Welcome to our new series—Buried History, where we’ll visit historic cemeteries to dig into the rich and fascinating lives of those who came before us.
This isn’t about ghosts; it’s about people. Each life mattered, and by taking a moment to pause and contemplate their struggles and joys, we keep their memory alive. It’s this connection to the past that ultimately helps guide us toward a better future. Join us for the journey.
For our first feature, we’re traveling to Historic Hillsborough, NC, a place rich in stories from the past and layers of Buried History waiting to be uncovered.
We’ll start by learning about the First People of Hillsborough and their continued legacy, before taking a tour of area cemeteries and hearing from the voices of the past.
The First People of Hillsborough: The Occaneechi
For thousands of years, the Yesah Native American tribes, who spoke the Siouan-based Tutelo-Saponi language, thrived in this fertile area along the Eno River. These Yesah people established semi-permanent villages near rivers, stretching from Roanoke Island on the North Carolina coast inland to the regions around Hillsborough and modern-day Danville, VA.
Unlike some neighboring groups, the Yesah did not originally form large confederacies, but were instead bonded by common traditions and their language. The Yesah formed regional tribes, including the Eno, Shakori, and Occaneechi. Each tribe was led by two chiefs: one who presided over military matters, while the other handled economic affairs, including hunting and agriculture. Even today, many place names in the greater Hillsborough region still reflect the Occaneechi heritage in the area.
Masters of the Trading Path
Hillsborough lies on what was once known as the Great Road or Trading Path, a crucial stop on the extensive north-to-south and east-to-west trading routes. The path was used by Native American tribes like the Cherokee and Catawba, as well as later European immigrants.
The Occaneechi controlled trade on this crucial section, expertly acting as trade negotiators between the Cherokee and Catawba, who were fierce rivals at the time.
They also encountered European colonists, such as fur trader Abraham Wood in 1673 and explorer John Lawson in 1701. Wood was heavily involved in the lucrative deerskin trade. Both the Occaneechi and European colonists used deerskin as a form of currency because of its value. In fact, one of the reasons we still refer to a dollar bill as a ‘buck’ can trace its origins back to this very trade.
Lawson, a naturalist and explorer, wrote extensive notes about Occaneechi Town and the customs of the people from his 1701 stay. Referring to it as ‘Aconechy Town,’ he was welcomed by a guide named Enoe Will, who accompanied him toward the coast near the Pamlico River. Following this adventure, Lawson eventually settled at what would become the town of Bath.
Buried History: Revealing the Occaneechi’s Secrets
Over the past century, archaeologists have worked to reveal the buried secrets of the Occaneechi tribes to better understand their life and preserve their heritage.
The story begins with the Wall site, first excavated in 1938 by archaeologist Joffre Coe, who established that a town had once stood there. Later, from 1983 to 1986, archaeologists from UNC began extensive excavations on several sites tied to what they believed was the former location of Occaneechi Town.
These excavations focused on the Wall site and what is called the Frederick Site. Both are located along the Eno River, not far from downtown Hillsborough and the Riverwalk path today.
The Wall Site (1400–1600 AD)
The Wall Site, first discovered by Coe, predates the Occaneechi Town settlement that John Lawson visited in 1701. It is believed the Wall site was inhabited in the Late Woodland Period (roughly 1400 to 1600 AD) by ancestors of the Occaneechi of Ocanahowan Town.
The excavation revealed evidence that this group lived in large palisaded villages with in-ground houses, storage buildings, and eight burial sites. The presence of these stockades indicates the need for protection from intertribal conflict even before widespread European contact. The Wall site represents one of the best examples of a compact, nucleated village with a relatively large population—estimated at about 100 to 150 people—though it was likely occupied for less than 20 years.
The Frederick Site (Ocanahowan Town, 1690s–1700s)
During the 1983 dig, another town was discovered: the site believed to be Ocanahowan Town (the Occaneechi Town referenced by John Lawson). This site, dubbed the ‘Frederick Site,’ was also a stockaded village. It was significantly smaller, covering only about a quarter of an acre, with around ten to twelve houses arranged around an open plaza. The homes, protected by a wall of sharpened logs, surrounded a communal sweat lodge with a central fire pit.
