Chatham County, North Carolina in 1771 from Orange County. It had been named in 1758 for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768 and opposed harsh colonial policies. In 1907, parts of Chatham County and Moore County were combined to form Lee County. While not devoted to large plantations, the county was developed for small farms, where slave labor was integral to the owners' productivity and success. By 1860 one-third of the county population were African Americans, chiefly enslaved. George Moses Horton, Historic Poet Laureate of Chatham County, (1797?-1883) lived most of his life enslaved
Earl C. Slipher Slipher on the Moon is named after Earl and Vesto Slipher, as is asteroid 1766 Slipher, discovered September 7, 1962, by the Indiana Asteroid Program. Earl C. Slipher Earl Charles Slipher (; March 25, 1883 – August 7, 1964) was an American astronomer. He was the brother of astronomer Vesto Slipher. Slipher was born in Mulberry, Indiana. He first joined Lowell Observatory in 1908 and became a noted planetary astronomer, concentrating on Mars. He published "Photographic History of Mars (1905-1961)". In 1957, he appeared in the "Mars and Beyond" episode of "Disneyland" discussing the possibility of life on Mars. He