Lot 25

Southwest Corner of Churton and King Streets

Young, Miller, and Co. aka The Blue House

c. 1765

According to the earliest surviving deeds, this lot was first owned by merchants from Glasgow, Scotland and Edenton, NC who had established a company with headquarters in Halifax, NC. It was one of the many sites across the colony where they operated general merchandise stores. The primary partners in this firm included James Young, Andrew Miller, and George Alston; hence, the company was known as Young, Miller & Co.

The Sauthier map depicts four structures on Lot 26 by 1768; however, at this time, Young, Miller & Co. is presumed to have owned the entire lot. A 1771 deed lists “Ralph McNair merchant” as being in “possession” of the property. McNair may have lived in one of the four buildings, although he would soon come to own property across the street and operate a store there (see Lot 26).

The structure directly on the corner of Churton and King streets has been identified through records. It was erected in the 1760s, was 55’x52’, and has been presumed to be Young, Miller & Co.’s store. It became known as “The Blue House.” McNair managed this store and is believed to have moved to Hillsborough specifically for that purpose. However, Young, Miller, & Co. employed lawyers Thomas Burke and John Kinchen to collect their accounts.

Many historians believe that Young, Miller & Co. also operated a tavern on Lot 25 because the company also owned a stillhouse on E. King Street (later purchased by William Courtney). Some believe that the tavern was in the Blue House. However, general stores were rarely used for such dual purposes, especially because married women typically would not frequent a tavern due to the social stigma yet married women were often a general store’s primary customers. More likely, one of the other buildings on the lot – perhaps the building directly beside the Blue House – was utilized for that purpose.

The 1768 Sauthier map depicts four buildings on the Churton Street portion of Lot 25. Historians identified these structures as the Blue House on the corner with a kitchen and stable and then two private homes.

Of this partnership, Andrew Miller was one of the most prominent members. He earned a reputation as one of the “three firmest Tories in the Province” of North Carolina. Miller was born in Scotland and moved to Hailfax, NC where he became a merchant and leading citizen, friends with Governor Josiah Martin. In 1774, he refused to sign the Resolutions of the Association, a non-importation agreement for goods to Great Britain. Consequently, the Halifax Committee of Safety decided to boycott Miller’s businesses as well as those of his partners. However, retribution against him for being a supporter of England became so severe that he and his wife Elizabeth and their children were forces to flee the country.

How Miller was regarded in Hillsborough is unknown, but by 1776, his name had been removed from the company title and people were calling the business Alston, Young & Co.

Young Miller North-Carolina Journal 2-27-1797 .png

This advertisement for payment of debts to Young, Miller, & Co., ran in The North-Carolina Journal from February through June 1797.

State Treasurer's Office

1785-1789

After the American Revolution, the North Carolina state legislature confiscated the lot and its buildings as Tory holdings. Their goal was to raise much needed revenue for the state by selling the real estate. The majority of the lot was sold in one parcel for private usage. However, rather than sell the Blue House, they decided instead that it should be “reserved for the use of the Public Treasurer and other public uses until the General Assembly shall otherwise direct.” This marked the first known time that the lot was subdivided.

To accommodate its new purpose, the building was renovated. The House of Commons resolved that “Martin Palmer be allowed the sum of sixteen pounds, nine shillings & two pence for his labour and articles provided in preparing the [Orange County] Court House for the reception of this House & that the Treasurers or either of them, pay him the same.” Renovations were completed by the end of the year and the new Treasury opened on January 1, 1786 with Mecumen Hunt as the state Treasurer. In November 1789, the Treasury was moved to Fayetteville under a guard of nine men from the Orange Company of Horse.

(L.) Memucan Hunt (1729–1808) was the first person to hold the position of State Treasurer. He was appointed in 1784, at a salary of 500 pounds per year, and served until 1789.

(R). The 1786 confiscation record revealing the subdivision of the property. The corner of the lot was owned by the State of North Carolina while the remainder, as shown, was sold to a private individual.

