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Churches and lodges

Hillsborough Presbyterian Church

Hillsborough Presbyterian Church worships in the Flemish-bond brick church on West Tryon Street built in 1815 and 1816 with lottery money, near the site of colonial St. Matthew's, and credited to John Berry and Samuel Hancock. The congregation organized in September 1816 under John Knox Witherspoon, and the church was stuccoed and given Gothic windows in 1892.

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.

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Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

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

About the site

One hundred and fifty years of service, 1816-1966

1966 · Hillsborough Presbyterian Church

Anniversary history of Hillsborough Presbyterian Church marking its hundred and fiftieth year, from the congregation's founding in 1816 to 1966, published by the church in Hillsborough. 28 pages with illustrations, portraits and a facsimile. It includes Presbyterian experience of the Civil War.

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

UNC Duke

Pipe Organ

Derrick and Felgemaker Pipe Organ Company · 1831

Pipe organ and bench by Derrick and Felgemaker of Erie, Pennsylvania, dated 1831, with the makers' name imprinted above the keys. The pewter pipes stand in three rows, and those on view are decorated with gold leaf and flowers. The organ served the Presbyterian church in Hillsborough.

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

DigitalNC DPLA

Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, Churton & West Tryon Streets, Hillsborough, Orange County, NC

Historic American Buildings Survey · 1933

Historic American Buildings Survey documentation, compiled after 1933, of the brick Hillsborough Presbyterian Church at Churton and West Tryon Streets: three photographs, four data pages and a caption page. Names tied to the church's story include William Hooper, Archibald Murphy, William A. Graham, Frederick Nash, William J. Bingham and Edmund Strudwick, and its history touches on the Revolutionary War and slavery.

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

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Hillsboro, N.C. Presbyterian Church, Built about 1810

1810 · Paul C. Koeber Co., New York, N.Y

About 1810, the date in this card's title, belongs to the Hillsborough Presbyterian church building; the postcard carries no date of its own. The Paul C. Koeber Company of New York published it.

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

DPLA

Presbyterian Church, Hillsboro, N.C. Built in 1810

1810 · A. C. Bosselman & Co., New York, N.Y

Hillsborough's Presbyterian church, which the card's own caption dates to 1810. A. C. Bosselman and Company of New York published it, and the printing itself carries no date.

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

DPLA

Presbyterian Church, Hillsboro, N.C.

W. A. Hayes Drug Store, Hillsboro, N.C

Undated postcard of the Presbyterian church in Hillsborough, published by the W. A. Hayes Drug Store. The church went up between 1812 and 1815, and William Hooper, a North Carolina signer of the Declaration of Independence, is buried near it.

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

DPLA

Published by or for this institution

Selected Hillsboro recipes

1952

Cookbook compiled by the Hillsboro Presbyterian Women and published in Hillsborough in 1952, with 124 illustrated pages of local recipes.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

UNC DPLA

Selected Hillsborough recipes

1966 · Hillsborough Presbyterian Women?

Gathered by the Presbyterian women of Hillsborough and reprinted in 1966 for the congregation's 150th anniversary, a community cookbook first published in 1952 under the older spelling Hillsboro. The compilers kept the favorites of the earlier edition and added new recipes, and page 3 gives a short history of the town. One hundred thirty pages with illustrations.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

UNC

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Hillsborough 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.

Hillsborough architectural survey

Slane, Heather Wagner · 2017 · hmwPreservation

Survey of Hillsborough's historic buildings by Heather Wagner Slane of hmwPreservation, completed in September 2017. The 40-page report covers the town's architecture and history with color illustrations and maps.

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

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Time in place, place in time : history and sense of place in Hillsborough, North Carolina

Warren, Cheryl Davis · 2005

Cheryl Davis Warren's 2005 study of history and sense of place in Hillsborough, 216 leaves with illustrations, maps and a bibliography. Written as human geography, it treats the town's past alongside its social conditions and the ways residents understand where they live.

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

UNC

[Plan of the town of Hillsborough in Orange County, North Carolina]

Sauthier, Claude Joseph · 1768

Claude Joseph Sauthier's 1768 plan of the town of Hillsborough in Orange County, reproduced as a colored facsimile of the pen and ink manuscript on a sheet 43 by 53 centimeters. Relief is shown by hachures and the sheet is indexed for points of interest. The 1975 reproduction was made from negatives taken of the original in the Map Room of the British Museum.

