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ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1833  02317  1728 


THE    GRANDrATHER    PROFILE 

By  permission  of  the  author  and  publishers  of  "The  Carolina  Mountains.' 


cL 
A    HISTORY   OF 

WATAUGA    COUNTY, 

NORTH    CAROLINA. 

■' - 

WITH 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Families. 


By 
JOHN  PRESTON  ARTHUR. 


Written  at  the  request  of 

Roy  M.  Brown,  W.  D.  Farthing,  W,  R.  Gragg,  G.  P.  Hagaman, 

W.  L.  Bryan,  F.  A.  Linney,  P.  C.  Younce,  A.  C.  Reese,  A.  J.  Greene, 

R.  C.  Rivers,  J.  S.  Winkler,  I.  G.  Greer,  T.  E.  Bingham, 

D.  D.  Dougherty,  M.  B.  Blackburn,  L.  Greer, 

J.  W.  Hodges,  B.  B.  Dougherty, 

C.  J.  Cottrell,  W.  p.  Moody, 

D.  J.  Cottrell  and 

R.  L.  Bingham 

Who  guaranteed  all  costs  of  publication. 


RICHMOND: 

EVERETT  WADDEY  CO. 

1915- 


COPYRIGHTED  BY 
JOHN  P.  ARTHUR,  I915. 


-i.  f<j  <J  e>  ..^wO 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


D 

'J 

■^        Allison  means  "Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History,"  by  Hon.  John 
y  Allison,  Nashville,  1896. 

I  Ashury  means  Bishop  Asbury's  Journal,  3  volumes,  out  of  print. 

^Booklet  means  "The  North  Carolina  Booklet,"  published  by  the   State 
J  C"^         D.  A.  R.  Society,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

J    \Bruce  means  "Daniel  Boone  and  the  Wilderness  Road,"  by  H.  Addington 
7    ^         Bruce,  McMillan  Co.,  N.  Y.,  1913. 

%  ^  Cobb    means    Address    by    Prof.    Collier    Cobb    before    the    American 
T'?^  Geographical  Society  in  New  York  City,  April,  1914. 

>  Clark  means  "North  Carolina  Regiments  in  the  Civil  War,"  by  Chief 

^  Justice  Walter  Clark,  Goldsboro,  1901. 

Clark  means  "The  Colony  of  Transylvania"  in  the  North  Carolina 
Booklet,  for  January,  1904. 

Col.  Rec.  means  Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina,  edited  by  W.  L. 
Saunders,  P.  M.  Hale,  printer,  Raleigh,  1886. 

Crouch  means  "Historical  Sketches  of  Wilkes  County,"  by  John  Crouch, 
1902. 

DeRossett  means  "Sketches  of  Church  History  of  North  Carolina,"  by 
W.  L.  DeRossett,  (Alfred  Williams),  Raleigh,  1890. 

Draper  means  "King's  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes,"  by  Dr.  L.  C.  Draper, 
(Peter  G.  Thompson),  Cincinnati,  1888. 

Dugger  means  "Balsam  Groves  of  the  Grandfather  Mountain,"  by  Shep. 
Monroe  Dugger,  Banner  Elk,  N.  C. 

Fairchild  means  Ebenezer  Fairchild's  Diary  of  Trip  from  New  Jersey 
to  the  Jersey  Settlement,  now  in  possession  of  Col.  Wyatt  Hayes, 
Boone,  N.  C. 

Foote  means  "Foote's  Sketches  of  North  Carolina,"  out  of  print. 

Harper  means  "Reminiscenses  of  Caldwell  County  in  the  Civil  War,"  by 
G.  W.  F.  Harper,  pamphlet. 

Haywood  means  "Bishops  of  North  Carolina,"  by  Marshall  DeLancey 
Haywood,   (Alfred  Williams),  Raleigh,  1910. 

Ives  means  "Trials  of  a  Mind,"  etc.,  Boston  and  New  York,  1854. 

Kephart  means  "Our  Southern  Highlanders,"  by  Horace  Kephart, 
Outing  Publishing  Co.,  New  York,  1912. 

Manual  means  "North  Carolina  Manual,"  issued  by  N.  C.  Hist.  Comm., 
Edwards  &  Broughton  Printing  Co.,  Raleigh,  1913. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Moore  means  "The  Rhymes  of  Southern  Rivers,"  by  M.  V.  Moore,  M.  E, 
Church,  South,  Book  Co.,  Nashville,  1897. 

Moore  means  "Roster  of  North  Carolina  Troops  in  Civil  War,"  by 
John  W.  Moore,  3  volumes,  Raleigh,  1882. 

Morley  means  "The  Carolina  Mountains,"  by  Margaret  W.  Morley, 
Houghton-Mifflin,  New  York,  1913. 

Murphey  means  "Papers  of  Arch.  D.  Murphey,"  2  volumes,  N.  C.  Hist. 
Comm.,  Raleigh,  19 14, 

Observer  means  Charlotte  Daily  Observer,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Rebellion  Records  means  "The  War  of  the  Rebellion,"  Washington,  D.  C, 
1897. 

Rumple  means  "A  History  of  Rowan  County,"  by  Rev.  Jethro  Rumple, 
1881. 

Sheets  means  "A  History  of  Liberty  Baptist  Church,"  by  Rev.  Henry 
Sheets,  Edwards  &  Broughton  Printing  Co.,  Raleigh,  1908. 

Skiles  means  "A  Sketch  of  Missionary  Life  at  Valle  Crucis,"  edited  by 
Susan  Fenimore  Cooper,  1890. 

S  my  the  means  "A  Tour  of  America,"  by  Dr.  J.  F,  D.  Smythe. 

Thwaites  means  "Daniel  Boone,"  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites. 

Warner  means  "On  Horseback,"  by  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  Houghton- 
Mifflin  Co.,  New  York,  1889. 

Wheeler  means  "Historical  Sketches  of  North  Carolina,"  by  John  H. 
Wheeler,  2  volumes,  1851. 

Williams  means  "History  of  the  Baptists  of  North  Carolina,"  by  Rev. 
Charles  Williams,  Edwards  &  Broughton  Printing  Co.,  Raleigh, 
1901. 

Worth  means  "Correspondence  of  Jonathan  Worth,  N.  C.  Hist.  Comm." 
Edwards  &  Broughton  Printing  Co.,  Raleigh,  1909. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  I.  The  relation  of  Watauga  County  and  its  residents  to 
remainder  of  the  mountains.  Early  settlers  in  eastern  part  of 
State.  Difference  between  eastern  and  western  settlers.  Our 
Yankee  ancestry.  Critics  eager  to  find  fault.  Our  annals. 
Difference  between  "poor  whites"  and  "mountain  whites." 
Cooperation  has  ceased.  Moonshining  an  inheritance.  Penn- 
sylvania  "Whiskey   Rebellion."    i 

Chapter  II.  Similarity  of  Indians  to  Hebrews.  A  study  in 
ethnology  and  philology.  Speculations  as  to  the  beginning  of 
things.  Indians  never  residents  of  Watauga  in  memory  of 
whites.  Cherokees  parted  with  title  to  land  long  ago.  Old  forts 
on  frontier.  Cherokee  raids.  First  white  settlers  of  Watauga. 
Linville  family  and  falls 12 

Chapter  III.  The  greed  for  land  in  the  eastern  section.  Bishop 
Spangenberg  sets  out  to  get  land  for  Moravians.  He  is  rnisled 
and  "wanders  bewildered  in  unknown  ways."  Reaches  delicious 
spring  on  Flat  Top.  Three  Forks  described.  An  Indian  Old 
Field.  Caught  in  a  mountain  snow-storm.  Their  route  from 
Blowing  Rock.     Conflicting  claims  as  to  locality  described 21 

Chapter  IV.  No  direct  Daniel  Boone  descendants.  Other  Boone 
relatives.  Jesse  and  Jonathan  Boone.  Their  Three  Forks 
membership.  Marking  the  Trail  of  Daniel  Boone.  Boone  Cabin 
Monument.  Locating  Trail.  Cumberland  Gap  pedestal.  Boone's 
Trail  in  other  States.  Congress  urged  to  erect  bronze  statue 
there.  Boone's  first  trip  across  Blue  Ridge.  Probability  of  re- 
location of  trail.  Improbability  of  the  carving  on  the  Boone 
Tree.    Boone's  relations  with  Richard  Henderson  considered 29 

Chapter  V.  Backwoods  Tories.  Samuel  Bright,  loyalist.  Patriots 
feared  British  influence  with  Indians.  Bright's  Spring  and  the 
Shelving  Rock.  Watauga  County  once  part  of  Watauga  Settle- 
ment. Doctor  Draper's  errors.  W.  H.  OUis's  contribution.  No 
camp  on  the  Yellow.  Cleveland's  parentage  and  capture.  His 
rescue,  etc.  Greer's  Hints,  of  two  kinds.  The  Wolf's  Den. 
Riddle's  execution.  Killing  of  Chas.  Asher  and  other  Tories. 
Ben  Howard.  Marking  old  graves  by  United  States.  Its 
niggardly  policy.     Battlefield  in  Watauga 53 

Chapter  VI.  The  Yadkin  Baptist  Association.  Three  Forks  Baptist 
Church.  List  of  its  early  members  and  officers.  A  great  moral 
force  in  the  community.  Church  trials,  grave  and  gay.  Other 
ancient  happenings.     First  churches.     Revivals 71 

Chapter  VII.  Order  of  the  Holy  Cross.  Picture  of  Watauga  Valley 
in  1840.  Valle  Crucis  as  first  founded.  Rt.  Rev.  L.  S.  Ives. 
Feeble  and  undignified  imitation.  Why  Ives  vacillated.  _  Old 
buildings.     Adobes  and  humble  bees.     Easter  chapel.     Spiritual 


VI  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Starvation  on  the  Lower  Watauga.  The  Mission  store.  Death 
of  Mr.  Skiles.  Removal  of  St.  John's.  Reinstitution  of  Mission, 
and  School  for  Girls.     Summer  resort,  also 78 

Chapter  VIII.  Light  on  the  Jersey  Settlement.  Meagre  facts  con- 
sidered. John  Gano,  preacher.  Fairchild's  diary.  Adventures 
on  road.  Mr.  Gano  constitutes  a  church.  A  colonial  document. 
Other  ancient  documents  and  facts.  Letter  from  Morris  Town, 
N.  J.,  Church.    The  Fairchild  ladies 87 

Chapter  IX.  Democracy  of  the  religion  of  the  mountaineer.  Our 
morals,  as  appraised  by  others.  Pioneer  Baptists.  The  Farthing 
family.  A  family  of  preachers.  Rev.  Joseph  Harrison.  Cove 
Creek  Baptist  Church.  Bethel  Baptist  Church.  Other  early 
churches.  Stony  Fork  Association.  White's  Spring  Church. 
Methodist  Churches.  Henson's  Chapel.  A  family  of  Methodist 
church  preachers.  M.  E.  Churches.  Baptists,  Presbyterians, 
Lutherans 97 

Chapter  X.  Formation  of  county.  Councill's  influence.  Three 
New  England  visitors.  Doctor  Mitchell's  geological  tour. 
Tennessee  boundary  line.  Boundary  line  and  Land  Grant 
Warrants.  Running  State  line.  Watauga  County  lines.  Watauga 
County  established.  Changes  in  county  lines.  Avery  County  cut 
off.  Jails  and  court  houses.  To  restore  lost  records.  First 
term  Superior  Court.  Tied  to  a  wagon-wheel.  Roving  spirit. 
Legislative  and  other  officers.  Watauga's  contribution  to  Con- 
federacy and  Federals.  Population  and  other  facts.  Mexican 
War  soldiers.  Weather  vagaries.  Agricultural  and  domestic 
facts.     Forests.     Altitudes 114 

Chapter  XL  Boone  incorporated.  Its  attractions.  Miss  Morley's 
visit.  First  residents  of  Boone.  First  builders.  Saw-mills  for 
new  town.  The  Ellingtons.  Other  builders.  First  merchants, 
J.  C.  Gaines,  Rev.  J.  W.  Hall.  Post-bellum  Boone.  Coffey  Bros. 
Their  enterprises.     Newspapers.     Counterfeiters 142 

Chapter  XII.  Too  many  troops  for  limits  of  book.  Keith  Blalock. 
Four  Coffey  Bros.  Danger  from  Tennessee  side.  Longstreet's 
withdrawal.  Kirk's  Camp  Vance  raid.  Death  of  Wm.  Coffey. 
Murder  of  Austin  Coffey.  Other  "activities."  Michiganders 
escape.  Camp  Mast.  Watauga  Amazons.  Camp  Mast  sur- 
render. Sins  of  the  children.  Retribution?  Paul  and  Reuben 
Farthing.  Battle  of  the  Beech.  Stoneman's  raid.  Official 
account.  A  real  home  guard.  Mrs.  Horton  robbed.  No  peace. 
Fort  Hamby.     Blalock's  threat 159 

Chapter  XIII.  Calloway  sisters.  Pioneer  hunters.  James  Aldridge. 
His  real  wife  appears.  Betsy  Calloway.  DeHla  Baird.  A 
belated  romance.  Colb  McCanless,  sheriff.  His  death  by  Wild 
Bill.  Bedent  E.  Baird.  Zeb  Vance's  uncle  makes  inquiry.  Peggy 
Clawson.  Other  old  stories.  Joseph  T.  Wilson,  or  "Lucky  Joe." 
"Long-Distance."  An  African  romance.  James  Speer's  fate. 
Joshua  Pennell  frees  slaves.  Jesse  Mullins'  "niggers."  Cross- 
cut suit.  Absentee  landlord.  "School  Butter."  Lee  Carmichael. 
The  musterfield  murder.     A  Belle  of  Broadway 186 


CONTENTS  Vll 

PAGE 

Chapter  XIV.  Fine  Watauga  County  scenery.  Cove  Creek.  Our 
flowers.  Valle  Crucis.  Sugar  Grove.  Blowing  Rock.  Along 
the  Blue  Ridge.  Moses  H.  Cone.  Brushy  Fork.  Shull's  Mills. 
Linville  Valley  and  Falls.  The  Ollis  family.  Elk  Cross  Roads. 
Banner's  Elk.  A  trip  on  foot.  Meat  Camp.  Rich  Mountain. 
The  "Tater  Hill."  The  Grandfather  and  Grandmother.  Graft- 
ing French  chestnuts.  Beaver  Dams.  Boone's  Beaver  Dams 
trails.     Beech  Creek  and  Poga 209 

Chapter  XV.  Ante-bellum  education.  Peculiarities  of  speech.  We 
speak  the  best  and  purest  English.  Place-names.  Kephart's 
dissertations.  Ante-bellum  pedagogues.  Our  schools.  Penman- 
ship. Phillip  Church.  Jonathan  Norris.  Eli  M.  Farmer.  Burton 
Davis.  Todd  Miller.  The  "Twisting  Temple."  Lees-McRae 
Institute.  School-teachers.  Normal  school  at  Boone.  Skyland 
Institute.  T.  P.  Adams'  long  service.  Silverstone  public  school. 
Walnut  Grove  Institute.  Valle  Crucis  School  for  Girls.  First 
agricultural  instruction.  Prominent  in  education.  Lenoir  School 
Lands.  School-house  Loan  Fund.  T.  L.  Clingman,  a  teacher. 
Mount  Mitchell  controversy 243 

Chapter  XVI.  Gold  mines  and  mining.  First  owners  of  Cranberry. 
Iron  forges.  Iron  bounties.  Some  old  hammermen.  Cling- 
man's   mining 263 

Chapter  XVII.  First  wagon  roads.  First  across  Blue  Ridge. 
Caldwell  and  Watauga  Turnpike.  Yonahlossee  Turnpike.  Early 
road  legislation.  Earliest  stopping  places.  First  paper  railroads. 
First  railroad  surveys 268 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Families  Alphabetically  Arranged 279 

Index    357 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  Grandfather  Profh^e.    By  permission  of  author  and  publishers 

of  "The  Carolina  Mountains." Frontispiece 

Col.  Wn^LiAM  Lewis  Bryan,  Historian  and  Trail  Finder 26 

Daniel   Boone   Cabin   Monument,   erected  by   Col.   W.   L.   Bryan, 

October,  1912 32 

The  Old  Perkins  Place,  where  Cleveland  was  captured.    Photograph 

by  Wiley  C.  Vannoy,  Blowing  Rock 60 

The  Wolf's  Den,  where  Cleveland  was  rescued.    Photograph  by  Wiley  C. 

Vannoy,  Blowing  Rock 62 

The  Three  Forks  Baptist  Church.    Photograph  by  Wiley  C.  Vannoy, 

Blowing  Rock 72 

Bishop  L.  Silliman  Ives,  D.  D.    Photograph  by  John  L.  Vest,  Forsyth 

County,  N.C 78 

Residence  of  Rev.  John  Norton  Atkins,  and  former  home  of  the  late 

Rev.  Henry  H.  Prout 82 

Rev.  Reuben  P.  Farthing 98 

Col.  Joe  B.  Todd,  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court 134 

Boone,  the  County  Seat  of  Watauga.    Photograph  by  John  L.  Vest 

Forsyth  County,  N.C 142 

Mrs.  William  Lewis  Bryan,  who  has  lived  in  Boone  since  its  organiza- 
tion, and  for  several  years  prior  thereto 146 

Aunt  Delilah's  Last  Cabin  Home.     Photograph  by  L.  G.  Harris, 

Cranberry,  N.  C 192 

HoRTON  Family  Arms,  and  Explanation 206 

The  Blowing  Rock.    From  an  oil  painting  by  the  late  W.  G.  Randall. .  214 

Lake  and  Residence  of  Col.  W.  W.  Stringfellow,  Blowing  Rock, 

N.  C.    Photograph  by  Wiley  C.  Vannoy,  Blowing  Rock 218 

Peaks  of  the  Grandfather  Mountain.    By  permission  of  author  and 

publishers  of  "The  Carolina  Mountains." 234 

The  Yonahlossee  Road.     By  permission  of  author  and  pubhshers  of 

"The  Carolina  Moimtains 238 

The  Appalachian  Training  School,  and  Howard's  Knob,  Boone, 

N.  C.    Photograph  by  John  L.  Vest,  Forsyth  County,  N.  C 248 

viii 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IX 

Mission  School  at  Valle  Crucis,  N.  C.    Photograph  by  L.  G.  Harris, 

Cranberry,  N.  C 254 

Hon.   Thomas   Lanier   Clingman.     From   Clark's   "North   Carolina 

Regiments." 258 

The  Deep  Gap,  the  gateway  to  Watauga.     Photograph  by  Wiley  C. 

Vannoy,  Blowing  Rock 268 

Maj.  Harvey  Bingham,  Soldier  and  Lawyer 282 

Hon.  E.  Spencer  Blackburn,  M.C,  Orator  and  Statesman 286 

Dudley  Farthing,  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions. .  308 

Hon.  L.  L.  Greene,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court 312 

Col.  Jonathan  Horton.    Photograph  by  John  L.  Vest,  Forsyth  County, 

N.  C 322 

Col.  Romulus  Z.  Linney,  M.C,  Wit,  Orator,  Lawyer  and  Statesman. .  328 


THE  MEN  OF  WATAUGA. 


They  told  by  the  sibilant  sea  of  the  solemn 

Blue  mountains  whose  summits  ascend -to  the  sky, 
Where,  cradled  in  solitude,  world-weary  pilgrims 

Might  find  perfect  rest,  undisturbed  by  a  sigh. 
They  told  of  savannahs  as  smooth  as  a  carpet, 

Of  golden  fruits  breaking  their  branches  in  twain; 
Of  vast  flocks  of  wild-fowl,  the  sunlight  obscuring. 

And  buffalo  haunting  the  billowy  plain. 
They  told  of  a  land  where  the  sweet-scented  wild  flowers 

Flash  fair  as  the  flame  of  a  taper-lit  shrine. 
Bedecking  the  meadows,  bespangling  the  valleys, 

And  climbing  the  mountains,  the  sun  to  outshine. 
But  they  told  of  a  cruel  foe  lurking  in  ambush, 

For  whose  treachery  nothing  but  blood  could  atone. 
Of  fierce  Chickamaugas  and  Cherokee  bowmen, 

Whose  swift,  stealthy  darts  sang  a  dirge  all  their  own. 
But  the  rivers  and  mountains,  the  dim,  distant  mountains, 

Rising  range  upon  range  to  the  ultimate  sky — 
Could  women  and  children  surmount  those  blue  masses? 

Could  even  strong  men  those  grim  rock-cliffs  defy? 
Yes;  North,  west  of  Guilford,  and  South,  west  of  Cowpens, 

Those  mountains  had  yielded  to  Boone  and  Adair; 
McDowell  and  Shelby  had  led  through  the  passes 

But  to  find  them  awaiting  the  "Hot-spur,"  Sevier. 
'Twas  the  land  that  had  haunted  the  dreams  of  the  hunted 

For  which  all  the  homeless  and  hopeless  had  prayed — 
Untrammeled  by  custom,  unfettered  by  fashion, 

Each  man  his  own  master,  her  mistress  each  maid. 
So,  the  hunter,  his  rifle  and  bullet-pouch  bearing. 

Blew  a  blast  on  his  horn  and  the  hounds  thronged  around. 
The  oxen  were  yoked,  and  on  wheels  the  small  household 

Started  out  to  the  West,  a  new  Nation  to  found ! 
Through  dim,  ghostly  woodlands  and  dew-jeweled  meadows 

They  eagerly  followed  the  track  of  the  sun; 
They  rafted  the  rivers  and  conquered  the  Smokies, 

From  whose  peaks  they  first  saw  the  new  homes  they  had  won. 
They  were  men  from  Old  Rowan,  Burke,  Craven  and  Chowan, 

Wake,  Anson  and  Surry  and  Currytuck's  lights; 
And  Mecklenburg  sent  of  her  sturdy  young  yeomen 

Such  men  as  subscribed  to  our  "First  Bill  of  Rights." 
They  girdled  the  forests,  they  drained  the  morasses. 

They  builded  of  rude  logs  the  Church  and  the  Home — 
Through  labor  and  sorrow  and  sore  tribulation — 

Faith  for  the  foundation  and  love  for  the  dome. 
And  while  these  be  the  Sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon, 

God's  "Chosen"  the  heathen  forever  will  smite; 
And  in  tears  and  in  blood,  with  the  lead  of  the  rifle, 

The  Saxon  his  deeds  will  continue  to  write. 
And  soon,  on  the  banks  of  the  sparkling  Watauga, 

Was  cradled  the  spirit  that  conquered  the  West — 
The  spirit  that,  soaring  o'er  mountain  and  prairie, 

E'en  on  the  Pacific  shore  paused  not  to  rest. 
For  the  first  written  compact  that,  west  of  the  mountains, 

Was  framed  for  the  guidance  of  liberty's  feet, 
Was  writ  here  by  letterless  men  in  whose  bosoms 

Undaunted  the  heart  of  a  paladin  beat!  J.  P.  A. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Several  Forewords. 

Our  Home  and  Heritage. — Our  home  is  a  very  small  part  of 
that  vast  region  known  as  the  Southern  Appalachians,  which  a 
recent  writer,  Horace  Kephart,  has  aptly  called  Appalachia.  This 
elevated  section  covers  parts  of  eight  States,  all  of  which  are 
south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  It  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
temperate  zone  and,  for  climate,  is  unsurpassed  in  the  world. 
The  average  elevation  is  about  two  thousand  feet  above  tide- 
water. Blue  Ridge  is  the  name  of  the  range  of  mountains  which 
bounds  this  highland  country  on  the  east,  though  the  western 
boundary  is  known  by  many  names,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
is  bisected  by  several  streams,  all  of  which  flow  west,  while 
the  Blue  Ridge  is  a  true  water-shed  from  the  Potomac  to  Georgia. 
The  various  names  of  the  western  ranges  are  the  Stone,  the 
Iron,  the  Bald,  the  Great  Smoky,  the  Unaka  and  the  Frog 
mountains.  The  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  has, 
however,  of  recent  years,  given  the  name  Unaka  to  this  entire 
western  border,  leaving  the  local  names  to  the  sections  which 
have  been  formed  by  the  passage  of  the  Watauga,  the  Doe,  the 
Toe,  the  Cane,  the  French  Broad,  the  Pigeon,  the  Little  Tennes- 
see and  the  Hiawassee  rivers.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  bare 
mountain-tops,  which  are  covered  by  a  carpet  of  grass,  these 
mountains  are  wooded  to  the  peaks.  Between  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  the  Unakas  are  numerous  cross  ranges,  separated  by  narrow 
valleys  and  deep  gorges.  Over  the  larger  part  of  this  region 
are  to  be  found  the  older  crystalline  rocks,  most  of  which  are 
tilted,  while  the  forests  are  of  the  finer  hardwoods  which,  when 
removed,  give  place  to  luxuriant  grasses.  The  apple  finds  its 
home  in  these  mountains,  while  maize,  when  grown,  is  richer 
in  proteids  than  that  of  the  prairie  lands  of  Illinois. 

Character  of  the  Inhabitants  in  1752. — Bishop  Spangenberg, 
in  the  Colonial  Records  (Vol.  IV,  pp.  1311-1314),  wrote  from 

I 
1 


2  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Edenton,  N.  C,  that  he  had  found  everything  in  confusion  there, 
the  counties  in  conflict  with  each  other,  and  the  authority  of  the 
legislature  greatly  weakened,  owing  largely  to  the  fact  that 
the  older  counties  had  formerly  been  allowed  five  representatives 
in  the  general  assembly ;  but,  as  the  new  counties  were  formed, 
they  were  allowed  but  two.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
the  newer  counties,  even  with  their  small  representation,  held 
a  majority  of  the  members,  and  passed  a  law  reducing  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  older  counties  from  five  to  two.  The  result  of 
this  was  that  the  older  counties  refused  to  send  any  members 
to  the  assembly,  but  dispatched  an  agent  to  England  with  a  view 
to  having  their  former  representation  restored.  Before  any 
result  could  be  obtained,  however,  there  was  "in  the  older  coun- 
ties perfect  anarchy,"  with  frequent  crimes  of  murder  and  rob- 
bery. Citizens  refused  to  appear  as  jurors,  and  if  court  was 
held  to  try  such  crimes,  not  one  was  present.  Prisons  were 
broken  open  and  their  inmates  released.  Most  matters  were  de- 
cided by  blows.  But  the  county  courts  were  regularly  held,  and 
whatever  belonged  to  their  jurisdiction  received  the  customary 
attention. 

People  of  the  East  and  West. — Bishop  Spangenberg,  in  the 
same  letter,  divided  the  inhabitants  of  the  eastern  counties  into 
two  classes — natives,  who  could  endure  the  climate,  but  were 
indolent  and  sluggish,  and  those  from  England,  Scotland  and 
Ireland  and  from  the  northern  colonies  of  America,  the  latter 
being  too  poor  to  buy  land  there.  Some  of  these  were  refugees 
from  justice,  had  fled  from  debt,  or  had  left  wife  and  children 
elsewhere — or,  possibly,  to  escape  the  penalty  of  some  crime. 
Horse  thieves  infested  parts  of  this  section.  But,  he  adds  in  a 
postscript  written  in  1753 :  "After  having  traversed  the  length 
and  breadth  of  North  Carolina,  we  have  ascertained  that 
towards  the  western  mountains  there  are  plenty  of  people  who 
have  come  from  Virginia,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey 
and  even  from  New  England."  Even  in  1752  "four  hundreo 
families,  with  horses,  wagons  and  cattle  have  migrated  to  North 
Carolina,  and  among  them  were  good  farmers  and  very  worthy 
people."    These,  in  all  probability,  were  the  Jersey  Settlers. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  3 

The  Great  Pennsylvania  Road. — On  the  15th  of  February, 
1751,  Governor  Johnston  wrote  to  the  London  Board  of  Trade 
that  inhabitants  were  flocking  into  North  CaroHna,  mostly  from 
Pennsylvania,  and  other  points  of  America  "already  over- 
stocked, and  some  directly  from  Europe,"  many  thousands 
having  arrived,  most  of  whom  had  settled  in  the  West  "so  that 
they  had  nearly  reached  the  mountains."  Jeffrey's  map  in  the 
Congressional  Library  shows  the  "Great  Road  from  the  Yadkin 
River  through  Virginia  to  Philadelphia,  Distance  435  Miles." 
It  ran  from  Philadelphia,  through  Lancaster  and  York  counties 
of  Pennsylvania  to  Winchester,  Va.,  thence  up  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  crossing  Fluvanna  River  at  Looney's  Ferry,  thence  to 
Staunton  River  and  down  the  river,  through  the  Blue  Ridge, 
thence  southward,  near  the  Moravian  Settlement,  to  Yadkin 
River,  just  above  the  mouth  of  Linville  Creek,  and  about  ten 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  Reedy  Creek.  It  is  added  that  those  of 
our  boys  who  followed  Lee  on  his  Gettysburg  campaign  in  1863 
were  but  passing  over  the  same  route  their  ancestors  had  taken 
when  coming  from  York  and  Lancaster  counties  to  this  State  in 
the  fifties  of  the  eighteenth  century.     (Col.  Rec.  Vol.  IV,  p.  xxi.) 

Our  Yankee  Ancestry. — As,  to  Southerners,  all  people  north 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  are  Yankees,  there  seems  to  be  no 
doubt,  if  the  best  authorities  can  be  trusted,  that  we  are  the  sons 
of  Yankee  sires.  Roosevelt  (Vol.  I,  p.  137)  tells  us  that  as  early 
as  1730  three  streams  of  white  people  began  to  converge  towards 
these  mountains,  but  were  halted  by  the  Alleghanies;  that 
they  came  mostly  from  Philadelphia,  though  many  were  from 
Charleston,  S.  C,  Presbyterian-Irish  being  prominent  among  all 
and  being  the  Roundheads  of  the  South.  Also  that  Catholics 
and  Episcopalians  obtained  little  foothold,  the  creed  of  the  back- 
woodsmen being  generally  Presbyterian.  Miss  Morley  says  that 
so  many  of  the  staunch  northerners — Scotch-Irish  after  the 
events  of  1730,  and  Scotch  Highlanders  after  those  of  1745 — 
"came  to  the  North  Carolina  mountains  that  they  have  given  the 
dominant  note  to  the  character  of  the  mountaineers"  (p.  140). 
Kephart  says  that  when  James  I,  in  1607,  confiscated  the  estates 
of  the  native  Irish  in  six  counties  in  Ulster,  he  planted  them 


4  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

with  Scotch  and  English  Presbyterians,  giving  long  leases,  but 
that  as  these  leases  began  to  expire  the  Scotch-Irish  themselves 
came  in  conflict  with  the  Crown,  and  then  he  quotes  Froude  to 
the  effect  that  thirty  thousand  Protestants  left  Ulster  during  the 
two  years  following  the  Antrim  evictions  and  came  to  America. 
Many  of  these  finally  settled  in  our  mountains,  among  them  be- 
ing Daniel  Boone  and  the  ancestors  of  David  Crockett,  Samuel 
Houston,  John  C.  Calhoun,  "Stonewall"  Jackson  and  Abraham 
Lincoln,  He  might  have  added,  also,  those  of  Cyrus  H.  Mc- 
Cormick,  Admiral  Farragut,  Andrew  Johnson,  James  K.  Polk, 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  Henry  Clay,  John  Marshall  and  Parson 
Brownlow. 

