno churches in 1765, left in 1774. The New Hope families still belonged to the Hawfields then, and Craig believed Pattillo had organized New Hope church in its first meetinghouse. NC Digital Collections: D. I. Craig, Historical Sketch of New Hope Church in Orange County, N.C. (1891), p. 20
  9. John DeBow takes the Hawfields and Eno charge and preaches at New Hope DeBow, a young minister, succeeded Pattillo at the Hawfields and Eno about 1775 and preached at New Hope as he could. Craig calls him probably the first preacher with anything like a regular appointment there. People: John DeBow NC Digital Collections: D. I. Craig, Historical Sketch of New Hope Church in Orange County, N.C. (1891), p. 22
  10. Eno and Little River form a charge of their own, apart from Hawfields and Cross Roads When Jacob Lake left about 1790, the old Pattillo field was split: Hawfields and Cross Roads shared one pastor, and Eno and Little River another. The two Orange churches were still paired when the history was written, apart from short breaks. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 7
  11. Jacob Lake ends his ministry to New Hope Lake followed DeBow and served New Hope with the Hawfields and Eno churches in the same way until about 1790. He left Orange Presbytery in 1794 after about ten years in it. Later pastor tablets give his years as 1784-1792 (Hawfields) and 1786-1794 (Eno). NC Digital Collections: D. I. Craig, Historical Sketch of New Hope Church in Orange County, N.C. (1891), p. 22
  12. James H. Bowman becomes pastor of Eno and Little River Bowman took the Eno and Little River charge and held it for about twenty years, gathering many members during the revival that began in 1802. His ministry at Eno ended in 1815. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 7
Show all 33 dated events
  1. Samuel Paisley begins an eighteen-year pastorate at Eno Paisley followed Bowman in 1816 and stayed until he moved to Moore County in 1834. He was buried in the Old Eno cemetery. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 9
  2. A revival brings many new members into Eno Church Five years into Samuel Paisley's pastorate, a revival added many people to the Eno congregation. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 9
  3. Eno Church reports 59 white and 11 Black communicants, in its oldest surviving records The 1822 session minutes, the earliest Eno records that survive, copy the church's articles of faith and covenant, and that year's report to presbytery counts 70 communicants, 11 of them Black. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 9
  4. Rev. John Paisley, pastor of Fairfield and Eno, dies Rev. John Paisley, pastor of the Fairfield and Eno Presbyterian congregations and well regarded among his fellow ministers as a theologian, died after an illness of about six weeks. Hillsborough Recorder, August 21, 1845, p. 3
  5. Archibald Currie begins a twenty-year pastorate at Eno After twelve years of short-term ministers, Eno called Archibald Currie, who served until 1866 and returned briefly in 1895-1896. His son James L. Currie later held the same pulpit. People: James L. Currie A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 10
  6. Eno Church elects its first deacons The session noted in October 1873 that the church had no deacons and held an election the next month. Robert W. Anderson and J. P. Forrest were ordained that year. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 20
  7. James L. Currie becomes pastor of Eno Presbyterian Church Currie, who had grown up in the Eno congregation under his father, the Rev. Archibald Currie, became its pastor in 1876, and that year also served the Fairfield and Little River churches. He stayed at Eno until 1896, and the congregation's third church was built during his ministry. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 101
  8. Eno Presbyterian dedicates its third church at the old site Built in 1878 under James L. Currie, the frame church replaced earlier log and frame buildings near the Old Eno cemetery. Orange Presbytery met there in late April 1879, with D. I. Craig preaching the opening sermon; the Chapel Hill Ledger called it the best attended meeting since the war. People: James L. Currie, D. I. (David Irwin) Craig A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 10 · Also: The Chapel Hill Ledger, April 26, 1879, p. 2; The Chapel Hill Ledger, May 3, 1879, p. 3
  9. Orange Presbytery holds its 318th session at Eno Church and approves the church order sent down by the General Assembly Forty-nine members of Orange Presbytery met at Eno Church near Cedar Grove, the fullest attendance since the war, with Rev. A. Currie as moderator. They approved, 37 to 7, the new church order the General Assembly had sent down to the presbyteries, elected delegates to the Assembly, and received Eugene L. Harris of the university as a candidate for the ministry. The Chapel Hill Ledger, May 3, 1879, p. 3
  10. Forest fire destroys Eno Presbyterian Church Wind-driven woods fires on Saturday, April 1, 1893 burned the Eno Presbyterian church and its session house at the old site near the river. The loss preceded the congregation's move to Cedar Grove, where it built again in 1897 to 1899. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 8, 1893, p. 2 (A Fire Scourged Township, Cedar Grove letter of April 3) · Also: Kaye Graybeal, Cedar Grove district National Register nomination, 1997