Archaeologists believe fewer than 75 individuals lived in this village. The lack of rebuilding indicates the Occaneechi probably lived in the area less than a decade before facing pressure that pushed them north into Virginia at Fort Christiana.
Graves and Legacy
While the dead here are not commemorated with traditional gravestones, their lives and legacy remain literally preserved in the land they inhabited. Both the Wall and Frederick site excavations have revealed burial sites.
The people buried here faced a difficult existence:
- Violence: Some deceased met violent deaths—one grave contained the scarred skull of a scalp victim, while another held the remains of a young woman with a lead ball flattened against her shin.
- Disease: The Occaneechi also faced death from European diseases due to lack of immunity.
In total, 25 graves were excavated from three different cemeteries located outside the stockade wall. Over time, burial practices shifted from shaft-and-chamber pits to rectangular straight-sided pits dug with metal tools. While bodies were still placed in their graves flexed, the burials were no longer placed in and around dwellings, but were instead carefully aligned in rows within the cemeteries.
To commemorate the importance of the Occaneechi people in Hillsborough, The Alliance for Hillsborough and the Occaneechi-Saponi Nation have rebuilt a replica of the early 1700s Ocanahowan Site . Throughout the year, they host living history events where you can meet with members of the tribe and hear the stories of their ancestors.
The replica site is located within easy walking distance of downtown Hillsborough via the Eno Riverwalk Trail, an interpretive path that helps keep the Buried History of the Occaneechi alive for all to learn.
Interested to learn more about the Occaneechi? In addition to visiting the town replica, I also recommend stopping by the Orange County Historical Museum, which has a number of artifacts from the Occaneechi excavations on display. You can also discover more information about the excavation sites and tribal history on this website.
From Occaneechi Town to Hillsborough:
We dove into a bit of Hillsborough’s History in our Time Traveling adventure (insert post here)…
Orange County was first established in 1752, and was much larger at the time, covering over five additional counties. Settlers began arriving in the Piedmont region in the 1740s via the Great Road, which aligned with the ancient Indian Trading routes used by the Occaneechi and other tribes for centuries.
This area was known as the ‘backcountry’ because, though the North Carolina Piedmont has a strong system of waterways, none provide a direct navigable path to the coastal ports. This geographical barrier meant that even at inland river ports like Cross Creek (Fayetteville), goods and people often had to be portaged overland to connect with interior trading systems. Because of this challenge, many early colonial settlers to the Hillsborough region chose to travel via the Great Road, arriving by wagon or on horseback, primarily from Pennsylvania.
Many of the early settlers to this area were Presbyterians, Quakers, Moravians and Baptists who hoped for more freedom from the Anglican Church. They and other settlers were also lured to the region by the promise of cheap land, opportunity to build a new life, and North Carolina laws that protected debtors.
What we now know as Hillsborough was first surveyed and plotted out in 1754 by William Churton, who worked for Lord Granville. By then, North Carolina was a Royal Colony, but Granville still owned land in the region. Hillsborough had several other names in its early years: from Corbin Town (until 1759) to Childsburgh (from 1759 to 1766), before finally settling on Hillsborough in 1766.
Located on the corner of Tryon Street and Churton Street, the first city cemetery, known as the Old Town Cemetery, was established in 1757 near the original site of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church. St. Matthew’s was destroyed in the early 1800s and relocated several blocks away to its current location. Despite being adjacent to a church, this burial ground was not a traditional church graveyard, but rather one of the oldest city-owned municipal cemeteries in the region.
While we use the terms interchangeably today—technically a graveyard traditionally refers to a burial ground owned by a church, while a cemetery is usually a public burial ground. Some burying grounds, like St. John’s Church in Richmond, are both a graveyard and cemetery, as the church opened up a portion of the burying ground for city use.
The Old Town Cemetery has 184 marked graves, but up to several hundred without grave markers. This is not uncommon, as historically not every plot was given a stone marker. Some were marked by wooden markers, or the stone wore down over time or was washed away during area flooding. Some of the unmarked graves are denoted in records, while the souls buried in others are lost to history.
