Biographical Sketches of some Old Orange County People

Transcribed by Adele M Greene and Larry Noah


The source of my information is "Orange County - 1752-1952" edited by Hugh Lefler and Paul Wager, published in 1953. This information is copied with permission.

THOMAS WINGATE ANDREWS (1882-1937) Educator. Born Orange county. Graduate U.N.C., 1908; doctor of education (1933). High Point College. Superintendent Orange County Schools, 1908-11; of Reidsville City Schools, 1911-17; Salisbury, 1917-24; High Point, 1924-37. Expanded school plants and built up progressive units. Vigorously opposed retrenchment imposed by 1933 general assembly on schools of state. Member N.C. Textbook Commission; president N.C. Education Association.
GEORGE EDMUND BADGER (1795-1866) Secretary of Navy, Senator. Born New Bern. Attended Yale. Studied law; admitted to bar 1814. Member N.C. House of Commons; judge superior court; Secretary of Navy in cabinets of President William H. Harrison and John Tyler; U.S. Senator 1846-53; member Convention of 1861. Practiced law for a time in Hillsboro.
KEMP PLUMMER BATTLE (1831-1919) Educator. Born Franklin county. Graduate U.N.C., 1849. Tutor in mathematics, 1850-54. Practiced law Raleigh, 1854-76. Member Convention of 1861. President Chatham Railway Company, 1861-65. State Treasurer, 1865-68. President State Agricultural Society, 1867-70. Took lead in reorganizing University, 1875; president U.N.C., 1876-91. Alumni professor of history, 1891-1919. Author of two-volume History of the University of North Carolina.
WILLIAM HORN BATTLE (1802-1879) Lawyer. Born Edgecombe county. Graduate U.N.C., 1820. Practiced law in Louisburg, 1825-39; in Raleigh, 1839-43, when he moved to Chapel Hill. Appointed professor of law at U.N.C. 1845 (beginning of law school) and served until University closed in 1871. Reporter to supreme court, 1834-40; judge superior court, 1840-48; judge supreme court, 1848-68. Served on commission with Nash and Iredell to revise public laws of state; 1872 appointed as sole reviser of statutes and in 1873 "Battle's Revisal" appeared.
RICHARD BENNEHAN (1747-1825) Planter, Merchant. Lived in Stagville, now Durham county. In partnership with William Johnston operated Little River Store, Snow Hill, in Orange county from 1769 to at least as late as 1788. Trustee U.N.C., 1799-1804; early donor to university, giving 32 volumes to library (some of which are still there) and "apparatus" for instruction.
JESSE BENTON ( ? -1790) Lawyer. Moved to Orange county from Granville. Opponent of Regulators. Practiced law in Hillsboro. Speculated in western lands. Representative from Orange county in general assembly of 1781. Owned Eno plantation, Orange county, and over a thousand acres elsewhere in the state. Active briefly against Tories during Revolution. Father of Thomas Hart Benton.
THOMAS HART BENTON (1782-1858) Senator. Born near Efland, Orange county. Attended U.N.C., 1799. Moved to Tennessee and served in general assembly. U.S. senator from Missouri, 1821-51; member of congress, 1853-55. Author, newspaper editor.
HARRIET MOREHEAD BERRY (1877-1940) Leader in Good Roads Movement. Born Hillsboro; graduate Woman's College, U.N.C.; student U.N.C., 1905. Writer for Greensboro Daily News, editor Cherokee Scout. Secretary State Drainage Association, the American Association of State Highway Officials, and the Legislative Council of Women. Her leading work was done as secretary of the North Carolina Good Roads Association, a position she held for fifteen years. She was chiefly instrumental in securing the passage of the first $50,000,000 highway bond issue and was co-author of the bill establishing the North Carolina highway system passed in 1921. For some sixteen years Miss Berry was with the N.C. Geological and Economic Survey and during World War I, while acting as director, was called into consultation by President Wilson. During the final ten years of her public life she was superintendent of the State Credit Union.
JOHN BERRY (1798-1870) Builder, Architect. Born Hillsboro. Received training under Samuel Hancock, brick mason. First native brick mason of sufficient skill to attempt an entire building of brick. Built Orange county courthouse (1846); Baptist and Methodist churches in Hillsboro and perhaps also the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches; Smith Hall (Playmakers Theatre), Chapel Hill; St. Luke's Church, Salisbury; a number of houses; and a courthouse at Yanceyville, now destroyed. He also worked in Wake Forest and Oxford.
ROBERT BINGHAM (1838-1927) Educator. Born Hillsboro, son of William James Bingham. Graduate U.N.C., 1857. Joined father and brother as junior partner in the Bingham School with which he continued the remainder of hi life. Served as captain during Civil War. Became headmaster of Bingham School, 1873. Said to have built the first school gymnasium in South.
