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Storyline

The founding of the University and Chapel Hill, 1789–1795

The 1789 charter, the trustees’ 1792 choice of New Hope Chapel Hill at their Hillsborough meeting, the Old East cornerstone of October 1793, and the first students of 1795.

In briefThe General Assembly chartered the university on December 11, 1789. Meeting at Hillsborough in August 1792, the trustees voted to build within fifteen miles of Cyprett's Bridge, and that November their commissioners chose New Hope Chapel Hill. The Old East cornerstone was laid October 12, 1793, and the first student, Hinton James, arrived February 12, 1795.

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105 works about The founding of the University and Chapel Hill, 1789–1795 are indexed here. 2 held at OCPL →

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Laying the Cornerstone of Old East, Dean Cornwell’s 1941 mural in the Chapel Hill post office
Laying the Cornerstone of Old East, Dean Cornwell’s 1941 mural in the Chapel Hill post office

In the chronology

Episodes in this history, in date order. Each has its own page.

Heading the new University: Ker, Harris, Gillaspie and Caldwell, 1794–17991794–1799 · 7 events · In its first years the University changed heads quickly, and student discipline tested each of them. David Ker, elected presiding professor in 1794, resigned under pressure from the trustees in 1796, and Charles Wilson Harris served until December. Joseph Caldwell, who arrived that October, meant to leave rather than carry the executive duties, so in 1797 the trustees made James Smiley Gillaspie principal. In 1799 students beat Gillaspie and stopped exercises for a week, three leaders were dismissed, and by November Caldwell was chosen again to head the University.

