July 1781 David Fanning and his Loyalist militia attacked Chatham Court House where other Loyalists were being courtmartialed. In the attack, Fanning captured 53 Patriots, including most of the court officials and militia officers, as well as several members of the General Assembly.
MOMENTS
IN TIME
1787 The town of Pittsborough, originally known as “Chatham Court House,” was named the county seat. Locals shortened Pittsborough from the old English spelling to Pittsboro sometime in 1893.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHATHAM COUNTY BY MARIE MUIR PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF CHATHAM COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
1750s European settlers arrived and established an English Quaker settlement in what is now Siler City.
12,000 – 8,000 B.C. Native Americans lived in the area now known as Chatham County. Spear points and scrapers were found along the New Hope Creek during construction of the B. Everett Jordan Lake Dam.
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
1787 Pittsborough Academy was the first school established in the county. May 16, 1771 Residents known as Regulators fought and lost in the Battle of Alamance against British militia over corrupt colonial government practices.
April 1, 1771 The Colonial Assembly established Chatham County, named after the first earl of Chatham, England, William Pitt, who served as British Prime Minister from 1766-1768.
March 1781 – At the end of the American Revolutionary War, British army under Lord Cornwallis retreated through the county. They camped at places such as Chatham Court House, now Pittsboro, and Ramsey’s Mill and Tavern on the Deep River. Americans in pursuit, led by General Greene, camped along Tick Creek and used John Brooks’ home (said to be the first framed house and the first house with glass windows in Chatham County) as a headquarters.
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2021
1849 Charles Manly, Pittsborough Academy graduate and local attorney, was elected governor of North Carolina for one term (1849-1851).
1850 The census listed the following occupations and their numbers: 1,434 farmers, 521 laborers, 39 blacksmiths, 38 mechanics, 35 shoemakers, 32 carpenters, 32 merchants and 11 peddlers.
1849 The Cape Fear and Deep River Navigation Company formed to improve water access for steamboats traveling to the coal deposits of Moore and Chatham counties.
1830 Chatham County total population: 16,242; slave population: more than 3,000
1800s The water at Mount Vernon Springs was believed to have healing properties. John Washington, descendant of George Washington, was one of many people who believed in and drank the “magic water.”
1852 The Western Railroad opened and connected Fayetteville to the coal mines of Egypt (now Cumnock).
1861 Following South Carolina’s secession from the Union, wealthy residents led by John H. Haughton met at the Baptist Church at Love’s Creek, near what is now Siler City, for antisecession meetings.
1860 Census: 19,000 total population; 6,000 enslaved people and 300-500 free Black people.