snippets ~ chatham history BLOG

Chatham County author, Doris Betts, grew up the daughter of mill workers in Statesville, NC. In high school, she was a reporter for her local paper, and in 1950, she entered the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina, now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She left college in her junior year to marry Lowry M. Betts, who would later serve as a judge in Chatham and raise Arabian horses on the couple's farm in Pittsboro.

Doris won early awards for her fiction and, in 1966, became a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a favorite teacher and beloved mentor. Students camped out to ensure a space in her classes. She received awards for distinguished teaching, served as director of numerous undergraduate programs, and was the first woman ever elected chairman of the faculty at the University of North Carolina. When she retired from teaching, The Doris Betts Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing endowed chair was named in her honor.

Despite her many awards and other accomplishments, Doris was an unassuming and down-to-earth Pittsboro resident. She was often encountered wearing her barn clothes to the grocery store, feed store, or veterinarian's office. She was an active participant in the Pittsboro Presbyterian Church and Friends of the Pittsboro/Chatham Community Library.

Doris passed away April 21, 2012 in her Pittsboro home. After her passing, The North Carolina Writers’ Network honored her through the annual Doris Betts Fiction Prize.

Many of Doris's novels and short story collections are available in Chatham County libraries.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #PittsboroNC #DorisBetts #author #novelist #teacher

On March 25, 2010, the Chatham County Courthouse burned. Photos of the tragic event are part of the Chatham County Historical Association's permanent digital collection. 

Three years after the fire, the rebuilt courthouse — retaining the second floor courtroom and boasting a larger ground floor museum of local history — opened on April 20, 2013. The new walls are fortified with steel, replacing the wooden fire joists of the original building which, though flammable, worked as intended to save the exterior brick shell of the building.

In 2023, the Chatham County Historical Association sponsored a program "Reclaimed from the Flames," about the rebuilding of the courthouse after the 2010 fire. Architects Grimsley and Taylor Hobbs talked about the project and answered questions. The recorded program can be viewed on CCHA's YouTube channel.

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/9MrL4kBX4sY

Filmmaker Mike O’Connell’s documentary about the fire, the re-building of the courthouse, and the significance of courthouses in America, a co-production between UNC-TV and Haw River Films called “The Courthouse,” is available to watch for free anytime at

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-courthouse-documentary-mv5bz5/

You can also see additional still photos of the fire on our website:

https://chathamhistory.org/Courthouse-Fire-Photo-Gallery

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamCountyCourthouse #HistoricCourthouse #CourthouseFire #2010fire #CourthouseDocumentary

Another interesting Chatham woman... Annie Lutterloh Bynum (1883 - 1983)

Annie began painting in her 70s, when her son gave her painting supplies to pass the time while she recovered from a broken leg. She painted for most of her remaining years, often the same Pittsboro street scene, but also others.

This painting by Annie Lutterloh Bynum shows Pittsboro as she remembered it from her childhood in the 1890s. Read more about Annie Lutterloh Bynum and the buildings shown in her paintings on our website:

https://chathamhistory.org/.../AnnieLutterlohBynum.pdf

Thanks to Bill Sharpe for sharing this digital image of one of Annie's paintings.

#ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #AnnieLutterlohBynum #WomensHistory #painting #art #PittsboroNC #HerStory

Brief biographical sketches of eighteen Black Chathamites who have made contributions to their community are presented in a document on the Chatham County Historical Association website. The information for the sketches comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, the Horton Yearbook, Internet sources, Chatham County Historical Association records, funeral programs, and books. All of the individuals described were either born in Chatham, received their education in the county, or lived later in life in Chatham.

Included are Simon Green Atkins; Louis Edgar Bland; Mildred Edna Cotton Council; Margie Horton Ellison; Lewis Freeman; George Moses Horton; Gatha Horton Lassiter; Benjamin Joseph Lee; Dr. Mansel Philip McCleave; Walter Alston McLaughlin, Sr.; Margaret Bryant Pollard; Richard R. Ramsey, Sr.; J.R. Richardson; Jeanette French Richardson; Roxie A. Small; Jessie Walker Rodgers; Lillie Freeman Rodgers; and Isaiah Eugene Taylor, Sr.