The cemetery is divided into several sections, based on its use. Originally, one acre of the cemetery was sold to St. Matthew’s Parish for their parishioners. The Eastern Half is the original burial ground and is more crowded than the western half, consisting of an estimated 100 unmarked graves. The western half is characterized by 11 private cemeteries that served as family plots. These plots are demarcated by walls of fieldstone, brick, or hedgerows. Fun fact: One of the reasons for adding these bricks and hedges to the cemetery plots was to protect them from stray pigs and cows! While Hillsborough was a city, it still had rural elements. (The Food Lion and Weaver Street Market weren’t open yet! Can you imagine worrying about a pig in a cemetery?)
The Old Town Cemetery is the resting place for many souls of different backgrounds, each with a unique voice and story. While some search out cemeteries looking for ghosts, I want to learn about the lives of those who lived there in hopes not of disturbing their peace, but keeping their memory alive. As I quietly explore cemeteries I take time to say a prayer for their souls and their family members…in learning about their lives, I try to pay tribute to their memory and also seek to learn lessons from those who came before me.
Within this cemetery you’ll meet many of Hillsborough’s founding fathers and mothers as well as those lost to memory except to God. Here are a few of the people you’ll meet at the Old Town Cemetery.
James Hogg was born in 1729 in East Lothian, Scotland. While his brother Robert had moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, as early as 1756, Hogg and his wife remained in Scotland until 1774, ultimately compelled to immigrate by severe hardship. The aftermath of the Jacobite uprising (Culloden) and the rise of the First Industrial Revolution devastated the local linen industry. Though Hogg retained his income, he complained of social chaos and personal danger, which culminated in 1771 when looters retaliated against him for defending a shipwreck captain, nearly murdering him and burning his home to the ground. This trauma made Hogg ready for a new start, and in 1774, following a visit from his brother, he emigrated with 280 families. Robert had secured 1,160 acres for James in Hillsborough, but Hogg initially set up business in Cross Creek (Fayetteville) before moving to Hillsborough in 1775, taking up residence at the Old House on his land. That same year, Hogg became a key member of the Transylvania Company, a large-scale land speculation venture conceived by Judge Richard Henderson. Hogg served as the company’s emissary to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, presenting the company’s memorial to be admitted as the fourteenth colony, though the Congress ultimately elected not to consider the petition.
While living in Hillsborough, Hogg’s Cameron Street home was a regular stop for British officers and was partially ransacked during David Fanning’s 1781 raid; it was also where the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati was founded in 1783. Hogg was a lifelong advocate of education, founding Hillsborough’s first academy, Science Hall, in 1779, and serving as a key member of the board of trustees for the University of North Carolina from its founding in 1789 until his death in 1802. Hogg, who died of a stroke, is also known for successfully petitioning the state to change his children’s last name to his wife’s maiden name, Alves, to end the constant mockery of his surname. Visitors can still see his second home, Poplar Hill, which dates to 1794, as they stroll the streets of Historic Hillsborough.
The Missing Resident…William Hooper
Declaration of Independence Signer, William Hooper, who spent his final years living and working in Hillsborough, was originally buried in Hillsborough’s Old Town Cemetery.
However in 1894, his remains were moved to Guilford National Military Park to be part of a Signer’s Memorial. While Hooper was not involved with the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, it was decided to have all North Carolina signers buried at the site as a memorial. Both John Penn and William Hooper were moved to Guilford Courthouse, while Joseph Hewes exact remains could not be identified at Christ Church Graveyard in Philadelphia so he remains there. After the War, William Hooper moved to Hillsborough and purchased General Francis Nash’s home, which is next to the Cemetery.
Rev. John Knox Witherspoon and Hillsborough Presbyterian Church
After the original St. Matthew’s Church was destroyed by fire in the early 1800s, the lot adjacent to the cemetery was left vacant. The Town of Hillsborough decided to build a church structure on the lot in 1814, intending to recruit a new congregation. A call was sent out for a church parish, and the first minister to answer would be deeded the church building. Presbyterian John Knox Witherspoon became that minister, establishing what remains a thriving parish to this day. Learn more about Hillsborough Presbyterian Church’s History here.
