Chatham County North Carolina Cemeteries Other NC County Cemeteries
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280    HAILBRON - HILL FAMILY [K24.1]

Location - Center Township. 170 feet north of SR 2159, Alston Chapel Road, 0.277 mile west of SR 2160, Old Goldston Road, across from paved driveway

Coordinates: 35d 42m 44.0s N; 79d 11m 44.0s W Click here for Online Maps

View #2 of cemetery. View of cemetery gate.
Field stone and periwinkle.

Owner: Wimberly Estates (2017).

Legal Description: Parcel 60804; shown on Plat 2024-68; Chain of Title - - - Wimberly Estates LLC (2017, 1908/963), Alston Chapel Road LLC (2017, 1908/956), Mark W. & Linda H. Wisen (1985, 482/108), B.C. Smith & D.W. Smith (1978, 413/585), A.H. London (1922, F-Y/207), T.G. & Z.H. Pickard (1919, F-P/373), Arthur H. London (1909, E-F/591), W.L. London (1894, C-R/208), Wm L. London, Alois J. Bynum & Henry Armond London (1891, C-H/246), Wm L. London & Alois J. Bynum (1888, B-W/277), William R. Edgerton (1885, B-K/184), Louisa R. Griffith (1868, A-N/151), Thomas Hill (1854, A-I/283), Col. Thomas Hill (1802, M/113), Thomas Brown (1792, E/287), Jiles Kelley (1781, B/402), Roger Griffith (1780, B/399), James Petty (1779, NC Grant #68, B/351).
Topo Quadrant: Pittsboro.
Abandoned: Yes.
Number of graves: 10.
Cemetery size: 20' x 40'.
White: Yes.
Restricted access: Yes. Difficult access over private property
Overgrown and easy to identify: Yes.
Enclosed: Yes.
Enclosed explanation: Rock wall, 3' high, w/ wrought iron gate entrance on west side.
Enclosed conditions: Good.
Markers: Yes.
Markers with inscriptions: Yes.
Number of readable markers: 1.
Last burial: 1838.
Listed: Yes. Gravesites of Chatham County.

Significant events: The name "Hailbron" first appeared in the deed record when the estate of Col. Thomas Hill (1770 to 1818) was sold at auction in 1846 following the death of Hill's wife Susannah (nee Mabson) in 1843 (A-I/283). Thomas Hill's (son of Col. Thomas Hill) wife Eliza Y. (nee Toomer) sold the estate to Louisa R. Griffith just 4 months after Hill's death in 1868. An 1880 newspaper ad for the sale of Hailbron indicated that the manor house had 13 rooms, but the house was destroyed by fire in 1886, just a year after being purchased by Wm R. Edgerton, and was sold by mortgagee H.A. London two years later (B-W/277). The 1978 deed from the trustees of Arthur Hill London Sr., who died in 1969, to the Smiths (413/585), was the first to mention the Thomas Hill family cemetery.

Col. Thomas Hill, along with three of his brothers, had plantations near Wilmington and summer homes in Pittsboro. Thomas and his brother John Hill eventually moved permanently to Pittsboro. The brothers' summer homes were built at the four corners of Pittsboro, with Thomas Hill's plantation, Hailbron, in the southwest. We know little about the plantation house at Hailbron, but records indicate that it contained a library of 300 books and a piano--unusual items for early backcountry residences.

Most of the burials in the cemetery at Hailbron are unidentified. The only inscribed marker is for Anne S. Hill, wife of Arthur Jones Hill and daughter of Hugh and Ann (Moore) Waddell. Articles in the journal of the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society say that Thomas Hill is buried at Hailbron, even though his will was probated in New Hanover, and that Levin Lane, husband of Margaret Moore Hill (daughter of Thomas and Susannah Mabeson Hill), died at Hailbron in June of 1863 is buried there. The church register of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Pittsboro records Levin Lane's death. There is no marker for him in the church yard, so it is unclear where is is buried.

In CCHA records, the site was formerly called the William Alston cemetery based on information from John London and early Alston genealogy records both of which assumed that William Alston had owned the Hailbron tract. Those records suggested that William Alston died in 1778 at Sulphur Springs, VA and that William Alston's wife Anne Yeargan, who died in 1786, and sons Samuel Yeargan Alston and William Chancy Alston might be buried in the cemetery on what we now call the Hailbron tract. No original source information to support these suppositions has been found. Subsequent deed research indicates that the Hailbron property was never owned by the Alstons. William Alston did own a tract east of the Hailbron property (deed B/19) that the early researchers apparently thought encompassed the Hailbron tract and led to the assumption that the cemetery was an Alston family cemetery.

Mrs. Katherine S. Smith, former property owner, confirmed there was a cemetery on the property. On 4 April 1997, Will M. Heiser located an old lane, probably leading to the original house site overlooking Roberson Creek. The exact location of this cemetery was reported by Fred Judge. On 10 April 1997, Will M. Heiser recorded one grave marker (for Ann S. Hill), 7 field stones and 2 white marble rocks.

Last canvassed by: Will M. Heiser. Date: 10 Apr 1997. Cemetery cleaned of brush and photographed in February 2017 by Connie McAdams.

1. Hill, Ann S.   (b. 1798 - d. 9 Nov 1838)
Wife of Arthur Jones Hill. Daughter of Hugh and Ann (Moore) Wadell. "To the Wife and Mother. This stone is erected by her Husband and Children." "Aged 40 Years." "May the afflictions of Earth be purified in Heaven. Love takes the sting from grief And Faith gives Eternity to Love." Marriage and Husband supplied by Henry S. Hill from St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church records. Condition Good.
Another view. - - - - Another view. - - - - Another view.
2. Hill, Thomas   (b. 28 Nov 1770 - d. 27 Jul 1818)
No marker. Husband of Susannah Mabeson Hill. Death date from Raleigh Weekly Register of 21 Aug 1818. Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Bulletin of May 1981 says Thomas Hill was buried at Hailbron, but his will was probated in Wilmington.
3. Lane, Levin   (b. 19 Nov 1793 - d. 2 Jun 1863)
No marker. Husband of Margaret Moore Hill, (daughter of Thomas and Susannah Mabeson Hill). Death date recorded in St Bartholomew's register, but there is no marker in that cemetery, so burial place uncertain. The Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Bulletin of October 1987 says he died at Hailbron and was buried there.