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245    UNLOCATED GRAVES IN HILLSBOROUGH AND ITS ENVIRONS

Location - These graves are not otherwise listed in a cemetery or by name.


Graves, Unlocated - There are 4 unlocated burials given here.

1. Benton, Jesse   (b. - d. 179-)
Jesse Benton, died 179-, lawyer, land speculator, clerk of court, and owner of Hartford Plantation, was buried on his plantation west of Hillsborough at his second home some 600 yards southwest of the mill and Col. Thomas Hart's old farmhouse. The Tate map of 1891 shows an obelisk at Benton's grave in that area (now Duke Forest), but the obelisk has not been seen by anyone in this generation. One published source says that Benton's widow, Nancy Ann Gooch Benton, died January, 1837, was buried beside her husband.
2. British Soldiers   (b. - d. 22 Feb 1781)
Nine(?) British soldiers (names unknown) are said to have been killed at the 'Battle of Hart's Mill (later Benton's) in the early morning of February 24, 1781, as they were trying to cross the Eno River and climb the east bank. They were cut down by fire from Capt. Joseph Graham's snipers and were buried where they fell (apparently about where hwy. 70 crosses the Eno). There appears to be no visual evidence of the graves today.
3. Freeland, Thomas   (b. - d. Feb 1781)
Thomas Freeland of the New Hope community was reportedly shot in the head at the old town spring (lot 0) by a Tory(?) sniper who had taken cover on the bluff near present-day Eno Lodge. Many details of the story are not clear, but the incident appears to have happened in February, 1781. Thomas Freeland's body is said to have been dragged uphill by his aged grandfather and buried near the colonial tanyard, i.e., John Dennis' old tanyard on lot 42.
4. Shutt, Henry   (b. - d. )
Henry Shutt, the hatter, died April or May, 1811, who lived with his wife Elizabeth and their children from 1803 till 1811 on lot 15 (the Colonial Inn lot), is known to have been buried on the lower portion of lot 15, apparently with one or more of the Shutt children. Elizabeth Shutt, later Mrs. James B. Dickey, owned lot 15 until May, 1825, at least. Mr. Edwin Lynch recalls the existence and the site of the Shutt graves.