John Knox Witherspoon, who is buried in the cemetery close to the church he helped found, was the grandson of the famed Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon of New Jersey—the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence and the long-time president of The College of New Jersey (later Princeton).
John’s father, David, had moved to New Bern after his Princeton education, where he married the wealthy widow of Governor Abner Nash (and sister-in-law to Hillsborough’s Francis Nash). Through this marriage, David became one of the wealthiest men in New Bern, with his family settling at the productive Pembroke Plantation. John Knox was born in 1791 and grew up in the greater New Bern area.
Orphaned by age nine, John Knox eventually found himself under the guardianship of his half-brother, Chief Justice Frederick Nash. He was sent to the Reverend Abner W. Clopton’s prep school in Chapel Hill before enrolling at the University of North Carolina in 1808. He graduated in 1810 and read law in Frederick Nash’s Hillsborough office, where he was admitted to the Bar. However, influenced by the Kollock family and UNC President Dr. Robert Hett Chapman, he chose to pursue a career in religion instead.
He married a family connection, Susan Davis Kollock of New Jersey (a relative of Mrs. Frederick Nash), on July 1, 1813. From 1814 to 1816, he pursued theological studies at Elizabethtown and Princeton. Upon completing his studies, Witherspoon answered the call to lead the congregation at the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and to assist at the closely allied Hillsborough Academy.
Despite his youth, Reverend Witherspoon’s family and church connections automatically secured for him immense prestige. He was in constant demand to organize new churches, such as the Presbyterian Church of New Bern in 1817, and he served as a UNC Board of Trustee member from 1817 to 1834. Witherspoon was also highly respected as an educator, and many of his students at the Hillsborough Academy (until 1819) went on to become prominent figures. He also served as a private tutor in the Hillsborough region.
Sadly, the Witherspoons faced immense personal trials in later years, including a devastating fire that destroyed their first home and later forced Witherspoon to sell their home, Tusculum, to pay debts. For a time, he even became an itinerant preacher, traveling as far as Alabama to spread the Gospel. For his era, he was considered progressive on issues of slavery, advocating for the religious education and church services for enslaved peoples—a position that ultimately strained his relations with his congregation. Witherspoon and several of his family members are buried in this cemetery. Learn more about his fascinating legacy here.
Governor William Graham: Born in 1804 in Lincoln County, Graham’s father had been a Revolutionary War Soldier who helped to pioneer the iron industry in North Carolina. Graham eventually settled in Hillsborough, where he was drawn into politics in the Whig party. He served in the state legislature from 1833 to 1840, where his passion for public education access empowered him to fight for public schools while in office. He then served a two-year appointed term in the U.S. Senate (1840–1843) before becoming Governor of North Carolina, serving from 1845 to 1849. As Governor, his initiatives were focused on internal improvements to infrastructure and public schools. He served briefly as Secretary of the Navy in the early 1850s, before running as the Whig Vice Presidential Candidate in 1852. After the loss, he returned to Hillsborough. While Graham was a vocal opponent of secession during the Civil War, he ultimately supported the Confederacy, with five of his sons fighting for the Confederate Army. He briefly lived in the Nash-Hooper House, maintaining a tradition of famous Hillsborough residents living at the historical home.
John Berry: Born on August 18th, 1798 in Hillsborough, John Berry became one of North Carolina’s premier early brickmasons and architects of the antebellum period. He was one of the first native NC artisans to establish a large, long-lasting practice in the Piedmont and beyond. He began his career working with his neighbor and local brick mason Samuel Hancock. Together they worked on many projects, including the Presbyterian Church, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, John Knox Witherspoon’s Twin Chimneys House, The Eagle’s Masonic Lodge, the 1820s Hillsborough Academy Building, and more.
Berry utilized both his own designs as well as those of fellow architects William Nichols and Alexander Jackson Davis.
Several preeminent projects for Berry included designing Smith Hall (now UNC’s Playmakers Theatre), and St. John’s College for the Masons in Oxford. Ironically, the Masons ran out of money and could not pay him, so Berry held part ownership of the building until 1868, when he finally received his $7,000.
