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 Ely Earl of Ely Earl of Ely is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland for members of the Loftus family. This family descended from Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus, who was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall in the County of Wexford, in 1751. In 1756 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Loftus, of Ely in the County of Wicklow. He was succeeded by his son, Nicholas, the second Viscount. He had previously represented Fethard in the Irish House of Commons. In 1766 he was