Other events in this storyline, in date order. See these 60 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The new state constitution provides for public schools and a university Section 41 of the constitution adopted at Halifax, modeled on Pennsylvania's, told the legislature to establish schools and to promote learning in one or more universities. Orange's delegates voted on it, and it became the legal basis for chartering UNC. People: Thomas Burke, Nathaniel Rochester, John Butler, Alexander MebaneLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 68
  2. University of North Carolina is chartered Meeting in Fayetteville, the General Assembly adopted William R. Davie's bill chartering the University of North Carolina. The act named some forty trustees and, instead of an appropriation, gave the school escheated property and uncollected debts; the trustees later placed it in southern Orange County, where Chapel Hill grew up around it. People: William Richardson DavieNC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: Charter of the University of N.C. (Highway Historical Marker I-70)
  3. Benjamin Smith gives the university 20,000 acres of western land Davie announced at the trustees' first meeting that Smith of Brunswick County had given land he received for Revolutionary service, in what became Obion County, Tennessee. It sold some 25 years later for $14,000, and Smith Hall, now the Playmakers Theatre, bears his name. People: William Richardson Davie, Benjamin SmithSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 73
  4. The university's trustees hold their first meeting, at Fayetteville Senate Speaker Charles Johnson chaired the meeting, and Alexander Mebane and James Hogg attended for Orange County; House Speaker Stephen Cabarrus was among the other trustees present. Davie and Hogg were charged with printing the two subscription papers, one under the charter's terms and one for outright gifts. People: James Hogg, William Richardson Davie, Alexander MebaneLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 72
  5. The Assembly grants the university the proceeds of escheated property Alongside the charter, a second act gave the new university the proceeds from property that fell to the state for want of heirs. People: William Richardson DavieLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 72
  6. William Lenoir is chosen the first president of the university's trustees At the board's second meeting, held at Fayetteville, the trustees made William Lenoir of Wilkes County their president on the nomination of House Speaker Stephen Cabarrus, and elected State Comptroller John Craven treasurer. Lenoir soon gave up the chair and Governor Alexander Martin succeeded him. People: Alexander Martin, William LenoirDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 13
  7. The university's treasury receives its first money John Harvey, clerk of the Perquimans court, paid over $2,706.41 recovered from a delinquent state collecting officer under the arrearages the Assembly had granted the university. As the charter required, the trustees invested it in United States stock.Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 14
  8. Trustees adopt a university seal showing Apollo and the rising sun A committee of James Hogg, Alfred Moore and John Haywood, given sole power to choose a device for the corporation's seal, picked the face of Apollo with the rising sun, meant to stand for the dawn of higher education in the state. People: James Hogg, John Haywood, Alfred MooreDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 15
  9. University trustees ask Benjamin Hawkins to gather information on American colleges At their July 1791 meeting the university trustees named Senator Benjamin Hawkins, Samuel McCorkle and Hugh Williamson to gather information on the laws, rules and buildings of American colleges, with their income and spending, and to estimate what the university's own buildings would cost. People: Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, Hugh WilliamsonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 15
  10. The Assembly lends the university trustees 5,000 pounds for its buildings Trustees meeting at New Bern named a committee to seek the loan, and Davie argued for it before the Commons. It passed 57 to 53 in the Commons and 28 to 21 in the Senate. People: Samuel Ashe, John Sitgreaves, Richard Dobbs Spaight, William Richardson Davie, John WilliamsLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 73
  11. James Hogg of Hillsborough gathers Orange County land and money for the university site Hogg, a Hillsborough merchant who sat on the commission that fixed the university's place, brought in pledges of land and about 1,600 dollars from people in Orange County for the New Hope Chapel Hill site. The ground chosen lay roughly twelve miles from Hillsborough on the road running from Petersburg through the town and on south to Pittsboro.Search the index · Documenting the American South: 1795-1819, The Establishment of the University
  12. The House of Commons rejects a bill to withhold the university's loan John Leigh of Edgecombe County had offered the bill on the last day of 1791, two days after the loan passed.Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 74
Show all 60 dated events
  1. Meeting in Hillsborough, UNC's trustees adopt the ordinance placing the university within fifteen miles of Cyprett's Bridge Twenty-five of the university's forty trustees gathered at Hillsborough on August 2, 1792. They balloted for Cyprett's Bridge as the center point on August 3 and on August 4 adopted the ordinance fixing a fifteen-mile radius and naming the site commissioners. In early November a commission chaired by Frederick Hargett toured the area and recommended New Hope Chapel Hill in southern Orange County. People: Alexander Martin, Hugh Williamson, Richard Dobbs SpaightDocumenting the American South: Site Selection for the University of North Carolina
  2. Willie Jones views New Hope Chapel Hill as a university commissioner and signs for the site Jones was one of six commissioners the trustees sent to fix the seat of the university. On November 5, 1792 he handed the commissioners Joel Lane's offer of 640 acres in Wake County; the commissioners then went on to view New Hope Chapel Hill in Orange County, where they took offers of 1,390 acres and about 798 pounds. Jones signed the report. People: James Hogg, David Stone, Joel Lane, Alexander MebaneSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Board of Trustees Minutes, December 3-13, 1792 [Containing Reports Regarding the Site of the University]