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

UNC

Plan of the town of Hillsboro, taken in October 1863

1863

Plan of Hillsborough drawn in October 1863, showing the downtown blocks around the crossing of Tryon and Churton Streets, with the Eno River, spelled Enoe on the sheet.

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

DigitalNC DPLA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina.

1905

Fire insurance map of Hillsborough, spelled Hillsboro, drawn by the Sanborn Map Company in January 1905 on two sheets, from the Sanborn Maps collection.

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

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Birdseye View of Hillsboro, N.C. Looking East

1905 · A. C. Bosselman & Co., New York, N.Y

Bird's-eye view of Hillsborough looking east, with houses and industrial buildings, on a postcard published by A. C. Bosselman & Co. of New York about 1905 to 1915. Card number 11116.

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

DPLA

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

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Hillsborough 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

    • Start here · NC 975.656 LLO History of the Town of Hillsborough, 1754-1982 Lloyd, Allen Alexander · 1983

      A 1982 revision of Allen Alexander Lloyd's history of Hillsborough, now written with Pauline O. Lloyd and carried forward from the town's founding in 1754 to 1982. Published in Hillsborough by A. A. Lloyd, 310 pages with illustrations and a bibliography.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 HOLADAY Hillsborough Holaday, Chris · 2002

      J. Chris Holaday's Images of America volume on Hillsborough (Arcadia, 2002), built mostly from photographs and postcards. Chapters cover homes, churches and schools, business and industry, local people, scenes around town, and sports, entertainment and events.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 NAS Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary Nash, Frank · 1953

      Francis Nash's history of Hillsborough in colonial and Revolutionary times, first published in 1903 and reprinted in 1953 by Edwards & Broughton with an index and a sketch of the author. Topics include the Regulator Insurrection of 1766 to 1771, the Revolution and local genealogy.

    Show 1 more
    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    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 720.975 HILLSBOR Hillsborough Historic District Inventory 2006

      An inventory of the buildings in the Hillsborough Historic District, dated 2006. It concerns historic buildings and the buildings and structures of Hillsborough. Useful for anyone checking a particular property in the town's historic district.

    • Start here · NC 720.975 BEL Photocensus: A Photographic Survey of Buildings in the Hillsborough, N.C. Historic District Built Before 1950 Bellinger, Susan McArtor · 1991

      Susan McArtor Bellinger's photographic survey of the buildings in the Hillsborough Historic District put up before 1950, self-published in Hillsborough in 1991. Arranged as a guidebook, it records houses and other structures in photographs. 142 pages with illustrations.

    Show 2 more
    • Rebecca Wall Collection · 917.565 DUL The Pelican Guide to Hillsborough, Historic Orange County, North Carolina Dula, Lucile Noell · 1989

      Lucile Noell Dula's guidebook to Hillsborough and its historic buildings, published by Pelican in 1989. It pairs a tour of the town with notes on its history, in 128 illustrated pages with a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.

    • Start here · REF 275.6 LLO History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C. Ca., 1766-1962 Lloyd, Pauline O. · 1962

      Pauline O. Lloyd's history of the churches of Hillsborough from about 1766 to 1962, nearly two centuries of the town's congregations, with attention to the church buildings themselves. Published in Hillsborough in 1962, 151 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits, and a bibliography on the final page.

    Land, family and burial records

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Hillsborough, North Carolina History of Town Lots: The Complete Reference Guide Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2013

      Stewart E. Dunaway worked through Hillsborough, N.C., lot by lot, giving each town lot a synopsis of its history, a plat showing where it sits and transcripts of the deeds he could locate for it. The second issue runs to 720 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Hillsborough, North Carolina History of Town Lots: Addendum 2015 Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2015

      Stewart E. Dunaway's 2015 addendum to his history of Hillsborough's town lots, adding deed records arranged by lot number and further town history, with the expansion of the 1890s covered for the first time. Self-published in North Carolina as version 1.0, 446 pages with illustrations, facsimiles and maps. Topics include deeds, court records, land titles and real property in Hillsborough.

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 IND An Index to the Town Lots of Hillsborough: Orange County, North Carolina 1982

      An index to the town lots of Hillsborough, Orange County, compiled in 1982 as a guide to the deeds and court records that trace each lot's ownership.