Although the Treasury had been moved, the state retained ownership of the building. After a fire destroyed much of the town in 1790, the state hired carpenter Martin Palmer, brick mason Thomas Bivens, and others to repair the Blue House. State treasurer John Haywood recorded payments of £2. to “Martin Palmer, House Carpenter, for repairing Houses after the fire.” In August Palmer received £96 for more extensive work, which included making steps, shutters, and windows, putting in a new sill 24 feet long and posts 7 feet tall, repairing stairs and mending weatherboards, installing and casing windows, framing and completing a carriage house, and installing flooring and chair board. He valued his work at £69. 6 s. 9 d. and added 25 percent for “diet and Lodging,” and additional materials.

3-27-1790 State Gazette of NC Hillsborough fire.png

As this March 27, 1790, article in the State Gazette attests, a fire destroyed much of Hillsborough earlier that month, prompting the state of North Carolina to repair the Blue House.

This 1790 invoice (L) from state Treasurer John Haywood (R) lists the expenses for the repairs, including cash payments to Martin Palmer. Many of the materials were purchased locally. The July 15 purchases were made at Henry Thompson Sr.'s store (see Lot 6).

George Doherty

1785-1790

George Doherty purchased the bulk of Lot 25 in 1785. Around the same time, he married Mary Freeman Burke, the widow of NC Governor Thomas Burke. How he used the property is unknown, but given that his wife had two stately homes – one in town as well as a farm 2.5 miles north of Hillsborough – it is unlikely that they resided in any of the buildings on Lot 25.

Major General George Doherty (c. 1740-1792) served in the 5th North Carolina Regiment during the American Revolution.

As a member of the 5th NC Regiment, Doherty would have fought at the Battle of Germantown. Hillsborough attorney and Patriot Genreal Francis Nash was mortally woned at Germantown.

Catlett Campbell

1798-1804

By 1797, the state government was firmly established in Raleigh and a bill was introduced into the General Assembly providing for the public sale of the Blue House. It was sold at the Hillsborough Market-House on April 16, 1798 to merchant Catlett Campbell for £650. Campbell continued to own the building until 1804 and is believed to have used it as a general merchandise store.

That same year, Campbell was first elected to serve as a Hillsborough Town Commissioner. Later, he would serve as Chairman of the Orange County Court. Catlett Campbell (1767-1845) lived until the age of 78 and was active in local politics, serving chair of the Orange County Whig party. He was also in various business ventures including the chartering of the State Bank of North Carolina and the creation of a cotton and wool factory in Hillsborough in 1813.

Catlett Campbell obit Raleigh Register 1-28-1845.png

Cotton and Wool Factory Weekly Raleigh Register April 2, 1813.png

(L) Obituary for Catlett Campbell from the January 28, 1845 Raleigh Register

(R) Terms for the Hillsborough Cotton and Wool Factory in the Raleigh Register, April 2, 1813

William Whitted

1804-1821

William Whitted (c. 1760-1821) purchased the parcel and its structures from Catlett Campbell. He continued to run a general store. During his ownership, the site begins to be called “The Corner” rather than the Blue House. The last reference to the property as containing the Blue House is a deed from 1810. Afterward, the building is no longer mentioned, presumably because it was replaced by another structure.

The Whitted family moved to Orange County in the 18th century. The family name became prolific in both the white and African American community since William, his several brothers, and their children all owned slaves. Whitted was a Quaker. He was recorded as being a “Hickory Quaker,” denoting someone who followed the doctrine strictly as opposed to the “Gay Quakers” who were the most lenient.

Whitted was also a founding director of the Mutual Insurance Society in 1804.

Various Owners

1804-1829

During this period, the lot was subdivided and owned by several different people, including Barnabus O’Ferrell, Josiah Turner, and David Yarborough. No information is known as to how they used the property.

A May 18, 1825 announcement for the sale of the corner parcel noted that William H. Phillips had purchased and occupied the store at that site. Phillips partnered for a time with Josiah Turner to run a dry goods, groceries, and hardware store, which Turner continued after the partnership was dissolved.