  3. The university village takes the name Chapel Hill from New Hope Chapel Before the Revolution a small Church of England chapel of ease in St. Matthew's Parish, New Hope Chapel, stood near the later site of the Carolina Inn, and the rise it stood on was called New Hope Chapel Hill. The university's site commissioners wrote that name on November 5, 1792 and the short form Chapel Hill the next day, and the village laid out and sold in lots in 1793 kept the shorter name.Search the index · Archibald Henderson, The Church of the Atonement and the Chapel of the Cross at Chapel Hill (1938), scan p. 21 · Also: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 1
  4. Trustees fix the university at Chapel Hill and list its Orange County land donors Meeting on December 5, 1792, the trustees voted unanimously to place the university at New Hope Chapel Hill and recorded nine donors of Orange County land, among them Matthew McCauley (150 acres) and William McCauley (100 acres). Each donor could have one student educated free of tuition. People: Mark Morgan, Christopher Barbee, Colonel John Hogan, William McCauleySearch the index · UNC Libraries, History on the Hill: Original Donors to the University and the Myth of Free Tuition
  5. Trustees name John Williams to the committee that will build the university and lay off Chapel Hill On the day they fixed the university at New Hope Chapel Hill, the trustees appointed seven commissioners to erect its buildings and lay off an adjoining town of 24 two-acre and six four-acre lots. People: William Richardson Davie, Alfred Moore, Thomas Blount, Alexander Mebane, John HaywoodSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 77
  6. A trustee committee under Samuel McCorkle reports the university's first plan of studies Named at New Bern on December 4, 1792, the committee proposed teaching languages with English first, history, mathematics, natural philosophy, botany, agriculture and architecture, and buying scientific apparatus. A newspaper notice of December 12 inviting teachers for this course drew no applicants. People: David Stone, Samuel Ashe, Hugh Williamson, Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, Alfred MooreDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 48
  7. The building committee buys Hardy Morgan's 80-acre tract beside the university site Finding that Morgan's land ran too close to the planned buildings, the committee bought the 80 acres for $200. Battle took it to be the oldest cleared land on the university grounds, lying east of the buildings along the Raleigh road.Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 34
  8. James Patterson of Chatham County is hired to build the university's first building The commissioners contracted with Patterson for 2,500 pounds to build a house about 96 feet long and 40 feet wide. It became Old East, the first building raised on the campus of a state university in the United States. People: James PattersonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 78-79
  9. Orange County leads the state in pledges to the university By July, Davie and Willie Jones reported 909 pounds 4 shillings pledged in Orange against 804 pounds in Halifax, out of $6,723 statewide. William Cain and Walter Alves of Orange were among the three largest subscribers at $200 each, and Jesse Neville of Orange gave $100. People: Willie Jones, Walter Alves, William Richardson Davie, Alfred Moore, William Cain Sr.Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 78
  10. Commissioners mark out the sites of the university's buildings and grounds Davie, Alfred Moore, Alexander Mebane and Thomas Blount met on the Chapel Hill tract and fixed the building sites, with land set aside for offices, avenues and ornamental grounds. People: William Richardson Davie, Alexander Mebane, Alfred Moore, Thomas BlountSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 79
  11. The court licenses James Patterson to keep a tavern at the University James Patterson obtained an order of the court to keep a tavern at the University and gave bond of 500 pounds with William Courtney as surety. People: William CourtneyMark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1793
  12. The court orders a road laid out from the University toward Clerk's ferry on the Haw On the petition of John Hogan and others, the court named a jury to view and lay off the best road from the seat of the University toward Clerk's ferry on the Haw River, as far as the Chatham County line, and named the hands to clear it. People: Colonel John HoganMark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1793
  13. James Patterson buys two lots at the first Chapel Hill lot sale At the sale held the day Old East's cornerstone was laid, Patterson, the building's contractor, bought village lots 4 and 5 for 108 pounds 10 shillings. The cornerstone procession that day set out from his inn.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 46
  14. Old East cornerstone is laid William Richardson Davie and fellow trustees laid Old East’s cornerstone; October 12 is observed as University Day. People: William Richardson Davie, Samuel Eusebius McCorkleUNC
  15. The first town lots in Chapel Hill are sold at auction After the Old East cornerstone was laid, the commissioners auctioned the village lots on the spot; 29 lots brought more than 1,500 pounds, and one was held back for the president's house. People: William Richardson Davie, Alexander Mebane, Alfred Moore, Thomas BlountLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 80
  16. Richard Bennehan gives shells for mortar for Old East Bennehan donated fifty bushels of shells for making mortar for the university's first building. In 1796 he gave an air pump and thirty-two books.Search the index · NCpedia: Bennehan, Richard (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  17. The court orders roads laid out to the University from Hillsborough and the Chatham line At November Term 1793 the court named a jury to lay off a road from the University to the Chatham line on the road toward the Red Field ford, ordered the road John Hogan petitioned for opened between Collins Creek and the road from Hillsborough to the University, and summoned a jury to lay off the nearest and most convenient road from Hillsborough to the University. People: Colonel John Hogan, Matthew McCauley, William McCauleyMark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: November Term 1793