    Show 1 more

    In the chronology

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

    1. Episcopalians build Hillsborough's first church Members of the Church of England put up the town's first church at the corner of Churton and Tryon streets, under George Micklejohn, the parish minister Governor Tryon had appointed. It later held the 1788 convention and its lot passed to the Presbyterians. People: George Micklejohn Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 19
    2. The Hillsborough Presbyterian Church is built on the old St. Matthew's church lot with lottery money The brick church on West Tryon Street was built in 1815 and 1816 near the site of the colonial St. Matthew's church, lost in the 1790s, with money raised by a lottery the state authorized. The brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock are credited with the work. People: John Berry, Samuel Hancock Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 174
    3. Witherspoon takes charge of the Hillsborough Academy Returning to Hillsborough at twenty-five, Witherspoon took a double charge: the pastorate of the newly built Presbyterian church and the principalship of the closely allied Hillsborough Academy. He gave up the academy sometime after 1819. NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Witherspoon, John Knox
    4. Polly Burke helps organize the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church In September 1816 Mary W. Burke joined eight other people and the Rev. John Knox Witherspoon to organize the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, which acquired the town's brick church built in 1810. She rented pew 13 on the first pew list and supported the church for the next eighteen years. People: John Knox Witherspoon NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Burke, Mary ("Polly") Williams
    5. A revival adds many members to the Presbyterian church in Hillsborough The Synod of North Carolina reported that a revival in Hillsborough had added many members to the church there, with twenty to thirty more still under deep conviction. Hillsborough Recorder, October 17, 1821, p. 2
    6. Brickmason Samuel Hancock joins the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church he helped build Samuel Hancock joined the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church on November 17, 1821, five years after his wife Susan. He rented a pew and gave toward the pastor's salary and a bell. NC State University Libraries, North Carolina Architects & Builders: Hancock, Samuel (1784-1848)
    7. The Presbyterian session admonishes two men for trading in enslaved people Hillsborough Presbyterian Church charged William Adams and John Wall with the "unchristian act of negro trading." Adams said he had sold people he held to pay his debts and taken friends' slaves to market with his own; the session admonished both men and did not punish them. Burwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 55
    8. Hillsborough celebrates Independence Day with a procession, an oration and a dinner Hillsborough celebrated the Fourth at the Presbyterian church, where Abraham Rencher read the Declaration of Independence, John W. Norwood gave the oration and the Rev. Mr. Witherspoon opened and closed with prayer. A large party dined in the afternoon and drank toasts, and in the evening the town's old field piece, used at public rejoicings for half a century, burst when overloaded, injuring no one. People: John Wall Norwood, John Witherspoon Hillsborough Recorder, July 6, 1825, p. 3
    9. The Orange County Sunday School Society reports nineteen schools across the county At its annual meeting the Orange County Sunday School Society chose Dr. James Webb president and heard its second annual report, which listed nineteen schools in connection with the society, from Hillsborough, Eno, Bethlehem and Cross Roads to Haw River, Mountain Creek and Chapel Hill. The managers said a lack of suitable teachers had kept them from meeting the county's needs. People: James Webb, John Witherspoon, John Wall Norwood Hillsborough Recorder, September 14, 1825, p. 3
    10. Hillsborough celebrates Independence Day with a procession, an oration and a Masonic Hall dinner Hillsborough marked the fifty-second anniversary of independence with cannon and bells at dawn, a service at the Presbyterian Church, and a procession from the court house back to the church, where John Scott read the Declaration and Nathaniel J. Palmer gave the oration. The company then dined at the Masonic Hall and drank thirteen toasts, among them one to internal improvement. People: John Witherspoon Hillsborough Recorder, July 9, 1828, p. 3
    11. Witherspoon ends seventeen years as pastor at Hillsborough Witherspoon severed his connection with the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and moved to Camden, South Carolina. His advocacy of religious education, Sunday schools and preaching for enslaved people had strained relations with his congregation. NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Witherspoon, John Knox
    12. Internal improvement convention meets at Hillsborough and elects Thomas Ruffin president Delegates from Orange, Granville, Person, Caswell, Wake, Warren, Rowan, Guilford and Cumberland met at Hillsborough on September 9 to promote a railroad from the Roanoke into the western counties. They chose Judge Thomas Ruffin president over Governor David L. Swain by 26 votes to 16, named Walker Anderson and Sandy Harris secretaries, sat in the Presbyterian church, and adjourned on September 11. People: David L. Swain, Walker Anderson, James Webb, Thomas Ruffin The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), September 10, 1833, p. 3