Huguenots,  Germans  and  Swedes. — But  others  came  also: 
French  Huguenots,  Germans,  Hollanders  and  Swedes,  who  set- 
tled the  British  frontier  from  Massachusetts  to  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  the  mountain  men  who  counted  most  coming  from 
Lancaster,  York  and  Berks  counties,  Pennsylvania.  "That  was 
true  in  the  days  of  Daniel  Boone  and  David  Crockett,  and  also 
in  the  days  of  John  C.  Calhoun  and  William  A.  Graham,  of  those 
of  Zeb  Vance  and  Jeter  C.  Pritchard.  There  has  not  been  one 
whit  of  admixture  from  any  other  source.  Blood  feuds  have 
always  been  absent.  The  Tiffanys  have  been  able  to  draw  on 
these  mountains  for  some  of  their  most  skilful  wood-carvers — 
a  revival  of  their  ancient  home  industries.  I  have  heard  in 
Pennsylvania  within  the  last  thirty  years  every  form  of  expres- 
sion with  which  I  am  familiar  in  Western  North  Carolina,  and 
some  of  them  occur  today  around  Worcester,  Mass."  *  Hence, 
we  have  in  these  mountains  the  sauerkraut  of  Holland  and  the 
cakes  of  Scotland. 

Scum  or  Salt? — So  much  has  been  written  in  detraction  of 
the  Southern  mountaineers  that  ignorant  people  conclude  that 
they  are  the  very  scum  of  the  earth.  In  all  the  admirable  things 
Horace  Kephart  had  to  say  in  his  "Southern  Highlanders,"  the 
Northern  reviewers  found  but  a  few  sentences  worthy  of  their 
notice,   and  these  were,  of  course,  of  an  unfavorable  nature. 


»  Dr.    Collier    Cobb    in    an    address    before    the    National    Geographic    Society, 
in  New  York  City,  in  April,  1914. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  5 

These  were  quoted  and  commented  on  by  a  reviewer  in  the 
Review  of  Reviews  for  July,  1914.  In  the  same  number  of  this 
periodical  (p.  49)  there  is  a  picture  under  which  is  printed: 
"Center  Peak  of  Grandfather  Mountain,  in  Pisgah  Forest,  re- 
cently acquired  by  the  Government  from  the  Estate  of  George 
W.  Vanderbilt."  As  the  Grandfather  mountain  is  at  least  ninety 
miles  north  of  Pisgah  Forest,  the  ignorance  of  the  publishers  of 
this  magazine  of  conditions  in  our  mountains  is  apparent. 
Kephart's  few  remarks  which  caught  the  eye  of  Northern  re- 
viewers were  that  "although  without  annals,  we  are  one  in 
speech,  manners,  experiences  and  ideals,  and  that  our  de- 
terioration began  as  soon  as  population  began  to  press  upon 
the  limits  of  subsistence."  An  examination  of  the  statistics  of 
population  and  wealth  of  Buncombe,  Haywood,  Jackson,  Swain 
and  Cherokee  counties  in  1880,  before  the  railroad  was  built, 
and  of  1910,  will  convince  anyone  that  "population  has  not  yet 
pressed  upon  the  limits  of  production."  Kephart  also  said  that 
our  "isolation  prevented  them  from  moving  West  .  .  .  and 
gradually  the  severe  conditions  of  their  life  enfeebled  them 
physically  and  mentally."  As  opposed  to  that,  Archibald  D. 
Murphey  says  (Murphey  Papers,  Vol.  II,  p.  105)  that  North 
Carolina  "has  sent  half  a  million  of  her  inhabitants  to  people 
the  wilderness  of  the  West,  and  it  was  not  until  the  rage  for 
emigration  abated  that  the  public  attention  was  directed  to  the 
improvement  of"  their  advantages.  This  was  written  prior  to 
November,  1819.  Besides,  anyone  who  will  read  the  "Sketches  of 
Prominent  Families"  in  this  volume  will  be  convinced  that 
Watauga  County  at  least  contributed  its  quota  to  the  winning 
of  the  West.  Miss  Morley  graciously  records  that,  instead  of 
deteriorating,  the  late  George  W.  Vanderbilt  put  his  main  reli- 
ance on  the  native  mountaineer  in  the  development  of  his  fairy- 
land estate,  Biltmore  (p.  149).  "They  were  put  to  work,  and, 
what  was  of  equal  value  in  their  development,  they  were  sub- 
jected to  an  almost  military  discipline.  For  the  first  time  in 
generations  they  were  compelled  to  be  prompt,  methodical  and 
continuous  in  their  efforts.  And  of  this  there  was  no  complaint. 
Scotch  blood  may  succumb  to  enervating  surroundings,  but  at 


6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  first  call  to  battle  it  was  ready.  Not  only  did  the  men  do  the 
manual  labor,  but,  as  time  went  on,  the  most  capable  of  them 
became  overseers  in  the  various  departments,  until  finally  all  the 
directors  of  this  great  estate,  excepting  a  few  of  the  highest 
officials,  were  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  the  people,  who  proved 
themselves  so  trustworthy  and  capable  that  in  all  these  years  only 
three  or  four  of  Biltmore's  mountaineer  employees  have  had  to 
be  dismissed  for  inefficiency  or  bad  conduct." 

Won  the  Revolution  and  Saved  the  Union. — Like  Tenny- 
son's "foolish  yeoman,"  we  have  been  "too  proud  to  care  from 
whence  we  came,"  and  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  in  spite  of  all 
that  has  been  written  against  us,  no  Southern  mountaineer  has 
taken  the  trouble  to  answer  our  detractors.  And,  when  it  is 
said  that  we  have  no  annals,  Mr.  Kephart  merely  means  that  we 
have  not  written  them,  for  he  proceeds  to  prove  that  we  have 
annals  of  the  highest  order.  He  credits  the  mountaineer  with 
having  been  the  principal  force  which  drove  the  Indians  from 
the  Alleghany  border  (p.  151)  and  formed  the  rear-guard  of  the 
Revolution  and  the  vanguard  in  the  conquest  of  the  West.  He 
says :  "Then  came  the  Revolution.  The  backwoodsmen  were 
loyal  to  the  American  government — loyal  to  a  man.  They  not 
only  fought  off  the  Indians  from  the  rear,  but  sent  many  of  their 
incomparable  riflemen  to  fight  at  the  front  as  well.  They  were 
the  first  English-speaking  people  to  use  weapons  of  precision — 
the  rifle,  introduced  by  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  about  1700,  which 
was  used  by  our  backwoodsmen  exclusively  throughout  the  war. 
They  were  the  first  to  employ  open-order  formation  in  civilized 
warfare.  They  were  the  first  outside  colonists  to  assist  their 
New  England  brethren  at  the  siege  of  Boston  .  .  .  They 
were  mustered  in  as  the  first  regiment  of  the  Continental  Army 
(being  the  first  troops  enrolled  by  our  Congress  and  the  first 
to  serve  under  a  Federal  banner).  They  carried  the  day  at 
Saratoga,  the  Cowpens  and  King's  Mountain,  From  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end  of  the  war,  they  were  Washington's  favorite 
troops."  As  to  the  Civil  War,  he  says  (p.  374)  :  "The  Con- 
federates thought  that  they  could  throw  a  line  of  troops  from 
Wheeling  to   the  Lakes,   and   Captain   Garnett,  a  West   Point 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  7 

graduate,  started,  but  got  no  further  than  Harper's  Ferry,  when 
mountain  men  shot  from  ambush,  cut  down  bridges,  and  killed 
Garnett  with  a  bullet  from  a  squirrel  rifle  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
Then  the  South  began  to  realize  what  a  long,  lean,  powerful 
arm  of  the  Union  it  was  that  the  Southern  mountaineer 
stretched  through  its  very  vitals,  for  that  arm  helped  to  hold 
Kentucky  in  the  Union,  kept  East  Tennessee  from  aiding  the 
Confederacy  and  caused  West  Virginia  to  secede  from  Seces- 
sion!" There  was  no  Breed's  Hill  nor  Bull  Run  panic  among 
them  in  the  Revolution  or  in  the  Civil  War  period !  Has  New 
England,  which  has  a  superabundance  of  annals,  any  that  will 
compare  with  these?  And  yet,  it  took  an  outsider  to  tell  us 
of  them ! 

Not  the  Poor  Whites  of  the  South. — According  to  Kephart 
(p.  356),  the  poor  whites  of  the  South  descended  mainly  from 
the  convicts  and  indentured  servants  which  England  supplied 
to  the  Southern  plantations  before  the  days  of  slavery.  The 
cavaliers  who  founded  and  dominated  Southern  society  came 
from  the  conservative,  the  feudal  element  of  England.  "Their 
character  and  training  were  essentially  aristocratic  and  military. 
They  were  not  town  dwellers,  but  masters  of  plantations  .  .  , 
These  servants  were  obtained  from  convicted  criminals,  boys  and 
girls  kidnapped  from  the  slums,  impoverished  people  who  sold 
their  services  for  passage  to  America  (p.  357).  It  was  when 
the  laboring  classes  of  Europe  had  achieved  emancipation  from 
serfdom  and  feudalism  was  overthrown,  that  African  slavery 
laid  the  foundation  for  a  new  feudalism  in  the  Southern  States. 
Its  effect  upon  white  labor  was  to  free  them  from  their  thraldom ; 
but  being  unskilled  and  untrained,  densely  ignorant,  and  from 
a  more  or  less  degraded  stock,  these  shiftless  people  generally 
became  squatters  on  the  pine  barrens,  and  gradually  sank  lower 
in  the  scale  till  the  slaves  themselves  were  freed  by  the  Civil 
War.  There  was  then  and  still  is  plenty  of  wild  land  in  the 
lowlands  and  they  had  neither  the  initiative  nor  the  courage  to 
seek  a  promised  land  far  away  among  the  unexplored  and  savage 
peaks  of  the  western  country." 


8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

McKamie  Wiseman's  View. — This  shrewd  old  mountaineer 
of  Avery  County,  who  is  a  wise  man  not  only  by  name,  but  by 
nature  also,  had  the  true  idea  of  the  settlement  of  these  moun- 
tains. He  said  that  as  population  drifted  westward  from  the 
Atlantic  and  downwards  from  western  Virginia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania between  the  mountain  troughs,  the  game  was  driven  into 
the  intervening  mountains,  and  that  only  the  bravest  and  the 
hardiest  of  the  frontiersmen  of  the  borders  followed  it  and  re- 
mained after  it  had  been  exterminated.  Tradition  and  early 
documents  bear  out  this  view,  the  first  settlers  of  the  mountains 
having  been  almost  without  exception  the  men  who  lived  on  the 
mountain-tops,  at  the  heads  of  creeks  and  in  out-of-the-way 
places  generally,  disdaining  the  fertile  bottom  lands  of  the  larger 
streams,  preferring  the  most  inaccessible  places,  because  of  the 
proximity  to  them  of  the  game.  Others,  with  more  money  and 
less  daring,  got  the  meadows  and  fertile  valleys  for  agriculture, 
while  the  true  pioneers  dwelt  afar  in  trackless  mountains,  in 
hunting  camps  and  caverns,  from  which  they  watched  their 
traps  and  hunted  deer,  bear  and  turkeys.  The  shiftless  and  dis- 
heartened poor  whites  would  soon  have  perished  in  this  wilder- 
ness, but  the  hunters  waxed  stronger  and  braver,  and  their 
descendants  still  people  the  mountain  regions  of  the  South. 
And  he  thought,  also,  that  many  came  down  from  the  New  Eng- 
land States  because  of  the  religious  unrest  and  dissensions  which 
marked  the  earlier  history  of  that  region,  and  came  where  men 
might  worship  God  in  their  own  way,  whether  that  way  were  the 
way  of  Puritan  or  Baptist.  To  use  his  words,  "It  was  freedom 
that  they  were  seeking,  and  it  was  freedom  that  they  found  in 
these  unpeopled  mountains."  Kephart  puts  it  in  another  form 
only  when  he  says  (p.  307),  "The  nature  of  the  mountaineer  de- 
mands that  he  have  solitude  for  the  unhampered  growth  of  his 
personality,  wing-room  for  his  eagle  heart."  As  another  said 
of  the  Argonauts,  "The  cowards  never  started,  and  the  weaklings 
died  on  the  way."    Mr.  Wiseman  died  in  July,  1915. 

No  Festering  Warrens  for  Them. — Mr.  Kephart  also  tells  us 
(p.  309)  that  "our  highlanders  have  neither  memory  nor  tradi- 
tion of  ever  having  been  herded  together,  lorded  over,  perse- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  9 

cuted  or  denied  the  privileges  of  free  men,"  and  that,  "although 
life  has  been  one  long,  hard,  cruel  war  against  elemental  powers, 
nothing  else  than  warlike  arts,  nothing  short  of  warlike  hazards 
could  have  subdued  the  beasts  and  savages,  felled  the  forests  and 
made  our  land  habitable  for  those  teeming  millions  who  can 
exist  only  in  a  state  of  mutual  dependence  and  cultivation."  And, 
more  marvelous  still,  he  adds,  "By  compulsion  their  self-reliance 
was  more  complete;  hence,  their  independence  grew  more 
haughty,  their  individualism  more  intense.  And  these  traits, 
exaggerated  as  they  were  by  the  force  of  environment,  remain 
unweakened  among  their  descendants  to  the  present  day." 

Co-operation  Has  Ceased. — In  the  early  time,  co-operation 
was  the  watchword  of  the  day.  Neighbor  helped  neighbor, 
freely,  gladly  and  enthusiastically.  But,  according  to  Kephart, 
all  this  has  ceased,  and  we  have  become  non-sociable,  with  each 
man  fighting  for  his  own  hand,  recognizing  no  social  compact. 
Each  is  suspicious  of  the  other.  "They  will  not  work  together 
zealously,  even  to  improve  their  neighborhood  roads,  each  mis- 
trusting that  the  other  may  gain  some  trifling  advantage  over 
himself,  or  turn  fewer  shovelfuls  of  earth.  Labor  chiefs  fail 
to  organize  granges  or  unions  among  them  because  they  simply 
will  not  stick  together  .  .  ."  He  quotes  a  Miss  Mills  as  say- 
ing, "The  mountaineers  must  awake  to  a  consciousness  of  them- 
selves as  a  people."  Including  all  the  Southern  highlanders,  we 
constitute  a  distinct  ethnic  group  of  close  on  to  four  million 
souls,  and  with  needs  and  problems  identical.  The  population 
is  almost  absolutely  unmixed,  and  completely  segregated  from 
each  other  (p.  311).  The  one  redeeming  feature  is  a  passionate 
attachment  for  home  and  family,  a  survival  of  the  old  feudal 
idea,  while  the  hived  and  promiscuous  life  in  cities  is  breaking 
down  the  old  fealty  of  kith  and  kin  (p.  312).  "My  family,  right 
or  wrong"  is  said  to  be  our  slogan,  and  it  is  claimed  that  this  is 
but  the  persistence  of  the  old  clan  fealty  to  the  chief  and  the 
clansmen. 

Moonshining  an  Inheritance? — Kephart  seems  to  have  made 
a  study  of  blockading  and  moonshining,  and  to  have  reached  the 
conclusion  that  they  are  really  an  inheritance,  coming  down  to 


10  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

us  from  our  Scotch  and  Irish  ancestors,  who  resented  the  English 
excise  law  of  1659,  which  struck  at  the  national  drink  of  the 
Scotch  and  Irish,  while  the  English  themselves  were  then  con- 
tent to  drink  ale.  Our  forebears  killed  the  gaugers  in  sparsely 
settled  regions,  while  the  better-to-do  people  of  the  towns  bribed 
them.  Thus  the  Scotch-Irish,  settled  by  James  I  in  the  north  of 
Ireland,  to  replace  the  dispossessed  native  Hibernians,  learned  to 
make  whiskey  in  little  stills  over  peat  fires  on  their  hearths,  call- 
ing it  poteen,  from  the  fact  that  it  was  made  in  little  pots. 
Finally,  these  Scotch-Irish  fell  out  with  the  British  government 
and  emigrated,  for  the  most  part,  to  western  Pennsylvania,  where 
they  brought  with  them  an  undying  hatred  of  the  excise  laws. 
When,  therefore,  after  they  had  helped  to  establish  a  stable  gov- 
ernment, an  excise  law  was  adopted  by  Congress,  these  Scotch- 
Irish  were  the  very  first  to  rebel.  And  it  was  to  George 
Washington  himself  that  the  task  fell  of  suppressing  their  re- 
sistance to  the  United  States ! 

The  Pennsylvania  Whiskey  Rebellion. — Owing  to  bad  roads 
and  the  want  of  markets,  there  was  no  currency  away  from  the 
seaboard.  But,  condensed  into  distilled  spirits,  a  ready  sale  and 
easy  transportation  were  found  for  the  product  of  the  grain  of 
the  mountaineers.  For  they  could  carry  many  gallons  on  a 
single  horse  or  in  a  single  wagon  and  get  a  fair  price  from 
people  living  where  money  circulated.  When,  therefore,  they 
were  required  to  pay  a  heavy  tax  on  their  product,  they  rebelled. 
When  the  Federal  excisemen  went  among  them,  they  blackened 
themselves  and  tarred  and  feathered  these  intruders  on  their 
rights.  These  "revenuers"  then  resigned,  but  were  replaced  by 
others.  If  a  mountaineer  took  out  a  license,  a  gang  of  whiskey 
boys  smashed  his  still  and  inflicted  bodily  punishment  on  him. 
All  attempts  to  serve  warrants  resulted  in  an  up-rising  of  the 
people,  and,  on  July  16,  1794,  a  company  of  mountain  militia 
marched  to  the  house  of  General  Neville,  in  command  of  the 
excise  forces,  and  he  fired  on  them,  wounding  five  and  killing 
one.  The  next  day  a  regiment  of  500  mountain  men,  led  by 
Tom  the  Tinker,  burned  Neville's  house  and  forced  him  to  flee, 
one  of  his  guard  of  United  States  soldiers  being  killed  and  sev- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  ii 

eral  wounded.  On  August  i,  1794,  2,000  armed  mountain  men 
met  at  the  historic  Braddock  Field,  and  marched  on  Pittsburg, 
then  a  village.  A  committee  of  Pittsburg  citizens  met  them. 
The  mob  of  5,400  men  were  then  taken  into  town  and  treated  to 
strong  drink,  after  which  they  dispersed.  The  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  refused  to  interfere,  and  Washington  called  for 
15,000  militia  to  quell  the  insurrection.  He  also  appointed  com- 
missioners to  induce  the  people  to  submit  peacefully.  Eighteen 
ring-leaders  were  arrested  and  the  rest  dispersed.  Two  of  the 
leaders  were  convicted,  but  were  afterwards  pardoned.  Even  a 
secession  movement  was  imminent,  but  as  Jefferson  soon  became 
President,  the  excise  law  was  repealed  and  peace  restored.  There 
was  no  other  excise  tax  till  1812,  when  it  was  renewed,  only  to 
be  repealed  in  1817.  From  this  time  till  1862  there  was  no  tax, 
and  after  that  time  it  was  only  twenty  cents  a  gallon.  In  1864 
it  was  raised  to  sixty  cents  a  gallon  and  later  in  that  year  to 
$1.50,  to  be  followed  in  1865  by  $2.00  a  gallon.  The  result  was 
again  what  it  had  been  in  Great  Britain — fraud  around  the  cen- 
ters of  population  and  resistance  in  the  mountains,  the  current 
price  of  distilled  spirits  even  in  the  North  being  less  than  the  tax. 
In  1868  the  tax  was  reduced  to  fifty  cents,  and  illicit  stilling  prac- 
tically ceased,  the  government  collecting  during  the  second  year 
of  the  existence  of  this  reduced  tax  three  dollars  for  every  one 
that  had  been  collected  before  (p.  163).  Since  then  every  in- 
crease has  resulted  in  moonshining  in  the  mountains  and  graft 
in  the  cities.  The  whiskey  frauds  of  Grant's  administration  in- 
vaded the  very  cabinet  itself.  So  it  seems  the  spirit  of  resistance 
makes  moonshiners  of  us  all,  just  as  Shakespeare  said  that  con- 
science makes  cowards  of  us  all. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Forerunners  of  Watauga. 

Likeness  of  the  Indians  to  the  Hebrews. — The  following  has 
been  condensed  from  the  Literary  Digest  for  September  21,  1912, 
page  472:  "William  Penn  saw  a  striking  likeness  between  the 
Jews  of  London  and  the  American  Indians.  Some  claim  that 
the  stories  of  the  Old  Testament  are  legends  in  some  Indian 
tribes.  In  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia  it  is  said  that  the  Hebrews, 
after  the  captivity,  separated  themselves  from  the  heathen  in 
order  to  observe  their  peculiar  laws ;  and  Manasseh  Ben  Israel 
claims  that  America  and  India  were  once  joined,  at  Bering  Strait, 
by  a  peninsula,  over  which  these  Hebrews  came  to  America.  All 
Indian  legends  affirm  that  they  came  from  the  northwest.  When 
first  visited  by  Europeans,  Indians  were  very  religious,  worship- 
ping one  Great  Spirit,  but  never  bowing  down  to  idols.  Their 
name  for  the  deity  was  Ale,  the  old  Hebrew  name  for  God.  In 
their  dances  they  said  'Hallelujah'  distinctly.  They  had  annual 
festivals,  performed  morning  and  evening  sacrifices,  offered  their 
first  fruits  to  God,  practiced  circumcision,  and  there  were  'cities 
of  refuge,'  to  which  offenders  might  fly  and  be  safe ;  they  reck- 
oned time  as  did  the  Hebrews,  similar  superstitions  mark  their 
burial  places  'and  the  same  creeds  were  the  rule  of  their  lives, 
both  as  to  the  present  and  the  future.'  They  had  chief-ruled 
tribes,  and  forms  of  government  almost  identical  with  those  of 
the  Hebrews.  Each  tribe  had  a  totem,  usually  some  animal,  as 
had  the  Israelites,  and  this  explains  why,  in  the  blessing  of  Jacob 
upon  his  sons,  Judah  is  surnamed  a  lion,  Dan  a  serpent,  Ben- 
jamin a  wolf,  and  Joseph  a  bough."  There  are  also  resemblances 
in  their  languages  to  the  Latin  and  Greek  tongues,  Chickamauga 
meaning  the  field  of  death,  and  Aquone  the  sound  of  water. 

A  Study  in  Ethnology  and  Philology. — We  have  seen  that 
the  legends  show  that  the  Indians  came  from  the  northwest.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  although  they  were  of  one 

12 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  13 

color,  they  were  of  different  tribes  and  spoke  dift"erent  tongues 
or  dialects.  There  is  not  a  labial  in  the  entire  Cherokee  lan- 
guage, while  the  speech  of  the  Choctaws,  Creeks,  Tuscaroras, 
Algonquins  and  many  other  tribes  is  full  of  them.  They  were 
nomads,  wandering  from  place  to  place.  The  Cherokees  were 
admittedly  the  most  advanced  of  the  Indians  since  the  Spaniards 
decimated  the  Incas  and  Aztecs.  They  were  certainly  the  most 
warlike.  The  name  "Cherokee"  has,  however,  no  significance  in 
their  language,  as  they  call  themselves  the  Ani-Kituhwagi  and 
the  Yunwiga,  or  real  people.  This  is  likewise  true  of  most  of 
the  names  of  streams  and  mountains  which  bear,  according  to 
popular  belief,  Indian  names;  for  in  the  glossary,  given  in  the 
Nineteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1897, 
Part  I,  James  Mooney,  its  author,  shows  that  their  meaning  has 
been  lost,  if,  indeed,  they  ever  had  a  meaning  in  the  Indian 
tongue.  A  glance  through  that  collection  of  Cherokee  words 
will  dispel  many  a  poetic  idea  of  the  significance  of  such  words 
as  Watauga,  Swannanoa,  Yonahlossee  and  others  as  mellifluous. 
How  came  this  about?  He  offers  no  theory.  But  Martin  V. 
Moore,  who  once  did  business  in  Boone,  has  published  a  small 
volume,  "The  Rhyme  of  Southern  Rivers,"  ^  in  which  he  makes 
it  appear  that  most,  if  not  all,  of  these  names  of  streams  and 
mountains  have  their  roots  in  the  languages  of  Europe  and  Asia. 
He  cites  an  instance  when  an  Indian  was  asked  whether  the 
Catawba  tribe  took  their  name  from  the  Catawba  River  or  the 
river  from  the  tribe?  The  Indian  answered  by  asking,  "Which 
was  here  first?"  If  it  was  possible  for  one  European  or  Asiatic 
tribe  or  clan  to  cross  into  America  before  Bering  Strait  divided 
the  two  continents,  it  was  possible  for  many  to  have  crossed  also. 
If  one  tribe  or  clan  spoke  one  tongue,  other  tribes  which  crossed 
probably  spoke  different  languages.  Thus,  America  might  have 
become  peopled  with  representatives  of  many  peoples,  each  speak- 
ing a  different  dialect,  and  thus  giving  different  names  to  the 
several  streams  and  mountains  along  and  among  which  they  for 
a  time  abided.    If  this  be  so,  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the  root  or 


>  This  was  originally  published  in  Harper's  Monthly  for  February,  1883,  but 
without  its  introductory.  It  was  published  in  complete  form  by  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  Pub.  Co.,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  1897. 


14  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

origin  of  many  so-called  Indian  words  can  be  found  in  the  Greek, 
Latin,  Hebrew,  Persian,  African,  Chinese  and  Japanese  lan- 
guages. That  many  names  of  Southern  rivers  show  such  possi- 
bilities is  made  plain  by  this  little  volume. 

"The  Other  Way  About,"  as  the  English  say,  would  make  it 
possible  that  these  Appalachian  mountains  being  the  oldest  land 
in  the  world — older  far  than  that  of  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates  and 
the  Jordan — were  really  the  birth-place  and  cradle  of  the  ances- 
tors of  the  polyglot  races  which  now  people  Europe  and  Asia; 
for,  if  it  was  possible  for  people  to  come  to  America  from  those 
countries,  it  was  equally  possible  for  people  to  go  from  America 
there.  So  that,  instead  of  being  the  New  World,  America  is 
really  the  Old  World.    But,  to  the  proofs : 

Words  Derived  from  the  Hebrews. — According  to  Mr. 
Moore,  "te"  or  "de"  in  Hebrew  means  "deep."  In  its  oldest  form 
in  Hebrew,  it  is  "te-am,"  or  "te-ho-ma,"  meaning  deep  waters — 
"am"  or  "homa"  denoting  waters.  "Perpetuity"  in  Hebrew  was 
denoted  by  "na."  "The  fact  is  illustrated,"  to  quote  Mr.  Moore's 
words,  "in  the  Hebrew  name  'ama-na' — the  river  known  in 
Isaiah,"  Iviii,  v.  ii  (p.  99).  Chota,  the  City  of  Refuge,  as  it  is 
called  in  Cherokee,  "was  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  those 
which  obtained  among  the  Jewish  nations  of  antiquity"  (p.  89). 
.  .  .  Telico,  Jellico  and  Jerico  (p.  44)  are  cognate  words,  and 
Pocataligo  was  the  title  of  the  river  of  that  name  in  South  Caro- 
hna,  "long  famed  as  one  of  the  cities  of  refuge  among  the 
aborigines."  Likewise,  he  shows  that  "toah"  or  "toe"  is  from 
the  Hebrew  "neph-toah,"  "the  name  of  a  water  noted  in  Jewish 
history"  (p.  29). 

Latin,  Manchu  and  Persian. — "The  root  word  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  is  traced  to  the  Latin  words  'meto'  and  'messis,' 
whence  come  our  words  'meter'  and  'measure,'  denoting  in  the 
original  sense  a  gathering  together,  tersely  characteristic  of  a 
stream  which  gathers  to  itself  the  waters  of  so  many  different 
lands"  (p.  yy).  He  also  traces  the  root  word  of  "saluda"  to  the 
Latin  "salio"  to  leap  (p.  41)  or  a  "stream  springing  out  of  high 
places."  In  "unaka,"  the  name  of  the  mountains  south  of  the 
Little  Tennessee  River,  unquestionably  "a  native  Indian  word," 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  15 

he  finds  a  marked  likeness  to  the  Latin  "unus,"  "unica"  and  our 
EngHsh  equivalent  "unique"  (p.  92).  "Watauga"  has  the  Latin 
root  "aqua,"  meaning  water.  Then,  too,  "esta"  or  "aesta,"  in 
Latin,  refers  to  summer  months,  or  leisure  time,  which,  com- 
bined with  the  Hebrew  "toah"  or  "toe,"  makes  up  our  "Estatoe" 
river  (p.  29).  "Esseeola"  is  given  as  the  native  name  of  the 
river  now  called  Linville,  "ola"  being  from  the  Manchu  dialect 
word  "ou-li,"  meaning  river;  and  if  Miss  Morley  is  right  in 
thinking  that  it  was  named  for  the  linden  trees  on  its  banks,  one 
cannot  help  wondering  if  "esse,"  in  Manchu,  means  linden ! 
Mr.  Moore  thinks  "catawba"  is  from  the  Persian  root  "au-ba" 
or  "aub,"  of  which  the  California  writing  is  Yuba,  meaning  cat- 
fish, which  is  certainly  characteristic  of  our  Carolina  stream  of 
that  name.  He  also  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  neither  the 
Cherokees  nor  the  Japanese  use  the  letter  "r"  in  their  dialects; 
and  that  the  old  Romans  used  "1"  and  "r"  interchangeably,  just 
as  do  the  Cherokees  (p.  50). 

First  Settlers  of  Watauga. — The  Cherokee  Indians  were  the 
first  settlers  of  this  county,  but  there  is  no  record  that  white 
men  ever  came  into  actual  contact  with  them  in  what  is  now 
Watauga  county.  Boone  does  not  seem  to  have  encountered  any 
on  his  trip  in  1769  until  he  reached  Kentucky.  Neither  did 
Bishop  Spangenburg  on  his  trip  in  1752.  James  Robertson  saw 
none  on  his  first  trip  to  the  Watauga  Settlement  in  1769,  nor  in 
1770,  when  he  brought  his  family  with  him  to  the  new  settlement 
on  the  Watauga  River.  Indeed,  Virginia  had  concluded  a  treaty 
with  the  Cherokees  in  1772  fixing  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  as 
the  eastern  boundary,  and  a  line  running  due  west  from  the 
White  Top  mountain  (where  North  Carolina,  Virginia  and  Ten- 
nessee join),  and  the  general  impression  then  was  that  this  line 
included  the  Watauga  Settlement  near  what  is  now  Jonesboro, 
Tenn.  But  in  1771  Anthony  Bledsoe  extended  the  Virginia  line 
far  enough  west  to  satisfy  himself  that  the  Watauga  Settlement 
was  not  in  Virginia  territory,  and,  therefore,  not  within  the 
treaty  limits  of  1772.  This  fact  caused  those  settlers  to  lease 
for  eight  years  all  the  country  on  the  waters  of  the  Watauga 
River.    On  March  19,  1775,  the  Watauga  settlers  bought  in  fee 


1 6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

simple  all  the  land  on  the  waters  of  the  Watauga,  Holston  and 
New  Rivers.  The  western  boundary  of  this  tract  ran  from  six 
miles  above  Long  Island  of  the  Holston,  south,  to  the  dividing 
ridge  between  the  Watauga  and  the  Toe  rivers,  thence  in  a  south- 
easterly direction  to  the  Blue  Ridge,  thence  along  the  Blue  Ridge 
to  the  Virginia  line.  This  embraced  the  whole  of  Watauga,  Ashe 
and  Alleghany  counties.  So  that,  from  1775  on,  the  Indians  had 
no  right  to  be  in  this  territory,  and,  although  Wheeler  tells  us 
that  Ashe  was  partially  settled  as  early  as  1755  by  white  people — 
principally  hunters — there  is  nothing  to  tell  us  that  the  Indians 
ever  lived  here  except  arrow  heads,  broken  bits  of  pottery  and 
so  forth. ' 

The  Cherokees  Kept  Faith. — Up  to  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Cherokees 
lived  north  of  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  Toe  and  Watauga 
clear  up  to  the  Virginia  line.  Thus,  whether  the  lease  and  deed 
to  the  Watauga  settlers  near  Jonesboro  were  legal  or  not,  the 
untutored  savage  stood  manfully  to  this  agreement.  It  is  true 
that  war  parties  were  sent  through  this  territory  to  make  trouble 
for  the  settlers  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  they  had  no  abiding 
place  west  of  that  divide.  Bishop  Spangenberg  was  here  in 
December,  1752,  but  he  saw  no  Indians,  though  speaking  of  an 
"old  Indian  field."  There  is  a  tradition  in  the  settlement  near 
Linville  Falls  and  Pisgah  Church  (Altamont),  now  in  Avery 
County,  that  William  White  was  the  first  settler  in  that  locality 
whose  name  is  now  remembered  and  lived  where  Melvin  C. 
Bickerstafif  now  resides,  but  that  another  had  preceded  him  at 
that  place,  and  that  while  hunting  one  day  he  saw  from  a  ridge 
a  party  of  Indians  kill  two  white  men  who  were  "lying  out"  in 
that  locality  in  order  to  escape  service  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  trample  their  bodies  beyond  sight  in  a  mud-hole  which  then 
stood  near  the  present  residence  of  Rev.  W.  C.  Franklin.  This 
settler  did  not  reveal  himself  to  the  Indians,  but,  hastening  to  his 
own  cabin  half  a  mile  away,  escaped  with  his  wife  and  child  to 
Fort  Crider  (which,  in  1780,  Dr.  Draper  tells  us,  p.  185,  note, 
was  situated  on  "a  small  eminence  within  the  present  limits  of 


*  Rev.  W.  R.  Savage,  of  Blowing  Rock,   and  W.  S.  Farthing,  of  Beaver  Dams, 
have    large    collections    of    Indian    relics. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  17 

Lenoir"),  after  having  been  forced  to  eat  while  on  the  journey 
through  the  rough  mountains  the  small  pet  dog  which  followed 
them.  There  is  also  another  tradition  that  the  American  forces 
followed  a  party  of  marauding  Cherokees  to  the  rock  cliff  just 
above  Pisgah  Church  in  that  locality,  but  retreated  because  the 
savages  were  too  strong  for  them.  These,  however,  are  the  only 
traditions  diligent  enquiry  has  revealed.  There  is,  however, 
other  evidence  of  forays  across  the  Blue  Ridge  by  Cherokees 
from  their  towns  on  the  Little  Tennessee. 