WILLIAM BINGHAM(1754-1826) Educator. Born Northern Ireland. Graduate University of Glasgow. Settled in Wilmington, 1789, as a teacher. In 1793 moved to Pittsboro and established his own school. Taught Latin and Greek and U.N.C. for a short time after 1801, but soon returned to his own school which he relocated, first in Hillsboro and later at Mount Repose, eleven miles northwest.
WILLIAM BINGHAM (1835-1873) Educator. Born Hillsboro. Educated at Bingham School. Graduate U.N.C., 1856. Joined his father, William J. Bingham, as partner in operating Bingham School. Wrote and published a number of textbooks. Was physically unable to serve in Civil War, but operated his school as a military academy.
WILLIAM JAMES BINGHAM (1802-1866) Educator. Born Chapel Hill. Studied at Bingham School and taught for several years at Williamsboro, Granville county, before entering U.N.C. from which he was graduated, 1825. Headed Bingham School, 1826-1866. Interested in anti-slavery and colonization movements and opposed secession until South was invaded after which he support Confederacy.
THOMAS BURKE (c.1747-1783) Governor. Born Ireland. Settled in Virginia, 1764, and practiced medicine. Studied law. Moved to Hillsboro in 1771. Delegate to conventions at New Bern and Hillsboro, 1775, and Halifax, 1776; member House of Commons, 1777; Continental Congress, 1776-81; governor, 1781-1782. Died at his home, "Tyaquin", near Hillsboro.
JOHN BUTLER ( ? -1786) Revolutionary Leader. Lived in Hawfields. Sheriff in 1770 at time Regulator disturbances. Colonel of Orange county militia and later brigadier general for Hillsboro District during Revolution. Led troops at Battles of Camden and Guilford Court House. Member of general assembly at various times between 1777 and 1786. Councilor of State.
JOSEPH CALDWELL (1773-1835) First University President. Born New Jersey. Graduate Princeton, 1791. Taught in small local school; accepted tutorship at Princeton, 1795; became professor of mathematics and Presiding Professor at U.N.C., 1796. In 1804 he was chosen first president of the University and elected a trustee, a post which he held thirty-one years until his death. He resigned as president in 1812, but continued to hold the chair of mathematics. At his successor's resignation in 1816 he again became president and remained in office until his death. In 1831 he was authorized to build an observatory, the first college building of its kind in the United States. Caldwell County was named for him when it was formed in 1841.
BENNEHAN CAMERON (1854-1925) Planter, Railroad Official. Born Stagville (now Durham county). Graduate Virginia Military Institute. Managed large agricultural interest. President N. C. State Fair Association. Director N. C. Railroad and promoter of other railroads. Influenced consolidation of small lines into Seaboard Air Line system. State Guard officer.
DUNCAN CAMERON(1777-1853) Lawyer, Banker. Born Mecklenburg county, Va. Studied law. Moved to N.C. and admitted to bar 1798. Located first at Martinsville, seat of Guilford county, but soon moved to Hillsboro. Served s number of terms in both houses of general assembly. Judge of superior court. In 1829 became president of State Bank of N.C., a position he held for twenty years. Chairman of committee to build present state capitol and to build Christ Church, Raleigh.
PAUL CARRINGTON CAMERON (1808-1891) Planter. Born Stagville (now Durham county). Attended U.N.C., 1824-1825, graduate Washington College (now Trinity), Hartford, Conn. Managed large agricultural interests. President agricultural society. Director Raleigh and Gaston and other railroads. State senator. U.N.C. trustee for twenty-six years. Born Maryland. Moved to N.C., 1746. Clerk of Court, Orange County, 1752-1754; admitted to bar and began practice in Hillsboro, 1754. Commanded part of Tryon's forces at Battle of Alamance, 1771. Served in Revolutionary Army. Member Continental Congress, 1774-1776. Delegate to and president of state constitutional convention, 1776. First governor of N.C. after statehood, serving 1776-1780, 1785-1788. Member state convention adopting Federal constitution. Buried family cemetery, Kinston.
THOMAS CHILD (fl. 1747-1766) Colonial Official. Son of Richard Child of Lavenham, Suffolk, England. Doctor of Medicine. Attorney general of N. C., 1747-1755, 1759-1766. As attorney, agent, commissioner, and auditor for the Earl of Granville, one of the Lords Proprietor, he was guilty of corruption and extortion both from Granville and his tenants. The county seat of Orange county was incorporated in 1759 as Childsburg in his honor; changed to Hillsborough in 1766.