A November 18, 1829 advertisement in the Hillsborough Recorder for Josiah Turner’s ending his partnership with William Phillips and starting his own store

Adams' Tavern

1821-1828

William H. Adams is listed as receiving a license to operate a tavern in 1821. His ownership of a tavern is mentioned several times in the Hillsborough Recorder as a meeting place. It was most likely the second building north of the corner of N. Churton and W. King streets, which may have been the site of the original tavern. He purchased the property in 1824. By 1825, he was partnering with John Wilson and the firm Adams and Wilson owned a billiards table, presumably in this tavern.

A cartoon image published in 1775 of men in a tavern playing billiards

William H. Adams was elected town commissioner in 1822 and held the position until 1825. He was a member of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church where he was cited four times in the Session Minutes for his bad behavior:

June 1823 – “The Session having learned (with much pain) from common report that two of their members, to wit William H. Adams and John Wall, had been engaged in the unchristian act of negro-trading.”
In June 1825 – Adams was sent a citation and required to appear before the Session due to the reports that he had “erected a billiard table and was daily engaged in attending the same.”
Later that month he received a second citation for his failure to appear.
Three days later, when he still hasn’t appeared, they decided “in view of the several charges alleged against Mr. Adams to his conduct generally being so unbecoming a Christian,” the Session deemed it expedient and in the interest of the church that “Mr. Adams be suspended from the privileges of the church, and he is hereby accordingly suspended.”

Adams was also involved in many real estate transactions. In 1824, he purchased lots 152 and 153 in Hillsborough and is the presumed builder of the house there that later became the Burwell school. He bought 104 acres near Chapel Hill in 1824 and in 1827, he purchased ½ acre of lot on Franklin Street in Village of Chapel Hill. Like most people, Adams was a debtor. By 1832, Adams has lost nearly all his properties.

From the Hillsborough Recorder:

(L.) A February 6, 1822 notice that the Hillsborough patrolers will meet at Adams’ tavern.

(C.) A May 19, 1824 announcement that Adams’ had purchased his tavern.

(R.) A November 12, 1828 notice that mentions the billiards table.

Birdsall & Co.

1822-1823

After William Whitted ceased to be in operation, Birdsall and company occupied the corner store. The offered a wide variety of dry goods, primarily textiles. The names of the men who comprised the Birdsall company is unknown.

A May 22, 1822 advertisement for Birdsall & Co. in the Hillsborough Recorder

Kirkland's Corner

c. 1824-1839

Although William Kirkland did not purchase this parcel until 1825, the section of the lot that abutted both N. Churton and W. King streets was being called “Kirkland’s Corner” as early as March 1824. There, he operated a general store as he had done years earlier (see Lot 6), although he was now in partnership with his son John Umstead Kirkland (1802-1877). In 1828, Kirkland sold half of his interest in Lot 25 to his son.

(L.) William Kirkland; (C.) a December 1, 1824 advertisement in the Hillsborough Recorder;

(R.) John U. Kirkland

Lynch's Jewelry

1834-1883

Lemuel Lynch (1808-1893) trained as an apprentice under silversmith and jeweler William Huntington (see Lot 6). In 1828, he purchased Huntington’s business on King Street and continued to rent the shop. However, for most of his career, he worked in a building fronting Churton Street that he purchased along with the parcel that it was situated on, in 1846. Lynch trained three of his sons to carry on the family business and they were respected for their high quality work.

From the Hillsborough Recorder:

(L.) A July 30, 1828 notice that Lemuel Lynch had purchased William Huntington’s business

(C.L.) A July 30, 1840 ad for Lynch’s goods and services

(C.R.) Lynch also sold books. A November 17, 1842 ad above and an August 21, 1845 ad below

(R.) A humorous anecdote about Lynch’s store sign, September 1, 1887.

Lynch is best remembered for his work repairing the town’s c. 1796 English cupola clock while the courthouse was being built. He was paid $250 in October 1846 for his work in this regard (equivalent to around $10,200 in 2024). Presumably, the payment was for installing as well as repairing the clock. Afterward, he was paid $25 annually to keep it well regulated.

(L.) A Lemuel Lynch watch paper; (C.) The copper seal that made the watch paper;

(R.) Two spoons made by Lemuel.