  18. The trustees elect David Ker presiding professor of the university Balloting on January 10, 1794, the trustees elected David Ker, who had come from Fayetteville, the university's first professor, with the title of presiding professor. He took charge at the opening in January 1795, lived in the house meant for a future president and held the post until July 1796.Search the index · Documenting the American South: The First Century of the First State University, timeline (with Battle, History of UNC, vol. I, pp. 59-61) · Also: UNC Wilson Special Collections Library: David Ker and Mary B. Ker Portraits and Papers
  19. Trustees adopt the plan of instruction and set the university's opening for January 15 The board ordered the McCorkle committee's scheme into effect, fixed tuition by subject and created a presiding professor at $300 a year plus fees. It also resolved to build a steward's house before the opening and set a bill of fare for Commons with no drink but water. People: Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, John Haywood, William LenoirDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 50
  20. The court orders a road laid out from Galbreath's ferry to the University The court ordered the sheriff to summon a jury to view and lay off a road from William Galbreath's ferry by Joseph Hodges's and then the best way to the University.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: May Term 1794
  21. The court orders a road laid off from the east end of Franklin Street in the University village On a memorial from John Haywood and Alexander Mebane, two of the University's trustees, the court summoned fifteen men, among them Matthew McCauley, James Patterson, Christopher Barbee and Samuel Hopkins, to lay off a road from the east end of Franklin Street in the village of the University, by the easiest and most direct way, into the road then leading down Chapel Hill. People: John Haywood, Alexander Mebane, Matthew McCauley, Christopher Barbee, Samuel HopkinsMark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1794
  22. The General Assembly grants the university unsold confiscated lands The act gave the trustees confiscated Loyalist lands still unsold, chiefly the forfeited claims of Henry Eustace McCulloch, but sent anything above $20,000 to the state. The university's suits to collect under it angered landholders in Mecklenburg and nearby counties. People: Adlai OsborneDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 136
  23. Enslaved men owned by contractor James Patterson paint the roof of Old East James Patterson, the slaveholding contractor who built Old East between 1793 and 1795, reported in a 1795 letter that several of his own enslaved workers had painted the building's roof. Their names were not recorded. People: James PattersonUNC University Archives (For the Record): Slave Labor and Old East
  24. James Mebane serves as the first president of the Dialectic Society Orange County student James Mebane is the first president of the university's Dialectic Society, one of the two student debating societies formed in the university's first year. People: James MebaneLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 334
  25. Old East is finished as a two-story dormitory of sixteen rooms The university's first building was ready in 1795 as a two-story brick dormitory with sixteen rooms. Its plan is in effect two center-hall houses joined end to end, with a fireplace for every room, and it kept that height until a third story went on in 1822.NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 12
  26. The university finishes a house for its president at Cameron Avenue and Columbia Street A Federal side-hall house for the head of the university was completed in 1795 at the northeast corner of what are now Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street. Each of its two bedrooms had a pair of built-in closets, uncommon at the time.NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 12
  27. UNC opens to students The University formally opened at Chapel Hill on a cold, rainy January 15, 1795, with Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight and trustees present, but no students had yet arrived. Hinton James came on February 12, and by March two professors taught 41 students; UNC was the only public university to graduate students in the eighteenth century. People: Hinton James, David Ker, Richard Dobbs SpaightUNC Libraries, NC Miscellany: January 1795: The University of North Carolina (Nicholas Graham, January 1, 2004)
  28. Trustees adopt the university's first by-laws Drafted by Samuel McCorkle and amended in committee, the by-laws set four classes, prayers at sunrise and evening, a monitor in each class to report absences and misconduct, and punishments from admonition to expulsion. Students could not keep liquor in their rooms or gamble. People: Samuel Eusebius McCorkleDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 54
  29. Hinton James arrives as UNC’s first student Hinton James became UNC’s first student on February 12, 1795. People: Hinton JamesNC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
  30. Charles Wilson Harris joins the new university as professor of mathematics Harris joined the faculty in March 1795, weeks after the university opened, as professor of mathematics. On June 3, 1795 he organized the students into the debating club that became the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.Search the index · NCpedia: Harris, Charles Wilson
  31. The county court proves a run of deeds to and from the University's trustees From May 1795 the county court proved or acknowledged deeds between the University's trustees and others so they could be registered: from the trustees to John Dannel (May 1795); from Dannel to the trustees and from William Shepperd, attorney for the trustees, to James Stockard (August 1796); to Daniel Booth, Richard Bennehan and Walter Alves (November 1796); to John Carrington (May 1797); to Nathaniel Harris and Joseph Holmes (August 1797); to John Caldwell (November 1797); and to Christopher Barbee and William Hayes (February 1798). Several were proved on the handwriting of William Watters, a witness who had died. People: Richard Bennehan, Walter Alves, Christopher BarbeeMark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: May Term 1795
  32. UNC’s Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies take shape UNC students held the first recorded meeting of a Debating Society on June 3, 1795, and voted on July 2 to split in two, the new body being the Concord Society. They took the names Dialectic and Philanthropic in late August 1796 and for over a century served as debating clubs, student government and keepers of large libraries. People: Hinton James, Charles Wilson HarrisUNC Libraries, University Archives: Dialectic Society of the University of North Carolina Records, 1795-1964 (historical note)