WILLIAM CHURTON ( ? - d. 1767) Surveyor, Mapmaker. In October, 1749, Churton was one of four men appointed from North Carolina and Virginia to establish a portion of the boundary between the two colonies. He surveyed large areas of land for the Moravians in the Piedmont and in 1753 Bishop Spangenberg reported some land surveyed by him west of the mountains in North Carolina was believed to be the first actual survey made there. Between 1754 and 1762 Churton represented Orange county in the General Assembly and also served as Register of Deeds. Grants of land to Churton totaled between 11,000 and 12,000 acres and both the towns of Hillsboro and Salisbury were established on land which he originally owned. For nearly 20 years Churton was surveyor for the Earl of Granville and during more than 10 years of that time he worked on a map of North Carolina. It was nearly finished at the time of his death and in 1766 the Assembly appropriated 1155 Proc. to Churton to enable him to have his map "of the inhabited part of this Province" published in England. Churton died in December of the following year, however, and the map was left in the care of Governor Tyron. Of Churton's map Tyron said, "I am inclined to believe there is not so perfect a draft of so extensive an interior country in any other colony in America." Tyron turned Churton's map over to Captain John Collet to be finished. It was published in London in May, 1770.
FRANCIS CORBIN (fl. 1744-1760, d. c. 1766 or 1767)Colonial Official. Believed to have come to N. C. from London in November, 1744. Served as agent for Earl of Granville during the surveying of his lands. Member of governor's council, 1751-1760. In 1758 built the Cupola House, Edenton. One of early victims of Regulator attacks. Moravian Bishop Spangenburg called him "a walking encyclopedia concerning North Carolina affairs." For a time the seat of Orange county was called Corbinton in his honor.
MOSES ASHLEY CURTIS (1808-1872) Scientist, Clergyman. Native of Massachusetts. Rector of St. Matthew's Church, 1841-1847, 1856-1872. Head of Episcopal School for Boys, Raleigh, 1837-1839. Made scientific study of fungi, shrubs, woody vines, and other plants. Discovered and named number of new plants. First to understand and describe process by which Venus Fly Trap "eats" insects.
JAMES BUCHANAN DUKE (1856-1925) Manufacturer. Born in Orange county near present site of Durham. At an early age began work with his brothers and father in manufacturing smoking tobacco on his father's farm. Business expanded into a wooden factory in Durham early in the 1870's. Headed firm of W. Duke and Sons. Travelled as salesman. Expanded business. Formed American Tobacco Company and became its president. Established Duke Endowments; provided funds for Duke and other universities and colleges and for hospitals.
WASHINGTON DUKE(1820-1905) Manufacturer. Born Orange county. Served in Confederate Army and Navy. Began manufacturing smoking tobacco on his farm soon after Civil War. Business expanded largely through interest and efforts of his sons. Contributed freely to Trinity College when it was moved to Durham at his behest.
DAVID FANNING (1756?-1825) Loyalist Leader. Born in Johnston county (now Wake). About 1772 lived at Hawfields, Orange county, and later moved to S. C. During Revolution commanded Loyalist forces in N. C., conducting raids to burn homes, plunder the countryside, and murder any who attempted to stop him. After the war lived for a time in St. Augustine, Fla., but in 1784 moved to Canada.
EDMUND FANNING (1737-1818) Colonial Official. Born Long Island, New York. Graduate Yale, 1757. Moved to N. C. 1761, and located at Hillsboro to practice law. Represented Orange county in assemblies of 1762, 1766, 1767, and 1768; borough of Hillsboro in 1770 and 1771. Register of deeds, 1763-1768. Also judge of superior court and colonel of militia. Object of anger and hatred of Regulators. Returned to New York, 1771. Commanded Tories during Revolution. After war became a general in the British Army. Died in London.
WILLIAM FEW (1748-1828) Senator. Born near Baltimore. Moved with parents to Orange county, 1758. Member Continental Congress from Georgia, 1780-1782 and 1785-1788. Original trustee for establishing University of Georgia, U. S. Senator. Moved to N. Y., 1799, and held various state offices.
SAMUEL MALLETTE GATTIS (1863-1931) Lawyer. Born Orange county. Graduate U. N. C., 1884. School principal, 1884-1887. Clerk Orange county superior court, 1888-1894. Practiced law in Hillsboro. Member general assembly for several terms and speaker of House in 1903.
JOHN WASHINGTON GRAHAM (1839-1928) Lawyer. Born in Hillsboro. Graduate U. N. C., 1857. Major in Confederate Army. Teacher, 1858-60; began practice of law in 1860. Member constitutional convention of 1868. Served a number of terms in state Senate.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM (1804-1875) Governor, Secretary of Navy. Born Lincoln county. Graduate U. N. C., 1824. Began practice of law in Hillsboro, 1825. Member general assembly (speaker of House for two terms). United States Senator. Governor, 1845-1849. Secretary of Navy under Fillmore (1850-1853). Whig nominee for vice president, 1852. Confederate Senator.