Some  Old  Forts. — According  to  Archibald  D.  Murphey 
(Murphey  Papers,  Vol.  II,  pp.  385,  386),  "there  was  a  chain  of 
forts  from  Black  Water  of  Smith's  River  in  Rockingham  near  to 
the  Long  Island  of  Holston:  i,  the  fort  at  Bethabara;  2,  Fort 
Waddell  at  the  Forks  of  the  Yadkin;  3,  Fort  Dobbs  on  the 
Catawba;  4,  Fort  Chisholm  on  New  River,  and  5.  Fort  Stalnaker 
near  the  Crab  Orchard."  Just  where  the  fort  on  New  River  was 
located  it  is  now  difficult  to  determine,  though  it  was  probably  at 
Old  Field  or  Three  Forks,  as  they  were  on  the  road  from  Wilkes- 
borough  to  Long  Island  in  the  Holston.  The  Crab  Orchard  was 
most  likely  two  miles  west  of  what  is  now  called  Roan  Moun- 
tain, just  in  the  edge  of  Tennessee.  It  is  now  only  a  flag  station, 
however,  the  Gen.  John  Winder  road  from  Roan  Mountain 
station  through  Carver's  gap,  three  miles  southeast  of  the  gap  of 
the  Yellow,  starting  from  the  latter  station  to  the  top  of  the 
Roan  mountain,  where,  during  the  eighties,  hundreds  of  visitors 
spent  the  "hay  fever  months"  in  comfort.  The  immense  hotel 
there  has  been  abandoned  now,  however,  and  the  doors  and 
windows  are  being  carried  away  every  day  by  marauders,  the 
caretaker  having  left  in  1914. 

An  Indian  Incursion. — The  same  author  says  (p.  381,  Vol. 
II)  of  other  forts  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge:  "Forts  were  erected 
at  Moravian  Old  Town  (Bethabara)  by  the  twelve  Moravians 
first  sent  out  to  Wachovia,  and  by  the  settlers  in  the  neighbor- 
hood two  forts  were  erected:  one  in  the  town,  including  the 
church,  and  the  other  at  the  mill,  half  a  mile  distant.  Into  these 
forts  the  settlers  in  the  neighborhood  and  even  from  the  Mul- 
berry Fields  near  Wilkesborough  took  refuge,  about  seventy 
families  in  all,  and  here  they  continued  in  fort,  occasionally,  until 


1 8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  general  peace  of  1763.  The  people  generally  went  to  their 
homes  in  the  fall  or  early  in  the  winter,  and  returned  to  the 
forts  in  the  spring,  the  winter  being  too  severe  for  the  Indians 
to  make  such  long  expeditions  for  the  purpose  of  mischief.  The 
forts  were  never  attacked.  The  Little  Carpenter,  then  the  chief 
of  the  tribe  [Cherokees],  came  at  the  head  of  300  or  400  In- 
dians and  killed  several  of  the  inhabitants.  They  [the  Indians] 
remained  for  six  weeks  in  the  neighborhood  and  then  returned. 
This  was  in  the  spring  of  1755  or  1756." 

Where  They  Crossed  the  Blue  Ridge. — "They  crossed  the 
Blue  Ridge  at  the  head  of  the  Yadkin  and  came  down  the  valley 
of  that  river."  They  killed  William  Fish  at  the  mouth  of  Fish's 
River.  One  Thompson,  who  was  with  him,  was  wounded  with 
two  arrows  "while  he  and  Fish  were  riding  together  through  a 
canebrake."  Thompson  escaped  and  gave  the  alarm  at  Betha- 
bara.  The  people  hastened  to  the  forts,  two  men,  Barnett  Lash- 
ley  and  one  Robison,  being  killed  near  the  block  house  the  next 
morning.  "Lashley's  daughter,  thirteen  years  old,"  went  to 
her  father's  house  to  milk  the  cows.  "Nine  Indians  pursued  her, 
but  she  escaped  by  hiding  in  the  canebrakes  until  after  dark, 
when  she  went  to  the  fort,  and  was  not  surprised  to  learn  of  her 
father's  death."  This  was  in  March,  1755  or  1756.  The  Indians 
came  from  the  Cherokee  towns  on  the  Little  Tennessee  River. 
None  ever  lived  in  Watauga  or  Ashe  since  the  whites  settled  in 
the  piedmont  country.  In  1759  or  1760  another  raid  was  made 
to  the  mouth  of  Smith's  River  in  Rockingham  County  (p.  383), 
where  they  killed  Greer  and  Harry  Hicks  on  Bean  Island  Creek, 
and  carried  Hick's  wife  and  little  son  back  to  Tennessee  with 
them.  They,  however,  were  recovered  when  Gen.  Hugh  Wad- 
dell  marched  to  the  Cherokee  towns  later  on.  A  company  of 
rangers  was  kept  employed  by  the  State,  commanded  by  Anthony 
Hampton,  father  of  Gen.  Wade  Hampton,  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  greatgrandfather  of  Gen.  Wade  Hampton,  twice  gov- 
ernor of  South  Carolina  (p.  384).  Daniel  Boone  belonged  to 
this  company  and  he  buried  Fish,  who  had  been  killed  by  Little 
Carpenter. 

First  White  Settlers  of  Watauga. — A  letter  from  Lafayette 
Tucker,  of  Ashland,  Ashe  County,  states  that  the  descendants  of 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  19 

the  original  Lewis  who  settled  in  that  neighborhood  claim  that 
he  came  as  early  as  1730.  Thomas  Hodges,  the  first,  came  during 
the  Revolutionary  War  and  settled  in  what  is  now  called  Hodges 
Gap,  two  miles  west  of  Boone,  and  Samuel  Hix  and  James  D. 
Holtsclaw,  his  son-in-law,  settled  at  or  near  Valle  Crucis  at  that 
time  or  before.  Some  of  the  Norris  family  also  came  about  that 
time,  but  which  one  or  ones  cannot  be  determined  now.  These 
were  Tories.  Ben  Howard  did  not  settle  in  this  county,  but  re- 
mained at  his  home  on  the  Yadkin,  though  he  took  refuge  in  the 
mountains  around  Boone  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  for 
ten  years  prior  to  1769  herded  cattle  in  the  bottom  lands  around 
Boone.  He  built  what  is  now  known  as  the  Boone  cabin  in  front 
of  the  Boys'  Dormitory  of  the  Appalachian  Training  School, 
marked  in  1912  by  a  monument  erected  by  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan. ' 
A  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the  knob,  looming  above  Boone 
village  and  known  as  Howard's  Knob,  is  a  shallow  cave  or  cliff, 
called  Howard's  Rock  House,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  lived 
while  hiding  out  from  the  Whigs.  Howard  remained  loyal  to 
the  British  crown  till  1778,  when  he  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
(Col.  Rec.  XXn,  p.  172.)  His  daughter,  Sally,  was  switched  by 
the  Whigs  near  her  home  on  the  Yadkin  because  she  refused  to 
tell  where  her  father  was.  She  afterwards  married  Jordan 
Councill,  Sr.,  and  settled  at  what  is  now  Boone,  where  Jesse 
Robbins  has  built  a  house,  called  the  Buck-Horn-Tree  place. 
Bedent  Baird  moved  to  Valle  Crucis  some  time  after  Samuel 
Hix  went  there,  but  Baird  was  a  Whig.  David  Miller  must  have 
settled  on  Meat  Camp  early,  for  he  went  as  a  member  of  the 
legislature  to  Raleigh  in  1810.  Bedent  Baird  went  to  Raleigh 
as  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  1808.  Nathan  Horton,  ancestor 
of  the  large  and  influential  Horton  family,  was  a  member  in  1800. 
Linville  Falls.* — One  often  wonders  how  these  beautiful  falls 
get  their  name  of  Linville.    According  to  Archibald  D.  Murphey 


3  Colonel  Bryan,  however,  thinks  Howard  did  not  build  this  cabin,  as  Jordan 
Councill  the  second,  Howard's  grandson,  always  called  it  Boone's  cabin.  Col. 
J.  M.  Isbell,  now  deceased,  told  the  writer  in  May,  1909,  that  Burrell,  an  old 
African  slave,  told  him  that  Howard  used  it  for  his  herders. 

*  Some  suppose  that  this  river  takes  its  name  from  the  lin-tree,  or  as  it  is 
usually  spelt,  the  lyn  or  linn,  but  the  Linville  family  is  the  source  of  its  name. 
This  tree  is  what  the  Germans  call  the  linden.  It  is  scarce  in  these  mountains 
now  because  of  the  fact  that  its  branches  are  among  the  first  to  swell  and  bud 
in  early  spring,  and  great  trees  were  cut  wherever  found  in  the  forests  in  order 
that  the  cattle  might  eat  the  tender  limbs. 


20  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

(Murphey  Papers,  Vol.  II,  p.  386),  "Two  men  named  Linville 
from  the  forks  of  the  Yadkin  went  to  hunt  on  the  Watauga 
River  between  1760  and  1770.  They  employed  John  Williams, 
a  lad  of  sixteen,  to  go  with  them,  keep  camp  and  cook  for  them. 
They  were  sleeping  in  the  camp  when  the  Indians  came  on  them 
and  killed  the  Linvilles.  They  shot  Williams  through  the 
thigh,"  but  he  escaped  and  rode  a  horse  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Watauga  "to  the  Hollows  in  Surry"  in  five  days.  He  recovered 
from  his  wound  and  became  a' man  of  influence.  It  is  now  al- 
most certain  that  these  falls  have  taken  their  name  from  these 
two  men,  who  may  have  visited  them  before  their  last  hunt  and 
told  the  people  of  their  location  and  beauty,  for  Dr.  Draper 
(note,  p.  183)  records  that  the  stream  itself  was  named  from 
the  fact  that  in  the  "latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1766  William 
Linville,  his  son  and  a  young  man  had  gone  from  the  lower 
Yadkin  to  this  river  to  hunt,  where  they  were  surprised  by  a 
party  of  Indians,  the  two  Linvilles  killed,  the  other  person, 
though  badly  wounded,  effecting  his  escape.  The  Linvilles  were 
related  to  the  famous  Daniel  Boone."  It  is  a  matter  of  record 
that  a  family  by  the  name  of  Linvil — probably  an  economic  way 
of  spelling  Linville — were  members  of  Three  Forks  Baptist 
Church  and  lived  on  what  is  now  known  as  Dog  Skin  Creek,  or 
branch,  but  which  stream  used  to  be  called  Linville  Creek.  The 
membership  of  that  church  shows  that  Abraham,  Catharine  and 
Margaret  Linvil  were  members  between  1790  and  1800,  while 
the  minutes  show  that  on  the  second  Saturday  in  June,  1799, 
when  the  Three  Forks  Church  were  holding  a  meeting  at  Cove 
Creek,  just  prior  to  giving  that  community  a  church  of  its  own, 
Abraham  Linvil  was  received  by  experience,  and  in  July  fol- 
lowing, at  the  same  place,  Catharine  and  Margaret  Linvil  also 
were  so  received.  Several  of  the  older  residents  of  Dog  Skin, 
Brushy  Fork  and  Cove  creeks  confirm  the  reality  of  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Linville  family  in  that  community.  In  September, 
1799,  Brother  Vanderpool's  petition  for  a  constitution  at  Cove 
Creek  was  granted,  Catharine  Linvil  having  been  granted  her 
letter  of  dismission  the  previous  August. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Watauga's  First  Visitor. 

The  Greed  for  Land. — All  the  land  had  been  taken  up  in 
1752  east  of  Anson  county,  which  was  then  the  westernmost 
county  of  the  State.  (Col.  Rec.  Vol.  V,  pp.  2,  3.)  It  is  now  a 
small  county  just  north  of  the  South  Carolina  line.  "As  early 
as  1754  vacant  public  lands,  as  we  would  call  them  now,  could  be 
found  in  large  bodies  only  in  the  back  settlements  near  the 
mountains,  and  settlers  were  coming  in  there  in  hundreds  of 
wagons  from  the  northwards  .  .  .  The  immigrants  were 
said  to  be  very  industrious  people,  who  went  at  once  into  the 
cultivation  of  hemp,  flax,  corn  and  the  breeding  of  horses  and 
other  stock."  (Col.  Rec.  Vol.  V,  p.  xxi.)  The  McCuUoh  lands, 
consisting  of  1,200,000  acres,  were  granted  on  the  19th  of  May, 
1737,  upon  condition  that  6,000  Protestants  should  be  settled 
thereon  and  four  shillings  quit  rents  should  be  paid  for  each 
100  acres  by  the  14th  of  March,  1756.  These  lands  were  sur- 
veyed and  located  on  the  heads  of  the  Pee  Dee,  Cape  Fear  and 
Neuse  rivers  in  1744,  in  tracts  of  100,000  acres  each.  (Id. 
xxxii.) 

Bishop  Spangenberg's  Visit. — "In  August,  1752,  Bishop 
Spangenberg  and  his  party  set  out  from  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  for 
Edenton,  N.  C,  to  locate  lands  bought  the  year  before  from  the 
Earl  of  Granville  for  the  Moravian  settlement.  Leaving  Eden- 
ton about  the  middle  of  September,  their  route  lay  through 
Chowan,  Bertie,  Northampton,  Edgecombe  and  Granville,  to  its 
western  border  near  the  Virginia  line,  and  thence  along  the 
Indian  Trading  Path,  as  near  as  can  now  be  ascertained,  to  the 
Catawba  River,  thence  up  that  river  to  its  upper  waters,  thence 
by  mistake  over  the  divide  to  New  River,  thence  back  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Yadkin  and  thence  down  the  Yadkin  to  Muddy 
Creek,  where,  some  ten  miles  from  the  river  and  from  'the  upper 
Pennsylvania  road,'  they  found  some  100,000  acres  of  land  in 

21 


22  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

a  body  unoccupied,  which  they  proceeded  at  once  to  take  up. 
In  January,  1753,  they  returned  home,  having  surveyed  73,037 
acres  of  land,  to  which  were  added  25,948  acres  surveyed  by 
Mr.  Churton  in  the  same  tract,  making  in  all  98,985  acres.  A 
general  deed  for  the  whole  tract  was  made  on  7th  of  August, 
I753-"  (Col.  Rec.  Vol.  V,  p.  1146.)  The  names  of  the  members 
of  Bishop  Spangenberg's  party  were:  August  Gottlieb  Span- 
genberg,  Henry  Antes,  Jno.  Merk,  Herman  Lash  and  Timothy 
Horsefield.  Their  guides  were  Henry  Day,  who  lived  in  Gran- 
ville county,  near  Mr.  Salis' ;  Jno.  Perkins,  who  lived  on  the 
Catawba  River  and  was  known  as  Andrew  Lambert,  a  well 
known  Scotchman,  and  Jno.  Rhode,  who  lived  about  twenty 
miles  from  Captain  Sennit  on  the  Yadkin  road. 

The  First  Visitor  to  Watauga  County. — So  far  as  there  is 
any  authentic  record  to  the  contrary.  Bishop  Spangenberg  and 
his  party  were  the  first  visitors  to  Watauga  county.  Following 
is  the  record  of  this  visit.     (Col.  Rec.  Vol.  IV,  p.  10,  etc.)  : 

"December  3,  1752.  From  the  camp  on  a  river  in  an  old 
Indian  field,  which  is  either  the  head  or  a  branch  of  New  River, 
which  flows  through  North  Carolina  to  Virginia  and  into  the 
Mississippi  River.  Here  we  have  at  length  arrived  after  a  very 
toilsome  journey  over  fearful  mountains  and  dangerous  cliffs. 
A  hunter  whom  we  had  taken  along  to  show  us  the  way  to  the 
Yadkin,  missed  the  right  path,  and  we  came  into  a  region  from 
which  there  was  no  outlet,  except  by  climbing  up  an  indescrib- 
ably steep  mountain.  Part  of  the  way  we  had  to  crawl  on  hands 
and  feet;  sometimes  we  had  to  take  the  baggage  and  saddles 
and  the  horses  and  drag  them  up  the  mountains  (for  the  horses 
were  in  danger  of  falling  down  backward — as  we  had  once  had 
an  experience),  and  sometimes  we  had  to  pull  the  horses  up 
while  they  trembled  and  quivered  like  leaves. 

"Arrived  at  the  top  at  last,  we  saw  hundreds  of  mountain 
peaks  all  around  us,  presenting  a  spectacle  like  ocean  waves  in 
a  storm.  We  refreshed  ourselves  a  little  on  the  mountain  top, 
and  then  began  the  descent,  which  was  neither  so  steep  nor  as 
deep  as  before,  and  then  we  came  to  a  stream  of  water.  Oh,  how 
refreshing  this  water  was  to  us !     We  sought  pasture  for  our 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  23 

horses  and  rode  a  long  distance,  until  in  the  night,  but  found 
none  but  dry  leaves.  We  could  have  wept  with  sympathy  for 
the  poor  beasts.  The  night  had  already  come  over  us,  so  we 
could  but  put  up  our  tent.  We  camped  under  the  trees  and  had 
a  very  quiet  night.  The  next  day  we  journeyed  on;  got  into 
laurel  bushes  and  beaver  dams  and  had  to  cut  our  way  through 
bushes,  which  fatigued  our  company  very  much. 

"Then  we  changed  our  course — left  the  river  and  went  up 
the  mountain,  where  the  Lord  brought  us  to  a  delicious  spring 
and  good  pasturage  on  a  chestnut  ridge.  He  sent  us,  also,  at 
this  juncture  two  deer,  which  were  most  acceptable  additions 
to  our  larder.  The  next  day  we  came  to  a  creek  so  full  of  rocks 
that  we  could  not  possibly  cross  it,  and  on  both  sides  were  such 
precipitous  banks  that  scarcely  a  man,  and  certainly  no  horse, 
could  climb  them.  Here  we  took  some  refreshments,  for  we 
were  weary.  But  our  horses  had  nothing — absolutely  nothing; 
this  pained  us  inexpressibly.  Directly  came  a  hunter  who  had 
climbed  a  mountain  and  had  seen  a  large  meadow.  Thereupon 
we  scrambled  down  to  the  water,  dragged  ourselves  along  the 
mountain  and  came  before  night  into  a  large  plain. 

"This  caused  rejoicing  for  men  and  beasts.  We  pitched  our 
tent,  but  scarcely  had  we  finished  when  such  a  fierce  wind  storm 
burst  upon  us  that  we  could  scarcely  protect  ourselves  against  it. 
I  cannot  remember  that  I  have  ever  in  winter  anywhere  encoun- 
tered so  hard  or  so  cold  a  wind.  The  ground  was  soon  covered 
with  snow  ankle  deep,  and  the  water  froze  for  us  aside  the  fire. 
Our  people  became  thoroughly  disheartened.  Our  horses  would 
certainly  perish  and  we  with  them.  The  next  day  we  had  fine 
sunshine,  and  then  warmer  days,  though  the  nights  were  'horri- 
bly' cold.  Then  we  went  to  examine  the  land.  A  large  part  of 
it  is  already  cleared  and  there  long  grass  abounds  and  this  is  all 
bottom. 

"Three  creeks  flow  together  here  and  make  a  considerable 
river  which  flows  into  the  Ohio,  and  thence  into  the  Mississippi, 
according  to  the  best  knowledge  of  our  hunters.  In  addition, 
there  are  almost  countless  springs  and  little  runs  of  water  which 
come  from  the  mountains  and  flow  through  the  country,  making 


24  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

almost  more  meadow  land  than  one  could  make  use  of.  There 
is  not  a  trace  of  reeds  here,  but  so  much  grass  land  that  Brother 
H.  Antes  thinks  a  man  could  make  several  hundred  loads  of 
hay  of  the  wild  grass,  which  would  answer  very  well  if  only  it 
be  cut  and  cured  at  the  proper  time.  There  is  land  here  suitable 
for  wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley,  hemp,  etc.  Some  of  the  land  will 
probably  be  flooded  when  there  is  high  water.  There  is  a  mag- 
nificent chestnut  and  pine  forest  near  here.  Whetstones  and 
mill  stones,  which  Brother  Antes  regards  the  best  he  has  seen  in 
North  Carolina,  are  plenty.  The  soil  is  here  mostly  limestone 
and  of  a  cold  nature.  The  waters  are  all  higher  than  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  We  surveyed  this  land  and  took 
up  5,400  acres  in  our  lines.  We  have  a  good  many  mountains, 
but  they  are  very  fertile  and  admit  of  cultivation.  Some  of  them 
are  already  covered  with  wood  and  are  easily  accessible.  Many 
hundred,  yes,  thousands — crab-apple  trees  grow  here,  which 
may  be  useful  for  vinegar.  One  of  the  creeks  presents  a  number 
of  admirable  seats  for  milling  purposes. 

"This  survey  lies  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  Virginia  line, 
as  we  saw  the  Meadow  Mountain  and  judged  it  to  be  about 
twenty  miles  distant.  This  mountain  lies  five  miles  from  the 
line  between  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  In  all  probability 
this  tract  would  make  an  admirable  settlement  for  Christian  In- 
dians, like  Gradenhutten  in  Pennsylvania.  There  is  wood,  mast, 
wild  game,  fish  and  a  free  range  for  hunting,  and  admirable 
land  for  corn,  potatoes,  etc.  For  stock  raising,  it  is  also  in- 
comparable." (From  this  favored  spot  they  went  through  the 
mountains  by  Reddy's  river  to  the  Mulberry  Fields  and  entered 
land  in  the  neighborhood  of  what  is  now  Wilkesborough  and  the 
Moravian  Falls,  which  took  its  name  from  them.) 

Where  Was  This  Indian  Old  Field? — The  question  arises 
as  to  the  location  of  the  old  Indian  field  at  the  head  of  a  prong 
of  New  River,  where  5,400  acres  of  land  were  surveyed  and 
taken  up.  It  will  help  one  to  determine  this  by  ascertaining  the 
route  by  which  it  had  been  reached.  The  entry  in  the  diary 
immediately  preceding  that  of  December  3d,  the  date  on  which 
this  spot  was  described,  is  November  29,  1752,  and  was  written 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  25 

at  the  camp  "at  the  upper  fork  of  the  second  or  middle  river 
which  flows  into  the  Catawba  not  far  from  Quaker  Meadows." 
This  indicates  that  there  are  three  streams  which  flow  into  the 
Catawba  at  or  near  Quaker  Meadows.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
diary  to  indicate  which  he  calls  the  first  of  these  "little  rivers," 
but  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  third.  It  is  the  entry  of 
November  24th  "from  the  camp  in  the  fork  of  the  third  river 
which  empties  into  the  Catawba  near  Quaker  Meadows,  about 
five  miles  from  Table  Mountain,"  now  called  Table  Rock.  That 
could  be  none  other  than  the  Linville  River,  and,  as  Johns  River 
is  the  next  below  that,  it  follows  that  it  must  necessarily  be  the 
"second"  or  "middle  little  river."  Following  up  Johns  River, 
he  had  come  on  the  25th  to  the  mouth  of  Wilson's  Creek,  where 
he  took  up  2,000  acres.  This  is  the  lower  fork  of  Johns  River. 
The  upper  fork  of  this  river  is  at  Globe,  where  the  Gragg  prong 
joins  the  main  stream  and  where  Carroll  Moore  had  a  mill  years 
ago.  It  was  at  this  upper  fork  of  middle  little  river  that  the 
following  description  of  the  Globe  was  written: 

"With  respect  to  this  locality  where  we  are  now  encamped,  one 
might  call  it  a  basin  or  kettle.  It  is  a  cove  in  the  mountains,  and 
is  very  rich  soil.  Two  creeks,  one  larger  than  the  other,  flow 
through  it.  Various  springs  of  very  sweet  water  form  lovely 
meadow  lands.  Mills  may  easily  be  built,  as  there  is  fall  enough. 
Below  the  forks  the  stream  becomes  quite  a  large  one.  Of  wood 
there  is  no  lack.  Our  horses  find  abundant  pasture  among  the 
bufi^alo  haunts  and  tame  grass  among  the  springs,  which  they 
eat  greedily,  and  certainly  the  settlers  of  this  place  can  very 
soon  make  meadows  if  they  wish.  Not  only  is  the  land  suitable 
for  hemp,  oats,  barley,  etc.,  but  there  is  excellent  wheat  land 
here  also.  There  is  also  abundance  of  stone,  not  on  the  land, 
but  on  the  surrounding  mountains  .  .  .  This  survey  would 
contain  in  itself  all  the  requisites  to  make  comfortable  farms 
and  homes  for  about  ten  couples." 

While  there,  "A  hunter  whom  we  had  taken  along  to  show  us 
the  way  to  the  Yadkin  missed  the  right  path,  and  we  came  into 
a  region  from  which  there  was  no  outlet  except  by  climbing  up 
an  indescribably  steep  mountain.     Part  of  the  way  we  had  to 


26  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

crawl  on  hands  and  feet.  Sometimes  we  had  to  take  the  bag- 
gage and  saddles  and  the  horses  and  drag  them  up  the  moun- 
tains .  .  .  and  sometimes  we  had  to  pull  the  horses  up, 
while  they  trembled  and  quivered  like  leaves.  Arrived  at  the 
top,  we  saw  hundreds  of  mountain  peaks  all  around  us,  present- 
ing a  spectacle  like  ocean  waves  in  a  storm."  Could  this  have 
been  any  other  place  than  Blowing  Rock  ? 

Their  Route  from  Blowing  Rock. — From  this  point  they 
went  down  to  a  stream,  where  they  got  water,  but  no  pasturage, 
and,  consequently,  they  "continued  on  a  long  distance"  the  same 
day,  camping,  at  last,  after  nightfall,  beneath  trees,  but  without 
having  found  pasturage  for  their  horses.  This  stream  must 
have  been  either  Flannery's  Fork — now  Winkler's  Mill  Creek — 
or  the  middle  fork  of  New  River,  but  where  they  camped  can- 
not be  determined,  though  it  seems  certain  that  they  camped 
there  on  the  30th  of  November.  On  the  first  of  December  they 
"journeyed  on;  got  into  laurel  bushes  and  beaver  dams"  and 
had  to  "cut  a  way  through  the  bushes,"  but,  being  fatigued  with 
this  task,  they  changed  their  course  during  this  day  and  "left 
the  river  and  went  up  the  mountain,  where  the  Lord  brought 
us  to  a  delicious  spring  and  good  pasturage  on  a  chestnut  ridge." 
The  next  day,  December  2d,  they  came  to  a  creek  so  "full  of 
rocks  that  we  could  not  possibly  cross  it,  and  on  both  sides  were 
such  precipitous  banks  that  scarcely  a  man,  and  certainly  no 
horse,  could  cHmb  them."  But  there  was  no  pasturage.  It  was 
then  that  "a  hunter,  who  had  climbed  a  mountain  and  had  seen 
a  large  meadow,"  guided  them  "into  a  large  plain,"  the  spot 
described  with  so  much  particularity.  But,  on  that  night  of 
December  2d,  a  terrible  wind  and  snow  storm  assailed  them 
and  caused  them  to  suffer  very  much,  but  it  passed,  and  the  next 
day,  December  3d,  they  made  their  investigations  and  described 
the  goodly  land  to  which  they  thought  they  had  been  providen- 
tially guided. 

Conflicting  Claims. — Three  forks  of  New  River,  near  Boone, 
the  old  field  at  the  mouth  of  Gap  Creek,  and  Grassy  Creek,  in 
Ashe  County,  have  characteristics  similar  to  those  described, 
but  only  Grassy  Creek  has  the  limestone  formation.    Unless  the 


COLONEL  WILLIAM  LEWIS  BRYAN. 

Historian  and  trail  finder. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  27 

good  Bishop  knew  where  the  Virginia-North  CaroHna  Hne  was, 
it  is  difficult  to  know  why  he  stated  that  this  spot  was  "about 
fifteen  miles  from  the  Virginia  line,"  and  the  reason  he  gives 
for  this  conclusion  is  still  more  puzzling,  as  there  is  no  mountain 
in  Virginia  five  miles'  from  the  line  now  known  as  the  Meadow 
Mountain,  while  the  Bald,  in  Watauga  County,  is  almost  directly 
north  of  the  three  forks  and  apparently  about  twenty  miles 
away.  In  reality,  it  is  not  over  ten,  but  it  is  bald  and  looked  like 
a  meadow,  at  that  time,  with  snow  all  over  it.  On  the  other 
hand.  White  Top  is  about  twenty  miles  from  Grassy  Creek  and 
four  miles  from  Pond  Mountain,  the  corner  between  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia  and  Tennessee.  As  this  is  bare  around 
its  crown  of  lashorns,  it  may  be  that  it  was  called  the  Meadow 
Mountain  at  that  time. 

Col.  W.  L.  Bryan's  View. — After  reading  Bishop  Spangen- 
berg's  account  of  his  trip  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  Colonel  Bryan, 
of  Boone,  thinks  that  the  Bishop  got  to  the  stream  that  forms 
Cone's  Lake,  near  Blowing  Rock,  and  rode  north  along  the  top 
of  Flat  Top  ridge  "a.  long  distance"  and  camped  under  trees 
November  30th.  That  on  December  ist  he  got  into  laurel  bushes 
and  beaver  dams  on  the  middle  fork  of  the  south  fork  of  New 
River,  which  he  left  and  went  back  on  Flat  Top  range  to  a 
spring,  still  known  as  Flat  Top  Spring,  and  now  owned  by 
Thomas  Cannon,  but  which  was  first  settled  by  Alex.  Elrod  some- 
time in  the  fifties.  This  spring  is  on  land  where  there  used  to 
be  large  chestnut  trees,  and  is  the  most  noted  spring  near.  On 
December  2d  the  Bishop  was  on  either  Winkler's  Creek — form- 
erly called  Flannery's  Fork — or  on  the  middle  fork,  though  the 
rocks  and  cliffs  and  precipices  are  more  marked  on  Winkler's 
Creek  than  on  middle  fork,  especially  above  or  below  what  is 
now  the  Austin  place,  or  where  Moses  Johnson  has  a  mill. 
Colonel  Bryan  thinks  that  the  mountain  on  which  the  hunter 
climbed  was  Flat  Top  peak,  as  from  it  the  meadow  in  which  the 
three  forks  join  is  plainly  visible  and  the  bald  of  Long  Hope 
Mountain,  lying  almost  due  north,  can  be  distinctly  seen,  and 
this  was  the  mountain  which  the  Bishop  mistook  for  Meadow 
Mountain  in  Virginia,  now  known  as  White  Top.     Between  the 


28  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

junction  of  the  three  creeks,  forming  Three  Forks,  and  the  first 
bend  below  that  point  there  used  to  be  a  large  crab  orchard — 
say,  about  1855 — and  on  the  new  road  from  Boone  to  the  new 
electric  power  dam  on  south  fork  whetstones  can  be  found. 