The crowning achievement for Berry, however, was the chance to design the Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough (1844–1848). One hundred years later, the scholar Talbot Hamlin wrote in Greek Revival Architecture in America that it was “one of the best of its type anywhere in the country. Its four-columned, widely spaced Greek Doric portico, its unusually forceful and well-designed cupola, and its quiet brick walls are almost perfect of their kind.” Berry drew upon his knowledge of classicism from his architectural books to design as well as build the courthouse. Local praise ran high, with the Hillsborough Recorder’s editor proclaiming on March 4, 1846, that the courthouse was “not surpassed by any courthouse in the state. . . perhaps not surpassed in the Union,” and expressing special pride that it was erected by a “native son.”
Berry died on Jan. 11, 1870. His architectural legacy, however, remains visible throughout Hillsborough and the greater Piedmont in buildings that continue to serve their communities today. He and his wife, Elizabeth Vincent, and their family are buried here. Read more about his legacy here.
Archibald DeBow Murphey: Born in 1777 in present-day Caswell County, Archibald DeBow Murphey’s impact on education and public works in North Carolina remains profound. Educated at David Caldwell’s Classical Academy in Guilford County, he went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina. He then began to practice law under Hillsborough attorney William Duffy in 1801. Murphey had a passion for education and believed the state should fund public education. At the time, the educational system was private, which prevented many eager students from pursuing an education. He recognized that North Carolina would not be able to grow and move towards the future unless education was at the forefront. Murphey served in the state legislature from 1812 to 1818, where he fought for government-funded public schools, construction of canals and turnpike roads (known as Internal Improvements), and a general welfare system. Murphey Hall at UNC and the town of Murphy, North Carolina, are named in his honor. Sadly, Murphey died in 1832 deeply in debt, largely due to ambitious but failed land speculation in Western North Carolina and the state’s initial refusal to fund his extensive public works plans. Yet his visionary ideas remain his enduring legacy, shaping North Carolina’s public education and infrastructure to this day.
Elizabeth Coit: One of the most somber stories of those buried in the cemetery is Elizabeth Coit, a well-known orphan from South Carolina who traveled to Hillsborough in 1852 to study at the Burwell School. The Burwell School was a renowned institution for the education of young ladies. It was also, significantly, where Elizabeth Keckley—later the celebrated seamstress and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln—was enslaved and worked during her time in Hillsborough. Sadly, Coit died, along with over a dozen other Hillsborough citizens buried in the cemetery, in 1852, most likely from a Yellow Fever epidemic. (Link to a letter Elizabeth wrote while at Burwell School)
In 2016, Elizabeth’s gravestone, which had been previously buried due to cracking within the stone, resurfaced. According to Dr. Ken Ostrand and his team, as featured in the News of Orange, this tombstone’s sharp letters and unique breakage pattern provide rare insight into 19th-century masonry.
“Notice how sharp the letters of the inscription are, meaning that it was probably buried almost immediately after breaking,” Ostrand said. “And, because it is broken at both the top and bottom, it was most likely carved here, in this place when it broke—otherwise if it were carved back in a shop it would never have been brought here in a broken state. Thus it gives insight into how tombstones were carved in the nineteenth century, an interesting bit of historic knowledge of which we have little evidence.”
Margaret Lane Cemetery:
Located about three-fourths of a mile from the Old Town Cemetery, the Margaret Lane Cemetery is a place of profound reflection. There is a quiet peace that settles over the historic grounds, yet for me it is also accompanied by a suspended sadness, as the legacy of many buried here remains anonymous—their grave sites known only to God.
This cemetery is a vital piece of North Carolina history. Located on Margaret Lane, it was originally known as the Old Slave Cemetery. In 1854, Peter Brown Ruffin, owner of Occoneechee Farm, purchased the land from Duncan Cameron specifically to bury those enslaved by him and his neighbor, Cadwalader Jones, Sr. The earliest known burial is believed to be that of Jim Ruffin in 1854.
The cemetery continued as an African American burial ground until the 1930s, when a tragic consequence of Jim Crow laws barred African American relatives from entering the adjacent, newly developed neighborhood to tend to the graves.