WILLIAM MERCER GREEN (1798-1889) Bishop. Born Wilmington. Graduate U. N. C., 1818. Rector St. Matthew's Church, 1825-1837. Professor U. N C, 1838-1849. Elected first Bishop of Mississippi, 1849. Active in establishing University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., and its chancellor from 1867.
GEORGE EMRICK HARRIS (1827-1911) Congressman. Born Orange county. Moved to Tennessee and thence to Mississippi. Lieutenant colonel in Confederate Army. Member Congress, 1870-1873. Lieutenant governor of Miss.
HENRI HARRISSE (c. 1829-1910) Bibliographer. Born in France. Came to Charleston, S. C., as a youth. Studied law. Instructor in French, U. N. C., 1853-1857. Removed to Chicago and finally to New York to practice law. About 1865 began work as bibliographer in library of Samuel L. M. Barlow. Author of a number of outstanding bibliographical works.
THOMAS HART(1730-1808) Merchant, Land Speculator. Born in Virginia; moved to Orange county about 1757. Justice of the peace and sheriff of Orange county. Lieutenant colonel of militia; fought against Regulators. Had an interest in a store in Hillsboro and owned Hart's Mill, two miles from town. Member general assembly. Commissary officer for troops during Revolution. Moving spirit in establishing Transylvania Land Co. Operated a number of stores; moved to Kentucky.
FRANCIS LISTER HAWKS (1798-1866) Clergyman, Historian. Born New Bern. Graduate U. N. C., 1815. Studied law under William Gaston and practiced briefly. Took up study of theology and ordained (Episcopalian) 1827. Served churches in Conn., Penna., and N. Y. Three times declined election as Bishop. In 1846 became professor of history, U. N. C. Three years later returned to Louisiana where he had earlier been first president of University of La. Wrote widely in field of church history, general history, and biography. Author of two-volume History of North Carolina, published 1857-1858.
DENNIS HEARTT (1783-1870) Newspaper Editor. Born in Conn. Served apprenticeship in New Haven, 1798-1802. Moved to Philadelphia and began publishing his own paper. Was one of the invited guests of Robert Fulton on the trial trip of the Clermont. Moved to Hillsboro and on February 20, 1820, began to publish The Hillsborough Recorder which he continued for nearly half a century. It came to be the best known paper in central N. C. Sold his paper in 1869.
RICHARD HENDERSON (1735-1885) Judge, Land Speculator. Born in Va. Living in Hillsboro in 1769 when appointed judge of superior court by Gov. Tryon. Was driven from the bench in 1770 by Regulators. One of the backers of the ill-fated State of Transylvania. Member N.C. council of state and of House of Commons.
JAMES HOGG (1729-1805) Merchant. Born in Scotland. Arrived in Wilmington, 1774, and settled in Fayetteville as a merchant. Served on committee of safety during Revolution and on one occasion travelled to Connecticut on public business. Moved to Orange county after the Revolution. One of first trustees of U.N.C. and early benefactor. Member Transylvania Land Co.
WILLIAM WOOD HOLDEN (1818-1892) Journalist, Governor. Born Orange county. Apprenticed to Dennis Heartt and worked on Hillsboro Recorder for six years. Went to Raleigh. During the Civil War became leader in peace movement. Made provisional governor by Pres. Johnson, May 1865; elected 1868. Postmaster in Raleigh, 1873-1881.
EDWIN MICHAEL HOLT (1807-1884) Manufacturer. Born Orange (now Alamance) county. Operated small farm and store. In 1837 began operation of cotton factory on Great Alamance creek. Began dyeing operations in 1853 and wove first colored cotton goods in South. Supported N.C. Railroad. Greatly expanded his cotton manufacturing before his retirement in 1866.
MICHAEL HOLT (1723-1799) Revolutionary Character. Born in Va. Moved to Orange county about 1740. Captain of county militia against Regulators. In 1776 answered Gov. Martin's call for Loyalist support, but after reaching Cross Creek in route to Brunswick returned home. Arrested at home and imprisoned in Philadelphia. Released and returned to Orange county. Aided American cause by donating supplies.
THOMAS MICHAEL HOLT (1831-1896) Governor. Born Orange (now Alamance) county on site of Battle of Alamance. Student U.N.C., 1849-1850. Cotton Manufacturer. President N.C. Railroad. Frequent member of general assembly. Lieutenant governor, 1889-1891; governor 1891-1893.
WILLIAM HOOPER (1742-1790) Signer Declaration of Independence. Born Boston, Mass. Graduate Harvard. Moved to Wilmington, 1767, and practiced law. Member Continental Congress. Signer of Declaration of Independence. Revolutionary leader. Moved to Hillsboro, 1781, where he died.