    Show all 72 dated events
    1. Hillsborough convention calls for a Roanoke and Yadkin Rail Road and two-fifths state aid On its last day the Hillsborough convention adopted James Mebane's committee report calling for a railroad from at or near Weldon, by or near Oxford, to the western part of the state, with county committees to circulate petitions and seek a charter for a Roanoke and Yadkin Rail Road Company. By 34 votes to 6 it also adopted Willie P. Mangum's report that the state should pay two-fifths of any public work for which private citizens secured three-fifths. People: James Mebane, Willie P. Mangum The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), September 17, 1833, p. 1
    2. John Wall Norwood becomes treasurer and then a ruling elder of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church In 1834 Norwood succeeded the silversmith William Huntington as treasurer of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. In 1835 he was confirmed a ruling elder, a post he held until his death. People: William Huntington NCpedia: Norwood, John Wall
    3. Six enslaved women are baptized into Hillsborough Presbyterian Church The Rev. S. J. Price baptized six women held by the Nash, Watters, Scott and Waddell households, and Frederick Nash and William J. Bingham received them as members. In the twenty years that followed under Robert Burwell, the church took in only one communicant of color. People: Frederick Nash, William James Bingham, Hugh Waddell, Robert Armistead Burwell Burwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 56
    4. Dr. James Webb builds the Presbyterian Sessions House in the Old Town Cemetery In 1835 Dr. James Webb took a ninety-nine-year lease on the southeast corner of Hillsborough's Old Town Cemetery lot and built a frame Sessions House with a bell tower there. It served as the Presbyterian Sunday school room and later as a public library until 1934. NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Webb, James
    5. Robert Burwell becomes pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church Burwell began a thirteen-year pastorate, and he and his wife opened a school for young women whose income let him serve the church on a small salary. He returned for a second term in the 1850s. People: Robert Armistead Burwell Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 135
    6. John Norwood begins forty-eight years as clerk of the Hillsborough Presbyterian session John Norwood kept the session records from 1836 to 1884, one of the two longest terms in the church's history. People: John Wall Norwood Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 137
    7. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church buys the house as its manse The church's trustees bought lots 152 and 153 in January 1836, renovated the house, and gave it to their minister, Robert Armistead Burwell, and his family, who had arrived from Virginia late the year before. People: Robert Armistead Burwell Elizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline
    8. Citizens organize a new Orange County Bible Society Citizens met in the Presbyterian session house in Hillsborough, adopted a constitution for a county Bible society and elected Giles Mebane president, David L. Swain and others vice presidents, Stephen Moore treasurer and the Rev. Dr. Alexander Wilson secretary. People: Frederick Nash, Giles Mebane, David L. Swain, Stephen Moore, Alexander Wilson, Andrew Mickle Hillsborough Recorder, September 24, 1846, p. 3
    9. Robert Burwell buys the house and has John Berry enlarge it Burwell resigned his pulpit and bought the two lots from the church for $800 and back pay. The builder John Berry added a central hall and two rooms and turned the house to face Churton Street. A deed of trust of July 16, 1850 shows Burwell still owing Berry $2,500 and the church trustees $800, secured on the lots and on enslaved members of the household. People: Robert Armistead Burwell, John Berry Elizabeth Keckly Center at the Burwell School: virtual exhibit timeline · Also: Burwell School Historic Site Task Force report
    10. The Presbyterian Synod of North Carolina meets in Hillsborough The Synod of North Carolina met in Hillsborough with seventy to eighty ministers and a number of elders, elected John A. Gretter of Greensborough moderator, adopted a plan for colporteurs to distribute Presbyterian books, and thanked the town's citizens and its Methodist and Baptist churches for opening their houses of worship. Hillsborough Recorder, November 7, 1849, p. 3
    11. Witherspoon dies at Tusculum and is buried in the Old Town Cemetery He died penniless at the Tusculum farmhouse on the thirty-seventh anniversary of the organization of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. His funeral was held in that church and he was buried nearby in the Nash-Strudwick plot of the Old Town Cemetery, where the congregation and townspeople paid for the obelisk over his grave. NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Witherspoon, John Knox
    12. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church sells the people it held in trust for the Witherspoons People once held by John Knox Witherspoon had passed to the church in trust for the care of his ailing daughter. The session refused a sale in August 1852, but after Witherspoon's death it agreed, and part of the money went to Mary Witherspoon. The names of those sold are not recorded. People: John Knox Witherspoon Burwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 55