  33. Samuel Hopkins opens the accounts of Chapel Hill's first post office Samuel Hopkins, the first postmaster appointed for Chapel Hill, files his first account with the Post Office as of July 1, 1795, the earliest record of the village post office. People: Samuel HopkinsLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 366
  34. UNC holds its first public examination, announced by Governor Spaight The University's first public examination took place at Chapel Hill on July 13, 1795, after notice appeared in the newspapers over the signature of Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight. The governor's wife, Mary Spaight, was the only woman present, and about a dozen men attended, including William R. Davie, James Hogg, Alfred Moore and James Glasgow. People: James Hogg, William Richardson Davie, Alfred MooreSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, Vol. 1 (1907)
  35. Trustees vote to build a house for the university's grammar school With Old East crowded and many students too young or unprepared for college classes, the board ordered a separate preparatory school building with lodging rooms, in the woods south of Rosemary Street. Richard Sims, an advanced student, seems to have been its first master.Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 71
  36. Joseph Green becomes the first student dismissed from the university Green and Frank Burton went to a cotton-picking frolic after being forbidden. Burton accepted public admonition, but Green refused and was dismissed by the faculty under David Ker. People: David KerSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 89
  37. Trustees adopt William R. Davie's plan dividing the university into a preparatory school and professorships Davie's plan put English at the center, let French stand beside the classics and set up chairs of moral and political philosophy, natural philosophy, mathematics, chemistry with agriculture and the mechanic arts, and languages. The board elected Samuel McCorkle a professor, but he declined when refused extra pay in place of the president's house. People: David Ker, William Richardson Davie, Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, Charles Wilson HarrisDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 93
  38. Charles Wilson Harris acts as presiding professor After David Ker resigned under pressure from the trustees in the summer of 1796, Harris acted as presiding professor until his own resignation that December. He had persuaded Joseph Caldwell to join the faculty in October 1796. People: David Ker, Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · NCpedia: Harris, Charles Wilson
  39. Trustees forbid students to visit village taverns without leave and allow dancing lessons Meeting at the July examinations, the board barred tavern visits without a professor's permission and gave the preparatory teachers authority over all students. The same meeting let students attend dancing schools with faculty consent. People: Samuel Ashe, William Richardson DavieSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 103
  40. Joseph Caldwell arrives in Chapel Hill as professor of mathematics Joseph Caldwell, a Princeton graduate and tutor, moved to Chapel Hill in October 1796 to teach mathematics at the new university. He became presiding professor the next year. People: Charles Harris, Charles Wilson HarrisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Joseph Caldwell, 1773-1835 (biography)
  41. James Smiley Gillaspie is made principal of the university To keep Joseph Caldwell, who meant to leave rather than carry the executive duties, the trustees elected Gillaspie professor of natural philosophy with the title of principal. Caldwell stayed as professor of mathematics and taught French in the preparatory school. People: Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 118
  42. UNC holds its first commencement UNC’s first graduating class included Hinton James and six other students. People: Hinton JamesNCDNCR — Hinton James, First Student at Chapel Hill
  43. Students rise against the faculty and beat principal Gillaspie In the term before the 1799 commencement students beat Gillaspie, waylaid and stoned tutor William E. Webb and threatened Caldwell and Archibald Murphey, and for a week exercises stopped. Three leaders were dismissed and the faculty offered to resign, and by that November Caldwell was chosen again to head the university. People: Joseph Caldwell, Archibald D. MurpheySearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 155
  44. Named enslaved workers build the third story of Old East Bills from William Nichols's 1822 to 1824 enlargement of Old East list enslaved carpenters, bricklayers and laborers including Bob, Henry, Nelson, Allman, Tony, Luke, Isaac and Ned Peek, with their pay due to their owners. One bill from John C. White came to about $395. People: William NicholsUNC University Archives (For the Record): Slave Labor and Old East
  45. A Memorial Hall tablet names the eleven donors of the university's land The trustees placed a tablet in Memorial Hall naming the eleven Orange County landowners whose gifts of land settled the university and the village at Chapel Hill. Cameron called them the sturdy Orange farmers who fixed the seat of the institution. People: Christopher Barbee, Edmund Jones, Matthew McCauley, William McCauley, Mark MorganUniversity of North Carolina, Memorial Hall Inaugural Proceedings, Wednesday, June 3, 1885 (1885), scan p. 15
  46. UNC begins marking Hinton James Day each February 12 The university started Hinton James Day in 1945, during the sesquicentennial of its first student's arrival. It falls on February 12 and now also honors other Carolina firsts, including Sallie Walker Stockard and Henry Owl. People: Henry Owl, Sallie Walker StockardSearch the index · UNC-Chapel Hill: 230 years ago, he became the first Tar Heel · Also: Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 22
  47. UNC names a new south campus residence hall for Hinton James The university built a ten-story residence hall on south campus in 1967 and named it for Hinton James, the first student to reach Chapel Hill in 1795. The hall houses 964 students in eight-person suites.Search the index · UNC Carolina Housing: Hinton James Residence Hall
  48. UNC and Chapel Hill celebrate their bicentennial UNC marked 200 years since the laying of Old East's cornerstone with a Bicentennial Convocation in Kenan Stadium, where President Bill Clinton spoke to about 45,000 people. The town dedicated Michael Brown's mural of the October 12, 1793, lot auction at the Franklin Street post office. People: Bill ClintonThe Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1993, p. 1: Clinton Calls for Courage to Change America