GEORGE MOSES HORTON (1797-1883) Negro Poet. Born of pure African parentage on the plantation of William Horton, Northampton county. Remained in slavery until the end of the Civil War. When he was about six his master moved to a new farm in Chatham county, ten miles from Chapel Hill. About 1815 he began to peddle fruit and farm products in Chapel Hill and came to the attention of students and teachers in the University. His ability at rhyming and composing was such that his friends in Chapel Hill started teaching him. Horton soon was composing love poems for the students who paid him small sums for them. In 1829 his first book of poems, The Hope of Liberty, was published in Raleigh by Joseph Gales. Contributions to a number of periodicals followed and in 1845 his Poetical Works were printed in Hillsboro. In 1865 Naked Genius was published in Raleigh. Toward the end of the war Horton became attached to the Union Army and afterwards went with Captain Will H.S. Banks to Philadelphia where he spent the remainder of his life.
REDNAP HOWELL ( ? -1787)Regulator. Probably a native of New Jersey. Schoolmaster, first in lower Orange (now Chatham) county, but by 1768 had moved to that part of the county which is now Randolph. Leader of Regulators. Drew up statement of grievances presented to Gov. Tryon. Wrote ballads popular at the time concerning complaints of Regulators and he may have been the author of the pamphlet A Fan for Fanning and a Touchstone to Tryon. Active in Hillsboro riot, 1770. Fought at Alamance, 1771, and afterwards took refuge in Maryland. Died in N.J.
FORDYCE MITCHELL HUBBARD (1809-1888) Professor. Born Massachusetts. Rector Christ Church, New Bern, 1842-47. In charge of Episcopal School near Raleigh, 1847-49. Professor of Latin Language and Literature, U. N. C., 1849-1868. Author of life of Davie, a number of textbooks, and articles in magazines. Died in Raleigh.
ROSWELL HUNTINGTON (1763-1836) Silversmith, Engraver. Born Norwich, Conn. Revolutionary soldier. Moved to Hillsboro about 1786. In 1789 was one of nine members of the Orange County Horse employed to guard the removal of state funds from Hillsboro to Fayetteville. In 1793 he engraved the brass plate deposited in the cornerstone of Old East building at U. N. C. Moved to Alabama, 1833.
HERMON (HERMAN, HARMON) HUSBAND (1724-1795) Regulator. Born probably in Cecil county, Md., of Quaker parentage. Settled at Corbinton (now Hillsboro) in 1755. Engaged extensively in local land speculation. Leader of Regulators. In April, 1768, he converted unorganized mob into oath-bound organization (Regulators). He took no part in violence, but was arrested after an outbreak. Represented Orange county in general assembly, 1769, 1770-1771. Left field at Battle of Alamance before fighting started. Fled to Maryland and later lived in Pennsylvania where he was active in the Whiskey Rebellion.
WILLIAM JOHNSTON (fl. 1769-d.c.1791) Merchant, Land Speculator. Born in Scotland, settled in Hillsboro about 1767 or 1768. In 1769 joined Richard Bennehan in operating Little River Store. Owned farm, mill, and other property in Orange county. One of members of Louisa Company, 1774, to develop western territory. Treasurer of Transylvania Company. Represented Orange county in provincial congresses of April and November, 1776.
PRIDE JONES (1815-1889) Physician. Born Hillsboro. Graduate U. N. C., 1834. Clerk of superior court; member general assembly, 1858, 1872; captain Orange Guards, later Lieutenant colonel, in Civil War.
GEORGE LAWS (1801-1881) County Official. In early life a carpenter. Deputy sheriff, 1829. Clerk of court for more than thirty years.
JOHN LAW (1824-1913) County Official. Register of deeds for Orange county for more than sixty years.
BRAXTON BYNUM LLOYD (1886-1947) Physician. Born Chapel Hill. Student U. N. C., graduate of the University medical school in Raleigh, 1906. Engaged in general practice in Carrboro, 1912-1947. Widely loved as typical family doctor. Mayor of Carrboro, 1920-1921.
THOMAS F. LLOYD (1736-1792) Colonial Official. Born in Pennsylvania. Came to N. C. about 1758 and settled about three miles west of the site of Chapel Hill. Between 1760 and 1770 he was coroner, justice of the peace, chairman of the county court, member of the vestry of the parish, and an officer of the militia; from 1761 to 1768 he represented the county in the general assembly. In 1768 he was appointed major general by Gov. Tyron.
LEMUEL LYNCH (1803-1893) Silversmith, Jeweler. Born Back Creek, Orange county. Apprenticed to William Huntington. In 1828 opened his own shop in Greensboro and in 1832 in Concord. Began work in Hillsboro in 1834 where he remained the rest of his life. Appointed justice of the peace, 1841.
PRIESTLY HINTON MANGUM (1795-1850) Lawyer. Born Orange county. Graduate U. N. C., 1815. Tutor at University following graduation. Practiced law in Hillsboro. Representative in general assembly, 1832. County solicitor. Brother of Willie P. Mangum.