Captain  W.  H.  Witherspoon,  of  Jefferson,  thinks  that  the 
Meadow  Mountain  which  Bishop  Spangenberg  saw  was  the 
White  Top,  and  that  the  stream  where  three  creeks  meet  were 
the  Naked,  Ravens  and  Beaver  Creeks,  flowing  into  the  south 
fork  of  New  River,  four  or  five  miles  east  of  Jefferson.  He 
thought  the  Moravians  had  owned  land  there;  that  there  is  a 
limestone  formation  there,  and  that  grindstones  are  found  near. 
This  is  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  Virginia  line.  White  Top 
is  visible  from  this  point,  and  is  about  twenty  miles  distant. 
Also  that  there  is  a  pine  and  chestnut  forest  south  of  the  south 
fork  of  New  River  and  between  that  river  and  the  Blue  Ridge. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Daniel  Boone. 

No  Direct  Daniel  Boone  Descendants  in  North  Carolina. — 
According  to  Thwaites  and  Bruce,  the  children  of  Daniel  Boone 
were  James,  Israel,  Susannah,  Jemima,  Lavinia,  Rebecca,  Daniel 
Morgan,  John  and  Nathan.  According  to  Bruce  (p.  87),  John 
was  a  mere  infant  in  arms  when  his  mother  started  with  her 
family  for  Kentucky  in  September,  1773.  John's  middle  name 
was  Bryan,  in  honor  of  his  mother's  family  name.  Neither 
Jesse  nor  Jonathan  Boone,  who  lived  afterwards  in  Watauga 
County,  were  sons  of  Daniel  Boone,  nor  was  Anna,  who  married 
William  Coffey.  So  far  as  the  writer  knows,  there  are  no  direct 
lineal  descendants  of  Daniel  Boone  in  North  Carolina  or  Ten- 
nessee. 

Boone's  Watauga  Relatives. — There  is  a  tradition  that  Anna, 
a  niece  of  Daniel  Boone,  was  married  in  the  log  house  which 
formerly  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Joseph 
Hardin,  a  mile  or  more  east  of  the  town  of  Boone.  Jesse  Boone, 
a  nephew  of  Daniel,  certainly  lived  near  the  top  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  in  a  cabin  which  used  to  stand  in  a  five-acre  field  four 
miles  above  ShuU's  Mills,  to  the  right  of  the  old  Morganton 
road.  The  foundation  stones  of  the  old  chimney  and  the  spring 
are  still  pointed  out.  The  land  on  which  that  cabin  stood  was 
entered  by  Jesse  November  7,  1814,  and  the  grant  for  it  was 
made  November  29,  181 7,  the  tract  containing  100  acres,  and 
beginning  on  Jesse  Coffey's  corner.  (Ashe  County  deed  book  F, 
p.  170.)  By  a  deed  dated  July  8,  1823,  Jesse  Boone  conveyed 
to  Wm.  and  Alex.  Elrod  350  acres  on  Flannery's  Fork  (now 
Winkler's  Mill  Creek)  of  New  River,  and  on  Roaring  Branch, 
two  miles  from  the  town  of  Boone,  Mr.  J.  Watts  Farthing  now 
owning  the  deed.  Anna  Boone,  the  wife  of  Wm.  Coffey,  and 
Jesse  Boone's  sister,  talked  with  this  Mr.  Farthing  about  the 
year   1871   while  he  was  building  a  house   for  her  grandson, 

29 


30  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Patrick  Coffey,  in  Caldwell  County.  Hannah  Boone,  another 
sister  of  Jesse's,  married  Smith  Coffey,  the  grandfather  of  the 
present  Smith  Coffey,  of  Kelsey  post  office.  According  to  the 
family  history  of  the  Bryan  family  in  the  possession  of  Col. 
W.  L.  Bryan,  of  Boone,  it  was  Morgan  Bryan,  and  not  Joseph, 
as  all  histories  have  it,  who  was  the  father  of  Rebecca  Bryan, 
the  wife  of  Daniel  Boone.  Bishop  Spangenberg  mentions  the 
fact  that  Morgan  Bryant  had  taken  up  land  near  the  Mulberry 
Fields  in  1752.  (Col.  Rec.  Vol.  V,  p.  13.)  According  to  the 
same  family  history,  Morgan  Bryan  was  the  ancestor  of  Hon. 
W.  J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska.  Jesse,  Anna  and  Hannah  Boone 
were  the  children  of  Israel,  a  brother  of  Daniel  Boone,  not  his 
own  children.  The  same  is  true  of  Jonathan  Boone,  who  sold  to 
John  Hardin,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  John  and  Joseph 
Hardin,  of  Boone,  245  acres  on  the  15th  of  September,  1821, 
for  $600.00,  the  land  being  on  what  was  then  called  Lynch's 
and  Mill  Creeks  on  the  north  side  of  New  River,  and  adjoining 
the  lands  of  Jesse  Councill,  and  running  to  Shearer's  Knob,  near 
the  town  of  Boone.     (Ashe  County  deed  book  S,  p.  509.) 

Jesse  and  Jonathan  Boone. — These  were  members  of  Three 
Forks  Baptist  Church,  which  speaks  well  for  these  relatives  of 
the  great  Daniel,  for  he  was  a  religious  man  himself,  his  simple 
creed  being:  "For  my  part  I  am  as  ignorant  as  a  Child  all 
the  Relegan  I  have  to  love  and  feer  god  believe  in  Jesus  Christ 
Do  all  the  good  to  my  neighbors  and  my  Self  that  I  can  and  Do 
as  Little  harm  as  I  can  help  and  trust  on  God's  mercy  for  the 
rest  and  I  believe  god  never  made  a  man  of  my  principel  to  be^ 
Lost  .  .  ."  What  was  the  creed  of  Jesse  and  Jonathan  does 
not  appear  beyond  that  implied  by  their  membership  of  this 
church.  But  that  each  overstepped  the  rules  of  that  organiza- 
tion is  apparent,  the  minutes  revealing  the  following  facts :  That 
in  March,  1818,  there  was  a  report  that  Jonathan  Boone  was 
drinking  too  much,  but  that  at  the  next  meeting  he  came  for- 
ward and  made  excuses  and  was  forgiven.  However,  in  May, 
1819,  there  was  another  report  against  him  for  drinking  and  get- 
ting drunk  and  not  attending  at  church  meetings,  the  result  of 
which  was:     "We  consider  him  no  more  a  member  with  us  at 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  31 

this  time."  Before  that,  however,  Jesse  and  his  wife,  "Saly," 
joined  this  church  by  letter,  as  did  also  his  negro  girl,  Dina,  and 
his  brother,  Jonathan.  In  November,  181 5,  Jonathan  was 
chosen  an  elder,  and  in  February,  1816,  he  was  ordained  by 
Reuben  Coffey  and  Elijah  Chambers.  Jesse  seems  to  have  kept 
out  of  trouble  for  a  long  time,  but  in  February,  1820,  there  was 
a  report  that  he  had  requested  Brother  Jeremiah  Green  to  re- 
move a  land-mark — laid  over — not  proved.  But,  in  "Aprile,  1820, 
a  grievance"  took  place  between  Jesse  Boone,  of  this  church, 
and  Brother  Jesse  Coffey,  of  the  Globe  church,  and  James 
Gilbert  and  Elisha  Chambers,  from  the  Globe  church,  and 
Anthony  Reese  and  Robert  Shearer,  from  this  church,  were  ap- 
pointed to  meet  at  Ben  Green's  on  the  second  Saturday  next 
ensuing  "to  set  on  the  business."  In  June  following  this  com- 
mittee reported  that  Jesse  Boone  had  given  Brother  Jesse  Coffey 
"some  cause  to  be  hurt  with  him."  In  September,  1820,  Jesse 
Boone  and  Jonathan  Wilson  said  "the  church  was  not  in  order," 
and  withdrew  therefrom.  This  did  not  increase  Jesse's  popu- 
larity with  the  members,  and  he  was  excluded  by  a  committee 
consisting  of  John  Holtsclaw,  Abijah  Fairchild,  Valentine  Reese 
and  Jacob  Baker;  but,  in  October,  1821,  the  terms  were  fixed 
upon  which  he  might  return,  these  terms  being  that  he  should 
make  acknowledgment  for  having  withdrawn  and  saying  that 
the  church  was  out  of  order.  At  this  meeting  the  church  also 
took  up  the  charges  of  Brother  Wilson  and  Brother  Boone 
against  Brother  Shearer,  who  acknowledged  all  that  had  any 
"wate"  (weight)  in  them;  but  the  church  found  that  Brother 
Boone  was  at  fault  because  he  said  he  could  "not  see  his  range, 
and  we  put  him  under  suspense  till  he  can  give  satisfaction." 
Jesse  Boone  having  been  excluded  "from  amonks  us,"  his  loyal 
wife  began  to  absent  herself  from  the  meetings,  and,  accord- 
ingly, in  January,  1823,  she  was  sent  for  to  come  to  meetings; 
but  as  she  refused  from  time  to  time  to  do  so,  "Sister  Poly 
Green,"  the  messenger  sent  to  secure  her  attendance,  reported 
that  Sister  Boone  had  said  that  the  church  would  have  to  "cut 
her  off"  for  the  reason  that  when  she  (Sister  Boone)  had  joined 
the  church  there  were  many  members  in  it  with  whom  "she 


32  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

could  not  fellowship,"  but  that  as  her  husband  had  joined,  she 
had  followed  him  into  the  fold.  She  was  excommunicated  as  a 
"disorderly  member  and  declared  to  the  world  our  unfellowship 
to  her."  In  November  following  a  letter  of  dismission  was 
given  "old  Sister  Boone,"  who  may  have  been  Jesse's  mother,  as 
it  was  probably  not  his  wife,  who  wrote  from  McMinn  County, 
Tennessee,  asking  for  a  letter  of  dismission.  But  this  the 
church  decided  to  withhold  till  it  got  "satisfaction,"  meanwhile 
writing  "a  friendly  letter  to  her."  This  concludes  the  residence 
of  the  Boones  in  that  part  of  Ashe  which  is  now  Watauga. 

Marking  the  Trail. — On  the  23d  day  of  October,  1913,  the 
tablet  which  had  been  placed  at  Boone  village  as  one  of  the 
markers  on  the  trail  of  Daniel  Boone  through  these  mountains 
was  unveiled.  This  is  one  of  six  similar  markers  of  iron-bolted- 
to-stone  boulders  erected  in  Watauga  County  in  October,  1913, 
by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  most  east- 
ern of  these  markers  was  placed  at  what  is  now  called  Cook's 
Gap,  six  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Boone ;  the  next  is  at  Three 
Forks  Baptist  Church,  three  miles  from  Boone;  the  third  is  in 
front  of  the  court  house  at  Boone;  the  fourth  is  in  Hodges' 
Gap,  two  miles  west  of  Boone;  the  fifth  is  at  Grave  Yard  or 
Straddle  Gap,  four  miles  west  of  Boone,  and  the  sixth  and  last 
is  at  Zionville,  near  the  Tennessee  line.  The  Edward  Buncombe 
Chapter,  D.  A,  R.,  of  Asheville,  was  in  charge  of  the  unveiling 
of  the  marker  at  Boone.  The  exercises  consisted  of  reading  of 
the  ritual  of  the  D.  A.  R.  society  by  the  State  Regent,  Mrs.  W. 
N.  Reynolds,  and  responses  by  the  audience,  introductory  re- 
marks by  Col.  Edward  F.  Lovill,  prayer  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Downum, 
and  addresses  by  John  P.  Arthur,  Prof.  B.  B.  Dougherty  and 
E.  S.  Coffey,  Esq.,  and  songs  by  a  choir,  led  by  Prof.  I.  G.  Greer. 
The  county  court  house  was  filled.  The  veil  was  withdrawn 
from  the  marker,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  exercises,  by  the 
following  little  girls :  Misses  Margaret  Beaufort  Miller,  a  niece 
of  Mrs.  Lindsay  Patterson;  Margaret  Linney,  Alice  Councill, 
Lucy  Moretz  and  Nellie  Coffey,  all  having  Revolutionary  ances- 
tors. Short  addresses  were  made  in  the  open  air  to  the  people 
who  had  gathered  around  the  marker  by  Mrs.  W.  N.  Reynolds, 


DANIEL  BOONE  CABIN  MONUMENT 
Erected  by  Colonel  W.  L.  Bryan,  October,  1912. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  33 

State  Regent;  Mrs.  Lindsay  Patterson,  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Boone's  Trail,  and  Mrs.  Theodore  S.  Morrison,  Regent 
of  the  Edward  Buncombe  Chapter. 

Boone's  Cabin  Monument. — In  October,  1912,  just  one  year 
previous  to  the  unveiling  of  the  markers  along  the  Boone  trail 
through  Watauga,  a  monument  of  stone  and  concrete,  far  more 
imposing  and  substantial  than  any  erected  by  the  Daughters  of 
the  American  Revolution,  had  been  built  on  the  identical  spot 
on  which  once  stood  the  log  cabin  in  which  Daniel  Boone  and 
his  companions  used  to  sleep  when  on  their  hunting  trips  through 
this  section.  This  cabin  has  long  since  disappeared,  but  the 
stones  of  the  chimney  remained  in  their  original  bed  or  founda- 
tion till  191 1,  and  were  well  known  by  all  in  the  vicinity  as  hav- 
ing been  a  part  of  the  old  Boone  cabin  or  hunting  camp.  It 
was  open  to  all  who  cared  to  use  it  in  the  old  days  before  the 
country  was  settled.  Whether  Boone  actually  built  it  is  imma- 
terial. He  used  it,  as  did  all  hunters  and  herders  who  found 
themselves  in  this  locality  near  nightfall.  Just  south  of  it  stands 
the  Boys'  Dormitory  of  the  Appalachian  Training  School,  a 
State-supported  institution  for  the  education  of  teachers.  In  this 
cabin  Benjamin  Howard  and  his  herders  used  to  keep  their  salt 
and  cooking  utensils  when  they  visited  this  section  to  look  after 
Howard's  cattle,  which  he  ranged  in  the  upper  valley  of  the 
New  River.  What  is  now  the  village  or  town  of  Boone  stands 
near  by,  while  over  this  picturesque  little  community  looms 
Howard's  Knob,  4,451  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Tradition 
has  identified  this  spot  with  both  Boone  and  Howard  as  fully  as 
tradition  can  identify  any  fact  or  place.  The  mountain  was 
named  for  Howard  and  the  cabin  site  for  Boone.  When  Wa- 
tauga was  formed,  the  legislature  called  the  county-seat  Boone 
because  of  the  location  of  Boone's  cabin  within  a  few  hundred 
feet  of  its  court  house.  It  is,  therefore,  as  certain  as  anything 
can  be  that  this  is  the  identical  site  of  Boone's  old  hunting  cabin 
or  camp." 

Thanks  to  Its  Builder. — In  191 1  Col.  William  Lewis  Bryan 
began  work  on  this  monument,  alone  and  unaided  by  anyone. 


^  While    excavating    for    the    foundation    of    the    monument    a    pair    of    rusted 
bullet-molds  was  found. 


34  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

He  was  determined  to  mark  the  spot  and  to  have  Boone's  trail 
through  this  county  marked  also  before  he  died,  for  he  was 
then  well  on  past  his  seventieth  birthday.  The  monument  was 
completed  in  the  fall  of  1912,  but  there  was  no  unveiling  and  no 
ceremony  attending  the  consummation  of  Colonel  Bryan's  dream. 
When  its  erection  was  assured,  several  people  contributed  to  its 
cost.  When  the  trail  was  marked  at  Boone  court  house  in  Octo- 
ber, 19 1 3,  E.  S.  Coffey,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
Boone  bar,  presented  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  Colonel  Bryan 
for  his  services  in  having  this  spot  so  appropriately  and  perma- 
nently marked.  The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  rising  vote  of 
the  large  audience  which  packed  the  court  house  to  the  dome. 
The  monument  contains  the  following  inscriptions,  chiseled  in 
white  marble  tablets  let  in  on  the  western  and  eastern  faces: 
On  the  west  front:  "Daniel  Boone,  Pioneer  and  Hunter;  Bom 
Feb.  II,  1735;  Died  Sep.  26,  1820."  On  the  eastern  face  is 
the  following:  "W.  L.  Bryan,  son  of  Battle  and  Rebecca  Miller 
Bryan;  Born  Nov.  19,  1837;  Built  Daniel  Boone  Monument, 
Oct.  1912.  Cost  $203.37."  Thwaite  gives  these  dates  as  fol- 
lows (p.  6):  Born  November  2,  1734;  died  September  21, 
1820  (p.  338). 

Information  About  the  Trail. — This  same  gentleman.  Colonel 
Bryan,  supplied  the  information  which  led  to  the  location  of  the 
trail  through  Watauga  County.  He  is  a  direct  lineal  descendant 
of  a  brother  of  Rebecca  Bryan,  the  wife  of  Daniel  Boone,  and 
has  all  his  life  preserved  all  the  traditions  he  has  heard  concern- 
ing Boone,  his  wife,  his  trail  and  hunting  experiences  in  this 
section.  He  originated  and  inspired  the  idea  of  marking  the 
trail  through  this  county,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  if 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  had  not  marked  it,  he 
would  have  done  it  himself.  He  did,  in  fact,  help  place  every 
marker  in  the  county.  But,  after  all  the  statements  of  the  people 
living  along  the  trail  had  been  taken  down  and  deposited  with 
the  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission,  there  was  never  any 
doubt  that  these  patriotic  ladies  would  see  to  it  that  the  trail  was 
suitably  marked.  They  took  those  statements  and  placed  them 
with  Mrs.  Lindsey  Patterson,  as  chairman  of  the  Daniel  Boone 


i.25S9S5 

A  History  of  Watauga  County  35 

Trail  Committee,  and  she,  as  in  duty  bound,  collected  all  the 
other  evidence  available  from  all  sources,  and  finally  agreed  to 
place  the  markers  exactly  where  Colonel  Bryan  had  recom- 
mended that  they  should  be  placed.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  but  for  Mrs.  Patterson  the  trail  would  not  have  been  marked 
till  it  was  too  late  to  locate  it  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  and 
posterity  will  give  both  Colonel  Bryan  and  Mrs.  Patterson  their 
full  measure  of  gratitude  for  their  patriotic  work. 

The  Cumberland  Gap  Pedestal. — To  Mrs.  Patterson  is  also 
due  much  of  the  credit  of  interesting  the  chapters  of  her  order 
to  mark  the  trail  in  Virginia,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  till  today 
the  entire  trail  is  permanently  marked  by  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution  of  those  several  States.  The  whole  work 
was  crowned  on  the  30th  of  June,  1915,  by  unveiling  at  Cumber- 
land Gap  a  substantial  stone  and  concrete  pedestal,  bearing  on 
its  four  faces  tablets  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution of  these  several  States.  The  North  Carolina  tablet  was 
unveiled  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Cowles  Finley,  of  Wilkesborough, 
N.  C,  a  direct  lineal  descendant  of  John  Finley ;  little  Margaret 
Beaufort  Miller,  Wm.  Hamilton  Patterson,  of  Winston-Salem; 
Elinor  Morrison  Williamson,  of  Asheville;  Elizabeth  Sharp,  of 
New  York  City,  and  Elizabeth  Shelton,  all  with  Revolutionary 
ancestors. 

Boone's  Trail  in  Other  States. — The  Tennessee  part  of  the 
trail  traverses  the  four  eastern  counties,  Johnson,  Carter,  Wash- 
ington and  Sullivan  .  .  .  The  first  marker  on  Tennessee 
soil  is  at  Trade,  one  mile  from  Zionville,  N.  C. ;  the  second  is  at 
Shoun's,  nine  miles  due  north,  through  a  wild  and  picturesque 
gorge  along  Roan  Creek.  The  third  is  at  Butler,  southwest  four- 
teen miles  from  Shoun's  and  at  the  junction  of  Roan  Creek  and 
Watauga  River;  the  fourth  is  about  nineteen  miles  due  north 
at  Elizabethton ;  the  fifth,  at  Watauga,  Carter  County;  the 
sixth  is  placed  at  Austin  Springs,  Washington  County;  the 
eighth  is  at  Old  Fort,  south  end  of  Long  Island,  Sullivan  County ; 
the  ninth  is  at  Kingsport,  opposite  the  center  of  Long  Island, 
where  Boone  gathered  his  men  while  the  treaty  of  Sycamore 
Shoals  was  being  negotiated,  two  miles  from  the  Virginia  line. 


36  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

The  Virginia  markers  are  at  Gate  City,  the  county  seat  of  Scott 
County,  one  mile  from  Moccasin  Gap;  the  second  marker  in 
Virginia  is  at  CUnchport;  the  third  is  at  the  Natural  Tunnel; 
the  fourth  is  at  Duffield ;  the  fifth  is  at  Fort  Scott ;  the  sixth  is 
at  Jonesville,  the  county  seat  of  Lee  County;  the  seventh  is  at 
Boone  Path  postoffice,  A  marker  has  been  placed  at  two  graves 
between  Ewing  and  Wheeler's  Station  in  Lee  County,  as  prob- 
ably the  place  where  James  Boone,  son  of  Daniel,  was  massacred 
by  Indians.  The  eighth  tablet  was  erected  to  mark  the  site  of 
Fort  Blackmore,  where  a  colonial  fort  stood  in  Scott  County, 
and  where  the  Boone  party  rested  in  October,  1773,  until  March, 
1775.  Mrs.  Robert  Gray  was  in  charge  of  marking  the  trail  in 
Virginia,  while  Miss  Mary  Temple  had  charge  of  that  in  Ten- 
nessee. The  first  marker  in  Kentucky  is  at  Indian  Rock,  a  few 
miles  from  Cumberland  Gap;  the  second  is  at  the  ford  of  the 
Cumberland  River  at  Pineville;  the  third  is  at  Flat  Lick,  in 
Knox  County;  the  fourth  is  on  the  farm  of  C.  V.  Wilson,  near 
Jarvis's  Store;  the  fifth  is  on  the  Knox  and  Laurel  County  line, 
near  Tuttle;  the  sixth  is  at  Fairston;  the  seventh  is  a  boulder 
with  Boone's  name  on  it,  three  miles  and  a  half  from  East  Bern- 
stadt.  This  stone  was  placed  in  a  churchyard  and  the  marker 
placed  on  the  stone.  The  eighth  marker  is  in  Rockcastle  County 
near  Livingston;  the  next  is  at  Boone's  Hollow,  near  Bruch 
Creek,  then  Roundstone  Station  and  lastly  Boone  Gap.  In 
Madison  County,  Berea  is  the  first  marker;  then  Estell  Station, 
the  site  of  Fort  Estell,  and  the  place  where  Boone's  party  was 
attacked  by  Indians  and  Captain  Twitty  killed.  The  last  marker 
is  at  Boonesboro,  there  being  fourteen  markers  in  Kentucky,  all 
placed  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Chairman,  Miss  Erna 
Watson. 

A  National  Spot  and  a  National  Hero. — Upon  this  pedestal 
in  Cumberland  Gap  the  Congress  of  these  United  States  should 
soon  erect  a  bronze  statue  of  Daniel  Boone,  clad  in  hunting  shirt, 
fringed  leggings,  moccasins,  shot  pouch,  powder  horn,  hunting 
knife,  tomahawk,  etc.,  with  the  figure  leaning  slightly  forward 
while  peering  from  underneath  the  left  hand  toward  the  west, 
the  right  hand  grasping  the  barrel  of  his  long  flint-lock  Kentucky 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  37 

rifle,  whose  butt  should  be  resting  on  the  ground.  The  figure 
should  have  a  coon-skin  cap ;  for,  although  Thwaites  says  that 
Boone  scorned  the  coon-skin  cap  of  his  time,  it  was  none  the  less 
typical  of  the  head-gear  of  all  the  pioneers  of  the  time.  Such  a 
statue  would  identify  this  historic  spot  with  this  historic  character 
and  fix  forever  the  costume,  accoutrements  and  arms  of  the  pion- 
eers of  America.  It  is  the  most  significant  and  suggestive  place 
in  America;  for,  while  Plymouth  Rock  was  the  landing  place  of 
the  Puritans,  Jamestown  of  the  Cavaliers,  Philadelphia  of  the 
Quakers  and  Charleston  of  the  Huguenots,  it  was  through  Cum- 
berland Gap  that  both  Roundhead  and  Huguenot,  Puritan  and 
Cavalier  passed  with  the  sober  Quaker  on  their  way  to  the 
Golden  West.  Boone  was  their  greatest  and  most  typical  leader 
and  exemplar.  He  was  colonel  and  private,  physician  and  nurse, 
leader  and  follower,  hunter  and  hunted,  as  occasion  demanded, 
but  he  was  never  a  self-seeker  or  a  swindler.  His  fame  is  now 
monumental,  for  he  had  no  land  to  sell,  no  private  fortune  to 
make,  and  his  record  is  one  of  unsullied  patriotism.  He  was 
simply  a  plain  man,  but  a  man  all  through.  He  was  neither 
northerner  nor  southerner,  easterner  nor  westerner,  but  all  com- 
bined, and  the  men,  women  and  children  who  followed  the  glow- 
ing footsteps  of  this  backwoods  lictor  were  the  ancestors  of  those 
who  people  these  United  States  today  and  make  it  the  most 
enlightened,  the  most  progressive  and  the  most  democratic  nation 
in  the  world.  That  there  should  be  no  national  monument  to 
this  man  and  on  this  spot  seems  incredible.  The  women  and  the 
States  immediately  concerned  have  done  enough.  They  have 
marked  every  trail  leading  to  this  historic  gateway.  Let  the 
nation  act  and  place  there  a  monument  which  shall  be  worthy 
of  the  place,  the  man,  and  the  colossal  events  which  they  typify. 
History  Itself  Had  Lost  the  Trail. — For  years  it  had  been 
supposed  that  Boone's  trail  from  Holman's  Ford  to  Cumberland 
Gap,  especially  that  part  which  led  through  the  North  Carolina 
mountains,  had  been  lost  beyond  recovery.  It  was  known  in  a 
vague  way  that  the  county-seat  of  Watauga  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, had  been  named  in  honor  of  this  pioneer,  but  the  impression 
prevailed  that  the  little  town  had  no  other  claims  to  its  name 


38  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

than  the  empty  compliment  implied.  Bruce  (p.  53)  records  the 
fact  that,  after  setting  out  from  Holman's  Ford,  Boone  and  his 
companions  were  "compelled  to  turn  from  the  beaten  road  and 
follow  winding,  scarcely  discernable  Indian  paths  along  the 
ridges  and  through  the  valleys  of  the  North  Carolina  mountains. 
And  history  itself  soon  loses  sight  of  them."  All  that  Boone 
himself  told  his  biographer,  the  grandiloquent  John  Filson,  was 
that  "after  a  long  and  fatiguing  journey  through  a  mountainous 
wilderness,  in  a  westward  direction"  they  came  to  the  Red  River 
in  Kentucky.  (Id.  p.  54.)  Bruce  adds,  what  all  historians 
agree  upon,  that  "their  route  lay  across  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
Stone  and  Iron  Mountains,  and  through  the  valleys  of  the  Hol- 
ston  and  the  Clinch  into  Powell's  Valley,  where  they  discovered 
Finley's  promised  trail  through  Cumberland  Gap,  and,  following 
it,  came  at  last  into  Kentucky."  And  this  writer  tells  us  some- 
thing else  that  is  not  generally  known,  which  is  that  each  man 
of  Boone's  party  on  that  first  trip  of  1769  rode  a  horse  and  led 
another,  which  was  loaded  down  with  supplies,  camp  equipment, 
ammunition,  salt,  etc.  (p.  52).  From  which  it  is  plain  that  they 
never  touched  the  Watauga  River  or  its  waters,  thus  eliminating 
the  Beaver  Dams  route  completely. 

Boone  Was  a  Hunter,  Not  a  Farmer. — Boone  came  to  Hol- 
man's Ford  about  1761.  Bruce  says  he  brought  his  wife  back 
from  Virginia  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Cherokee  campaign — to 
use  his  exact  words,  "as  soon  as  peace  had  been  made  sure" — 
which  could  not  have  been  till  after  the  tri-State  campaign  against 
the  Cherokees  of  1761  (p.  43).  Now,  Holman's  Ford  is  scarcely 
thirty  miles  from  Cook's  Gap  on  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  we  are  told 
that  Boone's  Cherokee  campaign  "had  reawakened  all  his  latent 
passion  for  adventure,  and,  although  he  brought  his  family  back 
to  the  Yadkin  as  soon  as  peace  had  been  made  sure,  he  found  it 
impossible  to  resume  the  humdrum  life  of  a  stay-at-home  farmer. 
More  than  ever  he  relied  on  the  products  of  the  chase  to  supply 
him  with  a  livelihood,  and,  since  game  had  become  scarce  in  the 
Yadkin  Valley,  he  of  necessity,  as  well  as  choice,  embarked  on 
long  and  perilous  hunting  trips"  (p.  46),  sometimes  taking  with 
him  his  oldest  son,  James,  then  a  boy  of  eight,  though  more  fre- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  39 

quently  he  journeyed  in  absolute  solitude,  pressing  restlessly 
forward  on  the  trail  of  the  retreating  beasts  of  prey.  Always, 
he  noted,  this  led  him  towards  the  west,  and  ere  long  there  re- 
curred to  his  mind  the  glowing  tales  he  had  heard  from  the  trader 
Finley  in  the  sad  days  of  Braddock's  campaign.  It  must  be  to 
Kentucky,  the  hunter's  paradise,  that  the  wild  animals  were 
fleeing.  He  had  vowed  to  visit  Kentucky.  Now,  if  ever,  while 
the  Indians  were  at  peace  with  the  whites,  was  the  time  to  fulfil 
that  vow.  But  he  soon  discovered  that  it  was  no  easy  matter  to 
reach  Kentucky.  In  the  autumn  of  1767  he  made  his  first  start, 
accompanied  by  a  friend  named  Hill,  and,  it  is  thought,  by  his 
brother.  Squire  Boone,  named  after  their  brave  old  father  who 
had  died  two  years  before.  The  route  followed  was  from  the 
Yadkin  to  the  valleys  of  the  Holston  and  Clinch,  and  thence  to 
the  head  waters  of  the  west  fork  of  the  Big  Sandy.  Boone's 
plan  was  to  strike  the  Ohio  and  follow  it  to  the  falls  of  which 
Finley  had  told  him.  But  they  had  only  touched  the  edge  of 
eastern  Kentucky  when  they  were  snow-bound  and  compelled  to 
go  into  camp  for  the  winter.  Attempting  to  renew  their  journey 
in  the  spring,  they  found  the  country  so  impenetrable  that  they 
returned  to  the  Yadkin.     (Pp.  47,  48.) 