    13. Pastor Henry B. Pratt tells the Presbyterian session he will serve the army as a chaplain Pratt informed the Hillsborough church that he expected to go into Confederate service for the rest of the war once he obtained a chaplain's commission. He returned as pastor in 1867-68. Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 135
    14. Dennis Heartt dies in Hillsborough Dennis Heartt died at his home in Hillsborough on the morning of May 13, 1870, in his eighty-seventh year, and his funeral was held at the Presbyterian church the next day while the town's stores closed. The Recorder noted that Governor W. W. Holden, once his apprentice in the Recorder office, had him appointed Hillsborough postmaster after the war. People: William W. Holden Hillsborough Recorder, May 18, 1870, p. 2 (obituary)
    15. The Hillsborough Presbyterian session asks that members be allowed to withdraw without church trial The session resolved to ask presbytery to propose to the General Assembly a change in discipline, so that a member living outside the church's standards could leave its communion without a formal trial. After this, discipline cases disappear from the minutes. Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 134
    16. William A. Graham dies and is buried at Hillsborough Graham died unexpectedly at Saratoga Springs, New York, on 11 August 1875, where he had gone for a meeting of the Virginia and Maryland arbitration commission. He was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. He had been elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1875 but died before it assembled. NCpedia: Graham, William Alexander
    17. Henrietta M. Heartt, Dennis Heartt's daughter, dies in Hillsborough Henrietta M. Heartt, second daughter of the late Hillsborough Recorder editor Dennis Heartt, died on the night of March 8. Her funeral was held at the Presbyterian church two days later, with the Rev. Mr. Williamson officiating. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), March 17, 1883, p. 3
    18. Hillsborough Presbyterians decline to share a pastor with the Chapel Hill church J. L. Williamson's short pastorate at Hillsborough ended with his resignation in July 1883, when the Chapel Hill pastor, J. L. Currie, resigned as well. A congregational meeting on July 29 named a committee to confer with Chapel Hill about combining the two churches under one pastor, but in September the Hillsborough church refused to connect with Chapel Hill and chose to stand alone. A later church history groups the two churches during Williamson's 1882-83 pastorate. Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 136 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 7, 1883, p. 3; Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 4, 1883, p. 2; Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 8, 1883, p. 3
    19. Lizzie Witherspoon Lipscomb, long a Nash and Kollock school teacher, is buried at Hillsborough Lizzie C. Witherspoon Lipscomb, for more than fifteen years a pupil and teacher at the Misses Nash and Miss Kollock's school and later music teacher at the Methodist Female Seminary in Durham, died in Philadelphia on January 19. Her body was brought to Hillsborough, and after services at the Presbyterian church she was buried beside her father in its churchyard. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 26, 1884, p. 3
    20. W. F. Wilhelm is installed pastor of the Hillsborough and Chapel Hill Presbyterian churches The Rev. W. F. Wilhelm, called from Virginia by the two churches jointly, was installed at the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church on May 18, a week after a like service at Chapel Hill. H. T. Darnall of Durham charged the pastor, A. Currie charged the people, and Dr. Charles Phillips spoke for the Chapel Hill church. People: Charles Phillips, W. F. Wilhelm Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 24, 1884, p. 3
    21. Orange Presbytery holds its fall session at Hillsborough Orange Presbytery opened its 229th semiannual session at the Hillsborough Presbyterian church with a sermon by the retiring moderator, Rev. J. L. Currie, elected Rev. S. H. Chester moderator, and adjourned the next Tuesday after naming Henderson for its next meeting. People: James L. Currie, Nathaniel D. Bain Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 4, 1884, p. 3
    22. John Wall Norwood, an elder of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church for half a century, dies John W. Norwood died in the summer of 1885, and his executors had letters testamentary by August 3. On September 6 the church session adopted a tribute recalling his more than fifty years of service to the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and his generosity to it. People: W. F. Wilhelm Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 12, 1885, p. 2
    23. Haywood Craig, a Black man, is received into the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church The session received Haywood Craig on profession of faith; the book records him under a heading for the church's Black members. Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 133
    24. Orange Presbytery dissolves W. F. Wilhelm's pastorate of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian church The Rev. W. F. Wilhelm, who had served the Hillsborough and Chapel Hill Presbyterian churches together, resigned at Chapel Hill and on July 22 offered his resignation at Hillsborough as well, then withdrew it to give his whole time to the Hillsborough church. A called meeting of Orange Presbytery at Hillsborough on July 24 dissolved his tie to the Chapel Hill church. People: W. F. Wilhelm Hillsboro Recorder, July 26, 1888, p. 3