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM (1792-1861) Senator. Born Orange county. Graduate U. N. C., 1815. Admitted to bar, 1817. Represented Orange county in general assembly, 1818-1819. Member congress, 1823-1826; senator, 1831-1836, 1840-1853. President pro tempore of senate 1842-1845. Received eleven electoral votes for president in 1836.

WILLIAM JOSEPH MARTIN (1830-1896) Military Officer, Professor. Born Richmond, Va. Educated University of Va. Elected to chair of chemistry, U. N. C., 1858. In 1861 raised a company of volunteers in Orange county which became Co. G, 28th Regt. Martin afterwards became colonel of 11th Regt. After the war returned to Chapel Hill for two years. Went to Davidson college in 1870. Became acting president of college in 1887. Declined nomination as president, but was made vice president.
ALEXANDER MEBANE (1744-1795) Congressman. Born Hawfields. Delegate to Provincial Congress, 1776. Justice of peace and sheriff of Orange county. Auditor Hillsboro district, 1783-1784. Member Hillsboro and Fayetteville conventions, 1789; of general assembly, 1787-1792; and of congress, 1793-1795.
JAMES MEBANE (1774-1857) Legislator. Born Orange county. Student, U. N. C., 1795. First president Dialectic Society. Member general assembly, 1798,1801-1803,1808-1811,1821-1823,and 1828; speaker of house, 1821.
GEORGE MICKLEJOHN (c 1717-c 1817) Clergyman. Born probably in Scotland. Said to have been educated at Cambridge, to have served as a chaplain under Frederick the Great, and to have been with the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Culloden. The title page of a sermon by Micklejohn published in New Bern in 1768 indicates that he held the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology. March 12, 1766, licensed by Bishop of London for work in North Carolina. He went first to Rowan county, but shortly afterwards became rector of St. Matthew's Hillsboro. Opposed Regulators. Inclined at first, during Revolution, to be Loyalist. Captured at Moore's Creek but paroled. Took oath of loyalty at Halifax convention. Moved to Granville county. In 1790 was president of first Episcopal convention in N. C. In early 1800's removed to Virginia.
ELISHA MITCHELL (1793-1857) Professor, Explorer. Born Connecticut. Graduate Yale, 1813. In 1817 appointed to chair of mathematics, U. N. C., and to chemistry in 1825. Conducted botanical and geological expeditions throughout the state. Made many scientific studies and explorations of N. C., particularly in the mountains. Measured highest peaks. Killed on Mount Mitchell, named for him.
WILLIAM MONTGOMERY (1789-1844) Physician, Congressman. Born Guilford county. Studied medicine and practiced in Albrights, Orange county. Represented the county in state senate 1824-1827,1829-1834. Member congress, 1835-1841.
STEPHEN MOORE (c 1740-1800) Revolutionary Leader. Born New York City. Served in French and Indian War (1758-1760). From 1765 to 1775 he lived at West Point, which he owned. Shortly before Revolution bought land in Caswell (now Person) county and built "Mt. Tirzah," his home. Appointed lieutenant colonel of Hillsboro district. In 1781 stationed in Hillsboro by Gov. Burke as deputy quartermaster general.
ARCHIBALD DeBOW MURPHEY (1777-1832) Jurist. Born Caswell county. Graduate U. N. C., 1799. Began practice of law in 1802. Member state senate from Orange county, 1812-1818. Strong advocate of internal improvements, canals, roads, schools. Judge superior court, 1818-1820.
FRANCIS NASH (c. 1742-1777) Revolutionary Officer. Born Virginia. Moved to Hillsboro about 1763. Justice of the peace and clerk of county court. Represented Orange county in general assembly, 1764-1765, and Hillsboro in 1773-1775. One of victims of abuse by Regulators. Captain and later colonel of militia. At Battle of Alamance. Member of provincial congress, April and August, 1775. Appointed lieutenant colonel of First Regiment, Continental Line, September, 1775; brigadier general, February, 1777. Fatally wounded at Battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777.
FRANCIS NASH (1855-1932) Lawyer. Born Robeson county. Grew up and educated in Hillsboro. Began practice of law in Tarboro, 1877, where he became mayor in 1881 and served as county judge from 1881 to 1885. Returned to Hillsboro to practice law and served as mayor, 1908-1912; county attorney, 1910-1915; state senator, 1915. Assistant attorney and clerk of N. C. supreme court. Author of a number of historical and biographical works.
FREDERICK NASH (1781-1858) Chief Justice. Born Tryon's Palace, New Bern, which his father occupied while governor. Graduate Princeton, 1799. Admitted to bar, 1801. Move to Hillsboro, 1807. Represented Orange county in general assembly, 1814-1817, and Hillsboro in 1828-1829; speaker in 1814. Judge of superior court, 1818-1826,1836-1844. Succeeded Gaston on supreme court, 1844, and continued until his death. Chief Justice after 1852.