Probability  of  the  Re-location  of  the  Trail. — From  the  fore- 
going, taken  from  Boone's  latest  biographer,  it  seems  most  prob- 
able that  local  tradition  is  correct,  to  the  effect  that  Boone  hunted 
all  through  the  mountains  of  what  is  now  Watauga  County  dur- 
ing several  years  preceding  1769,  and  knew  the  country  thor- 
oughly. In  Foote's  Notes  we  learn  that  what  is  now  Watauga, 
with  Alleghany  County  and  that  part  of  the  territory  still  known 
as  Ashe,  was  settled  as  early  as  1755.  Wheeler  (p.  27,  Vol.  II) 
adopts  this  statement  as  true.  Cook's  Gap  and  Deep  Gap  were 
nearly  due  west  from  Holman's  Ford.  If  Boone  really  followed 
"a  westward  direction"  from  Holman's  Ford,  he  must  have 
passed  through  one  of  these  gaps,  and,  as  Cook's  Gap  was  the 
nearer,  he  probably  went  through  that.  If  he  followed  the  Hol- 
ston and  the  Clinch  into  Powell's  Valley,  he  must  have  followed 
the  route  marked  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 
Society  through  Watauga  County  to  Shoun's  Cross  Roads,  and 


40  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

thence  via  Mountain  City  and  down  the  Laurel  fork  of  the 
Holston  River.  If  the  country  was  already  settled  when  he 
passed  through  in  May,  1769,  the  people  who  lived  near  his  trail 
must  have  remembered  it  and  told  their  children  where  it  lay. 
There  is  great  unanimity  among  their  descendants  that  it  fol- 
lowed the  route  chosen,  except  that  some  contend  that  it  went 
through  the  Beaver  Dams  and  across  the  Stair  Gap^  to  Roan 
Creek  in  Tennessee.  It  may  have  done  so,  but  the  route  over  the 
mountains  between  Zionville,  N.  C,  and  Trade,  Tenn.,  was  much 
easier,  as  a  buffalo  trail  led  across  it,  and  it  was  far  more  direct 
and  practicable  than  that  across  Ward's  Gap  and  the  Stair  Gap. 
When  he  got  to  Shoun's  Cross  Roads,  he  probably  followed 
Laurel  Creek,  just  as  the  little  narrow  gauge  railroad  does,  over 
the  divide  to  the  Laurel  fork  of  the  Holston.  He  knew  this 
route,  having  followed  it  twice  before,  once  in  1761  to  the  Wolf 
Hills,  and  again  in  1767  to  the  west  fork  of  the  Big  Sandy.  But 
he  did  not  go  by  Butler,  Tenn.,  wherever  else  he  may  have  gone, 
unless  he  deliberately  went  many  miles  out  of  his  westward  way. 
The  Boone  Tree  Inscription. — The  inscription  on  what  is 
called  the  Boone  Tree,  nine  miles  north  of  Jonesboro,  Tenn., 
and  near  Boone  Creek,  grows  more  and  more  apocryphal  with 
time.  It  never  had  any  sponsor,  at  best,  except  the  statement  of 
Chancellor  John  Allison's  letter  in  Roosevelt's  "Winning  of  the 
West."  The  picture  of  it  in  Thwaites'  "Daniel  Boone,"  opposite 
page  56,  shows  that  the  letters  were  then  legible,  which  could 
not  have  been  the  case  if  they  had  been  put  there  in  1760.  Bruce, 
in  a  foot-note  on  page  46,  says  that  such  a  tree  stood  there  until 
recently,  but  he  gives  facts  which  show  it  could  not  have  been 
put  there  by  Boone,  for  he  shows,  on  page  39,  that  in  April, 
1759,  the  Cherokees  forced  an  entrance  into  the  fertile  Yadkin 
and  Catawba  valleys,  destroyed  crops,  burned  cabins,  murdered 
settlers,  and  dragged  their  wives  and  children  into  a  cruel  cap- 
tivity.* So  sudden  and  severe  was  the  blow  that  the  stricken 
people  had  no  opportunity  to  rally  for  an  organized  resistance, 


^  This  is  called  Star  Gap  by  some  from  particles  of  mica  seen  in  the  bottom 
of  a  spring  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  which  shine  "like  stars."  But  others 
claim  it  is  really  the  Stair  gap,  because  a  series  of  stair-like  ledges  of  rock 
lead  down  from  the  gap  on  the  western  side.  Bishop  Asbury  confirms  this  latter 
view.      (Asbury's  Journal,  Vol.  II,  p.   189). 

'  The  tree,  a  large  leaning  beech,  was  there  in  June,  1909,  and  is  probably 
still  flourishing,  as  is  many  another  false  witness. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  41 

much  less  undertake  an  offensive  campaign.  Abandoning  their 
farms,  they  hastened  for  shelter  to  the  strong  stockade  of  Fort 
Dobbs,  or  to  hurriedly  constructed  "houses  of  refuge,"  or  else, 
if  they  could  possibly  find  the  means  to  do  so,  fled  with  all  their 
belongings  to  the  settlements  in  the  tidewater  country.  This  was 
the  course  followed  by  the  Boones,  or,  at  least,  by  Squire  Boone, 
his  son  Daniel  and  their  respective  families.  Squire,  it  is  said, 
went  to  Maryland.  Daniel  took  Rebecca  and  their  infant  chil- 
dren to  eastern  Virginia,  where  he  found  employment  at  his  old 
occupation  of  wagoner. 

Boone's  First  Trip  Across  the  Mountains. — Although  Bruce, 
following  the  phantom  of  the  Boone  Tree  legend,  states  that 
"as  early  as  1760  (at  the  very  time  when  he  says  elsewhere, 
page  41,  that  Boone  was  with  Waddell  at  Fort  Prince  George 
or  in  Virginia)  he  (Boone)  was  threading  his  way  through  the 
Watauga  wilds  where  the  first  settlement  in  Tennessee  was 
afterwards  established,"  he  cites  no  supporting  facts  and  is 
clearly  contradicted  by  every  known  fact  and  circumstance  of 
this  period.  But  there  is  evidence  that  "in  1761,  at  the  head  of 
a  hunting  party  which  crossed  the  Alleghanies  that  year,  came 
Daniel  Boone  from  the  Yadkin,  in  North  Carolina,  and  traveled 
with  them  as  low  as  the  place  where  Abingdon  now  stands,  and 
there  left  them."  (Pp.  46,  47.)  This  visit  to  the  site  of  the 
present  Abingdon,  Va.,  is  still  preserved  there  in  a  tradition 
which  claims  that  wolves  attacked  Boone's  party  while  in  that 
vicinity,  which  fact  gave  rise  to  the  first  name  of  that  locahty, 
"The  Wolf  Hills."  This  trip  of  1761  was  probably  Boone's  first 
visit  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge.  Bruce  says  (p.  47)  that  Boone 
was  again  in  the  Tennessee  country  three  years  later,  or  in 
1764,  and  that  in  1765  he  went  as  far  south  as  Florida,  and 
would  have  settled  there  but  for  the  influence  of  his  wife, 
Rebecca  Bryan,  of  the  Yadkin  Valley.  If  he  had  remained  in 
Florida,  Bruce  adds  "assuredly  he  would  never  have  won  fame 
as  the  great  pilot  of  the  early  West."  So  that,  after  all,  the 
world  owes  as  much  to  Rebecca  Bryan  as  to  Boone  himself ! 

At  Fort  Prince  George  in  1760. — Instead  of  being  on  Boone's 
Creek,  carving  his  name  and  hunting  experiences  on  trees  in 


42  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

1760,  Daniel  Boone  was  with  Colonel  Montgomery  in  June  of  that 
year,  driving  the  Cherokees  from  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Prince 
George  at  the  head  of  the  Savannah;  while,  between  then  and 
1759,  he  had  been  in  eastern  Virginia  or  about  Fort  Dobbs,  for 
Bruce  tells  us  (p.  40)  that  "so  soon  as  he  had  satisfied  himself 
that  his  little  family  would  not  be  exposed  to  want  [in  eastern 
Virginia]  he  returned  to  the  border,  where  he  found  thrilHng 
events  in  progress.  The  Cherokees  had  laid  desperate  siege  to 
Fort  Dobbs,  but  had  been  gallantly  beaten  off  by  its  garrison 
under  command  of  Colonel  Hugh  Waddell,  one  of  the  foremost 
Indian  fighters  of  his  day.  They  had  then  renewed  their  depreda- 
tions in  small  war-parties,  ultimately  gathering  in  force  to  attack 
Fort  Prince  George  .  .  ."  After  driving  the  Cherokees  away 
from  that  fort,  Montgomery  marched  his  force  of  1,200  men, 
among  whom  was  Daniel  Boone,  still  under  command  of  Wad- 
dell, across  the  mountains  to  the  Little  Tennessee,  where  they 
were  ambushed  and  forced  to  retreat  to  Fort  Prince  George. 
From  this  place  Montgomery  marched  his  regulars  back  to 
Charleston,  S.  C,  where  he  embarked  with  them  for  New  York. 
"Once  more  the  frontier  of  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  lay  at  the 
mercy  of  the  copper-colored  foe  (p.  42)."  The  garrison  at  Fort 
Loudon  on  the  Little  Tennessee  having  surrendered,  they  were 
allowed  to  start  back  for  Fort  Prince  George,  but  were  attacked 
and  many  killed,  the  others  being  taken  prisoners.  This  forced 
the  three  States  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina  to  agree 
on  a  joint  invasion  of  the  Cherokee  country,  and  by  June,  1761, 
two  armies  were  on  the  march  to  that  country,  in  the  second  of 
which  Boone  found  a  place  still  under  Hugh  Waddell.  This 
provides  for  all  of  Boone's  time  from  1759  till  late  in  1761,  which 
shows  that  he  could  not  have  "cilled  a  bar''  on  that  or  any  other 
tree  near  there  in  1760.  It  is,  however,  very  discouraging  to 
note  the  persistence  of  falsehoods,  if  only  they  bear  a  flavor  of 
romance  about  them. 

Richard  Henderson. — In  a  series  of  brilhant  articles  entitled, 
"Life  and  Times  of  Richard  Henderson,"  which  appeared  in  the 
Charlotte  Observer  in  the  spring  of  1913,  Dr.  Archibald  Hender- 
son, then  the  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Com- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  43 

mission,  makes  the  following  claims  for  his  ancestor :  "Richard 
Henderson  was  recognized  everywhere  throughout  the  colony  as 
a  fair  and  just  judge,"  but,  notwithstanding  that,  the  Regulators, 
who  fought  the  battle  of  Alamance,  unjustifiably  prevented  him 
from  holding  court  at  Hillsboro,  visited  their  "cowardly  incen- 
diary vengeance  upon"  him,  and  maliciously  burnt  his  home  and 
barn.  Also,  that  but  for  his  illness,  Richard  Henderson,  who 
was  a  colonel  as  well  as  a  judge,  would  have  fought  against  these 
Regulators  at  the  battle  of  Alamance."  That  the  reason  Judge 
Henderson  would  not  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  Regula- 
tors at  Hillsborough  in  1770  was  because  he  would  not  "yield  to 
the  dictates  of  lawless  and  incensed  anarchists."  Also,  that  "the 
sentiment  which  animated  the  mob  at  Hillsboro  was  not  one  of 
animosity  against  Judge  Henderson  personally,"  their  objection 
to  him  having  been,  seemingly,  to  the  system  and  that  he  had  been 
appointed  by  Governor  Tryon  and  not  by  the  king  himself. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  case  with  Judge  Maurice  Moore,  who, 
according  to  Dr.  Henderson,  "was  roundly  denounced  by  the 
Regulators  as  'rascal,  rogue,  villain,  scoundrel'  and  other  un- 
printable terms  .  .  ."  We  are  also  told  that  "the  demands 
made  upon  Judge  Henderson  by  the  treasonable  mob  at  Hills- 
borough, had  he  attempted  to  accede  to  them,  which  is  incon- 
ceivable, would  have  resulted  in  a  travesty  of  justice."  But,  even 
before  this,  and  notwithstanding  the  proclamation  of  King  George 
in  1763,  forbidding  the  purchase  or  lease  of  lands  by  individuals 
from  the  Indians,  Judge  Henderson  was  contemplating  the  pur- 
chase of  the  very  lands  the  six  nations  of  northern  Indians  had, 
by  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix,  in  1768,  sold  to  Great  Britain.  Wash- 
ington himself  was  engaged  in  a  like  scheme  in  Virginia,  we  are 
told,  but  Dr.  Henderson  says :  "It  is  no  reflection  upon  the  fame 
of  George  Washington  to  point  out  that,  of  the  two,  the  service 
to  the  nation  of  Richard  Henderson  in  promoting  western  colon- 
ization was  vastly  more  generous  in  its  nature  and  far-reaching 
in  its  results  than  the  more  selfish  and  personal  aims  of  Wash- 


*  The  real  leaders  of  the  western  expansion  were  James  Robertson  and  the 
fourteen  families  from  the  present  county  of  Walce,  who,  in  1770  or  1771,  had 
been  driven  to  seek  new  homes  beyond  the  reach  of  the  exactions  of  the  British 
tax  collectors. 


44  -4  History  of  Watauga  County 

ington."  In  order  to  carry  out  this  plan,  Judge  Henderson  in 
1769  employed  Daniel  Boone  at  Salisbury,  while  Henderson  was 
actually  presiding  over  the  court,  to  explore  these  western  lands, 
Boone  being  "very  poor  and  his  desire  to  pay  off  his  indebtedness 
to  Henderson  made  him  all  the  more  willing  to  undertake  the 
exhaustive  tour  of  exploration  in  company  with  Finley  and 
others." 

The  Patrick  Henry  of  North  Carolina. — Dr.  Henderson  con- 
tinues :  "From  this  time  forward  [the  expiration  of  his  term  as 
judge]  Richard  Henderson,  described  as  the  'Patrick  Henry  of 
North  Carolina,'  sheds  the  glamor  of  local  fame  and  enters  into 
national  history  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  figures  of  his  day, 
and  indubitably  the  most  remarkable  constructive  pioneer  in  the 
early  history  of  the  American  people."  Elsewhere  Dr.  Hender- 
son speaks  of  his  ancestor  as  the  "Cecil  Rhodes  of  America." 
Meantime,  however,  having  returned  from  his  two  years'  stay  in 
Kentucky,  we  are  told  that  Boone,  grown  impatient  over  the 
delay  caused  by  Henderson's  inability,  for  whatever  reason,  to 
further  prosecute  his  plans  at  that  time,  recruited  a  body  of  set- 
tlers, and,  on  the  25th  day  of  September,  1773,  set  out  from 
Holman's  Ford  with  eighteen  men  and  some  women  and  children, 
his  own  among  the  number,  but  his  party  was  attacked  by  Indians 
and  were  forced  to  return.  From  which  facts  Dr.  Henderson 
draws  the  following  conclusions:  "Boone  lacked  constructive 
leadership  and  executive  genius."  He  was  a  perfect  instrument 
for  executing  the  designs  of  others.  It  was  not  until  the  creative 
and  executive  brain  of  Richard  Henderson  was  applied  to  the 
vast  and  daring  project  of  western  colonization  that  it  was  car- 
ried through  to  a  successful  termination." 

The  English  Spy. — From  Judge  Clark's  article  (N.  C.  Book- 
let, January,  1904)  it  appears  that  Richard  Henderson's  mother 
was  a  Miss  Williams,  and  that  he  studied  law  under  his  cousin, 
John  Williams,  who,  according  to  Wheeler  (Vol.  I,  p.  58),  was 
whipped  by  the  Regulators,  and  was,  presumably,  the  son  of  his 
mother's   brother,    and   afterwards    married    his   step-daughter, 


s  Richard  Henderson's  "constructive"  genius  seems  to  have  resulted  in  the 
destruction  both  of  himself  and  all  who  put  their  trust  in  him,  especially  Daniel 
Boone,  whom  Henderson  left  penniless  in  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  45 

Elizabeth  Keeling.  Also,  that  "the  British  spy,  Captain  J.  F.  D. 
Smyth,  in  his  'Tour  of  America'  (Vol.  I,  p.  124),  [states  that  he] 
visited  John  Williams  at  his  home  in  Granville  about  December, 
1774,  where  he  met  Judge  Henderson,  whom  he  lauds  as  a  genius, 
and  says  he  did  not  know  how  to  read  and  write  till  after  he  was 
grown.  As  Henderson  became  judge  at  the  age  of  thirty-three, 
and  as,  besides,  Smyth  styles  him  Nathaniel  Henderson  and  adds 
that  Williams  was  said  to  be  a  mulatto  and  looked  like  one,  no 
faith  is  to  be  given  to  any  of  his  statements.  He,  however,  says, 
probably  with  truth  (p.  126),  that  Judge  Henderson  had  made  a 
secret  purchase  of  territory  from  the  Indians  before  his  public 
treaty  later  on."  This  Captain  Smyth  might,  therefore,  be  dis- 
missed without  notice  if  we  did  not  find  in  Roosevelt  (Vol.  II, 
p.  46)  that,  while  Henderson  was  at  Boonesborough  in  1775, 
"a  British  friend  of  his"  (whom  a  foot-note  shows  to  have  been 
Smyth)  visited  him  there,  indicating  his  knowledge  of  Hender- 
son's enterprise,  and  the  further  fact  that  Dr.  Henderson  himself, 
in  his  Observer  articles  of  1913,  says:  'Tt  is  interesting  to  note 
that  just  prior  to  the  public  announcement  throughout  the  colony 
of  this  vast  scheme  of  promotion  [selling  the  Transylvania  lands 
to  unsuspecting  frontiersmen].  Dr.  J.  F.  D.  Smyth,  the  British 
emissary,  met  Richard  Henderson  at  the  home  of  Col.  John 
Williams."  But  for  the  facts  stated  in  Dr.  Henderson's  next 
succeeding  article  in  the  Observer  on  Richard  Henderson,  one 
might  be  tempted  to  connect  this  visit  with  the  secret  purchase 
of  these  lands  above  referred  to,  and  to  guess  that  it  may  have 
been  a  part  of  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  at  that  time  to  get 
Americans  interested  in  these  Transylvania  lands  by  low  prices, 
etc.,  to  such  an  extent  that  they  would,  rather  than  lose  their 
holdings  in  them,  adhere  to  the  mother  country  in  the  impending 
struggle  for  independence,  and  thus  form  a  rear-rank  which 
should  co-operate  with  the  front  rank  of  soldiers  and  loyalists 
in  the  Atlantic  States.  It  would  have  been  a  most  powerful 
and,  possibly,  successful  bar  to  the  achievement  of  our  inde- 
pendence; for,  then,  Sevier  and  his  Watauga  men  would  have 
fought  against  and  not  for  us.  But  this,  probably,  was  not  the 
scheme  that  British  emissary  or  scout,  as  Dr.  Henderson  also 


46  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

terms  him,  had  in  mind,  for  Dr.  Henderson  continues :  "Though 
not  the  first  settlement  in  point  of  time,  for  Henderson  found 
several  temporarily  occupied  camps  nearby  on  his  arrival,  Boones- 
borough  was  the  first  settlement  of  permanent  vitality  in  the 
heart  of  the  Kentucky  country.  No  Henderson  and  there  would 
have  been  no  Boonesborough.  No  Boonesborough  and  the 
American  colonies,  now  convulsed  in  a  titanic  struggle,  might 
well  have  lost  to  Great  Britain,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  the 
vast  and  fertile  possessions  of  the  transmontane  wilderness." 

Was  Even  the  Treaty  a  Sham? — Assuming  that  Dr.  Smyth, 
Richard  Henderson's  friend  and  guest,  spoke  ex  cathedra  when 
he  declared  that  a  secret  treaty  had  been  already  effected  before 
the  25th  of  March,  1775,  which  is  the  one  that  was  published  to 
the  world  as  the  real  thing,  what  shall  be  thought  of  the  follow- 
ing from  Judge  Clark's  "Colony  of  Transylvania,"  before 
quoted  ? 

"The  treaty  was  debated,  sentence  by  sentence,  the  Indians 
choosing  their  own  interpreter.  It  was  only  signed  after  four 
days'  minute  discussion  and  after  fierce  opposition  from  a  chief 
known  as  Dragging  Canoe.  The  goods  must  have  been  put  at 
a  high  valuation,  for  one  brave,  who  received  as  his  share  only 
a  shirt,  contemptuously  said  he  could  secure  more  with  his  rifle 
in  one  day's  hunting.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Indians  received 
full  value,  for  they  had  in  truth  no  title  to  convey,  and  they 
plainly  told  Henderson  he  would  have  great  trouble  to  obtain  or 
hold  possession  on  account  of  other  tribes.  The  territory  was 
not  occupied  and  owned  by  the  Cherokees,  nor,  indeed,  by  any 
tribe,  but  was  a  battle-field,  where  hostile  bands  met  to  fight  out 
their  quarrels."  No  wonder  then  that  Dr.  Henderson  says  that 
these  fifty  thousand  dollars  worth  of  goods  were  transported 
across  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina  in  six  wagons  two  years 
before,  as  other  historians  agree,  any  road  was  opened  across 
them! 

The  Romantic  Side  of  Boone. — Most  of  us  love  to  think  of 
him  in  the  light  of  Kipling's  "Explorer,"  animated  by  the  "some- 
thing-hidden-go-and-find-it"  spirit,  rather  than  as  the  servant  of 
any  man  or  set  of  men  on  his  1769  trip  to  Kentucky;  and  while  it 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  47 

is  no  reflection  on  his  character  if  he  was  actually  employed  to 
spy  out  the  western  lands,  is  it  not  a  reflection  upon  Richard 
Henderson  to  say  at  this  late  day  that  he  was  actually  scheming 
while  a  judge  on  the  bench  to  violate  the  law?°  As  well  as  can 
be  gathered  from  the  Charlotte  Observer's  articles  (Life  and 
Times  of  Richard  Henderson),  it  appears  that  when  in  1773 
Henderson's  term  as  judge  expired  by  limitation  of  the  judiciary 
act  of  1767,  he  learned  "through  the  highest  English  legal  au- 
thorities .  .  .  according  to  the  most  recent  legal  decision 
rendered  in  England  on  the  subject,  purchases  by  individuals 
from  Indian  owners  were  legally  valid.  Without  royal  grant, 
Patrick  Henry  in  Virginia,  in  1774,  was  negotiating  for  the  pur- 
chase of  part  of  the  very  territory  Henderson  desired.  Two 
years  earlier  the  Watauga  settlers  leased  from  the  Cherokees  the 
lands  upon  which  they  resided — a  preliminary  to  subsequent 
purchase  .  .  .  The  opinion  handed  down  by  the  Lord 
Chancellor  and  the  attorney  general  cleared  away  the  legal  diffi- 
culties." '  This,  apparently,  was  Henderson's  justification  for 
proceeding  to  violate  the  Royal  Proclamation  against  purchasing 
lands  from  the  Indians.  His  plea  that  the  Cherokees  really 
owned  the  land  seems  to  be  based  on  the  sole  claim  that  "their 
title  to  the  territory  had  been  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain 
through  her  Southern  agent  of  Indian  affairs,  John  Stuart,  at 
the  Treaty  of  Lochaben  in  1770."  Dr.  Henderson  told  H.  Add- 
ington  Bruce  that  Judge  Henderson,  "in  developing  his  Transyl- 
vania project  and  purchasing  Kentucky  from  the  Cherokees, 
acted  under  the  advice  of  an  eminent  Enghsh  jurist,  'in  the 
closest  confidence  of  the  King,'  and  that  he,  therefore,  regarded 
the  enterprise  as  having  the  royal  sanction,"  which  view  of  the 
case  Mr.  Bruce  understood  Professor  Henderson  would  soon  set 
forth  in  a  biography  of  Richard  Henderson.    That  promise  was 


*  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Doctor  Henderson  claims  that  it  was  Judge 
Henderson's  purpose  to  carry  out  this  plan  at  the  time  he  is  said  to  have 
employed  Boone  in  1769 ;  for  he  says  Judge  Henderson  saw  the  significance  of 
the  Fort  Stanwix  treaty,  and  realized  that  the  lands  could  be  acquired  only  from 
the  Indians,  and  that  his  plan  was  temporarily  "frustrated  by  the  exciting  issues 
of  the  Regulation." 

'  How  Richard  Henderson,  then  a  private  citizen,  could  have  had  knowledge 
of  these  facts  when  the  Governors  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  the  accredited 
representatives  of  Great  Britain,  were  ignorant  of  them,  is  not  explained.  They 
were  ignorant,  for  both  denounced  Henderson  and  his  associates  as  land  pirates, 
engaged  in  an  unlawful  undertaking. 


48  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

evidently  made  during  or  prior  to  1910,  when  Bruce's  "Daniel 
Boone  and  the  Wilderness  Road"  was  first  published.  The  proof 
is  still  not  forthcoming  because  Dr.  Henderson's  book  is  not  yet 
printed.  When  it  is  published  to  the  world  it  will  undoubtedly 
surprise  many  historians  and  others  who  consider  themselves 
well  informed  about  the  history  of  these  times  and  events.  It  is 
a  great  pity  that  it  could  not  have  been  presented  to  the  world 
a  hundred  years  ago,  before  such  erroneous  ideas  of  Richard 
Henderson  became  prevalent.  It  is  also  hoped  that  it  will  then 
be  shown  that  Richard  Henderson  and  his  associates  devoted  the 
400,000  acres  of  land  which  they  obtained  from  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  to  the  making  whole  of  all  those  who  bought 
land  from  them,  including  the  2,000  acres  which  Boone  received 
as  compensation  for  his  services,  but  to  which  he  got  no  valid 
title.  What  Virginia  did  for  Boone  is  not  pertinent.  What  did 
Richard  Henderson  do?  When  these  matters  shall  have  been 
cleared  up,  North  Carolina,  no  doubt,  will  be  proud  to  erect  a 
monument  to  his  memory. 

Forehanded  "for  Once." — It  seems  that  it  was  Boone's  busi- 
ness to  recruit  a  party  of  roadmakers  before  he  started  from 
Sycamore  Shoals,  with  the  understanding  that  they  were  to  meet 
at  Long  Island,  in  the  upper  Holston,  just  south  of  the  Virginia 
line.  "Thirty  guns"  or  riflemen  were  secured,  who,  according  to 
Felix  Walker,  afterwards  congressman  from  this  State,  ex- 
plicitly agreed  to  put  themselves  "under  the  management  and 
control  of  Colonel  Boone,  who  was  to  be  their  pilot  through  the 
wilderness."  Then,  March  10,  1775,  began  the  making  of  the 
Wilderness  Road,  by  way  of  Chnch  and  Powell's  Rivers  and 
Cumberland  Gap  and  Rock  Castle  River  to  the  mouth  of  Beaver 
Creek  where  it  empties  into  the  Kentucky  River.^  This  spot  had 
been  selected  years  before  by  Boone  as  an  ideal  place  for  the 
settlement,  and  there  he  began  the  choice  of  locations  for  him- 
self and  his  companions.    When  Henderson  and  his  larger  party 


»  As  the  Sycamore  Shoals  Treaty  was  not  ratified  till  the  25th  of  March, 
Boone's  departure  on  the  10th  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  the  Wilderness 
Road,  shows  a  degree  of  cock-sureness  on  the  part  of  Henderson  &  Co.,  which 
gives  additional  force  to  the  suggestion  of  the  spy,  Smyth,  that  a  secret  treaty 
had  been  already  concluded ;  which,  if  true,  merely  makes  the  public  treaty  a 
farce  and  fraud,  and  lends  a  still  more  sinister  aspect  to  this  affair. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  49 

arrived  three  weeks  later  he  made  the  "distinctly  embarrassing 
discovery  that  Boone  and  his  companions  had  preempted  the 
choicest  locations  for  themselves.  Rather  than  have  trouble,  the 
tactful  proprietor  decided  to  leave  them  in  undisturbed  posses- 
sion and  appease  the  rest  by  locating  the  site  of  the  capital  of 
Transylvania,  not  in  the  sheltered  level  chosen  by  Boone,  but 
some  little  distance  from  it,  on  a  commanding  elevation  overlook- 
ing the  Kentucky."     (Bruce,  p.  117.) 

Henderson's  and  Washington's  "Continental  Vision." — Dr. 
Henderson  does  not  hesitate  to  give  Richard  Henderson  what  he 
considers  his  true  place  in  the  westward  movement:  "Washing- 
ton expressed  the  secret  belief  of  the  period  when  he  hazarded 
the  judgment  that  the  royal  proclamation  of  1763  [forbidding 
individuals  to  buy  or  lease  lands  from  the  Indians]  was  a  mere 
temporary  expedient  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  Indians,  and  was 
not  intended  as  a  permanent  bar  to  the  Western  civilization. 
Some  years  earlier,  Richard  Henderson,  with  the  continental 
vision  of  Washington,  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  un- 
chartered West  offered  unlimited  possibilities  in  the  shape  of 
reward  to  pioneering  spirits,  with  a  genuine  constructive  policy, 
willing  to  venture  their  all  in  vindication  of  their  faith.  George 
Washington,  acquiring  vast  tracts  of  Western  land  by  secret 
purchase,  indirectly  stimulated  the  powerful  army  that  was 
carrying  the  broad-axe  westward;  Richard  Henderson,  with  a 
large-visioned  constructive  policy  of  public  promotion,  coloniza- 
tion and  settlement  for  the  virgin  West,  conferred  untold  bene- 
fits upon  the  nation  at  large  by  his  resolution,  aggressiveness  and 
daring.  Washington  and  Henderson  were  factors  of  crucial  im- 
portance in  the  settlement  of  the  West  and  the  advance  of  the 
pioneer  army  into  the  wilderness  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and 
Ohio."  Elsewhere  (Neale's  Monthly,  p.  211)  Dr.  Henderson 
says :  "George  Washington  and  Richard  Henderson,  as  land- 
lords, were  vital  factors  in  the  development  of  the  West." 

Dr.  Henderson's  Original  Discoveries. — Dr.  Henderson 
promises  to  furnish  not  only  documentary  evidence  to  support  all 
these  statements,  but  photographic  fac-similes  in  proof  of  the 
claim  that  Boone  was  indebted  to  Richard  Henderson  for  legal 


50  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

services  °  for  a  number  of  years  prior  to  1769,  which  had  not 
been  paid  off  prior  to  that  date.  Also,  that  the  merchandise 
which  was  to  be  paid  for  the  title  of  the  Cherokees  to  the  Tran- 
sylvania lands  was  transported  by  Richard  Henderson,  not 
accompanied  by  Boone,  "in  six  wagon  loads  of  goods  from  Hills- 
boro,  N.  C.  (really  from  Fayetteville — then  Cross  Creek),  to 
Sycamore  Shoals,  by  wagon  over  the  North  Carolina  mountains" 
by  a  route  "discovered  through  researches  made  for  me  among 
old  maps,  showing  wagon  roads  of  North  Carolina,  dating  as 
far  back  as  1770.  The  stages  of  the  route  I  hope  to  give  in  my 
published  book  when  it  appears.  Henderson  also  carried  the 
goods  from  Sycamore  Shoals  to  Martin's  Station  in  Powell's 
Valley  by  wagon  also ;  from  there  to  the  future  site  of  Boones- 
boro  the  goods  were  transported  by  pack-horses."  '"  Dr.  Hender- 
son very  properly  "scrupulously  omitted  citation  in  my  'Life  and 
Times  of  Richard  Henderson'  to  authorities  other  than  known 
or  accessible  books,  such  as  the  North  Carolina  Colonial  Records, 
etc.,"  as  upon  these  new  authorities  rests  his  "claim  to  original 
research  and  discovery." 

