12/14/2002

UNC and Chatham County

PITTSBORO, Nov. 1st, 1792.

Sundry commissioners appointed by the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina to view the country within fifteen miles of Cypret's bridge, and to fix on the seat of the University, met according to the order of the board, to-wit: Frederick Harget, Alexander Mebane, James Hogg, William Hill, David Stone, and Willie Jones.

November 2nd, 1792

Appointed Frederick Harget Chairman; proceeded to view the Gum Spring belonging to Philip Meroney; also Matthew Jones's, John Mentoe's, and Matthew Ramsey's lands (near Pittsboro), and received their proposals. Sundry gentlemen of the county of Chatham offered further donations to the amount of four hundred and odd pounds, (exclusive of £1302 offered as a donation to the board at Hillsboro), provided the University was fixed at the fork of Haw and Deep rivers; and Ambrose Ramsey, Patrick St. Lawrence, George Lucas, John Mebane, Panthareup Harman and Thomas Stokes, guaranteed to the amount of £1,500; they having all the subscriptions to themselves, provided the University was established in the aforesaid fork.

The committee reported, through John Haywood, at their meeting in Fayetteville in December, 1793. They had met in Hillsboro in April of that year and contracted with George Daniel, of Orange County, for making 350,000 bricks for 40 shillings ($4) per thousand. On the 10th of August following they met at Chapel Hill, marked off sites for the buildings, "together with the necessary quantity of land for offices, avenues and ornamental grounds." They then laid off the village into lots. In addition to the beauty and natural advantages of the place, they reported that it is "happily accommodated to the introduction and direction of several important public roads, which it is highly probable will in the future lead through it." They found that a tract of eighty acres, belonging to Hardy Morgan ran inconveniently near the buildings, and therefore bought it for $200. On the 19th of July they contracted with James Patterson, of Chatham County, for erecting a two-storied brick building, 96 feet 7 inches long and 40 feet 1 1-2 inches wide, for $5,000, the University to furnish the brick, sash weights, locks, hooks, fastenings and painting. The building was to contain 16 rooms with four passages, and to be finished by the 1st of November, 1794. The cornerstone was laid on the 12th of October, 1793, and on the same day the lots in the village, reserving a four-acre lot for a residence for the President, were sold for £1.534 ($3,168), payable in one and two years, good security being given.

Joseph Ramsey served in the General Assembly and was a strong advocate for the University.

The building, since called the East, having been sufficiently prepared, Mr. Hinton James, of Wilmington, the first student, arrived on the Hill the 12th day of February, 1795.

The first graduating class was 1798.
Chatham County graduates in early years of the University of N. C.
In 1807 John Lewis Taylor was the first Chatham County student to graduate.
In 1809 John Briggs Mebane graduated.
In 1810 James Fauntleroy Taylor graduated.
In 1811 James Ambrose Ramsey graduated.
1822 Abraham Rencher graduated.
In 1823 Samuel Stewart graduated.
In 1824 Matthias Evans Manly graduated.
In 1825 Thomas Riddle graduated.
In 1838 Joseph John Jackson graduated.  Black's names got confused with this graduate.
In 1839 James Hunter Headen graduated.
In 1846 James Riddle Ward graduated.
In 1853 S. Augustus O'Daniel graduated.
In 1854 Leonidas J. Merritt graduated.
In 1856 A. Haywood Merritt graduated.
In 1858 Robert H. Marsh graduated.
In 1859 Thomas W. Harris graduated.
In 1860 William M. Brooks graduated.
In 1860 William Joseph Headen graduated.
In 1861 John W. Harris graduated.
In 1866 Wm. C. Rencher graduated. There were only 3 graduates that year.

CHATHAM RAILROAD COMPANY.
The Chatham Railroad, not yet completed, extends from Raleigh to Gulph in Chatham county, 45 miles, and connects with the North Carolina Central Railroad at Carey, near Raleigh, and at Gulph with the Western Railroad from Fayetteville, and is designed to connect also with the Coalfields and Cheraw, S. C., Railroad, when completed. Capital stock, $1250,000.

In 1879 Joseph John Goldston was a member of the State House of Representatives.

PLEASANT HILL ACADEMY, 1838.
The Exercises of the Pleasant Hill Academy closed on the 18th inst. to be resumed on the 8th of January next.

From the success attendant upon the Exercises of the past Session, conducted by BAXTER CLEGG, A. B., we cheerfully recommend the School to the patronage of our fellow citizens, and urge its claims especially on such as desire for their sons and wards a healthy location, at a distance from all scenes of dissipation. The Academy is located six miles south of Pittsboro. The high moral character of the neighborhood and the healthiness of the situation, commend it to the favorable regard of those preparing their sons for College, or training them for honor or usefulness. The following are the terms of the School per Session of five months, in advance:

For English Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic
$10 00
Algebra, Geometry, Surveying, &c.
12 50
Latin and Greek
15 00

Board, including bedding, washing and firewood, can be obtained in private families, convenient to the Academy, at $6 per month, in advance.

Railroad    The rivers provide only meager facilities for navigation, but this defect is supplied by the Raleigh and Augusta Air-Line railroad, which passes through the southern part of the county, and which connects Pittsboro, the county seat, by a branch road of twelve miles, with Moncure. The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley road runs through the whole western end of the county, and its construction has stimulated the growth of numerous villages, such as Egypt, Gulf, Goldston, Richmond, Ore Hill, Siler City and others, all of which have become centers of industrial pursuits, and locations of good schools. At Egypt, is a coal mine, the most extensive in the State, opened before the war, and now again operated with success. The coal is semi-bituminous. At Ore Hill, is a very valuable iron mine, worked during the Revolutionary war, and again during the late Civil war, and is now to be largely utilized in connection with the steel works in process of erection at Greensboro.