    25. Hillsborough church men organize a Young Men's Christian Association at the Presbyterian manse Men from the town's churches met at the Presbyterian manse on a Monday night, adopted a constitution and bylaws, and elected Charles M. Parks president and Joseph A. Harris secretary. The next meeting was called for the manse on December 10. People: Joseph A. Harris, Charles M. Parks Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), December 8, 1888, p. 3 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), December 1, 1888, p. 3
    26. Hillsborough rings its bells and its churches join in a Washington centennial service On the hundredth anniversary of George Washington's inauguration the town bells rang at sunrise, and the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian congregations held a joint service in the Presbyterian church with prayers by four ministers and a sermon by Rev. W. F. Wilhelm. People: James L. Currie, W. F. Wilhelm Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 4, 1889, p. 3
    27. The Hillsborough Presbyterian Church is stuccoed and given Gothic windows and a shingled tower In 1892 the 1816 brick church was covered with scored stucco and given pointed-arch windows, a gabled roof and a shingled entrance tower with a spire; a two-story rear wing was probably added at the same time. Carpenters were at work by April 9, and the congregation held its first service in the remodeled church on September 18, 1892. Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 174 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 9, 1892, p. 3; Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 24, 1892, p. 3
    28. 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
    29. Rev. H. S. Bradshaw takes charge of the Hillsborough, Fairfield and Little River Presbyterian churches Rev. H. S. Bradshaw of Tennessee arrived in Hillsborough with his family to serve the Hillsborough, Fairfield and Little River Presbyterian churches as stated supply until the fall meeting of Orange Presbytery. People: H. S. Bradshaw Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 16, 1894, p. 3
    30. Albert Long, a Black man, joins the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church by letter from New Hope Albert Long transferred his membership by certificate from New Hope Presbyterian Church, one of two Black members the book names as received after the Civil War. Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 133
    31. The Junior Order council moves into the Presbyterian session house Orange Council No. 52 of the Junior Order United American Mechanics rented and fitted up the Presbyterian session house at Tryon and Churton streets as its hall and first met there on January 17, initiating two members and installing E. L. Cooley as councilor. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 20, 1898, p. 3
    32. H. S. Bradshaw leaves the Hillsborough Presbyterian pulpit for New Bern After six years as pastor in Hillsborough, H. S. Bradshaw and his family left for New Bern, where he had accepted the Presbyterian church, and he published a farewell letter to the people of the county. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 10, 1901, p. 3
    33. J. W. Goodman preaches his first sermons as pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church Rev. J. W. Goodman, who had been pastor of the Presbyterian church at High Point for two or three years, preached two sermons at Hillsborough as the new pastor of the Presbyterian church. His installation was set for the first Sunday in February. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 10, 1901, p. 3
    34. A monument is raised over Archibald D. Murphey's grave in the Presbyterian churchyard By the start of July 1903 a monument had been erected over the grave of Judge Archibald D. Murphey in the Presbyterian churchyard at Hillsborough; his grandson Judge Archibald Aiken of Danville, Virginia, came to see it. People: Archibald D. Murphey Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 2, 1903, p. 3
    35. J. W. Goodman leaves the Hillsborough Presbyterian pastorate for Greensboro After more than five years as pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian church, J. W. Goodman resigned to take the Bessemer Avenue and Buffalo churches in Greensboro. He preached farewell sermons at Hillsborough, New Hope, Eno and Fairfield in March and set out for Greensboro by buggy on March 28. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), March 30, 1905, p. 3
    36. Hillsborough Presbyterians call H. S. Bradshaw back from New Bern After a Sunday night sermon, a congregational meeting of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church voted unanimously to call H. S. Bradshaw of New Bern, its former pastor, back as pastor. He resigned at New Bern in May and preached his first sermon back in Hillsborough on July 2. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 4, 1905, p. 3
    37. Hillsborough buries Capt. Robert D. Graham beside his mother Capt. Robert Davidson Graham, a Hillsborough-born son of William A. Graham who had commanded a company of the 56th North Carolina and later served as secretary of the Civil Service Commission, died after a fall from a building in Washington on June 27. His body was brought to Maj. John W. Graham's house, and after a service at the Baptist church led by Charles E. Maddry he was buried in the Presbyterian churchyard beside his mother. People: John W. Graham, Charles Edward Maddry, William A. Graham Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 6, 1905, p. 3
