HISTORICAL SKETCHES

CANE CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH

Number 12: November 2005 www.canecreek.org 6901 Orange Grove Road., Hillsborough, NC 27278

WANTED FOR MURDER !!!

Since this is Halloween season, I thought it would be fun to dig up an old ghost and take a look at an old Orange Grove murder. Actually, when it happened, it would have been known as a Rock Spring murder. (At some point around the turn of the twentieth century, the community, which had long been known as Rock Spring, became Orange Grove. Someday soon, I hope to track down the history of this change.

We know the principles in this tragedy. The murder victim was a member of a prominent local family who lived west of Cane Creek. The murderer also came from a prominent local family with ties on this side of the creek. Since the facts, as printed in the local newspaper are few, I will pad this sketch out with a bit of background.

The victim was associated with a plantation of about a thousand acres known as Rock Spring. This may be the origin of our original community name. The plantation included my old mill site and extended over much of Thunder Mountain (known then as Thompson Mountain) and included both sides of Bradshaw Quarry Road and Buckhorn Road. It was put together by William Thompson who was born in 1791 and who died in 1873. The Hillsboro Recorder, for June 25 of that year, includes this in its obituary:

"For 50 years he had lived on the premises where he died and through his long residence had fully illustrated all those points of character which made him a marked man in the community. Mr. Thompson was one of the few survivors of the old school who came in to existence when high-wrought patriotism, unbending integrity, and unswerving devotion to duty were the rules of men's conduct and throughout the course of his long life in all its relations, he showed that all principles were deeply rooted and thoroughly interwoven with his nation. Mr. Thompson was never in public life nor served people in any other capacity than that of Justice of the Peace but his sound practical sense, his correct information, and the confidence in his honesty gave ample exercise to faculties which made him eminently useful to his fellow man as counselor and umpire."

Thompson has a son, also named William, who ran the mill. The mill had originally been built in 1813 by Bernard Cate, a close relative of our first preacher, Thomas. But Bernard, a prosperous farmer with extensive land holdings, soon sold the mill to the senior Thompson and the family kept the mill going for over a century. William Jr. ran the mill and owned the tract on which it was built, though it was completely surrounded by the rest of Rock Spring Farm.

The murder happened on New Year's Day 1877 and seems to have been the result of too much celebration and too much liquor. Here is the story from the Recorder of January 10:

"William Thompson, a well known citizen of this county was killed on Monday, January 1 by George Lloyd, also of this county. From what we learned, Thompson and his wife had gone to spend the day with Mr. Thomas Lloyd. After dinner, the male members of the family retired to a still-house one half mile from the dwelling. Here George Lloyd and Thompson engaged in a friendly tussle. Lloyd was worsted in this encounter and became enraged by the taunts of the bystanders. He challenged Thompson to a fight. The latter, having no occasion for bad feeling, turned away, and as he walked off, Lloyd drew a pistol and fired, the ball passing through Thompson's heart and killing him almost instantly. Lloyd was taken into custody and held until application could be made to a magistrate but while the magistrate was gone, the prisoner managed to escape and is still at large. Thompson was the son of William Thompson, deceased, of Rock Spring in this county and was about 32 years of age."

On January 31, the Recorder published a reward notice headlined:

Governor Zebulon Vance offered a reward of $200 "for the apprehension and delivery of said George Lloyd, the murderer of William E. Thompson, to the Sheriff of Orange County... and I enjoin all officers of the state and all good citizens to assist in bringing said criminal to justice ... He is described as 22 years old, five feet ten inches tall, one hundred fifty pounds, fair hair, blue eyes, reddish whiskers and moustache."

The Recorder for February 14 said, "Rumors of the arrest of Lloyd, the murderer of Thompson, are as plenty as blackberries but we hear nothing to which we attach much importance. The last rumor is that he is in custody in Ashville. We rather think he has never gone so far from home."

On February 28th, the Recorder made its final comment on the case: "It seems clear that the murderer of William Thompson is lurking in Orange County. If so, it ought to be no very difficult matter to arrest him. The reward of $200 for his capture is still in force."

It appears that George Lloyd made good his escape and was never seen in these parts again. Rosine Frederick has shared with me a family tree of Orange County Lloyds. We can find no one matching our killer. The black sheep seems to have been expunged from the record!

But don't you think that the ghost of William Thompson still stalks these woods and fields in search of him? You'd better watch out!

Ed Johnson