All items in the collection of the Orange County Historical Museum.

Lynch held many civic offices. From 1838-1852, he served as a town commissioner. In 1841, he was appointed a justice of the peace. After the new state constitution reorganized county governments in 1868, he served on the first Orange County Board of Commissioners. He was an active member of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and the Treasurer of the Washington Temperance Society. At the time of his death, he was noted as being the oldest citizen in Hillsborough.

In 1883, Lynch moved the family business to the property he owned on Lot 23 on King Street next to Masonic lodge

(L.) Lemuel Lynch c. 1880; (R.) Lynch’s sons. Standing from left: William Brown Lynch, Robert Lee Lynch, James Parish Lynch; Seated from left: Huntington Lemuel Lynch, Thomas Edwin Lynch, George Calvin Lynch. Images courtesy of Kathie Lynch Brown.

Farmer's Hotel

c. 1836-c.1848

Around 1836, Josiah Turner Sr. began operating a hotel on the northern-most portion of Lot 25, adjoining his businesses on Lot 35. The hotel would accommodate travelers and long-term boarders for over a decade. Several proprietors ran the hotel, including William Piper in 1837, Richison Nichols from late 1838-1841 when he purchased the Orange Hotel (Colonial Inn), and A.C. Murdock in 1847.

Richison Nichols (b. 1787) held several positions in local government, including Magistrate of the Hillsborough police and town commissioner.

Advertisements for Farmer’s Hotel in the Hillsborough Recorder showing its many owners:

(L.) August 19, 1837; (C.) August 22, 1839; (R.) September 30, 1847

Lattimer & Jones

1848-1851

One of the many partnerships that Charles Latimer had over his long tenure as a downtown merchant (see Lot 26) was a dry goods business with P. Jones. Whether this was Pride Jones or another man is not currently known. Their store was located at Kirkland’s corner. They bragged that their stock consisted of “every article suitable for this market.”

(L.) A February 16, 1848 advertisement in the Hillsborough Recorder for Latimer & Jones’ new store. (R.) A textile sample book c.1840-1850 showing the types of fabrics that were on sale at dry goods stores like Latimer & Jones.

Waddill Mantua Makers

1848-1851

Mrs. J. Waddill and her daughter set up a shop in the “northern tenement in the house now occupied by Lemuel Lynch, esq. as a Silver Smith’s shop.” The meaning of this description cannot be fully discerned but is presumed to indicate that Lynch’s shop was two stories and that Waddill was renting a space on the second story on the northern side of the building.

A fashion plate from 1848 depicting popular styles for women similar to the clothes that Mrs. Waddill and her daughter would be asked to make from scratch, rework from an old dress or repair. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jacob Haughawout Copper and Tin

1848-1851

Jacob and his brother William Haughawout moved to Hillsborough from Virginia in the 1840s and established a copper, tin, and sheet iron business, first as partners with a man named Elliot and then Jacob carried out the business solely in his own name. His business was along Churton Street, toward the northern end of the lot and at some point he purchased the parcel.

In 1847, Haughawout married the famous builder John Berry’s daughter Amanda. Unfortunately, Haughawout died young.

An October 10, 1849 advertisements for Jacob Haughawout’s copper and tin business. In addition to household items, they sold stills and did roof and gutter work.

Dr. Hooker's Drug Store

1850-1892

Hymerick Octavius Wright Hooker (1823-1895) was born in Green County and moved to Hillsborough with his family in 1835. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he earned a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1847 and began practicing medicine in Hillsborough. In addition to his regular patients in town, he also treated people at the poor house. Dr. Hooker was a stalwart in the Hillsborough Methodist Church and served on the Building Committee in 1859 that hired John Berry to build the brick structure that is still in use today on Tryon Street. He served as a member of the Board of Superintendents of the Common Schools and as a magistrate. In 1850, he married Mary Turner, daughter of Josiah Turner (see Lot 35)

Levin Carmichael, Tailor

1860-1861

In 1860, tailor Levin Carmichael (see Lot 26) moved his business into Kirkland’s corner store. There, he combined dry goods and groceries with his clothing business.

More Coming Soon!!!!