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 6 with a known location.

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 →

Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Filter these works by material, period, or place. Counts refer to works, not individual copies. A work may appear under more than one period or place.

Material

Histories 78Letters & correspondence 42Biography 12Historical sources 6Exhibition catalogs 1other types 2

Period

18th century 70Revolution (1775–1783) 3719th century 43

Place

North Carolina (statewide) 91Orange County 83Hillsborough 80Chapel Hill 26Eno River 16Granville County (neighboring) 16

The Black family in slavery and freedom, 1750-1925

Gutman, Herbert G. (Herbert George), 1928-1985 · 1976 · Pantheon Books

Herbert G. Gutman's 1976 history of African American families from 1750 to 1925, published by Pantheon Books in New York, 664 pages with 38 leaves of plates. Its Orange County connection is the Bennehan and Cameron family plantations, Stagville and Fairntosh: the book discusses the people enslaved by Richard Bennehan (1743-1825) and the Camerons, and follows family ties among them under slavery and after emancipation. Subjects include African American families and enslaved persons in Orange County.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1977), The William and Mary Quarterly (1977), The American Historical Review (1977), Journal of American History (1977), The History Teacher (1977), Political Science Quarterly (1977), Journal of Black Psychology (1978), Journal of Social History (1978), Civil War history (1978), Signs (1978).

NCCU UNC CH Historical Society Library of Congress

The Cameron Plantation in Central North Carolina (1776-1973) and Its Founder Richard Bennehan

Sanders, Charles Richard · 1974 · Sanders

Charles Richard Sanders's short history of the Cameron plantation in central North Carolina from 1776 to 1973 and of its founder Richard Bennehan, whose lands became Stagville and Fairntosh. It covers the Bennehan and Cameron families and their connection with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published by the author in Durham in 1974, 79 pages with a plate and illustrations.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 929.209 SAN Duke Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress Davidson UNC

A Documentary History of the University of North Carolina, 1776-1799

Connor, R. D. W. · 1953

Two-volume collection of documents on the founding and first years of the University of North Carolina, 1776 to 1799, compiled by R. D. W. Connor and published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1953. Each volume carries its own bibliography.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Chapel Hill (N.C.) -- History -- 18th century.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1954).

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 378.756 CON NC Cardinal Duke Durham Wingate CH Historical Society Library of Congress

Opening ceremonies of the bicentennial observance, October 11 and 12, 1993

1993 · The University

A portfolio of programs from the opening ceremonies of the University of North Carolina bicentennial, staged in Chapel Hill on October 11 and 12, 1993. It includes the program for the rededication of Old East, the university's first building, and the citations for the 1993 distinguished alumna and alumnus. Illustrated, and published by the university itself.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Old East (Chapel Hill, N.C.).