JOHN WALL NORWOOD (1802-1885) Lawyer. Born Hillsboro. Graduate U. N. C., 1824. Practiced law in Hillsboro. Member general assembly for Orange county, 1858; of state senate, 1872. Advocated and practiced scientific farming.
WILLIAM NORWOOD (1766-1842) Lawyer, Judge. Born probably in Scotland. Represented Hillsboro in general assembly, 1806-1807; was practicing law in Hillsboro as early as 1818; judge superior court, 1820-1836. Early benefactor of University and later contributed towards completion of South Building.
DENISON OLMSTED (1791-1859) Professor. Born Connecticut. Graduate Yale, 1813. Professor of chemistry, U. N. C., 1817-1825. Undertook geological survey of N. C. for the general assembly. Strong advocate of teacher training and improvement of common schools.
HENRY PATILLO (1726-1801) Clergyman. Born in Scotland. Settled in Virginia; clerked in a store and taught school. In 1751 began to study with view to ordination in Presbyterian church. Ordained and preached in Va. Moved to Hawfields, 1765. Chaplain to provincial congress in Hillsboro in August and September, 1775. In 1780 removed to Granville county.
CHARLES PHILLIPS (1822-1889) Professor. Born Harlem, N. Y. Graduate U. N. C., 1841. Tutor, 1844-1854; professor of engineering, 1854-1860; of mathematics, 1861-1868, and 1875-1879. Professor at Davidson College, 1869-1875. Author of textbooks and other works.
JAMES PHILLIPS (1792-1867) Professor. Born England. Settled in Harlem, N. Y., as a teacher in 1818. In 1826 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, U. N. C., where he remained for forty years. Licensed by the Orange Presbytery, 1833, and preached more or less regularly until about 1863.
SAMUEL FIELD PHILLIPS (1824-1903) Lawyer. Born Harlem, N. Y. Graduate U. N. C., 1841. assistant professor of law, 1854-1856; represented Orange county in general assembly, 1852-1854, 1864-1865 (speaker of house, 1865); member constitutional convention of 1865; state auditor; U. S. solicitor general, 1873-1885.
SOLOMON POOL (1832-1901) University President. Born Elizabeth City. Graduate U. N. C., 1853. Tutor and professor, 1853-1868. President U. N. C., 1868-1874. Methodist minister.
NATHANIEL ROCHESTER (1752-1831) Merchant, County Official. Born Virginia. Educated at school conducted by the Rev. Henry Patillo. Settled in Hillsboro, 1773, and joined Thomas Hart in operating a store. Delegate to provincial congresses in 1775 and 1776. Lieutenant colonel of an Orange county regiment of militia. Member general assembly, 1777. Clerk of court, 1777-1782. Left N. C. in 1782. Founder of Rochester, N. Y.
THOMAS RUFFIN, Sr. (1787-1870) Chief Justice. Born Virginia. Educated Warrenton, N. C., academy. Graduate Princeton, 1805. Studied law. Settled in Hillsboro, 1809. Represented Hillsboro in general assembly, 1813, 1815, 1816. Judge of superior court. Justice of supreme court, 1829-1833; chief justice, 1833-1852. Retired 1852, but served again as justice, 1858-1860. Delegate to secession convention.
THOMAS RUFFIN, Jr. (1824-1889) Lawyer. Born Hillsboro. Graduate U. N. C., 1844. Licensed to practice law. In Civil War, lieutenant colonel, 13th regiment. Justice of the state supreme court, 1881-1885.
JAMES STRUDWICK SMITH (1790-1859) Physician, Congressman. Born near Hillsboro. Graduate Hillsboro Academy and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 1818. Practiced medicine near Hillsboro at first and later near Chapel Hill. Member of congress 1817-1821; general assembly 1821-1822; and delegate to state constitutional convention in 1835.
CORNELIA PHILLIPS SPENCER (1825-1908) Writer. Born in Harlem, N. Y., daughter of Prof. James Phillips. Moved to Chapel Hill as a child where she lived until 1894 when she went to Cambridge, Mass., to live with her daughter. Mrs. Spencer gave long years of service to North Carolina in many fields - political, religious, educational, and literary. Her letters and personal pleas were largely responsible for the re-opening of the University in 1875 at the end of the carpetbag regime. She was the author of a popular school history of North Carolina and her Last Ninety Days of the War in North Carolina has long been regarded as a vivid and strong account of the end of the Civil War in the state. Mrs. Spencer wrote frequently for magazines and newspapers and was the author of a number of songs and hymns.
