Person County, North Carolina: History
The colonial government established Person County as part of Edgecombe County in 1746. County designations kept changing, and it was part of Granville County from 1746 to 1752; included in Orange County until 1778; and part of Caswell County until 1791/1792. By dividing Caswell County into two squares–each side measuring approximately twenty 20 mi (30 km) in length, the state formed two counties of 400 square miles (1,000 km2) each. The county was named after Brigadier General Thomas Person, a Revolutionary War patriot, who made significant contributions to Person County and surrounding areas.
The area was first inhabited by Native Americans more than 10,000 years ago. An ancient lithic quarry, the Two Dogs Site, is located in present-day Person County, North Carolina.
The Indigenous tribes encountered here by early Spanish explorers were generally Siouan language-speaking, including the Saponi, Occaneechi, and other groups.
Settlement by immigrants of Scots-Irish, English, French Huguenot, German, and free Black ancestry began in the mid-18th and continued into the 19th centuries. The majority of settlers were yeoman farmers, and few owned any slaves.
Religious affiliation in the county reflects the early settlers and is predominantly Protestant. Due to Person County's nearness to Virginia, the Carolina coast, and the Appalachian foothills, a wide variety of Southern American English dialects can be heard here, including Virginia Piedmont, Coastal Southern, South Midland, and African-American English.
The county was named for Brigadier General Thomas Person, a Revolutionary War patriot, who made significant contributions to Person County and surrounding areas. He was a trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His generous donations were recognized by the construction and naming of Person Hall.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Moore, Deputy Quartermaster General of the Hillsborough district, was another Revolutionary War hero, commanding the Person County militia at the disastrous Battle of Camden. He was captured and held on the prison ship Torbay. In 1775-1776 he had purchased property in the south of Person County and named his plantation Mt. Tirzah. His home, constructed in 1778, has been renovated recently. Stephen Moore was buried in the family cemetery.
During the Civil War, Person County supplied between 800 and 1000 soldiers to the Confederate Army. A granite monument at the Courthouse honors E. Fletcher Satterfield, who carried the Confederate flag at Gettysburg. …