    38. H. S. Bradshaw returns to the Hillsborough Presbyterian pulpit for a 33-year second pastorate Bradshaw, pastor from 1894 to 1900, came back in 1905 and stayed until 1938, giving him thirty-nine years in all, the longest service in the church's history. He is buried in the churchyard. People: H. S. Bradshaw Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 136 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 29, 1905, p. 3
    39. R. H. Claytor serves as an elder of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church The school superintendent R. H. Claytor was an elder of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church for twenty-nine years until his death in February 1949. The session's memorial resolution, read to the congregation on March 6, 1949, praised his respect for others "without concern for color, class, or creed." The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 17, 1949, p. 2 ("Various Groups Pass Tributes To R. H. Claytor")
    40. Former students place a memorial tablet to the Nash sisters and Sarah Kollock in the Presbyterian church Students of the girls' school kept by Sally and Maria Nash and their relative Sarah Kollock put up a tablet in their memory on the wall of the Hillsborough Presbyterian sanctuary. People: Sarah Kollock, Maria Nash Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 135
    41. Rev. Harvey Bradshaw, pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church for 42 years, dies Rev. Harvey Bradshaw died at Watts Hospital in Durham. Born in East Tennessee and educated at King's College and the Union Theological Seminary in Columbia, he had been pastor of the Presbyterian church in Hillsborough for 42 years until he resigned a year earlier and moved to Chapel Hill to live with his son. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 14, 1939, p. 5
    42. Mr. and Mrs. W. V. Fryer give a Baldwin organ to the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church During Irving Birdseye's pastorate the Fryers gave a new Baldwin organ in memory of R. H. Claytor Sr., and also carpeted the sanctuary's pulpit and aisles. People: R. H. Claytor Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 136
    43. Irving E. Birdseye begins as pastor of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church Irving Earl Birdseye of Syracuse, New York, a Union Theological Seminary graduate completing a master's degree in sociology at UNC, began his pastorate on November 2. He succeeded S. W. DuBose, pastor since December 1938, who preached his last sermon on August 31 and left to teach Bible at Davis and Elkins College. People: Irving E. Birdseye The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 30, 1947, p. 1
    44. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church begins its educational building After gifts starting in 1943 and a December 1947 drive that reached half the cost, the church started work on its educational wing in May 1948 and finished it that November. People: Edwin M. Lynch, Irving E. Birdseye Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 136
    45. Grandchildren give Hillsboro Presbyterian Church a memorial chancel for builder John Berry By August 19, 1948, Hillsboro Presbyterian Church had received $1,500 from two grandchildren of 'Capt.' John Berry, the contractor who built many of Hillsboro's buildings, churches and homes, to build a chancel in his memory in place of the present pulpit. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 19, 1948, p. 1
    46. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church dedicates its debt-free educational building Once the debt on the 1948 educational wing was paid, the church dedicated it in October 1949, under pastor Irving E. Birdseye. People: Irving E. Birdseye Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 136
    47. Orange Presbytery meets at the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church for the first time in forty years Orange Presbytery met at the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church, for the first time in 40 years by the paper's count, adopted an executive council and a new manual of procedure, and elected commissioners to the General Assembly. Pastor Irving E. Birdseye led the communion service, and lunch was served in the church's new educational building. People: Paul Jones The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 11, 1951, p. 1
    48. Five Orange County churches hold a joint day camp at Camp New Hope In place of their vacation church schools, the New Hope, Chapel Hill, Efland and Hillsboro Presbyterian churches and the Hillsboro Methodist Church ran a joint day camp at Camp New Hope, with study, handicrafts and recreation. The Rev. John E. Ensign and the Rev. Irving E. Birdseye directed it. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 17, 1951, p. 1
    49. Women of Hillsboro Presbyterian Church publish Selected Hillsboro Recipes The cookbook of more than 376 recipes, from family favorites such as syllabub and beaten biscuits to the Colonial Inn's orange rolls and the Schley Grange giblet gravy, came off the press in mid-May and sold for $2; each section opens with a sketch of a Presbyterian home or a public building in Hillsboro drawn by the pastor or church members. People: Irving E. Birdseye The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 22, 1952, p. 1