Misconceptions  About  Colonel  Henderson. — Assuming  that 
Dr.  Henderson  shall  be  able  to  establish  these  facts,  which  is 
not  questioned,  there  is  no  one  who  has  suffered  more  at  the 
hands  of  historians  than  his  ancestor,  Richard  Henderson. 
For  the  general  impression  of  him  is  that  he  and  his  father 
had  been  part  and  parcel  of  the  office-holding  oligarchy  or 
"ring"  that  dominated  county  government  under  Governor 
Tryon,  Henderson's  father  having  been  sheriff  and  himself 
under-sheriff;  also,  that,  as  a  judge,  Richard  Henderson  was 
personally  obnoxious  to  the  Regulators  because  he  at  least 
had  not  prevented  "the  legal  tyrannies  and  alleged  injustices 
of  county  officials,"  and  was  "so  terrorized  that  during  the 
night  he  mounted  a  fast  horse  and  galloped  out  of  town," " 


*  This  must  have  been  a  large  fee  that  required  Boone  to  go  in  debt  to  get 
supplies  for  his  journey  (Bruce,  p.  62)  and  to  spend  two  years  of  his  life  in  the 
wilderness. 

"  From  Doctor  Henderson's  letter  to  J.  P.  A.,  June  11,  1913.  The  new 
material,  discovered  by  Doctor  Henderson,  after  laborious  investigation  extending 
over  years,  "was  not  accessible  to  or  even  known  to  R.  G.  Thwaites,  biographer 
of  Daniel  Boone,  or  to  H.  Addington  Bruce,  author  of  "Daniel  Boone  and  the 
Wilderness  Road." 

"  Bruce,  p.  97. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  51 

when  in  the  fall  of  1770,  while  hearing  cases  at  Hillsborough,  his 
court  room  was  invaded  by  a  mob  and  minor  officials  were  beaten. 
People  generally  believe  that  the  grievances  of  the  Regulators 
were  genuine  wrongs  from  which  they,  at  great  risk,  were  seek- 
ing to  escape;  that  these  Regulators  were  not  anarchists,"  but 
American  patriots  making  the  first  stand  for  American  liberty, 
bravely  and  openly  and  against  great  odds.  They  do  not  believe 
that  Judge  Henderson  refused  the  demands  of  these  oppressed 
people  out  of  any  high  regard  for  the  law,  but  because  he  wished 
to  carry  out  the  mandates  of  Tryon,  by  whom  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  bench.  Nevertheless,  they  were  willing  to  believe 
that  he  was  incapable  of  deliberately  planning  to  violate  the 
proclamation  of  1763  against  the  purchase  of  lands  from  the  In- 
dians by  individuals  while  he  himself  was  presiding  over  a  court 
of  justice  and  drawing  the  pay  of  the  colony  or  of  the  Crown  of 
England  for  discharging  the  duties  of  a  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  the  colony  of  North  Carolina.  They  supposed  that 
Daniel  Boone  went  to  Kentucky  in  May,  1769,  not  because  he 
had  been  paid  to  aid  Henderson  to  violate  the  law  he  was  sworn 
to  uphold,  but  because  John  Finley  had  spent  the  winter  before 
at  Holman's  Ford  and  had  persuaded  Boone  that  he  could  guide 
him  to  Kentucky  by  crossing  the  mountains  to  the  westward.  It 
was  the  general  belief,  also,  that  it  was  not  in  consequence  of  the 
Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  of  1768,  but  of  the  victory  over  the 
northwestern  Indians  at  the  Great  Kanawha,  September  10, 
1774,  which  prompted  Henderson  and  Hart  to  visit  the  Otari 
towns  the  following  October  for  the  purpose  of  getting  from  the 
Cherokees  what  was  a  worthless  paper  title  to  the  Transylvania 
lands,  and  that  Henderson  especially,  who  was  a  lawyer,  knew 
that  "neither  the  British  government  nor  the  authorities  of  Vir- 
ginia or  North  Carolina  would  recognize  the  authority"  of  the 
Cherokees  to  convey  title  thereto,  and  that  instead  of  being  a 
worthy  scheme  of  national  expansion,  it  was  really  a  "bold, 
audacious  dash  for  fortune."  (Walter  Clark  in  North  Carolina 
Booklet,  January,  1904,  p.  7.)     And,  unfortunately,  it  is  also  the 


"  It   seems   strange   to   have   a   North   Carolinian   write   in    such   terms   of   the 
Regulators,  whom  we  have  been  taught  to  revere  as  heroes  and  patriots. 


52  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

general  belief  that  Henderson  at  least  cared  little  for  the  ruin  that 
he  must  have  known  would  follow  the  failure  of  his  title  to  the 
lands  which  he  was  trying  to  sell  to  the  untaught  pioneers."  For 
he  speaks  of  them  in  his  journal  as  "a  set  of  scoundrels  who 
scarcely  believed  in  God  or  feared  the  devil."  Certain  it  is  that 
when  all  hope  of  profit  disappeared,  so  did  also  Henderson  and 
his  associates,  leaving  Daniel  Boone,  with  his  helpless  family,  in 
the  wilderness  with  a  worthless  title  to  two  thousand  acres  of 
land,  which  had  been  his  sole  compensation  for  risking  his  life 
and  cutting  out  the  Wilderness  Road  for  Henderson  and  his 
followers  to  travel  over.  And  the  claim  upon  which  so  much 
stress  is  laid,  that  Henderson  shared  "with  Washington  the  vision 
of  Western  expansion,"  is  made  ridiculous  when  the  Watauga 
Settlement  of  1769  is  remembered  and  it  is  recalled  that  Harrods- 
burg,  only  thirty  miles  southwest  from  Boonesboro,  had  been 
settled  in  1774;  also,  that  two  weeks  before  Boone's  arrival  at 
Boonesborough  (April  i,  1775)  this  same  Harrodsburg,  after 
having  been  abandoned  in  1774,  had  been  re-occupied  by  as  hardy 
pioneers  as  any  who  came  with  Boone,  and  that  about  the  same 
time  two  other  settlements  nearby  were  made  at  Boiling  Springs 
and  Logan's  Station.  Roosevelt  says  that  with  the  failure  of  his 
title  in  both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  "Henderson,  after  the 
collapse  of  his  colony,  drifts  out  of  history."  (Winning  of  the 
West,  Vol.  n,  p.  64.)  To  some  people  of  simple  minds  it  might 
almost  seem  that  it  would  have  been  better  that  Richard  Hender- 
son should  be  allowed  to  remain  out  of  history,  unless,  indeed, 
it  can  be  shown  that  he  restored  to  poor,  deluded  Daniel  Boone 
the  2,000  acres  he  had  been  duped  into  accepting  as  his  share  of 
the  enterprise,  for  both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  together 
donated  outright  to  Henderson  and  company  400,000  acres  of 
land,  out  of  which  it  does  seem  that  Boone  should  have  been 
made  whole.  Daniel  Boone,  penniless,  remained  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  was  the  real  leader  of  the  great  western  expansion. 

"  A  largely  signed  memorial  was  sent  to  the  Virginia  Convention  in  1776  by 
these  settlers,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  price  of  the  land  had  been 
advanced  from  twenty  to  fifty  shillings  a  hundred  acres,  all  of  which  was  to  be 
paid  down ;  that  70,000  acres  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  (Louisville)  had  been 
reserved  to  the  proprietors  and  their  friends.  It  implored  His  Majesty,  the  King, 
to  vindicate  his  title  from  the  Six  Nations ;  and  asked  to  be  talien  under  the 
protection  of  Virginia. 


CHAPTER  V. 

During  the  Revolution. 

Backwoods  Tories. — Roosevelt  (Vol.  II,  p.  70)  says:  "The 
backwoodsmen,  the  men  of  the  up-country,  were,  as  a  whole, 
ardent  adherents  of  the  patriotic  or  American  side.  Yet  there 
were  among  them  many  loyalists  or  Tories,  and  these  Tories  in- 
cluded in  their  ranks  much  the  greatest  portion  of  the  vicious  and 
disorderly  elements.  This  was  the  direct  reverse  of  what  ob- 
tained along  portions  of  the  seaboard,  where  large  numbers  of 
the  peaceable  and  well-to-do  people  stood  loyally  by  the  king. 
In  the  up-country,  however,  the  Presbyterian  Irish,  with  their 
fellows  of  Calvinistic  stock  and  faith,  formed  the  back-bone  of 
the  moral  and  order-loving  element,  and  the  Presbyterian  Irish 
were  almost  to  a  man  staunch  and  furious  upholders  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  .  .  .  The  Tories  were  obnoxious  under 
two  heads  (pp.  ^2,  73)  ;  they  were  allies  of  a  tyrant  who  hved 
beyond  the  sea,  and  they  were  the  friends  of  anarchy  at  home. 
They  were  felt  by  the  frontiersmen  to  be  criminals  rather  than 
ordinary  foes.  They  included  in  their  ranks  the  mass  of  men 
who  had  been  guilty  of  the  two  worst  frontier  crimes — horse- 
stealing and  murder  .  .  .  and  the  courts  sometimes  executed 
summary  justice  on  Tory,  desperado  and  stock-thief,  holding  each 
as  having  forfeited  his  life." 

Samuel  Bright,  Loyalist. — We  should  not  be  surprised,  there- 
fore, to  learn  that  there  is  a  tradition  still  preserved  at  Ingalls  and 
Altamont  post  offices,  in  what  is  now  Avery  County,  but  which 
formerly  was  a  part  of  Watauga,  that  Samuel  Bright,  along 
whose  "trace,"  according  to  Draper  (p.  177),  Sevier's  men 
passed  on  their  way  to  King's  Mountain,  September  27-28,  1780, 
was  a  Tory  of  the  Tories,  and  while  he  might  have  claimed  the 
Crab  Orchard,^  a  mile  below  the  confluence  of  the  Roaring  Creek 


1  Owing  to  the  several  counties  in  which  this  land  has  been  it  is  impossible 
to  get  record  evidence  of  Bright's  ownership,  if  he  ever  held  title.  Local  tradition 
claims  that  the  Crab  Orchard  was  embraced   in  both  the   Cathcart  and  Waight- 

53 


54  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

with  the  North  Toe  River,  his  home  was  two  miles  northeast  of 
Alta  Pass,  where  the  C.  C.  &  O.  R.  R.  crosses  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
stood  near  what  is  now  a  tram-road  for  lumber  hauling.  Joe 
Lovin  now  lives  one-fourth  of  a  mile  southwest  from  the  old 
Bright  chimney  mounds,  which  are  still  distinguishable.  Indeed, 
Robert  Lee  Wiseman,  a  direct  descendant  of  William  Wiseman, 
the  first  settler  of  that  locality,  has  the  original  grant  and  knows 
the  location  of  the  old  Bright  place  not  only  from  tradition,  but 
from  having  surveyed  the  lands  originally  granted  to  Samuel 
Bright.  One  of  these  grants  is  numbered  172  and  calls  for  360 
acres  in  Burke  County.  The  grant  is  dated  March  5,  1780, 
though  the  land  was  processioned  June  28,  1774,  by  Will  Daven- 
port, who  owned  "the  noted  spring  on  the  Davenport  place,  since 
Tate's,  and  now  known  as  the  Childs  place,"  spoken  of  by  Dr. 
Draper  (p.  178).  The  grant  is  registered  in  book  No.  3  of  Burke 
County,  and  was  signed  by  J.  C.  Caswell,  Governor,  and  counter- 
signed by  "In  Franck,  Pri.  Sec."  The  land  was  surveyed  by 
C.  W.  Beekman,  county  surveyor  of  Burke,  August  10,  1778, 
while  the  chain  carriers  were  Thomas  White,  afterwards  Major 
White,  of  McDowell's  regiment,  and  James  Taylor  White.  The 
land  granted  lies  on  both  sides  of  Toe  River,  and  a  part  of  it  is 
now  owned  by  W.  H.  Ollis  as  part  of  his  home  tract,  and  the 
balance  by  J.  L.  Wiseman.  The  seal  attached  is  of  chalk  or 
plaster  of  Paris  and  bees  wax,  one-quarter  of  an  inch  thick  and 
three  inches  in  diameter.  On  one  side  is  a  female  figure  with  staff 
and  liberty  cap  in  one  hand  and  an  open  scroll  in  the  other.  The 
obverse  face  contains  a  female  figure,  a  cow  and  a  tree,  while 
beneath  these  figures  are  "Independence  MDCCLXXVI."  This 
seal  is  not  impressed  upon  the  paper,  but  is  detached  from  it, 
being  connected  with  it  by  a  double  tape  ribbon.  Around  the 
border  is  what  appears  to  be  E  Pluribus  Unum  and  Sua  Si  Bona, 
though  a  defacement  of  the  wax  renders  some  of  the  letters  un- 
certain. Tradition  is  here  borne  out  by  the  State  and  Colonial 
Records  in  Volume  XXII  (p.  506),  which  records  that  Samuel 


still  Avery  grants,  and  that  the  representatives  of  these  two  claimants  com- 
promised the  matter  by  Avery  paying  John  Brown,  Cathcart's  representative, 
12%  cts.  per  acre  for  the  tract,  and  taking  possession.  John  Ollis,  father  of 
W.  H.  Ollis,  helped  to  clear  it  "back  in  the  Forties." 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  55 

Bright,  after  having  witnessed  the  trial  and  conviction  at  Salis- 
bury before  Judge  Samuel  Spencer,  March  6,  1777,  of  one 
William  Anderson,  of  having  stolen  from  one  Jowe,  and  the 
branding  of  the  said  Anderson  on  the  ball  of  the  thumb  of  his 
left  hand  with  the  letter  T,  signifying  thief,  was  brought  before 
the  same  stern  judge  to  answer  the  charge  of  having  committed 
sundry  misdemeanors  against  the  State  by  encouraging  the  ene- 
mies of  said  State.  But  Samuel  evidently  knew  on  which  side 
his  bread  was  buttered,  and  took  the  benefit  of  the  governor's 
proclamation,  promising  amnesty  to  all  who  would  come  in  and 
take  the  oath  of  loyalty  to  the  patriot  cause,  and  got  off  scott- 
free. 

Thirty-Nine  Lashes  on  the  Bare  Back. — Now  William  Wise- 
man, who  had  been  born  in  London,  England,  on  St.  James 
Street,  Clarkville  or  Clarkwell  Park,  February  2,  1741,  and  ap- 
prenticed to  a  joiner,  fearing  service  in  the  British  army,  stowed 
himself  away  on  a  merchant  vessel  in  1761,  and,  after  lying  con- 
cealed three  days  and  nights,  revealed  himself  to  the  captain,  and 
upon  arrival  at  a  port  in  Connecticut  was  sold  to  pay  his  passage 
money;  was  bid  in  by  a  master  joiner,  who  gave  him  his  liberty 
and  a  box  of  tools  upon  proof  that  Wiseman  could  make  as  good 
a  chest  as  he  could  himself.  "What  those  old  fellows  were 
after,"  said  an  old  citizen  in  speaking  of  Wiseman,  "was  free- 
dom ;"  and  as  there  was  much  religious  persecution  in  the  north- 
ern colonies  about  that  time,  William  Wiseman  took  his  took 
aboard  a  sailing  vessel  and  finally  settled  at  the  place  at  which 
W.  H.  Ollis  now  lives.  Here  he  married  a  Davenport,  sister,  no 
doubt,  to  the  Davenport  of  Davenport  Place  spoken  of  by  Dr. 
Draper.  He  was  the  very  first  settler  in  that  locality,  and  became 
a  justice  of  the  peace.  To  him  was  brought  one  day  the  wife  of 
Samuel  Bright,  charged  with  having  stolen  a  bolt  of  cloth  from 
a  traveling  peddler.  She  was  convicted  by  him,  and  as  the  ped- 
dler insisted  that  he  should  pass  sentence  upon  her,  he  did  so, 
and  as  there  was  no  sheriff  to  inflict  it,  he  enforced  it  himself — 
"thirty-nine  lashes,  well  laid  on." 

Patriots  Feared  the  Indians. — Now,  the  Cherokees  had  ceded 
the  lands  on  the  Watauga  and  its  waters  to  the  Watauga  settlers. 


56  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

but  Roosevelt  tells  us  (Vol.  II,  p.  74)  that  they  "still  continued 
jealous  of  them,"  and  that  the  Cherokees  "promptly  took  up  the 
tomahawk  at  the  bidding  of  the  British"  (p.  75).  As  Bright  and 
Wiseman  lived  south  of  the  ridge  which  divided  the  Toe  from 
the  Watauga,  their  homes  were  within  Indian  territory  at  this 
time.  Therefore,  Magistrate  Wiseman  had  been  afraid  to  lay 
the  lash  on  Mrs.  Bright's  bare  back  during  the  absence  of  her 
husband,  who  was  on  a  hunting  expedition  at  that  time,  lest  upon 
his  return  he  should  incite  the  Indians  to  burn  his  cabin  and 
scalp  him  in  the  bargain.  But  he  was  worse  afraid  of  the 
peddler,  who  threatened  to  report  him  to  the  great  judge,  Samuel 
Spencer,  at  Salisbury,  if  he  did  not  carry  out  the  sentence  he  had 
himself  imposed.  He  was,  therefore,  much  perturbed  till  Bright 
and  a  family  named  Grant  left  the  country,  passing  over  the 
Bright  Trace  and  by  the  Bright  Spring  on  the  Bald  place  of  the 
Yellow  into  Tennessee.  Aunt  Jemima  English,  who  was  born 
Wiseman,  daughter  of  the  original  William,  justice  of  the  peace, 
etc.,  May  6,  1804,  but  lived  to  a  green  old  age,  not  only  preserved 
these  traditions,  which  she  had  at  first  had  from  her  father,  but 
she  believed  that  the  Grant  family  which  left  with  the  B rights 
were  the  family  from  whom  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  of  the  U.  S. 
army,  sprang. 

Bright's  Spring  and  the  Shelving  Rock. — We  must  not  forget 
that  "the  gap  between  the  Yellow  Mountain  on  the  north  and 
the  Roan  Mountain  on  the  south"  (Draper,  p.  177)  was  once  a 
part  of  Watauga  County  (see  chapter  X  on  Boundary  Lines).  It 
was  here  that  two  of  Sevier's  men,  James  Crawford  and  Samuel 
Chambers,  deserted  and  went  ahead  to  tell  Ferguson  of  Sevier's 
approach.  It  was  here  also,  according  to  local  tradition  in  the 
mouth  of  everyone  in  May,  191 5,  that  one  of  Sevier's  men  froze 
to  death  and  was  buried  in  the  edge  of  the  bald  of  the  Yellow. 
Draper,  however,  says  nothing  of  such  an  occurrence,  though  he 
does  say  (p.  177)  that  the  "sides  and  top  of  the  mountain  were 
covered  with  snow,  shoe-mouth  deep,  and  on  the  summit  there 
were  about  one  hundred  acres  of  beautiful  table-land,  in  which 
a  spring  issued  [Bright's],  ran  through  it  and  over  into  the 
Watauga."  This  latter  fact,  not  generally  known,  coupled  with 
the  still  more  important  fact  that  all  of  Watauga  County  on  the 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  57 

waters  of  Watauga  River  was  once  a  part  of  Washington 
County — formerly  Washington  District — of  the  famous  and  im- 
mortal Old  Watauga  Settlement  of  Sevier,  Robertson  and  Tipton, 
may  well  "stir  a  fever  in  the  blood  of  age  and  make  the  infant's 
sinews  strong  as  steel."  For  Col.  Henry  H.  Farthing,  of  Tim- 
bered Ridge  of  the  Beaver  Dams,  and  Col.  Joseph  C.  Shull,  of 
Shull's  Mills,  have  each  a  grant  from  the  State  to  lands  in  their 
neighborhood,  described  as  being  in  Washington  County,  North 
Carolina.  Shull's  grant  is  numbered  841  to  Charles  Asher  for 
300  acres  in  the  county  of  Washington  on  both  sides  of  Watauga 
River,  and  dated  nth  July,  1788.  It  is  signed  by  Samuel 
Johnston,  Governor,  and  countersigned  by  Jas.  Glascow,  Secre- 
tary of  State.  On  it  is  a  certificate  from  the  county  register, 
Samuel  Greer,  dated  May  28,  1819,  that  it  is  a  true  copy  from  the 
records.  The  Farthing  grant  is  to  John  Carter  for  300  acres  in 
the  county  of  Washington,  beginning  on  two  white  oaks  standing 
near  the  path  that  leads  across  Stone  Mountain  to  Cove  Creek 
and  on  the  west  side  of  the  Beaver  Dam  Creek.  It  is  dated 
November  17,  1790,  and  is  numbered  947,  and  recorded  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretary's  office,  page  234.  For,  when  the  Watauga 
settlers  set  up  house-keeping  on  their  own  hook,  they  had  named 
the  territory  they  had  acquired  from  the  Indians  by  lease  and 
purchase  Washington  District,  and  in  1777,  before  they  tried  to 
secede,  calling  the  new  State  Franklin,  North  Carolina  converted 
Washington  District  into  Washington  County.  (Laws  1777, 
ch.  126.)  Dr.  Draper  continues:  "Thence  from  Talbot's  Mill 
to  its  head,  where  they  bore  somewhat  to  the  left,  crossing  Little 
Doe  River,  reaching  the  noted  'Resting  Place,'  at  the  Shelving 
Rock,  about  a  mile  beyond  the  Crab  Orchard,  where,  after  a 
march  of  about  twenty  miles  that  day,  they  took  up  their  camp 
for  the  night.  Big  Doe  River,  a  bold  and  limpid  mountain 
stream,  flowing  hard  by,  afforded  the  campers,  their  horses  and 
beef  cattle  abundance  of  pure  and  refreshing  water.  Here  a  man 
of  the  name  of  Miller  resided  who  shod  several  of  the  horses  of 
the  party." 

Even  Homer  and  Dr.  Draper  Sometimes  Nod. — Notwith- 
standing all  the  pains  Dr.  Draper  took  to  get  the  facts  for  his 
excellent  "Kings  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes,"  his  failure  to  visit 


58  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  actual  scenes  along  the  route  of  the  King's  Mountain  men 
is  responsible  for  the  error  in  the  statement  that  the  Big  Doe 
River,  flowing  hard  by,  afforded  the  campers,  etc.,  abundance  of 
pure  and  refreshing  water."  The  nearest  point  from  the  Shelv- 
ing Rock  to  the  Big  Doe  River  is  at  least  one  mile  and  a  half 
where  that  stream  flows  through  the  Crab  Orchard,  and  the  route 
to  it  is  over  a  rather  high  ridge  and  by  a  rough  trail.  But  the 
Little  Doe,  with  enough  pure  and  refreshing  water  for  all  the 
men  and  stock  then  in  what  is  now  Tennessee,  flows  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  the  Shelving  Rock,  on  which  there  has  been 
placed  a  bronze  tablet  about  two  feet  square  with  the  following 
inscription : 

First  Night's 

Encampment  of 

KING'S  MOUNTAIN  MEN 

SEPTEMBER  26,  1780. 


They  Trusted  in  God  and 
Kept  Their  Powder  Dry. 


Placed  by  John  Sevier  Chapter,  D.  A.  R., 
1910. 

A  Busy  Forge. — But  he  was  right  in  stating  that  a  man  of 
the  name  of  Miller  resided  at  the  Shelving  Rock  and  shod  their 
horses,  for  Squire  W.  H.  Ollis,  of  Ingalls,  N.  C,  furnished  this 
identical  information  to  the  Historical  Society  of  New  Jersey  in 
1872,  saying  that  "Absalom  Miller  told  me  that  his  father  lived 
at  Shelving  Rock  in  September,  1780,  and  shod  the  horses  of 
some  of  the  King's  Mountain  men  while  they  camped  under  the 
Shelving  Rock."  As  most  of  Sevier's  men  were  practical  black- 
smiths, we  may  well  imagine  that  Johnson's  forge  was  a  busy 
place  early  on  the  morning  of  September  27,  1780,  and  well  up 
into  that  day,  and  that,  while  some  were  shoeing  the  horses. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  59 

others  were  busy  at  bellows  and  anvil,  hammering  out  horse- 
shoes and  nails,  thus  leaving  none  of  the  available  tools  idle  for 
a  moment.  For  the  way  up  what  is  now  called  Hampton's  Creek 
to  the  gap  of  the  Yellow  was  even  steeper  in  those  days  than 
it  is  now,  with  rocks  galore  to  wrench  the  shoes  from  the  best 
shod  horses.  Dr.  Draper  tells  us  that  on  this  day  the  men,  weary 
of  driving  the  herd  of  cattle  with  which  they  had  started,  killed 
such  as  were  necessary  for  a  temporary  supply  of  meat  and 
abandoned  the  rest,  thus  considerably  delaying  the  march  of  the 
day,  "following  the  well-known  Bright's  Trace,  through  a  gap 
between  the  Yellow  Mountain  on  the  north  and  the  Roan  Moun- 
tain on  the  south.  The  ascent  was  not  very  difficult  along  a  com- 
mon foot-path."  But,  for  three  miles  at  least,  it  was  very  steep 
and  rocky,  as  the  same  old  Trace,  now  used  as  a  "near  cut,"  still 
bears  witness  most  eloquently.  Arrived  at  the  gap,  now  grown 
up  with  trees,  they  had  a  parade  on  the  Yellow  and  fired  oflf  their 
short  Deckard  rifles  "for  fun."  This  was  but  a  short  day's 
march — seven  miles — making  twenty-seven  miles  from  Sycamore 
Shoals  in  two  days.  Here,  at  a  conference  of  the  officers.  Colonel 
Campbell  was  appointed  to  the  chief  command.  (Note  on  page 
178.)  On  the  28th  they  descended  Roaring  Creek  by  Bright's 
Trace,  then  following  the  bank  of  the  stream  very  much  as  does 
the  rude  and  rough  wagon  road  of  today,  to  its  mouth  in  North 
Toe  River,  one  mile  from  the  North  Carolina  Crab  Orchard,  or 
Avery's  Quarter,  as  it  is  now  known.  Here,  at  the  mouth  of 
Roaring  Creek,  lives  Tilmon  McCurry,  who  thinks  that  the 
Samuel  Chambers  who  had  deserted  the  night  before,  finally 
settled  in  Buncombe  County,  North  Carolina,  but  what  became 
of  James  Crawford  seems  not  to  be  known.  Only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  mouth  of  Roaring  Creek  is  that  of  Powder  Mill 
Creek,  a  short  distance  up  which  latter  stream  Dorry  and  Loddy 
Oaks  made  enough  powder  in  the  dim  and  distant  past  with 
which  to  buy  a  negro  man,  and,  no  doubt,  obtained  the  bounty 
referred  to  in  Wheeler's  History  of  North  Carolina  (Vol.  H, 
p.  52).  From  the  mouth  of  Roaring  Creek,  however,  Bright's 
Trace  is  now  no  longer  followed,  the  Cranberry  and  Spruce  Pine 
Road  having  usurped  its  usefulness,  but  it  can  be  traced  still  as 


6o  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

it  takes  its  almost  straight  course  to  the  crossing  of  Toe  River, 
almost  a  mile  above  Spruce  Pine,  at  which  place  a  small  monu- 
ment marks  Sevier's  route. 

They  Did  Not  Camp  on  the  Yellow. — Bright's  Spring  in 
North  Carolina  is  a  mile  north  of  the  gap  between  the  Yellow  and 
the  Roan.  It  is  in  a  field  that  in  1780  contained  a  bald  place  of 
about  100  acres,  though  the  Humps,  lying  near,  have  since  been 
cleared  and  the  bald  place  is  now  much  larger  than  it  was  then. 
There  is  also  another  spring  on  the  Tennessee  side,  near  the  gap, 
called  also  Bright's  Spring.  It  is  true  the  ground  is  said  to  have 
been  covered  with  snow  when  they  camped  there,  but  that 
1,040  men '  and  horses  could  have  supplied  themselves  with  water 
on  the  top  of  that  mountain  would  have  been  an  impossibihty. 
Dr.  Draper  says  in  unmistakable  language  that  they  "passed  on 
a  couple  of  miles,  descending  the  eastern  slope  of  the  mountains 
into  Elk  Hollow — a  slight  depression  between  the  Yellow  and 
Roan  Mountains,  rather  than  a  gap — and  here  at  a  fine  spring 
flowing  into  Roaring  Creek  they  took  up  their  camp  for  the 
night"  (p.  178).  Yet,  the  general  impression  is  that  these  men 
camped  on  the  Yellow  Mountain  that  night ! 

Oliver  Cromwell's  Descendant. — Dr.  Draper  records  the  fact 
that  Col.  Benjamin  Cleveland  claimed  direct  descent  from  Oliver 
Cromwell,  from  a  liaison  with  Elizabeth  Cleveland,  "a  beauty  of 
the  time  of  Charles  the  First"  (pp.  425,  426),  but  this  story  is 
doubted  by  the  eminent  historian.  Cleveland  was  mistaken  in 
acting  as  though  cruelty  was  Cromwell's  chief  virtue. 

Cleveland's  Capture  at  Old  Fields. — Dr.  Draper  says  that 
this  doughty  warrior  was  captured  at  this  place,  which  he  is  said 
to  have  owned,  on  the  22d  day  of  April,  1781,  while  on  a  visit 
to  his  tenant,  Jesse  Duncan,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Old  Fields — 
probably  the  very  spot  at  which  the  late  Nathan  Waugh  lived 
and  died.  Captain  William  Riddle  was  the  leader  of  the  gang 
which  captured  him,  they  having  stolen  his  horses  from  Duncan's 
barn  the  night  before  and  led  them  up  south  fork  of  New  River 


'  The  force  which  started  from  Sycamore  Shoals  consisted  of :  Colonel  Camp- 
bell's men,  200 ;  Colonel  Shelby's,  240  men ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sevier's,  240 
men  ,•  McDowell's  party,  who  had  retreated  from  Cowen's  Ford,  160  men ; 
(Draper,  p.  149)  ;  Arthur  Campbell,  with  200  men  (Id.  p.  175),  making  in  all 
1,040  men. 


Photo,  by  Vannoy. 


THE  OLD  PERKINS  PLACE. 
Where  Cleveland  was  captured. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  6 1 

into  a  laurel  thicket  just  above  the  house  then  occupied  by  Joseph 
and  Timothy  Perkins,  about  one  mile  distant.  There  were  six 
or  eight  men  with  Riddle,  and  when  they  reached  Benjamin  Cut- 
birth's  home  the  day  before,  four  miles  above  Duncan's  home, 
and  failed  to  get  any  information  from  him,  they  abused  him 
shamefully  and  left  him  under  guard.  Cleveland  ran  into  the 
ambush  prepared  for  him  and  was  captured  and  taken  into  the 
Perkins  house,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  house  in  which 
Nathan  Waugh's  son,  Charles,  now  resides.  The  illustration 
shows  the  present  house  and  apple  tree  in  its  front  under  which 
it  is  said  Cleveland  was  sitting  when  captured.  Into  this  house 
of  the  Perkinses,  Zachariah  Wells  followed  Cleveland  and  at- 
tempted to  shoot  him,  but  that  brave(?)  man  seized  Abigail 
Walters,  who  was  present,  and  kept  her  between  him  and  his 
would-be  assassin  (p.  440).  Cleveland  was  then  taken  up  New 
River  to  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek,  and  thence  to  "what  has  since 
been  known  as  Riddle's  Knob."  (See  illustration.)  This  is  some 
fourteen  miles  from  Old  Fields  and  in  Watauga  County.  Here 
they  camped  for  the  night  (p.  441).  But  they  had  been  followed 
by  young  Daniel  Cutbirth  and  a  youth  named  Walters,*  Jesse 
Duncan,  John  Shirley,  William  Calloway,  Samuel  McQueen  and 
Benjamin  Greer,  while  Joseph  Calloway  mounted  a  horse  and 
hastened  to  notify  Captain  Robert  Cleveland,  Ben's  brother,  on 
Lewis'  Fork  of  the  Yadkin.  Five  of  these  in  advance  of  Robert's 
party  fired  on  Riddle's  gang  at  the  Wolf's  Den  early  the  next 
morning,  and  Cleveland  dropped  behind  the  log  on  which  he 
had  been  sitting  slowly  writing  passes  for  the  Tories,  fearing  that 
when  he  should  finish  doing  so  he  would  be  killed.  Only  Wells 
was  wounded,  the  rest  escaping,  including  Riddle's  wife.  As  it 
was  thought  that  Wells  would  die  from  his  wound,  he  was  left 
on  the  ground  to  meet  his  fate  alone.  But  he  survived.  About 
1857  Micajah  Tugman  found  a  curious  knife  in  the  Wolf's  Den, 
supposed  to  have  been  Riddle's. 