UNC

Program of the sixth annual convention of the Lloyd clan, unveiling a marker in memory of Thos. F. Lloyd, Carrboro, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 1941.

1941

An eight page program printed for the sixth annual Lloyd clan convention at Carrboro on October 22, 1941, when the family unveiled a marker to Thomas F. Lloyd, who died in 1792. The program also concerns Adlai Osborne (1744-1815). Family gathering ephemera that also records the placing of a Lloyd memorial in Orange County.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

UNC

General William R. Davie

Manning, John, 1830-1899 · 1893 · Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies

A sketch of William Richardson Davie, the Revolutionary officer remembered as the founder of the University of North Carolina, written by John Manning and signed by him at the end. Detached from the January 1893 North Carolina University Magazine and printed at Chapel Hill by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, it concerns Revolutionary biography for the state.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Davie, William Richardson, 1756-1820.

UNC
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A meeting of the citizens of Hillsborough was held on Friday the 30th instant, to adopt resolutions expressive of their feelings on occasion of the death of the late Rev. Dr. Caldwell, president of the university.

1835

Resolutions adopted by a meeting of Hillsborough citizens on Friday 30 January 1835, on the death of Joseph Caldwell, president of the University of North Carolina, who died that year. Signed at the end by W. J. Bingham as secretary and dated 31 January 1835. Printed at Hillsborough, it is a single sheet of civic mourning from Orange County.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Caldwell, Joseph, 1773-1835.

UNC

William Richardson Davie : soldier, statesman, and founder of the University of North Carolina : 1756-2006 semiquincentennial

Fulghum, Neil · 2006

A booklet accompanying the exhibition on William Richardson Davie, 1756 to 1820, the soldier and statesman remembered as founder of the University of North Carolina, shown in the North Carolina Collection Gallery of Wilson Library from February to June 2006, his semiquincentennial year. R. Neil Fulghum researched and wrote it. Thirty-seven pages of color illustrations, portraits by Charles Willson Peale and Gilles-Louis Chrétien among them.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Library of Congress record: Davie, William Richardson, 1756-1820.

NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Library of Congress

Walter Alves papers, 1771-1858, Orange County, North Carolina : also Kentucky and Tennessee.

Alves, Walter, 1768-1819 · 1993 · University Publications of America

University Publications of America issued this two reel microfilm edition in 1993, reproducing the Walter Alves papers of 1771 to 1858 with a printed reel guide. Alves, 1768 to 1819, was an Orange County landowner, and the material runs to real estate investment in North Carolina and Tennessee, Scottish American families, and letters with Richard Bennehan, William Boylan and John Wickham.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

UNC

The "other Jeffersons" and the state university idea

Johnson, Eldon L. · 1987 · Ohio State University Press

Eldon L. Johnson's article on the founders of the early state universities and the idea of a public university they worked from, issued as an offprint of the Journal of Higher Education, volume 58, number 2, for March and April 1987, with a bibliography. William Richardson Davie, who led the founding of the University of North Carolina, is the figure the article takes up here.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Davie, William Richardson, 1756-1820.

UNC

William R. Davie and Frank P. Graham : a remarkable founding father and a remarkable son : University Day address, Memorial Hall, October 12, 1986.

Aycock, William B. (William Brantley), 1915-2015 · 1986

Former chancellor William B. Aycock gave this University Day address in Memorial Hall on October 12, 1986, pairing William Richardson Davie, who founded the university, with Frank Porter Graham. The text was reprinted from the Chapel Hill Newspaper of October 13, 1986, and runs pages 519 to 523.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Davie, William Richardson, 1756-1820.

UNC

Hillsborough's James Hogg

Cheshire, Lucius McGehee · 1970

Lucius McGehee Cheshire's typescript on James Hogg of Hillsborough, 1729 to 1805, prepared for delivery to the Hillsborough Historical Society and dated 12 March 1970. It runs to 26 pages with ten further unnumbered leaves. The account connects Hogg's life in Hillsborough with the early University of North Carolina. Part of UNC's North Carolina Collection.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hogg, James, 1729-1805.