Unable to be maintained by family members, the cemetery fell into severe disrepair. Unfathomably, many original grave markers were stolen, some even used for the foundations of surrounding houses. Only three headstones remain, now encased in brick to pay homage to the estimated 300 to 600 souls buried here.
In the 1980s, Hillsborough created the first of several committees to restore the cemetery. Archaeological work in 2006 helped to identify 170 grave sites. Recent restoration efforts include the planting of trees, a memorial plaque, and a brick monument.
Oak trees can be seen throughout the cemetery, representing a powerful symbol of peace and hope for African Americans. As Beverly Scarlett, a retired District Court Judge and descendent of at least one known person buried at the cemetery, noted: “Oak trees befit a Black cemetery, particularly one that has graves of enslaved people… While loved ones might not be able to provide an expensive headstone, they sought to lay their relatives to rest where there was an oak tree. The shady tree represented rest, peace, and solace from the hot fields where they had toiled.” Learn more about this important piece of Hillsborough’s history here.
The Hanged Regulators –
We recently dug into Hillsborough’s Role with the Regulator Movement of the 1760s-1771 in our Reckoning with the Regulators post. The Regulators were a group of farmers and tradesmen in the North Carolina backcountry around Hillsborough who protested corrupt local government officials like the notorious Edmund Fanning, who was a favorite of Royal Governor William Tryon. After the Regulators lost at the Battle of Alamance, six regulators were tried at the Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough and hung near the current Old County Courthouse (1844) stands. While no one knows the exact burial location of the six regulators that were hanged, it is believed to be near the Cameron Elementary School in Hillsborough. A plaque pays homage to their deaths near the school playground. The six men executed were: Benjamin Merrill, Captain Robert Messer, Robert Matear, James Pugh, and two others whose names were unrecorded. Learn more here…
Cats Have Nine Lives: The Moorefields Cemetery
One of the more curious burying grounds in Hillsborough is on the property of Moorefields, an estate once owned by Supreme Court Justice Alfred Moore (who built the house in 1785) and, much later, the home of intellectual and artist Edward Draper-Savage. Read about our history adventure at the The Moorefields here.
Many Moore family members and their descendants are buried in the traditional cemetery on the property. (Alfred Moore is buried near Wilmington at St. Philip’s Burial Ground at Brunswick Town).
The most unique grave site, however, belongs to Draper-Savage himself, who took his eccentricity to the grave. Prior to his death, he left explicit instructions that his body was never to leave Moorefields. After his death on February 15, 1978, his body was embalmed inside the house before being buried immediately west of the structure. He is surrounded by his beloved pets.
Draper-Savage ensured that each of his cats was buried with the same care he reserved for himself: each was placed in a hand-made, velvet-lined coffin beneath a marble marker that he designed and personally executed. As a cat lover, I felt a kindred connection when I learned about Draper-Savage’s care for his beloved cats. Fun fact: It turns out that as a young artist in Paris in the 1920s he lived in the same apartment building as an animal sculptor named Francois Pompon!! Among other things, Pompon was an assistant to Rodin!
Eno River African American Cemetery:
The Eno African American Cemetery is an essential site for recovering the full history of the Black community in Hillsborough and Orange County. Located near the Eno River, this historic burial ground holds critical stories, though it is smaller and less documented than the Margaret Lane Cemetery. Like many cemeteries for people of African descent, it has bravely withstood decades of neglect, standing as a silent testament to the resilience and enduring memory of the lives interred there.
.St. Matthew’s Churchyard:
St. Matthew’s Parish was founded in 1752 by the North Carolina General Assembly, making the parish body older than Hillsborough itself (1754). It has served as an important part of the community ever since. In its early years, parishioners would have met in local homes and meeting spaces. The original church was later constructed at Tryon and Church Streets (the same site as the current Hillsborough Presbyterian Church) in 1768.
This location became a crucial gathering place for faith and community, hosting several key historic events. In August–September 1775, St. Matthew’s hosted the important Third Provincial Congress, and in 1788 it was the site for the first North Carolina Constitutional Convention. Here, delegates fiercely debated the newly proposed government. The crux of the debate came down to the fact that the original Constitution did not have a Bill of Rights, leading the convention to reject ratification. The state later ratified the Constitution in Fayetteville in November 1789, based on the promise that a Bill of Rights would be included.