  11. Eno pastor W. F. Wilhelm dies at the manse in Hillsborough, months after the church burns A few months after the forest fire that destroyed Eno Church, its pastor W. F. Wilhelm died at Hillsborough on October 24, 1893, after a long fever, which the church's history calls typhoid. He also served the Hillsborough, Little River and Fairfield churches. Every business in town closed for his funeral on October 26, and he was buried near the front door of the Hillsborough Presbyterian church. People: W. F. Wilhelm A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 11 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 28, 1893, p. 2; Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 28, 1893, p. 3; The Chapel Hill News, October 30, 1893, p. 3
  12. Eno Presbyterian builds at Cedar Grove The replacement church was constructed over three years. Kaye Graybeal, Cedar Grove district National Register nomination, 1997
  13. Robert W. Anderson is the first person buried in Eno Church's new cemetery at Cedar Grove After the congregation moved to Cedar Grove, a new burying ground opened beside the church being built on the A. T. Finley lot. Robert W. Anderson, an elder, died suddenly at his Cedar Grove home early on Sunday, January 30, 1898, and was buried in the new Presbyterian cemetery the next evening, its first burial. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 11 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 3, 1898, p. 3
  14. H. S. Bradshaw is installed as pastor of Eno Presbyterian Church The Rev. H. S. Bradshaw was installed as pastor of Eno Presbyterian Church at Cedar Grove on Sunday, December 31. He was also pastor of the Presbyterian church at Hillsborough, where he kept regular appointments through the winter. People: H. S. Bradshaw Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 11, 1900, p. 3
  15. Eno Presbyterian adds to its Cedar Grove church and remodels it almost completely During C. D. Whiteley's pastorate, a time of growth for the congregation, an addition was built and the 1890s building was remodeled so thoroughly that the book likens it to a new church. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 11
  16. Eno Church women organize a Woman's Auxiliary at the manse Pastor C. D. Whiteley presided at the meeting that formed the auxiliary, later renamed Women of the Church. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 11
  17. J. Walter Mann, a son of Hawfields Church, is ordained and installed pastor of Eno Mann began preaching at Eno as stated supply in the spring of 1926 and was ordained and installed that October. Forty-eight members joined during his fifteen years, and his wife, Esther Covington Mann, led much of the women's work. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 11
  18. Eno Church holds what it believes was Orange County's first daily vacation Bible school Eno held the school with Cedar Grove Methodist Church. Summer Bible school became a lasting part of the church's work and was later held at Camp New Hope. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 12
  19. Eno Presbyterian Church marks its two hundredth anniversary The congregation held a bicentennial program counting from 1755, and Annie H. Hughes brought the church history up to date for it. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 3 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 19, 1955, p. 1
  20. Cedar Grove residents start a move to restore the old Eno church cemetery A group met at Cedar Grove Methodist Church to plan restoring the old Eno cemetery about two miles east of Cedar Grove, the first site of Eno Church, which the item says moved to Cedar Grove in 1893 after burning a third time. Prominent people and ancestors of most long-settled families of the area are buried there; a public meeting was set for the fourth Sunday in January. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 19, 1959, p. 11
  21. Eno Church and the Schley Grange restore the Old Eno Cemetery, and a state highway marker goes up In 1964 Eno Church, helped by the Schley Grange, cleared and restored the Old Eno Cemetery and set a bronze plaque on a boulder where the first church stood. A state highway marker for Old Eno Church and Cemetery followed, erected in 1965 by the Department of Archives and History, and was dedicated with Synod executive Harold Dudley present. A. A. Ellis, History of Eno Presbyterian Church, Cedar Grove, North Carolina (1980), scan p. 16 · Also: HMDB: Old Eno Church and Cemetery marker; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 9, 1964, p. 9

Open these in the chronology →

Research sources

Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Investigate a school or community institution.

Background

National Register files

Historic sites, markers, and maps

Records of the time 17

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Collections and databases 5

Local help 5

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