RICHARD STANFORD (1767-1816) Congressman. Born near Vienna, Maryland. Educated locally. Moved to Hawfields, Orange county, about 1793 and established an academy. Elected as a Democrat to the Fifth and to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving from 1797 until his death nearly twenty years later. In Congress he advocated economy and opposed the Alien and Sedition Laws; during the difficult times preceding the War of 1812, he spoke strongly against war. Stanford was a close personal friend of Nathaniel Macon, John Randolph of Roanoke, and William Gaston. He was a firm supporter of Thomas Jefferson.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN STROWD (1832-1911) Congressman. Born near Chapel Hill. Attended Bingham School and Graham Institute. Moved to Chatham county in 1861. Served as private in Civil War. Served as a Populist in congress, 1895-1899. Resumed agricultural pursuits.
EDMUND STRUDWICK (1802-1879) Physician. Born Orange county. Educated Bingham School. Graduate U. of Penna., 1824. Began practice of medicine in Hillsboro, 1826. First president (1849) N. C. State Medical Society. Gained reputation as a surgeon and operated in Raleigh, Wilmington, Charlotte, and Greensboro.
WILLIAM FRANCIS STRUDWICK ( ? -1812) Congressman. Born "Stag Park," New Hanover county. Limited education. Engaged in agriculture. Delegate from Orange county to state convention of 1789; member state senate from Orange county, 1792, 1797. Member congress, 1796-1797; of general assembly, 1801-1803. Died at his home, Hawfields.
DAVID LOWRIE SWAIN (1801-1868) Governor, University President. Born Buncombe county. Attended Newton Academy and U. N. C. Licensed to practice law, 1822. Member general assembly; judge superior court. Governor, 1832-1835. President U. N. C., 1835-1867. Improved and enlarged University.
ABSOLOM TATOM (TATUM) (1742-1802) Congressman. Native North Carolinian. Sergeant in militia, 1763. Lieutenant in 1st N. C. Continental Regt., 1775, promoted captain, 1776. Assistant quartermaster and keeper of arsenal, Hillsboro, 1778. Major, N. C. Light Horse, 1779. District auditor for Hillsboro, 1781. Private secretary to Gov. Burke. Delegate from Hillsboro to constitutional convention, 1788. Member congress, 1795-1796; general assembly, 1797-1802, from Hillsboro.
CHARLES COURTENEY TEW (1824-1862) Confederate Officer. Born South Carolina. First graduate of the Citadel; superintendent of the arsenal, Columbia, S. C. Moved to Hillsboro several years before the Civil War. Formed Hillsboro Military Academy. Colonel, 2nd N. C. Regt.; killed Sept. 17, 1862, at Sharpsburg.
JAMES THACKSTON (fl. 1770-1781; d. after1790) Revolutionary Leader. Opponent of Regulators. Colonel Orange county troops at Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, February 27, 1776. Lieutenant colonel, 4th N. C. Regt., Continental Line, April 15, 1776 to January 1, 1781, when he retire. Presumably moved to Cumberland county which he represented in the general assembly in 1787. Living there at time of 1790 census.
JOSIAH TURNER, JR. (1821-1901) Lawyer, Confederate Congressman. Born Hillsboro. Student U. N. C., 1842-1843. Licensed to practice law, 1845. Member general assembly, 1852, 1854, 1856, 1860, 1868. Captain, Confederate Army; wounded and forced to retire. Confederate congressman, 1864. Publisher Raleigh Sentinel. Elected to congress, 1865, but denied seat.
FRANCIS PRESTON VENABLE (1856-1934) Chemist, University President. Born Virginia. Graduate U. of Va., 1879. Professor U. N. C., 1880-1900; president, 1900-1914. Outstanding chemist who "made the natural sciences as respectable and respected as the humanities, law, medicine, and theology."
ALFRED MOORE WADDELL (1834-1912) Congressman. Born Hillsboro. Graduate U. N. C., 1853. Admitted to bar, 1855, and began practice in Wilmington. Newspaper editor; lieutenant colonel in Civil War. Member congress, 1871-1879. Mayor of Wilmington, 1898-1904.
HUGH WADDELL (1799-1879) Lawyer. Born Orange County Graduate U.N.C., 1818. Represented Orange county in general assembly, 1828; state senator, 1836, 1844-1846; lieutenant governor, 1836.
JAMES WATSON ( ? -1770) County Official. Pioneer settler of Orange county. In 1752 was one of the commissioners to establish the boundaries of the county. Vestryman of the Parish of St. Matthew. The site selected for a courthouse in 1754 was on property owned by Watson and in 1759 he was one of the commissioners appointed to establish the town of Childsburg. During the French and Indian War he assisted in raising supplies for the Indian allies of North Carolina. At the time of the Regulator violence Watson sided with Tryon and reported to him on the disturbance at the September, 1770, session of Orange court. He was Clerk of Court for several years. 

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