Greer's    Hint. — This    "hint"    is   thus    accounted    for   by   Dr. 
Draper  in  a  note  at   foot  of  page  442 :     "Greer  was  one  of 


•  These  boys   had   planned   to   rescue   Cleveland,   but  they   thought  better   of   it 
when  Riddle's  force  came  in  sight. 


62  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Cleveland's  heroes.  One  of  his  fellow  soldiers  stole  his  tobacco 
from  him,  when  he  threatened  he  would  whip  him  for  it  as  soon 
as  he  should  put  his  eyes  on  him.  Cleveland  expostulated  with 
Greer,  telling  him  his  men  ought  to  fight  the  enemy  and  not 
each  other.  'I'll  give  him  a  hint  of  it,  anyway,'  said  Greer,  and 
when  he  met  the  tobacco  pilferer  he  knocked  him  down.  Greer's 
hint  was  long  a  by-word  in  all  that  region. — Col.  W.  W.  Lenoir." 
It  is  claimed  that  Greer  killed  Colonel  Ferguson  at  King's  Moun- 
tain.   If  so,  Greer's  hints  were  rather  rough, 

Greer  Gets  Another  Kind  of  Hint. — Just  twenty  years  after 
the  memorable  capture  and  rescue  of  Cleveland  by  Greer,  to  wit : 
on  the  first  Saturday  of  April,  1801,  the  Three  Forks  Baptist 
Church,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  gave  Cleveland's  "hero"  a 
"hint"  to  appear  at  the  next  meeting  of  that  organization  and 
answer  to  the  charge — not  of  having  looked  upon  the  wine  cup 
when  it  was  red — but  of  having  partaken  of  the  apple  juice  after 
it  had  been  distilled.  Brother  and  Sister  Wilcoxen  were  cited 
to  appear  as  witnesses  against  him.  But  Ben  did  not  take  the 
hint,  neither  did  he  continue  his  membership  with  that  church ! 

The  Wolf's  Den  Tradition. — There  is  still  a  tradition  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Wolf's  Den  that  Ben  Greer  killed  or 
wounded  Riddle  at  that  place  soon  after  Cleveland's  rescue,  one 
version  saying  that  Riddle  was  only  wounded  and  then  taken  to 
Wilkes  and  hanged.  Indeed,  the  place  in  the  gap  between  Pine 
Orchard  and  Huckleberry  Knob,  through  which  the  wagon  road 
from  Todd  to  Riddle's  Fork  of  Meat  Camp  Creek  now  runs,  is 
still  pointed  out  as  that  at  which  Greer  and  his  men  camped  in 
the  cold  and  wind,  without  fire  or  tent,  till  they  saw  the  camp- 
fire  on  Riddle's  Knob  flame  up,  after  which  they  crept  up  to  that 
lonely  spot  and  either  killed  or  wounded  the  redoubtable  Tory. 
But  Dr.  Draper  has  an  altogether  different  story  to  tell  about 
Riddle's  capture  and  execution. 

Cleveland  Hangs  Riddle. — Dr.  Draper  says  (p.  444)  that 
soon  after  Cleveland's  rescue  Riddle  and  his  men  made  a  night 
raid  into  the  Yadkin  Valley,  where,  on  King's  Creek,  they  cap- 
tured two  of  Cleveland's  soldiers,  David  and  John  Witherspoon, 
and  "spirited  them  away  into  the  mountain  region  on  the  Wa- 


Photo,  by  Vannoy. 


THE  WOLF  S  DEN. 
Where  Cleveland  was  rescued. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  63 

tauga  River  in  what  is  now  Watauga  County,"  where  both  were 
sentenced  to  be  shot,  when  it  was  proposed  that  if  they  would 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king,  repair  to  their  home  and 
speedily  return  with  the  O'Neal  mare — a  noble  animal — and  join 
the  Tory  band,  their  lives  would  be  spared.  This  the  Wither- 
spoons  agreed  to,  and  returned  with  not  only  the  mare,  but 
with  Col.  Ben  Herndon  and  a  party  also,  when  they  captured 
Riddle,  Reeves  and  Goss,  "killing  and  dispersing  the  others." 
These  were  taken  to  Wilkesboro,  court-martialed  and  executed" 
on  the  hill  adjoining  the  village,  "on  a  stately  oak,  which  is  yet 
(1881)  standing  and  pointed  out  to  strangers  at  Wilkesboro." 
Wells,  too,  his  wounds  still  unhealed,  was  captured  and  taken 
to  Hughes'  Bottom,  one  mile  below  Cleveland's  Round  About 
home-place,  and  hanged  by  plow  lines  from  a  tree  on  the  river 
bank,  without  trial  and  in  spite  of  the  protestations  of  James 
Gwyn,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  whose  noble  nature  revolted  at  such 
barbarity.  But  Cleveland's  cruelty  was  too  well  known  to  need 
further  comment,  for  it  is  recorded  of  him  that  he  once  forced 
an  alleged  horse-thief  to  cut  off  his  own  ears  with  a  dull  case 
knife  to  escape  death  by  hanging — all  without  trial  or  evidence 
of  any  kind  whatever  (p.  447).  Cleveland  moved  to  South 
Carolina  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  where  he  died 
while  sitting  at  the  breakfast  table,  in  October,  1806,  in  the 
sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  Cleveland  County  in  this  State  was 
named  in  his  honor.  Dr.  Draper  says  he  was  buried  in  the 
forks  of  the  Tugalo  and  Chauga,  Oconee  County,  South  Caro- 
lina, but  his  grave  with  a  stone  marking  it  is  in  the  churchyard 
of  New  Hope  Baptist  Church,  near  Staunton,  Wilkes  County, 
North  Carolina,  according  to  several  recent  statements  of  Col. 
J.  H.  Taylor,  the  father  of  Mrs.  John  Stansbury,  of  Boone. 
However,  some  claim  that  this  is  Robert  Cleveland's  grave-stone. 
So  much  for  two  versions  of  Riddle's  death. 

But  there  is  still  another,  for  Col,  W.  W.  Presnell,  for  many 
years  register  of  deeds  for  Watauga  County  and  a  brave  one- 
armed  Confederate  soldier,  still  points  out  at  the  foot  of  a  ridge 
north  of  James  Blair's  residence,  on  Brushy  Fork  Creek,  two 
low  rock  cliffs,  between  which  and  the  hollow  just  east  of  them 


64  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

stood  until  recently  a  large  white- thorn  tree  upon  which  W.  H. 
Dugger  and  other  reputable  citizens  of  a  past  day  said  Cleveland 
had  hanged  Riddle  and  three  of  his  companions.  Certain  it  is, 
according  to  Dr.  Draper  (p.  445),  that  "Colonel  Cleveland  was 
active  at  this  period  in  sending  out  strong  scouting  parties  to 
scour  the  mountain  regions,  and,  if  possible,  utterly  break  up  the 
Tory  bands  still  investing  the  frontiers."  Others  say  that  two 
of  these  men  were  named  Sneed  and  the  third  was  named 
Warren, 

The  Killing  of  Charles  Asher.— Col.  Joseph  C.  Shull  has 
among  his  papers  grant  No.  841  to  Charles  Asher  to  300  acres  of 
land  in  the  county  of  Washington,  on  both  sides  of  the  Watauga 
River,  dated  the  nth  day  of  July,  1788.  Charles  Asher  located 
this  land  at  what  was  afterwards  and  still  is  known  as  ShuU's 
Mills  in  Watauga  County,  North  Carolina,  after  having  married 
one  of  the  daughters  of  Samuel  Hix,  the  Tory  who  settled  first 
at  Valle  Crucis  and  afterwards  hid  out  at  the  Lybrook  place 
near  Banner's  Elk.  His  son  was  surprised  in  his  new  log  cabin 
in  what  is  now  Colonel  ShuU's  orchard,  by  Joseph  White's  men 
soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War.*  Asher  ran,  but 
was  shot  and  killed,  his  body  falling  where  it  was  buried,  near 
Colonel  ShuU's  cow  barn  in  the  meadow  in  front  of  his  resi- 
dence. 

Benjamin  Howard. — This  gentleman  was  the  first  transient 
boarder  in  the  vicinity  of  Boone,  for  he  built  the  cabin  which 
stood  in  front  of  the  Boys'  Dormitory  of  the  Appalachian  Train- 
ing School  and  on  the  site  of  which  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan  has 
erected  a  substantial  monument.  Howard's  home  was  near  Elk- 
ville  on  the  Yadkin,  but  as  he  herded  cattle  in  the  valley  of  New 
River,  he  built  this  hut  for  the  accommodation  of  himself  and 
his  herders.  When  too  hotly  pressed  by  the  Whigs  or  American 
Patriots,  Howard  sheltered  himself  in  a  cave  at  the  base  of  a 
long,  low  chff  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the  knob  above  the 

*  Joseph  White  was  a  major  in  Col.  Joseph  McDowell's  regiment  after  the 
Revolutionary  War  (Col.  Rec,  Vol.  XXII,  p.  460),  and  went  on  three  tours  with 
small  detachments  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  (Id.,  p.  99.)  In 
"North  Carolina  :  A  History,"  published  by  Edward  Buncombe  Chapter  D.  A.  R., 
it  is  erroneously  stated  (p.  100)  that  White  also  was  killed.  White  is  mentioned 
by  Doctor  Draper,  pp.  149-199  and  257,  while  on  page  474  it  is  stated  that 
White  probably  commanded  a  company  at  King's  Mountain. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  65 

town  of  Boone  which  has  borne  his  name  for  years.  His 
daughter,  SaIHe,  when  still  a  child,  is  said  to  have  endured  a 
severe  switching  rather  than  reveal  his  whereabouts  when  met 
in  the  road  one  day  by  a  band  of  men  in  search  of  her  parent. 
She  married  Jordan  Councill  the  first.  Her  father  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  in  1778,  however  (Col.  Rec. 
Vol.  XXn,  p.  172),  and  Miss  Sallie  soon  afterwards  became  a 
staunch  American  herself. 

Edward  Moody,  Patriot. — Under  a  large  white-oak  tree,  two 
feet  in  diameter,  on  a  sunny  ridge  overlooking  the  site  of  his 
earthly  home,  is  a  rather  small,  white  marble  stone  bearing  the 
following  meager  inscription : 

EDW'D  MOODY, 

HOWE'S,  VA. 
MIL.  REV.  WAR. 

When  one  reflects  that  this  memorial  was  erected  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  on  the  Fourth  day  of  July,  1910, 
in  the  presence  of  the  largest  gathering  of  people  that  has  ever 
taken  place  in  Watauga  County,  and  remembers  that  the  stone 
is  intended  to  mark  the  grave  of  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  one's  heart  does  not  swell  with  any  great 
amount  of  pride  or  gratitude.  Yet,  that  is  all  there  is  to  mark 
the  last  resting  place  of  a  brave  man  who  shed  his  blood  that 
these  United  States  might  be  free !  That  is  all  to  tell  coming 
generations  that  here  lies  the  dust  of  a  patriot  and  a  gentleman. 
Even  the  dates  of  his  birth  and  death  have  been  forgotten.  But 
while  he  lived  no  man  stood  higher  in  the  love  and  respect  of  all 
who  knew  him.  He  was  the  husband  of  "the  Widow  Moody" 
to  whom  the  Rev.  Henry  H.  Prout  paid  a  glowing  tribute  in  the 
"Life  of  W.  W.  Skiles." 

William  Jonas  Braswell,  Hero. — In  a  lonely  field  now  owned 
by  W.  H.  and  Harstin  Ollis,  under  two  hickory  trees,  a  third  of  a 
mile  above  the  old  Gen.  Albertus  Childs'  place  on  Three  Mile 
Creek,  is  another  one  of  those  "monuments"  at  the  unveiling  or 
dedication  of  which  our  great  government  occasionally  invites 


66  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

its  citizens  to  be  present.  It  contains  an  even  more  economical 
inscription  than  that  of  poor  Edward  Moody.    It  follows : 

WM.  BRASWELL, 
N.  C.  MIL. 
REV.  WAR. 

"That's  the  crap,"  as  our  farmers  say  in  derision  of  a  small 
offering.  This  was  unveiled  to  the  light  of  day  and  to  the  indig- 
nation of  all  right-thinking  people  in  1913,  the  crowd  in  at- 
tendance numbering  nearly  five  hundred.  That  seems  to  be  all 
this  great  and  powerful  government  could  find  out  about  this 
dead  hero,  now  without  a  vote.  But  others  remember  something 
else  of  him,  John  Wise,  born  May  9,  1835,  relating  that  Braswell 
lived  on  Lower  Creek  in  Burke  County,  and  hunted  through  the 
country  lying  between  that  locality  and  Black  Mountain,  in  what 
is  now  Yancey.  He  had  relatives  in  Pensacola,  near  Big  Tom 
Wilson's  old  home,  "under  the  Black."  When  a  very  old  man, 
Braswell,  his  wife  and  a  girl  named  Yarber  started  late  one  fall 
from  Lower  Creek  to  Pensacola  to  visit  people  named  Mace, 
relatives  of  his  wife,  probably.  They  had  to  spend  the  night 
in  camp  under  a  rock  on  a  high  ridge  leading  up  from  Burke 
to  the  Linville  country,  then  and  now  a  much  used  highway  for 
local  travel,  a  wagon  road  now  replacing  the  former  trail.  They 
could  not  procure  fire,  and  a  cold-snap  coming  on,  the  old  man 
"froze  down,"  to  use  Captain  Wise's  forceful  phrase.  When 
the  chill  morning  dawned  his  wife  and  the  Yarber  girl  met 
Jacob  and  William  Carpenter  at  the  ford  of  Linville  River,  to 
which  point  they  had  hastened  through  the  darkness,  seeking 
aid.  The  women  went  on  to  Carpenter's  house  in  the  meadow 
in  front  of  Captain  Wise's  present  residence,  while  the  two  Car- 
penter men  hastened  on  to  the  camp  rock,  where  Braswell  was 
found,  very  low,  but  still  alive.  Placing  him  on  a  horse,  they 
managed  to  keep  him  there  by  walking  on  each  side  of  him  and 
holding  him  in  the  saddle  till  they  reached  home.  There  he  died 
after  having  revived  for  a  short  time,  and  was  buried  where  the 
so-called    "monument"   now    stands.      His   name   was   William 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  67 

Jonas  Braswell,  but  to  have  spelled  all  that  out  on  a  tomb-stone 
would  have  required,  at  five  cents  a  letter,  at  least  fifty  cents 
more !  Hence,  etc.  The  present  wagon  road  does  not  pass  very 
near  the  old  camp  rocks,  but  they  are  still  remembered,  while 
the  high  ridge  on  which  they  stand  have  preserved  that  part 
of  a  hero's  name  which  a  niggard  nation  consigned  to  oblivion, 
for  it  has  been  called  ever  since  "Jo^as's  Ridge." 

William  Davis— What?— Hero?  Patriot?  Let  us  see.  His 
grave  is  near  the  road  'in  front  of  the  Gen.  Albertus  Childs' 
house  on  Three  Mile  Creek,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Robert 
Moseley.  Two  common  "mountain  rocks"  mark  the  place  of  his 
burial.  Two  other  graves  beside  his  are  similarly  designated. 
No  munificent  government,  proud  of  his  record,  has  "sought  his 
frailties"  or  his  virtues  "to  disclose."  Why?  For  he  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War  as  well  as  those  over  whose 
ashes  grave-stones  have  been  erected.  Who  knows?  Probably 
a  bit  of  red-tape  was  missing  somewhere.  Maybe  his  name  does 
not  appear  on  any  roster  or  muster  roll.  Yet,  in  the  Congres- 
sional Library,  at  the  nation's  capital,  is  an  allegorical  painting 
called  "History."  It  represents  a  gray-haired  sire  telling  the 
story  of  the  past  to  his  son,  and  this  son  telling  the  same  story 
with  additions  to  his  son,  and  so  on  down  the  line  till  the  printed 
page  is  reached.  The  name  of  that  oral  story  is  "Tradition." 
Well,  tradition  says  that  William  Davis  was  not  only  a  brave 
soldier,  but  a  mighty  hunter  as  well,  when  the  wilderness  was  to 
be  conquered  and  weaklings  stayed  at  home  and  sneered  at  the 
illiterate  and  the  lowly.  Davis  came  to  America  with  William 
Wiseman  and  William  Penley  long  before  the  Revolution.  He 
settled  first  in  Virginia  and  afterwards  came  to  Ashe  County, 
where  he  married  Frances  Carpenter,  sister  of  the  first  Jacob 
Carpenter.  Then  he  moved  to  what  is  still  called  Davis  Moun- 
tain, near  Crossnore,  on  the  upper  waters  of  Linville  River. 
When  the  game  was  exhausted  there,  he  moved  to  Three  Mile 
Creek  and  built  four  log  houses  "all  in  a  row,"  with  communi- 
cating doors  between  and  a  chimney  at  each  end.  Standing 
before  a  blazing  fire  in  one  end  of  the  house,  with  the  three 
intervening   doors    open,    one   looks   through    four   large,    low- 


68  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

ceiled,  comfortable  rooms  to  cherry-red  flames  leaping  up  the 
chimney  at  the  farther  end — one  of  the  "fairest  pictures  of  calm 
content  that  mortal  ever  saw."  The  date  of  the  building  of  this 
old  structure  is  recorded  on  one  of  the  inside  logs,  but  it  has 
been  ceiled  over  and  cannot  now  be  seen.  But  it  was  made  there 
many,  many  years  ago.  The  present  Jacob  Carpenter,  his  great- 
nephew,  of  Altamont,  knows  the  date  of  his  birth  and  death,  but 
they  would  cost  the  United  States  some  "good  money"  to  have 
them  carved  on  a  12  x  24-inch  stone.  Davis  died  November  18, 
1841,  when  114  years  of  age.  Still,  as  he  had  no  middle  name, 
it  does  seem  that  the  Government,  with  a  big  G,  might  "sort  of 
look  after"  Uncle  Billy,  who  fought  his  battles  for  him  before 
Uncle  Sam  was  born,  he  having  been  shot  through  the  hips  at 
King's  Mountain.  His  wife,  who  sleeps  beside  him,  was  cer- 
tainly a  heroine,  whether  Uncle  Billy  was  a  hero  or  no,  for  on  one 
occasion,  in  February,  while  in  a  sugar  camp  on  Davis  Moun- 
tain, he  had  to  be  away  from  her  on  a  cold  night.  One  of  her 
cows  found  a  calf  that  night,  and  Mrs.  Davis  brought  it  to  camp 
with  her  and  fought  off  the  wolves  with  fire-brands  till  morning. 

A  Revolutionary  Welshman. — On  the  south  fork  of  New 
River,  on  Harvey  Phillips'  farm  at  McGuire  post  office,  is  the 
grave  of  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  His  name  is 
Jones,  but  the  given  name  has  been  lost.  That  he  was  a  Welsh- 
man is  implied  by  his  name.  Close  by  him  sleeps  Benjamin 
Blackburn,  another  Revolutionary  soldier,  from  whom  has  de- 
scended a  long  line  of  useful  and  honored  citizens. 

Moses  Yarber. — The  United  States  has  also  been  equally 
generous  to  her  dead  and  gone  soldiers  of  the  War  of  1812,  for, 
in  the  same  graveyard  which  holds  the  ashes  of  Edward  Moody, 
our  great  government  has  erected  another  monument,  which,  at 
five  cents  a  letter,  including  apostrophes,  must  have  cost  at  least 
thirty  cents  more  than  did  Edward  Moody's.  But  it  managed  to 
spell  out  his  full  name,  instead  of  contracting  it  as  it  did  with 
the  latter's  given  name,  recording  it  as  Edw'd,  instead  of 
Edward,  thus  saving  at  least  five  cents,  assuming  that  the  comma 
cost  a  nickel.  As  the  enduring  marble  embalms  his  name  and 
record,  we  have  the  following: 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  69 

MOSES  YARBER 

McNEIL'S  CO. 

S.  C  MIL. 

WAR  1812. 

These  abbreviations  stand  for  whatever  the  reader  may  elect 
to  attribute  to  them,  the  punctuation  rendering  the  following 
story  as  intelligible  as  any :  "Moses  Yarber  McNeil's  County, 
saw  cow  Millie  Warranted  1812." 

Two  of  Yarber's  daughters  live  within  two  miles  of  his  grave, 
Jemimah  and  Catharine,  the  former  having  been  born  April  27, 
1825,  and  the  latter  February  18,  1830.  Moses  was  blessed  with 
other  children  also — W^illiam,  born  February  23,  1810;  Annie, 
born  July  15,  1816;  Mary  Ann,  born  June  9,  1818 — but  they 
have  been  dead  a  number  of  years.  Moses  himself  died  Novem- 
ber 30,  1867.  But  just  think  what  an  unheard-of  sum  it  would 
have  cost  our  Government — again  that  big  G — to  have  recorded 
that  fact — with  every  abbreviation  possible,  sixty-five  cents ! 
His  daughters  knew  the  date  of  his  death  when,  on  the  4th 
day  of  July,  1910,  this  stone  was  erected.  They  knew  also  that 
Moses  had  married  Elizabeth  Edwards,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
Edwards,  of  Darlington  District,  South  Carolina,  and  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Thus,  these  two  old  ladies,  in 
poverty  and  alone,  have  the  proud  consciousness  that  their 
father's  full  name  will  be  preserved  as  long  as  that  gravestone 
endures,  if  only  posterity  has  the  intelligence  to  guess  that  his 
name  was  Yarber  and  not  McNeil,  but  what  interpretation  it  will 
give  to  the  balance  of  the  inscription  must  always  be  proble- 
matical. Moses  and  his  family  moved  to  Flat  Top,  now  Linville 
City,  about  1838,  and  from  there  to  their  present  home  in  1855. 
They  have  no  votes,  these  good  women;  if  they  had,  it  is  likely 
that  they  would  have  also  a  pension  apiece.    Sic  transit! 

Two  Old  Tory  Knobs.— On  Riddle's  Fork  of  Meat  Camp 
are  two  knobs  or  peaks  which  are  known,  one  as  Hagaman's 
Knob  and  the  other  as  Wiley's  Knob,  from  the  fact  which  tradi- 
tion still  maintains,  that  at  their  bases  two  Tories,  hiding  out 


70  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

during  the  Revolutionary  War,  made  their  headquarters.  They 
were,  doubtless,  a  part  of  Riddle's  gang. 

Old  Battle  in  Watauga? — In  Robert  Love's  pension  papers 
it  is  said  that  "he  was  in  command  of  a  party  of  Americans  in 
1780  against  a  party  of  Tories  in  July  of  that  year."  This  band 
of  Tories  was  composed  of  about  150  men,  and  they  were  routed 
up  New  River  at  the  Big  Glades,  now  (1833)  in  Ashe  County, 
North  Carolina,  as  they  were  on  their  way  to  join  Cornwallis." 
Col.  W.  L.  Bryan  says  that  the  Big  Glades  were  on  the  south 
fork  of  New  River,  near  Deep  Gap. 

Guarded  Major  Andre. — Nathan  Horton,  whose  grave-stone 
in  Three  Forks  churchyard  records  the  fact  that  he  was  a  sol- 
dier of  the  Revolutionary  War,  according  to  a  tradition  still 
preserved  in  his  own  family,  guarded  Major  Andre  when  the 
latter  was  executed  for  treason,  at  which  time  he  carried  a  shot- 
gun loaded  with  one  ball  and  three  buck-shot.  A  fine  old  Grand- 
father clock  of  mahogany,  with  elaborate  face  and  works, 
brought  by  Nathan  Horton  from  New  Jersey  when  he  emigrated 
to  Ashe  soon  after  the  Revolution,  is  now  in  the  home  of  J.  Crit. 
Horton,  on  New  River,  five  miles  from  Boone. 

Following  are  the  names  of  other  Revolutionary  soldiers  who 
lived  and  died  in  Watauga:  Benjamin  Bingham,  great  uncle  of 
Hon.  Thomas  Bingham,  who  is  said  to  have  fired  the  last  gun 
at  Yorktown,  Va. ;  John  Adams,  born  in  France  and  came  over 
with  Lafayette's  soldiers  as  a  drummer-boy  of  sixteen  years, 
remaining,  concealed  in'  a  flour  barrel,  at  Philadelphia,  when 
Lafayette  returned  to  France;  the  brothers,  George,  Absalom 
and  William  Smith,  were  in  the  Virginia  army  and  at  Corn- 
wallis's  surrender  at  Yorktown. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Three  Forks  Association. 

Yadkin  Baptist  Association. — This  association  constituted 
the  Three  Forks  association  in  1790.  From  it  many  other 
churches  had  been  organized  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge.* 

In  1779  King's  Creek  Church,  in  Caldwell,  and  Beaver 
Creek,  in  Wilkes,  were  organized.  A  few  years  later  Brier 
Creek,  in  Wilkes,  was  constituted.  It  had  many  "arms,"  *  and 
from  it  grew  Lewis  Fork,  in  Wilkes,  and  Old  Fields  Church,  in 
Ashe  County.  Three  Forks  was  constituted  by  the  Yadkin  Bap- 
tist Association.    It  became  an  association  itself  in  1840. 

"In  1790  Three  Forks  Church,  the  first  in  Watauga,  was  con- 
stituted. Part  of  the  original  members  of  this  church  came  from 
the  Jersey  Settlement  Church.  Cove  Creek  was  the  second 
church  in  Watauga,  being  organized  in  1799.  At  first  these 
churches,  had  only  log  houses  in  which  to  worship.  The  floors 
were  rude,  and  large  cracks  were  in  the  walls,  so  that  they  were 
often  uncomfortable  in  winter.  But  the  praises  of  God  rang  out 
from  the  lips  and  hearts  of  these  old  Baptist  fathers.  These 
churches  first  joined  the  Strawberry  Association  in  Virginia,  but 
in  1790  withdrew  to  organize  the  Yadkin  Association.  The  first 
ministers  of  this  body  were  George  McNeil,  John  Cleveland, 
William  Petty,  William  Hammond,  Cleveland  Coflfey,  Andrew 
Baker  and  John  Stone  .  .  .  Later  on  the  Mountain,  Catawba 
and  Brier  Creek  Associations  were  formed,  and  so  the  Yadkin 
Baptists  continued  steadily  to  grow." 

Three  Forks  Baptist  Church. — This  was  the  first  church  es- 
tablished west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  excepting  only  the  one  estab- 
lished at  the  Old  Fields,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Williams,  was 
established  "a  few  years  after" — 1779.     It  was  organized  No- 


*  Williams'  History  of  the  North  Carolina  Baptists. 

'  According  to   Rev.   Henry   Sheet's  History,   "arms"   were   church   communities 
which  had  not  been  regularly  organized  into  constituted  churches. 

71 


72  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

vember  6,  1790,  according  to  the  records  now  in  the  keeping  of 
the  clerk,  Mr.  John  C.  Brown,  of  New  River.  These  records 
show  that  "the  Baptist  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  in  Wilkes  County, 
New  River,  Three  Forks  Settlement,"  was  organized  by  James 
Tomkins,  Richard  Greene  and  wife,  Daniel  Eggers  and  wife, 
William  Miller,  Elinor  Greene  and  B.  B.  Eggers.  This  soon 
became  the  mother  church,  from  which  went  out  "arms"  to  the 
Globe,  to  Ebeneezer  and  to  South  Fork  and  other  places.  At- 
tendants came  to  Three  Forks  from  all  this  section,  many  com- 
ing even  from  Tennessee.  Among  the  first  pastors  of  this 
mother  church  are:  Richard  Gentry,  of  Old  Fields;  John  G. 
Bynum,  who  died  in  Georgia ;  Mr.  Barlow,  of  Yadkin ;  Nathaniel 
Vannoy,  George  McNeil,  of  Wilkes ;  Joseph  Harrison,  of  Three 
Forks;  Jacob  Greene,  D.  C.  Harmon,  Smith  Ferguson,  Brazilla 
McBride  and  Jacob  Greene,  of  Cove  Creek;  Jackie  Farthing, 
Reuben  Farthing  and  A.  C.  Farthing,  William  Wilcox  and 
Larkin  Hodges.  They  earned  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their 
faces  and  worked  in  the  Master's  vineyard  without  money  and 
without  price.    They  have  all  gone  to  their  reward  in  heaven. 

Membership  from  1790  to  1800. — James  Tompkins,  Richard 
Green,  Daniel  Eggers,  Ellender  Green,  WiUiam  Miller,  Mary 
Miller,  Phoebe  Eggers,  Sarah  Coleman,  Avis  Eggers,  Elizabeth 
Tompkins,  Ben.  Cutbirth,  Anna  Wilcoxon,  Lidia  Council,  Benj. 
Baylis,  Eliz.  Cutbirth,  Sarah  Baylis,  James  Chambers,  Anna 
Chambers,  John  Faugerson,  Ebineezer  Fairchild,  James  Jackson, 
Catharine  Hull,  Joseph  Sewel,  Ezekiel  England,  Ruth  Tompkins, 
Christeana  Reese,  Valentine  Reese,  Samuel  Ayers,  Elijah  Cham- 
bers, Moses  Hull,  Joseph  Ayers,  William  Tompkins,  Benj.  Green, 
Sam'l  Wilcoxon,  Sr.,  Garsham  Tompkins,  John  Reese,  Hodges 
Counsel,  Mary  Fairchild,  Sarah  Green,  Sarah  Reese,  Charity 
Ayers,  James  Proffitt,  James  Calloway,  Jeremiah  Green,  Sarah 
Hull,  Joannah  Eggers,  James  Faugerson,  Elizabeth  Hull,  Martha 
Chambers,  Landrine  Eggers,  Nathan  Horton,  Mathew  Counsel, 
Nancy  Chambers,  Rachel  Chambers,  Jesse  Counsel,  Comfort 
Wade,  Edward  Stocksdale,  Edieth  Stocksdale,  Joseph  Tompkins, 
Susannah  Brown,  Sam'l  Wilcoxon,  Jr.,  Thomas  Wade,  Samuel 
Baker,    John    Ayers,    Sam'l    Castle,    Martha    Castle,    Abraham 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  73 

Eaton,  Jno.  Parr,  Mary  Parr,  Jonathan  Allen,  Jas.  McCaleb, 
Mary  McCaleb,  Anne  Doneky,  Catharine  Allen,  Wm.  Davis, 
Rebekah  Fairchild,  Richard  Orzgathorp,  Jno.  Vanderpool,  Ellen 
Vanderpool,  Catharine  Hull,  Sam'l  Vanderpool,  Sam'l  Pitman, 
Winant  Vanderpool,  Jr.,  Anna  Vanderpool,  Winant  Vanderpool, 
Naomi  Vanderpool,  Keziah  Pitman,  Abraham  Vanderpool, 
Sarah  Davis,  Abraham  Linvil,  Susannah  Vanderpool,  Peter 
Regan,  Rebekah  Regan,  Catharine  Linvil,  Margaret  Linvil, 
Maryann  Isaacs,  Mathias  Harmon,  Mary  Harmon,  Jno.  Holes- 
clav/,  Jane  Vanderpool,  Jacob  Reese,  Catharine  Brown,  Hannah 
Phillips,  Jeremiah  Buck,  Sarah  Shearer,  Jno.  Shearer,  Valentine 
Reese,  Jr.,  Mary  Eggers,  Jonathan  Buck,  John  Brown,  Hannah 
Reese,  Elisha  Chambers,  David  Coleman,  James  Jackson,  Jr., 
Elizabeth  Horton,  Henry  Chambers,  Rachel  Brown,  Anna  Reese, 
Mary  Reese,  Eliz.  Reese,  Isaac  Reese,  Landrine  Eggers'  negro 
man  by  name  of  George,  Anthony  Reese,  Asa  Chambers,  Com- 
fort Stocksdale,  Samuel  Northern,  Susanna  Fairchild,  Mary 
Owens,  William  Owens,  Daniel  Eggers,  Jr.,  Henry  Earnest, 
Gracy  Shearer,  Susannah  Brown,  Debby  Lewis,  Benj.  Brown, 
Mahala  Eggers,  Elizabeth  Morphew,  Margaret  Chambers,  Rob- 
ert Shearer,  Jane  Triplet,  Richard  Lewis,  John  Ford,  Benj. 
Tompkins,  Lyon  Wilcoxon,  Benj.  Greer,  Barnet  Owens,  Susan- 
nah Owens. 