UNC NC Cardinal

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Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this storyline. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Start here · 975.656 VIC Chapel Hill, An Illustrated History Vickers, James · 1985

    An illustrated history of Chapel Hill by James Vickers with Thomas Scism and Dixon Qualls, published in Chapel Hill by Barclay Publishers in 1985. It treats the town and the University of North Carolina together. First edition, 208 pages with illustrations, some in color, and a bibliography.

  • 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.

  • Foundational · NC 378.756 CON A Documentary History of the University of North Carolina, 1776-1799 Connor, R. D. W. · 1953

    Two-volume collection of documents on the founding and first years of the University of North Carolina, 1776 to 1799, compiled by R. D. W. Connor and published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1953. Each volume carries its own bibliography.

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  • Foundational · NC 378 BAT History of the University of North Carolina Battle, Kemp P. · 1907

    Kemp Plummer Battle's two-volume history of the University of North Carolina, printed in Raleigh in 1907 and 1912. The first volume runs from the beginnings to the death of President Swain, 1789 to 1868; the second continues to 1912. Battle was himself a president of the university. Illustrated with portraits and facsimiles.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.209 SAN The Cameron Plantation in Central North Carolina (1776-1973) and Its Founder Richard Bennehan Sanders, Charles Richard · 1974

    Charles Richard Sanders's short history of the Cameron plantation in central North Carolina from 1776 to 1973 and of its founder Richard Bennehan, whose lands became Stagville and Fairntosh. It covers the Bennehan and Cameron families and their connection with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published by the author in Durham in 1974, 79 pages with a plate and illustrations.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 378.756 HEN The Campus of the First State University Henderson, Archibald · 1949

    Archibald Henderson's history of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its buildings and grounds from the founding in the 1790s onward. Henderson, a professor of mathematics and a prolific historian of the university, wrote it in the years around the university's sesquicentennial. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 412 pages with illustrations and bibliographical footnotes.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.209 NEV The Descendants of Matthew McCauley Neville, David Lindsay · 2001

    David Lindsay Neville's genealogy of the descendants of Matthew McCauley (1750-1821), one of the landowners who gave land for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Lloyd and Neville families come into it as well, and Orange County genealogy is its field. Compiled in 2001.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 VICKERS Chapel Hill Vickers, James · 1996

    Images of America photo history of Chapel Hill by James Vickers, published by Arcadia in 1996. Its 128 pages picture the town and the University of North Carolina, their shared history and the social life of the community.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 378.756 HOU The Light That Shines: Chapel Hill, 1912-1916 House, R. B. · 1964

    Robert Burton House, later chancellor of the University of North Carolina, recalls Chapel Hill and the campus in his student years from 1912 to 1916. A memoir published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1959, 216 pages with illustrations and portraits. Topics include Chapel Hill's social life and customs and the university's history in the twentieth century.

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Background reading at OCPL

Books from OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection that provide broader context. They may not discuss The founding of the University and Chapel Hill, 1789–1795 directly.

  • Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection The Federal Convention of 1787: North Carolina in the Great Crisis Craige, Burton · 1987

    North Carolina's part in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, told by Burton Craige (1875 to 1945) with biographical sketches of the state's delegates: William Blount, William R. Davie, Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight and Hugh Williamson. Archibald Craige published it in 1987, the Convention's bicentennial; 200 pages with portraits, a bibliography and a folded color facsimile map in a back pocket.

    Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: United States Constitutional Convention (1787); Constitutional history -- United States; Constitutional history -- North Carolina OCPL call number: NC 342.73 CRA
  • Background reading · Rebecca Wall Collection Life and Correspondence of James Iredell: One of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States McRee, Griffith J. · 1857

    Griffith J. McRee's life of James Iredell, the North Carolinian whom George Washington appointed to the first United States Supreme Court, where he served from 1790 until his death in 1799, combining a narrative of his career with his correspondence. Published by D. Appleton of New York in two volumes, the first dated 1857.

    Subjects in the Library of Congress catalog record: Iredell, James, 1751-1799 OCPL call number: NC BIO IREDELL MCR

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Politics & Government →Law, Courts & Justice →Wars & Military Service →

Picture: Laying the Cornerstone of Old East, Dean Cornwell’s 1941 mural in the Chapel Hill post office. Public domain. Photograph by Mx. Granger; via Wikimedia Commons

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