Sadly, the church building was lost in the early 1800s and the parish briefly dissolved. It reassembled in the 1820s when Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Thomas Ruffin donated land on St. Mary’s Road for the construction of a new church building. Built in the Gothic Revival style, it was designed by state architect William Nichols. It remains a beautiful church and an important part of Hillsborough today.
The churchyard is the final resting place of countless souls, each with their own unique Hillsborough legacy. Here you’ll notice family burying plots of early parishioners and their descendants, including the Camerons, Webbs, Ruffins, Grahams, Roulhacs, and others.
Born in 1787, Thomas Ruffin was a prominent legislator, agriculturalist, and is considered one of the most important Supreme Court Justices for the State of North Carolina, serving on the bench from 1829 to 1852 and again briefly in 1858–59. Ruffin studied at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and read law in Hillsborough with his colleague and friend, Archibald Murphey.
Justice Ruffin was highly respected for the majority of his legal career. At a time when North Carolina was disparagingly known as ‘the Rip Van Winkle State’ for lagging behind on public works, Ruffin became a key figure in issuing a modern state system. According to North Carolina law professor Martin Brinkley, “The election of former Superior Court Judge and State Bank President Ruffin to the bench in 1829 effectively ensured the North Carolina Supreme Court’s survival.”
Ranked by Harvard Law School Dean Roscoe Pound as one of the ten greatest jurists in American history, Ruffin singlehandedly transformed the common law of North Carolina into an instrument of economic change. His writings on eminent domain—the right of the state to seize private property for the public good—paved the way for the expansion of railroads, enabling the “Rip Van Winkle State” to embrace the industrial revolution. Ruffin’s opinions were widely cited as persuasive authority throughout the United States. This public veneration preserved his court from destruction by populist politicians.
Sadly, for all the legal advancements he championed, his beliefs about slavery cannot be ignored, especially his judgment in State v. Mann (1830), which determined that enslaved people had virtually no rights and that a master’s authority was absolute.
In addition to his work as a jurist, Ruffin was a prominent agriculturist, serving as the president of the State Agricultural Society from 1854 until 1860. He was deeply involved in the development of scientific agriculture and the extension of that knowledge to the common farmer. Read his biography here
Old Eno Presbyterian Church in Cedar Grove – Orange County
North of Hillsborough in Cedar Cove you’ll discover one of the oldest burying grounds in North Carolina – the Old Eno Cemetery.
In 1755, Scotch-Irish immigrants first established the Eno Presbyterian Church on the banks of the Eno River, in an area between the Eno and Haw Rivers known as the Hawfields. Missionaries from Pennsylvania and New Jersey helped answer the call of the Presbyterians in North Carolina, including Hugh McAden. He first preached to the Eno congregation in August 1755.
His service is counted as the first formal organization of the church. McAden served Eno and other area churches until 1765.
The first regularly installed minister was Henry Patillo (of the New Hanover Presbytery), who served from 1765 to 1774. Patillo was also pastor at nearby Little River and Hawfields churches. The first Eno church building was made of logs; the second was a frame building. The third structure (built in 1878) was destroyed by fire in 1893. The church was then moved a few miles away to the village of Cedar Grove, and a new building was erected in 1898. Readable stones in the cemetery date from 1789.
The Old Eno cemetery, at its previous location, underwent restoration in the mid-1960s. When the East Fork of the Eno River was dammed in 1969 to create Lake Orange, the cemetery was preserved, left standing on the new shoreline and was not submerged. The Department of Transportation was persuaded to build a road into the site, which had become a wilderness. The cemetery was cleared, and a new bronze marker was placed to commemorate the site.
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Hi, I’m Adele Lassiter, the travel enthusiast behind American Nomad Traveler. This is where I share my love for history, cool museums, art, and travel tips. When I’m not writing, I’m a singer-songwriter with a passion for Americana music. You can find my new album here: adelelassiter.bandcamp.com
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