    50. Orange Presbytery refuses to let Irving Birdseye move to the Chapel Hill church while it is under investigation Meeting at Burlington on July 29, 1952, Orange Presbytery voted 20 to 13 to put off indefinitely the request of the Rev. Irving E. Birdseye of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church to become associate pastor at Chapel Hill, holding that no permanent pastor should be called there until its judicial commission finished its inquiry. Two days earlier the Hillsboro congregation had voted, with regrets, to release him, and the Chapel Hill church was left to use supply preachers while its pastor, Charles M. Jones, was on leave. People: Charles M. Jones, Irving E. Birdseye The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 31, 1952, p. 1
    51. Irving E. Birdseye leaves the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church for a new church in Greensboro Irving E. Birdseye told the Hillsboro session that he would accept a call to the Guilford Park Presbyterian Church, a new congregation in Greensboro, and the congregation was asked to release him at a meeting on February 1. The pulpit stayed empty until C. H. Reckard arrived in May. People: C. H. Reckard The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 22, 1953, p. 1
    52. The Hillsboro Presbyterian Church calls C. H. Reckard as its pastor The congregation voted unanimously to call the Rev. C. H. "Jack" Reckard of Huntsville, Tennessee, a 1951 graduate of Louisville Seminary, to the pulpit left empty when I. E. Birdseye went to Greensboro. Reckard accepted, arrived with his family on May 14 and was to be installed by Orange Presbytery on June 14. People: L. E. Beard, Irving E. Birdseye The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 23, 1953, p. 1
    53. Hillsboro Presbyterian pastor C. H. Reckard preaches against lewd pictures and magazines Prompted partly by a scandal in Wilmington, the Rev. C. H. Reckard told his congregation that obscene photographs and cartoon booklets were being passed among students at the local school, and he urged church people to protest the suggestive magazines on racks in Hillsboro, Chapel Hill and Durham stores. The charge about the school was the pastor's own; the paper printed long excerpts and no school response. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 17, 1954, p. 1
    54. Hillsboro Presbyterian pastor preaches against local stock car racing The Rev. C. H. Reckard, pastor of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church, delivered a sermon criticizing local stock car racing and its effect on young people, one of the clergy protests against Sunday races at Orange Speedway. NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register nomination, Occoneechee Speedway (OR1542, 2002) · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 26, 1956, p. 8
    55. Orange County pastors form a ministerial association Pastors of 18 churches in northern and central Orange County met at the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church and formed an Orange County Ministerial Association, electing the Rev. C. H. Reckard president and the Rev. Lawton Pettit of St. Matthew's Episcopal secretary. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough): Ministers form county association, May 10, 1956, p. 1
    56. Hillsboro Presbyterians vote to sell their manse and buy a Union Street lot for a new one The congregation voted to sell its manse at the corner of Churton and Tryon streets for not less than $12,500 and authorized its trustees to buy land on the south side of Union Street from Mr. and Mrs. S. Strudwick as the site of a new pastor's home. Drawings for a new Sunday school wing on the north side of the church were nearly ready for bids. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 23, 1957, p. 1
    57. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church builds and moves into a new manse A new manse drawn by pastor C. H. Reckard was finished early in 1958, and the Reckards moved into it on Monday, February 3. People: C. H. Reckard Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 137 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 6, 1958, p. 3
    58. Portrait painter Clement Strudwick dies and is buried in Hillsborough Clement Read Strudwick, who had painted in a workshop behind his parents' Hillsborough home, died on February 26, 1958. His funeral was held in the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and he was buried in the Hillsborough cemetery. NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Strudwick, Clement Read
    59. Hillsborough Presbyterian Church adds Strudwick Hall, a fellowship hall named for Shepperd Strudwick In C. H. Reckard's pastorate the church built a fellowship hall to his drawings and named it for Shepperd Strudwick, elder, Sunday school superintendent and clerk of session. The name was older: at the service of November 16, 1952 the congregation had named the assembly room of its educational building Strudwick Hall for Mr. and Mrs. Shepperd Strudwick. People: C. H. Reckard Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 137 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 20, 1952, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 29, 1959, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 5, 1959, p. 3
    60. Fire damages the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church An early-morning fire badly damaged the church's education building, and smoke and water damaged the sanctuary and Strudwick Hall; a commission was overseeing the rebuilding in 1988. Women of the Church of Orange Presbytery, Celebrating Our History (1988), scan p. 36

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