You can read about these prominent members of Chatham's Black Community here:

https://chathamhistory.org/resources/Documents/PDFs/ResearchArticles/BlackChathamitesFeb18.pdf

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanHistory #BlackChathamites 

Siler City Baseball Team. Believed to be Siler City Giants, late 1960s.

Front row: Byron Horton

Middle row: Bobo Pearson, Tyree Newby Horton, Larry Price, Thomas Horton, Joe Goins

Back row: Tyree Horton, Clyde Fox, Claven Strickland, Charles Beck, Earnest Marsh, Frankie Farrar, William Bud Price, Johnnie Johnson, William Price

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamNC #baseball #SilerCityNC #PaulBraxtonBallField #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanHistory 

The Tod R. Edwards family of Siler City, an African-American family, operated a very successful jewelry store from 1905 until 1961. Here's their story:

https://chathamhistory.org/resources/Documents/PDFs/ResearchArticles/TodEdwardsCrossingRacialLinesJan2019.pdf

The building pictured was at 112 South Chatham Avenue in Siler City.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #TodEdwards #SilerCityNC #SilerCitybusiness #TodEdwardsJewelryStore #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanHistory

This image shows the Siler City Livery Stables, which was located on the northwest corner at the intersection of North Chatham Avenue and West 2nd Street. It was in operation by 1891 and was operated by James M. Marley from 1903 to 1913. This photo was made around 1908.

Livery stables kept horses, buggies, and carriages for hire, and also boarded and sold horses, feed, and buggies. Travelling salesmen were important customers. They came to Siler City by train, checked in to hotel, and hired a horse and buggy to visit the country stores of the surrounding area.

Siler City had several other liveries in the 1880s and 1890s.

Information from Wade Hadley's The Town of Siler City: 1887-1987.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #SilerCityNC #livery #stable #1880s #1900s

Anyone interested in the history of the dozens of communities in Chatham--some of which still exist and others which have long disappeared--will find information of interest in this postal history of the county. The document traces the history of post offices, noting name changes and the names of postmasters--useful information for genealogical research. Siler City, for example, was previously called Energy and Siler Station. Bear Creek was formerly Richmond, Bonlee was Causey, and Bennett was Boaz. People have wondered when the spelling of Pittsborough changed to Pittsboro. Well, the official post office name changed on 29 April 1893. The Stork post office was created in 1892 and discontinued in 1910. Silk Hope had a post office from 1882 to 1909. The Truth post office lasted from 1887 to 1930, when mail was sent to Merry Oaks.

The postal route map shown here shows only a small portion of the 140 post offices covered in the document, which is a project of the North Carolina Postal History Society. We thank them for this excellent resource!

https://www.ncpostalhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/PostmarkCatalog_Chatham-County-20240817.pdf

There's no date on the map, but we are guessing that it was from the very early 1900s. Grove PO was discontinued in 1905 and is shown on this map, as is St Lawrence, which was discontinued in 1903.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamPostalHistory #PostOffices #Postmarks #Postmasters #NorthCarolinaPostalHistorySociety

Larry Pickard has shared this family photo of the Gilliland family along with information about the family.

Standing: Nan, King, Henry ( Killed walking on the roadside in Ore Hill), William Thomas (Larry's Grandfather). Sitting: Larry's Great-grandfather Leander, Great-grandmother Mila, and baby Allie Gilliland sitting on Great-grand's lap. The photo was taken in 1908. The Gilliland Family lived in Mt. Vernon Springs.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #FamilyHistory #Gilliland #FamilyPhoto #1900s

Here's a treat for you! These photos of the Patrick St. Lawrence House/Tavern are just a sample of the beautiful photos contributed by Ray and Janet Carney--the current owners, residents, and skillful restorers of the Tavern, which, after several moves within the town of Pittsboro, is located on Small Street. The photos highlight the careful restoration of the interior that Ray and Janet Carney have carried out over the last several years and they show the structure in its Christmas finery! We are so fortunate that the Carneys chose to come to Pittsboro and to make the Patrick St. Lawrence Tavern their home.

See more photos on our website:

https://chathamhistory.org/Patrick-St-Lawrence-House-Christmas/

You can learn more about the Patrick St. Lawrence House/Tavern and see some "before" photos on our website as well:

https://chathamhistory.org/resources/Documents/PDFs/ResearchArticles/StLawrenceHouse-TavernUpdateAugust2016.pdf

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #PittsboroNC #PatrickStLawrence #Christmas #1790s