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 of Mornington (1766 ship) Earl of Mornington (1766 ship) Earl of Mornington (or "Earl Mornington"), was a merchant vessel of 500 tons burthen (bm) built at Bombay Dockyard of teak and launched in 1766 or 1768. She made three voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) under the command of captain Benjamin Ferguson. She does not appear in "Lloyd's Register" until 1804 and no longer appears in either "Lloyd's Register" or in the "Register of Shipping" in 1810. Her first voyage for the EIC took place between 20 November 1799 and 22 August 1802. On this voyage she sailed to Bengal.