Of  these  there  were  received  by  experience:  Three  in  1790, 
three  in  1791,  twenty-nine  in  1792,  seven  in  1793,  none  in  1794, 
two  in  1795,  none  in  1796,  one  in  1797,  one  in  1798,  sixty  in 
1799.  Received  by  letter  in  1790,  one;  in  1792,  eight;  in  1793, 
one;  in  1795,  four;  in  1796,  seven;  in  1797,  two;  in  1798,  six; 
in  1799,  nine.  The  following  were  dismissed  by  letter:  Jeremiah 
Green,  in  1793;  Samuel  Ayers,  Benj.  Bayless,  Sarah  Bayless, 
Joseph  Sewel,  Garsham  Tompkins,  Ruth  Tompkins,  Joseph 
Tompkins,  Wm.  Tompkins,  in  1794;  Jesse  Counsel,  Lydia 
Counsel,  Mathew  Counsel,  in  1795;  Elijah  Chambers,  Samuel 
Wilcoxon,  Anna  Wilcoxon,  Sam'l  Wilcoxon,  Jr.,  in  1797;  Jona- 
than Allen,  Catharine  Allen,  James  McCaleb,  Mary  McCaleb, 
Thomas  Wade,  Comfort  Wade,  Mary  Reese,  in  1798.  Elizabeth 
Tompkins  died  in  1796.     The  following  were  excommunicated: 


74  -4  History  of  Watauga  County 

Sarah  Hull,  Ezekiel  England,  Susannah  Brown,  Jesse  Counsel, 
in  1794;  James  Callaway,  Samuel  Ayers,  in  1795;  William 
Miller,  James  Jackson,  Landrine  Eggers,  Hodges  Counsel,  in 
1796;  Mary  Miller,  in  1797;  Samuel  Wilcoxon,  Jr.,  Moses  Hull, 
in  1798;  Jno.  Ayers,  Daniel  Eggers,  Phoebe  Eggers,  Mahala 
Eggers,  Martha  Chambers,  in  1799;  William  Owens,  in  1801. 
It  must  not  be  concluded,  however,  that  these  had  been  guilty  of 
very  serious  offences,  for  most,  if  not  all,  of  them  were  restored 
to  full  membership  by  recantation. 

The  One  Great  Moral  Force. — In  the  early  days,  when  courts 
were  few  and  far  between  and  settlers  scattered  here  and  there,  the 
only  influence  for  good  in  pioneer  communities  was  the  church. 
This  proved  to  be  the  case  in  this  portion  of  Ashe  County  from 
1790  to  i8cx).  Nothing  seemed  too  trivial  for  the  correction  of 
the  church.  What  now  appear  very  venial  offences,  were  tried, 
frequently  with  the  result  of  expulsion,  but  always  with  the 
assurance  of  restoration  upon  proper  submission  and  repentance. 
Among  the  more  serious  offences  thus  punished  were  one  case 
of  adultery  in  1794,  one  case  of  drinking  to  excess  in  1795, 
one  case  of  disposing  of  property  to  defraud  creditors  in  1798, 
and  in  1799  a  man  confessed  to  fornication.  This  is  a  fine  record 
for  ten  years  in  this  far-away  community.  Among  the  more 
trivial  matters  of  which  the  church  took  notice  in  the  first  thirty 
years  of  its  existence  were  John  Brown's  confession  of  "being 
so  overcome  by  passion  as  even  to  strike  a  man ;"  Comfort  Wade 
was  excommunicated  for  having  told  Phoebe  Eggers  that  a 
certain  piece  of  cloth  was  cross-barred  and  others  that  it  was 
tow  linen,  but  at  the  next  meeting  her  husband  obtained  a  new 
hearing,  when  she  was  acquitted  (April,  1801).  In  January, 
1853,  Burton  and  Damarcus  Hodges  were  cited  to  appear  and 
answer  to  the  charge  of  having  joined  the  Sons  of  Temperance. 
In  December,  1801,  Brother  Parr  was  tried  and  acquitted  for 
letting  his  children  "go  naked,"  and  at  the  same  meeting  Polly 
Owens  was  publicly  excommunicated  for  allowing  her  daughter 
to  "request  a  certain  young  man  to  meet  her,  and  accordingly 
he  did,  when  they  spent  the  whole  time  of  public  worship  talk- 
ing and  laughing,"  but  soon  afterwards,  the  mother  "having 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  75 

acknowledged  her  transgression,"  she  was  restored  to  full  mem- 
bership. In  April,  1802,  Benj,  Brown  was  acquitted  of  having 
attended  the  races  at  Elizabethton,  and  in  July,  1802,  Brother 
John  Brown  was  cited  to  answer  the  charge  of  having  joined  the 
Masons,  and  in  August  was  excommunicated  therefor.*  At  the 
same  meeting  an  unnamed  charge  against  Brother  Hull  was 
tried,  and  it  was  found  that  he  had  done  nothing  "worthy  of 
death  or  bonds."  A  second  protest  was  also  then  entered  against 
the  subject  of  double  marriages  "as  being  against  the  word  of 
God."  "Cathern"  Hull  was  excommunicated  because  her  con- 
duct at  Cove  Creek  had  not  been  agreeable  to  the  gospel  and 
not  giving  the  church  satisfaction.  Sister  Eggers  had  a  griev- 
ance against  Brother  Hull  and  Brother  Reese  "for  refusing  to 
talk  with  her  about  her  distress,  and  for  saying  her  daughter 
had  a  fambly  and  had  not."  Hull  was  reproved  for  this.  But 
in  March,  1803,  Brother  Hull  was  excommunicated  for  not  com- 
plying with  his  bargain,  whatever  that  might  have  been.  In 
April  of  the  same  year  it  was  shown  that  the  report  was  proven 
false  that  "Sary  Reese  had  said  that  it  took  three  persons  to  com- 
plete a  sermon  delivered  by  Brother  McCaleb,  to  wit:  Brother 
McCaleb,  Brother  Richard  Green  and  the  devil."  Again,  in 
May,  1807,  James  Proffitt  was  excommunicated  for  having 
joined  the  Masons,  while  in  July,  181 1,  Henry  Chambers  was 
acquitted  of  the  charge  of  not  having  paid  a  just  debt.  In  the 
following  month  Jeremiah  Green  was  cited  to  appear  to  answer 
to  the  charge  of  having  allowed  "his  daughter  to  go  with  a  mar- 
ried man,"  and  a  letter  of  dismission  was  refused  him  till  he 
should  debar  her  from  his  home.  This  daughter,  however,  was 
restored  to  full  membership  in  June,  1812.  As  this  was  before 
Noah  Webster  had  established  a  uniform  system  of  spelling, 
each  man  spelt  "according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience," 
just  as  they  worshipped,  and  so,  in  July,  1816,  we  find  a  com- 
plaint that  was  "throad  out  of  doors."     In  July,  1802,  Brother 


'  The  language  of  the  minute  shows  the  frequent  use  of  "of,"  not  now  so 
common:  "first,  of  joining  of  them  (the  Masons)  ;  second,  of  denying  of  it,  nnd 
third,  of  refusing  to  obey  the  church."  Again,  in  July,  1802,  it  is  recorded  that  "we 
enter  our  solemn  test  against  its  (double  marriage)  being  agreeable  to  the  Word 
of  God."  Our  modern  expression  is  "protest  against,"  which  seems  a  contra- 
diction in  terms. 


76  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Shearer's  name  is  spelt  Shirrow,  In  April,  1801,  "a  letter  was 
received  from  Brother  Wade,  requesting  a  re-hearing  of  his 
wife's  excommunication,  and  stating  that  "he  stood  with  her 
except  she  got  another."  At  the  June  meeting  following  she  was 
acquitted.  There  are  several  instances  of  male  members 
having  been  chosen  to  act  as  singing  clerks,  though  it  is  prob- 
able that  then,  as  now,  the  female  members  did  most  of  the 
singing  and  made  the  best  music. 

Other  Ancient  Happenings. — The  last  Saturday  in  April, 
1792,  was  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  at  the 
same  meeting  James  Chambers  was  "approbated  to  exercise  his 
gift  in  preaching."  In  August,  1793,  James  Chambers,  Ebe- 
nezer  Fairchild  and  Samuel  Wilcoxon  were  sent  as  delegates 
to  the  assembly  at  Eaton's  Meeting  House,  Dutchman's  Creek, 
near  Daniel  Boone's  old  home,  while  in  February,  1793,  James 
Tompkins  and  Richard  Green  were  sent  to  the  association  at 
Brier  Creek  to  "seek  for  union."  In  January,  1795,  a  brother 
was  suspended  for  "drinking  to  excess,  using  profane  speeches, 
singing  vain  songs  and  dancing."  In  March,  1800,  the  first 
"solemn  protest  was  entered  against  double  marriage,"  and  in 
July  following  James  Chambers,  James  McCaleb  and  Shadrack 
Brown  were  sent  to  the  association  at  Fox  Creek,  Grayson 
County,  Va.  In  November,  1800,  John  Brown  and  Elisha  Cham- 
bers were  elected  singing  clerks,  and  in  August,  1802,  Brother 
Hull  was  "cited  for  going  to  law  contrary  to  an  act  of  this 
church."  In  January,  1815,  Brother  Boone  laid  an  allegation 
against  Brother  Hartley  for  "not  giving  good  usage  at  his  mill," 
and  in  February  following  and  again  at  a  called  meeting  during 
same  month  Hartley  was  admonished. 

First  Churches. — There  seems  to  be  no  record  of  the  building 
of  the  first  church  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  struc- 
ture, though  tradition  says  it  was  merely  a  log  cabin,  without 
chimney  or  windows.  The  first  Robert  Shearer  in  1790  lived 
on  the  hill  above  the  present  site  of  Three  Forks  Church,  and 
it  was  in  his  home  that  the  church  was  constituted.  Robert's 
grandfather  is  said  to  have  lived  just  below  the  dam  of  the 
A.  T.  school  on  New  River.    Certain  it  is  that  within  the  memory 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  77 

of  men  now  living,  in  the  fall  of  1856  and  in  1857  services  were 
held  in  the  second  or  third  log  house  which  stood  there,  and  that 
the  worshippers  had  frequently  to  leave  the  church  and  warm 
themselves  by  a  fire  under  the  tall  oaks  which  grow  near  by. 
There  is  a  tradition  that  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  crushed  the  roof 
of  the  building  in  about  1830,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  October, 
1805,  James  McCaleb  and  James  Morphew  were  appointed  trus- 
tees to  "form  a  plan  of  a  roof  for  our  Meeting  House,  and 
divide  three-fourths  of  the  work  between  the  male  members, 
leaving  one-fourth  part  for  the  Jenerosity  of  those  that  are  not 
members  .  .  ."  In  the  following  December  four  dollars  in 
Brother  Shearer's  hands  were  spent  for  nails  for  the  roof. 
There  is  a  record,  however,  of  the  building  of  the  present  struc- 
ture, for  on  November  3,  1866,  Robert  Shearer,  Eli  Brown  and 
Ransom  Hayes  were  appointed  commissioners  to  build  a  new 
church,  which  was  completed  in  the  summer  of  1867. 

Revivals. — There  was  a  protracted  meeting  in  January  and 
February,  1853,  which  continued  for  thirteen  days,  Larkin 
Hodges  and  John  Cook  being  the  ministers  in  charge.  There 
were  seventy-seven  conversions  and  admissions  by  letter.  There 
was  another  great  revival  in  September,  1866,  with  Joseph  Har- 
rison and  A.  C.  Farthing  as  ministers,  at  which  there  were  forty- 
three  conversions.  But  there  were  "lean  seasons"  also,  for, 
though  the  church  flourished  from  its  foundation  in  1790  till 
1800  and  afterwards,  there  was  no  business  recorded  from 
October,  1808,  till  March,  1809,  nor  in  May  and  June  and 
August  and  December  of  the  latter  year.  Again,  in  April  and 
May,  October  and  December,  181 1,  and  in  January,  February, 
April,  May,  June,  September,  October  and  November,  181 2,  and 
from  September,  1823,  till  July,  1824,  there  seems  to  have  been 
no  business.  In  February,  1807,  the  only  instance  on  record, 
there  was  no  meeting  on  account  of  the  weather.  The  first 
pastor  was  Brother  Chambers,  elected  in  September,  1792. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Order  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

A  Graphic  Picture. — In  1840  a  botanist  from  New  York 
visited  what  is  now  Valle  Crucis,  and  on  his  return  interested 
Bishop  L.  Silliman  Ives,  then  bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  North  Carolina,  in  this  locality.  Following  is  a  description  of 
the  country  at  that  time :  *  "In  1840  the  valley  of  the  Watauga,  in 
North  Carolina,  was  a  secluded  region,  isolated  and  forgotten,  a 
mountain  wilderness,  showing  only  here  and  there  the  first  rude 
touches  of  civilization.  The  narrow,  winding  trail  or  foot-path, 
the  rough  sled-road,  often  dangerous  for  wheels,  here  and  there 
a  log  cabin,  with  a  narrow,  rough  clearing  about  it,  or  at  long 
intervals  a  rude  saw-mill  or  grist  mill,  with  perchance  a  small^ 
unpainted  frame  dwelling,  or  a  blacksmith  shop  and  a  humble 
backwoods  store,  marking  the  beginning  of  a  hamlet,  such  were 
the  only  traces  of  human  habitation  to  be  found  on  the  banks  of 
the  stream.  But  the  highland  valley  was  magnificent  in  natural 
beauty.  It  lay  in  the  elevated  country  between  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  the  Alleghanies,  nearly  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
while  grand  old  mountains  of  successive  ranges,  broken  into  a 
hundred  peaks,  rose  to  nearly  double  the  height  on  either  hand, 
many  so  near  that  their  distinctive  features  could  be  clearly  seen, 
while  others  were  only  dimly  outlined  in  the  distance.  These 
mountain  ranges  were  peculiarly  interesting,  differing  in  some 
particulars  from  those  of  any  other  parts  of  the  country.  The 
vegetation  was  singularly  rich  and  varied.  The  valley,  entirely 
shut  in  by  forest-clad  mountains,  was  watered  by  three  small, 
limpid  streams,  two  of  them  leaping  down  the  hillsides  in  foam- 
ing cascades;  the  principal  stream,  formed  by  the  junction, 
after  a  short  course  of  two  miles,  passing  through  a  narrow 
gorge,  threw  itself  into  the  Watauga." 


*  From   William  West    Skiles'    "A   Sketch   of   Missionary   Life   at   Valle   Crucis, 
1842-1862."     Edited  by  Susan  Penimore  Cooper,  1890,  pp.  5,  6. 


78 


Photo,  by  Vest. 

L.  SILLIMAN  IVES,  D.  D. 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Diocese  of  North  Carolina. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  79 

Valle  Crucis. — There  is,  perhaps,  more  interest  in  this  place 
and  its  romantic  history  than  in  any  other  in  Watauga  County. 
It  is  called  the  Valley  of  the  Cross  because  of  the  fancied  re- 
semblance to  that  symbol  of  our  faith  caused  by  two  creeks, 
each  flowing  from  an  opposite  direction  into  Dutch  Creek — 
Clark's,  which  rises  under  the  Grandfather  and  flows  into  the 
right  bank  of  Dutch  Creek,  which  has  its  sources  in  Hanging 
Rock,  while  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Clark's  Creek,  and 
coming  in  from  the  left,  is  Crab  Orchard  Creek,  flowing  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Banner's  Elk.""  There  is  a  dreamy  spell 
which  hangs  over  this  little  valley,  lending  its  charm  to  the  story 
of  the  spiritual  doubts  that  once  perplexed  the  soul  of  a  good 
man  in  his  struggles  to  see  the  true  light  of  Christianity.  He 
was  not  the  first,  nor  will  he  be  the  last,  to  grope  in  semi- 
darkness,  turning  hither  and  thither  in  his  bewilderment ;  loving 
and  clinging  to  past  ties,  yet  dreading  to  follow  where  they  led ; 
adventuring  by  fits  and  starts  on  uncertain  paths,  and,  like  a 
frightened  child,  returning  again  to  the  known  ways  of  his 
childhood  and  earlier  manhood,  till,  at  last,  the  final  step  was 
taken  beyond  all  recall. 

Rt.  Rev.  L.  Silliman  Ives. — Second  bishop  of  North  Carolina, 
from  May,  1831,  to  December  22,  1852,'  was  born  September  16, 
1797,  in  Meriden,  Conn.,  and  in  his  youth  was  a  Presbyterian. 
In  his  young  manhood  he  became  an  EpiscopaHan,  while  in  later 
years  he  made  his  submission  to  the  Catholic  Church  of  Rome. 
He  is  said  to  be  the  only  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  America  who  ever  went  over  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  He  became  rector  of  St.  Luke's  Episcopal  Church  in 
New  York  City,  married  Rebecca  Hobart,  daughter  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  John  Henry  Hobart,  Episcopal  bishop  of  New  York  State, 
to  which  union  was  born  one  child  who  did  not  live  to  maturity. 
While  quite  young  he  served  a  short  time  with  the  troops  under 
General  Pike  in  the  War  of  1812,  after  which  he  determined  to 
study  for  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  for  that 


2  According  to  DeRossett's  Church  History  of  North  Carolina,  Valle  Crucis  was 
named  In  honor  of  an  old  English  abbey  by  that  nanae.     Its  altitude  is  2,726  feet. 

s  He   published    "The   Trials   of   a   Mind   in   Its   Progress   to   Catholicism,"    233 
pages,  Boston  and  New  York,  in  1854. 


8o  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

purpose,  in  1816,  entered  Hamilton  College,  New  York,  at  Clin- 
ton, where  he  remained  but  a  year,  when,  his  health  failing,  he 
changed  his  faith  and,  in  1819,  began  to  study  for  the  Episcopal 
ministry.  After  his  visit  to  Italy  in  1852,  he  became  professor 
of  rhetoric  in  St.  Joseph's  Theological  Seminary,  New  York, 
and  lectured  in  the  convents  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Sisters  of 
Charity  and  in  public.  He  established  in  New  York  City  two 
charitable  institutions  for  the  protection  of  destitute  Catholic 
children,  of  both  of  which  he  was  president.  He  pubhshed  many 
works.  He  died  in  Manhattanville,  N.  Y.,  October  13,  1867, 
and  was  buried  in  the  Catholic  Protectory,  Westchester  County, 
New  York.  His  wife,  who  was  born  February  6,  1803,  died 
August  3,  1863.  Bishop  Ives  served  the  Catholic  Church  only 
as  a  layman,  being  barred  from  the  priesthood  on  account  of  his 
marriage. 

"A  Feeble  and  Undignified  Imitation." — From  "The  Bishops 
of  North  Carolina,"  from  which  most  of  the  above  was  taken, 
we  learn  (p.  112)  that  by  "1849  the  Mission  at  Valle  Crucis  had 
begun  to  drift  away  from  the  teachings  of  the  Church,  and  was 
fast  becoming  a  feeble  and  undignified  imitation  of  the  monas- 
tic institutions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,"  but,  with  the  exception 
of  this  error,  we  are  told  in  "Sketches  of  Church  History  in 
North  Carolina"  (p.  337)  that  "Whatever  we  may  think  of  the 
strange  ideas  and  practices  which  Bishop  Ives  engrafted  on  to 
the  associate  work  which  he  established  at  Valle  Crucis,  his 
conception  that  this  was  the  most  practical  and  efficient  way  to 
reach  the  scattered  populations  of  the  mountains  was  fully  justi- 
fied in  the  results  which  remain  to  this  day."  On  page  80  of 
the  same  work  we  read  that  there  had  been  three  ordinations, 
one  priest  and  two  deacons,  at  Valle  Crucis,  while  at  least  eight 
young  men  had  there  prepared  for  the  ministry.  William  R. 
Gries,  William  Passmore,  George  Patterson,  Frederick  Fitz 
Gerald,  Joseph  W.  Murphey,  Richard  Wainwright  Barber, 
Charles  T.  Bland,  William  West  Skiles,  Thomas  F.  Davis,  Jr., 
and  others  were  at  one  time  or  another  connected  with  this  mis- 
sion. So  concerned  was  the  Church  throughout  the  State  by  the 
rumors  which  came  from  the  mountains  as  to  this  brotherhood. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  8i 

or  "Order  of  the  Holy  Cross,"  that  United  States  Senator  George 
E.  Badger  issued  a  booklet  on  the  Doctrines  of  Bishop  Ives,  and 
that  this  interest  has  not  subsided  is  shown  by  the  very  interest- 
ing account  of  Valle  Crucis  which  was  published  in  the  Messen- 
ger of  Hope  for  February,  1909. 

Cause  of  His  Vacillation. — In  the  spring  of  1848  Bishop  Ives 
had  a  severe  attack  of  fever  while  in  attendance  upon  the  gen- 
eral convention  in  New  York  City.  From  this,  it  is  claimed, 
he  never  recovered  his  mental  poise.  It  is  also  stated  (p.  132) 
in  the  "Bishops  of  North  Carolina"  that  his  father  died  from  a 
self-inflicted  wound  while  temporarily  insane,  while  Bishop  Ives' 
own  brother  wrote,  February  25,  1853  (p.  133),  that  there  was 
a  tendency  to  insanity  in  the  family.  It  is  stated  in  the  "Life  of 
W.  W.  Skiles"  (p.  91)  that  at  the  convention  of  the  Church,  held 
at  Fayetteville  in  185 1,  the  committee  of  inquiry  reported  the 
bishop  as  being  "in  a  high  state  of  nervous  excitement,  arising 
either  from  bodily  disease  or  constitutional  infirmity,  in  which  he 
admitted  that  he  had  been  insensibly  led  to  teaching  and  be- 
lieving opinions  on  matters  of  doctrine,  of  the  impropriety  of 
which  he  was  then  fully  satisfied.  He  mentioned  having  toler- 
ated the  Romish  notion  of  the  Invocation  of  Saints,  Auricular 
Confession  and  Absolution,  but  had  always  abhorred  the  doc- 
trine of  Transubstantiation,  while  the  spiritual  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  Eucharist  was  the  doctrine  our  church  teaches," 
and  he  signed  a  paper  to  the  above  effect. 

The  Old  Buildings. — These  were  a  saw  mill,  a  log  kitchen 
and  dining  room,  a  log  dwelling  containing  four  rooms  and  a 
frame  building  (60'  x  20')  with  a  room  at  each  end  for  teachers, 
together  with  a  large  hall  for  school  purposes  in  the  center,  all 
on  the  ground  floor,  while  over  the  whole  was  a  dormitory  for 
boys.  All  of  these  were  ready  for  use  and  occupancy  in  1845. 
"The  adobes  used  in  the  buildings  were  made  of  clay  and  straw 
as  usual,  and  were  considered  to  be  of  good  quality.  But  they 
soon  began  to  crumble  away,  and  in  the  course  of  the  summer 
they  were  attacked  by  an  unforeseen  enemy — the  humble  bees 
took  possession  of  them,  burrowing  into  the  fresh  clay  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  walls  in  many  places  looked  like  honey-combs, 


82  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

and  were  so  much  weakened  that  they  gave  way  in  places  under 
the  weight  above  them."  From  which  it  was  concluded  by  the 
students  that  there  could  have  been  no  humble  bees  in  Egypt  in 
the  time  of  the  Pharoahs  (p.  37). 

Easter  Chapel. — Less  than  a  mile  below  the  home  of  the 
Widow  Moody,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Watauga  River  and  two 
miles  above  ShuU's  Mills,  is  the  site  of  this  old  chapel,  now  gone. 
A  "man  in  affliction"  had  given  Mr.  Prout  $300.00,  out  of  which 
he  built  Easter  Chapel  on  a  large  rock  two  hundred  yards  from 
the  Watauga  River,  with  a  spring  at  its  base.  It  was  of  logs, 
hewn  by  Levi  Moody,  the  widow's  son,  "a  good,  guileless  man." 
It  was  fifteen  feet  wide  by  forty  feet  long,  and  had  a  little 
chancel  at  the  east  end,  with  oaken  altar  beneath  a  narrow 
window.  The  roof  was  steep,  and  each  side  wall  contained  a 
small  window.  The  rafters  showed  from  the  inside,  while  rude 
benches  afforded  seats  for  those  who  came  to  worship.  It  was 
called  Easter  with  .especial  reference  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  and  in  connection  with  the  devotion  of  the  moun- 
taineers in  keeping  that  great  festival.  The  Grandfather  Moun- 
tain looms  in  the  distance.  But  a  limb  from  an  overhanging  tree 
crushed  in  the  roof  of  the  chancel,  and  the  balance  of  the  build- 
ing, after  the  Civil  War,  went  rapidly  to  decay.  A  wind-storm 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1893,  threw  the  walls  to  the  ground,  all 
except  two  of  the  sills,  which  still  remain,  slowly  passing  into 
dust  and  decay.  The  logs  out  of  which  these  walls  had  been 
built  were  of  poplar,  and  were  three  feet  broad  by  four  or  five 
inches  thick.  Thus,  three  of  them  sufficed  to  make  a  wall  nine 
feet  high.  If  this  be  doubted,  a  small  cabin  now  (1915)  stand- 
ing near  will  substantiate  the  fact  of  the  possibility  of  such  a 
thing,  as  one  of  its  walls  has  but  three  logs  in  it,  each  log  being 
three  feet  broad.  Rev.  J.  Norton  Atkins  now  owns  the  house 
formerly  built  by  Rev.  Henry  H.  Prout  which  stands  near,* 
though  Mrs.  J.  F.  Coffey  owns  the  rock  on  which  the  chapel  used 
to  stand.  The  perennial  spring,  however,  spoken  of  in  a  note 
on  page  96  of  Skiles'  Life,  has  disappeared,  blasting  for  a  new 
road,  which  was  never  built,  having  caused  it  to  sink. 


*  Rev.  W.  R.  Savage  purchased  this  tract  from  Isabella  Danner,  or  Dana,  she 
having  "heired"  it  from  her  father,  Larkin  Calloway.  (Deed  Book  6,  p.  209.)  Mr. 
Savage  sold  it  to  Mr.  Norton. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  83 

The  Widow  Moody. — Among  those  spoken  of  with  affec- 
tion by  Mr,  Prout  was  Mrs.  Edward  Moody.  She  was  a  sister 
of  Col.  John  Carter,  for  whom  Carter  County,  Tennessee,  was 
named  and  in  honor  of  whose  wife  EHzabethton,  the  capital  of 
that  county,  was  called.  She  and  her  husband  came  from  Au- 
gusta County,  Virginia,  soon  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  in 
which  he  had  fought  and  where  he  was  seriously  wounded.  Of 
her  Mr.  Prout  said :  "The  house  of  the  Widow  Moody  was  long 
a  sort  of  social  center  on  the  Upper  Watauga.  Here  the  mis- 
sionary [himself]  first  learned,  in  1842,  that  a  log  cabin  may 
shelter  happy  people.  More  generous,  sweeter  Christian  hospi- 
tality, more  glad,  more  cheerful  kindness  are  seldom  met  with 
than  this  worthy  family  showed  me  when  a  stranger  and  alone. 
There  was  a  native  refinement  and  a  balance  of  judgment  about 
the  character  of  the  mother  of  the  family.  I  shall  not  soon 
forget  her  invariable  reply  to  the  inquiries  of  her  friends  when 
asking  after  her  welfare — she  was  blind,  with  many  infirmities, 
and  yet  the  answer  of  Christian  faith  never  failed:  'Thank 
God,  no  reason  to  complain.'  There  was  in  that  far-off  settle- 
ment a  simplicity  of  manner,  a  generous  tone,  not  often  ex- 
celled, a  graceful  modesty,  an  unassuming  dignity,  very  rare, 
but  in  harmony  with  the  grand  and  beautiful  scenery  of  the 
region"  (p.  87).  This  house  was  two  stories  high,  with  two 
shed-rooms,  and  contained  six  rooms  in  all.  It  stood  in  the  old 
orchard  between  the  Grave  Yard  Ridge,  where  Edward  Moody 
is  buried,  and  the  former  residence  of  Sheriff  Calloway. 

The  Lower  Settlement.— Rev,  W,  W.  Skiles  had  most  to  do 
with  the  establishment  of  a  school  and  church  at  this  point,  which 
is  at  Ward's  store,  several  miles  below  Valle  Crucis.  The  first 
service  was  held  in  a  small  log  cabin.  "Men  and  women  came 
in,  many  on  foot,  some  on  horseback,  the  wife  in  sun-bonnet  and 
straight,  narrow  gown,  riding  behind  her  husband.  Here  and 
there  a  woman  was  seen  mounted  on  a  steer,  with  a  child  or  two 
in  her  arms,  while  the  husband,  walking  beside  them,  goad  in 
hand,  guided  the  animal  over  the  rough  path.  The  women  all 
wore  sun-bonnets  or  handkerchiefs  tied  over  their  heads.  Some 
were  bare-footed.     There  were  many  more  feet  than  shoes  in 


84  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  congregation.  The  boys  and  girls,  even  when  full  grown, 
were  often  bare-footed.  This  was,  no  doubt,  the  first  service 
of  our  church  held  in  that  region.  And  it  was  declared  to  be 
the  first  religious  service  of  any  kind  held  on  the  Watauga  for 
seven  years"  (p.  13).  This  statement  was  confirmed  by  Rev, 
L.  W.  Farthing,  who  then  lived  on  Beaver  Dams,  near  by,  but 
now  lives  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  site  on  which  old 
St.  John's  Chapel  first  stood.  Owing  to  the  inaccessibility  of 
the  place  and  the  fewness  of  preachers,  no  service  had  been 
held  there  during  the  time  stated."  The  log  house  soon  became 
too  small,  and  a  larger  one  was  obtained.  "The  pupils  tried  very 
hard  to  learn  their  lessons  well.  Occasionally  some  of  the 
parents  would  come  in  and  pore  intently  over  the  spelling  book" 
(p.  14). 

At  the  Store. — Mr.  Skiles  kept  store  at  Valle  Crucis  for  the 
Mission,  as  well  as  practiced  medicine  and  taught  school.  "Or 
a  load  of  goods,  brought  with  great  toil  over  the  mountain  roads 
from  Morganton  or  Lenoir,  consisting  of  tea,  coffee,  sugar, 
mustard,  pepper,  salt,  farm  tools,  nails,  screws,  etc.,  a  few  pack- 
ages of  the  more  common  medicines  .  ,  .  boots  and  shoes, 
school  books,  paper,  pens,  ink,  with  a  very  modest  supply  of 
general  stationery;  needles,  pins,  thread,  tape,  buttons,  with 
perchance  a  few  pieces  of  calico,  flannels  and  shirting  .  .  ." 
"Some  few,  very  few,  in  fact,  came  in  rude  wagons,  others  on 
horseback,  some  on  steers,  many  on  foot.  Most  of  them  carried 
a  gun,  a  backwoods  custom  very  common  in  that  region;  fre- 
quently a  hound  or  two  followed.  The  sack  of  grain  was  car- 
ried on  the  shoulders  by  those  on  foot.  The  men  were,  many 
of  them,  clad  in  home-spun  tow  shirts  and  short  trousers,  with- 
out coat  or  shoes  even  in  winter.  They  were  rarely  in  a  hurry, 
the  movement  of  the  country  people  of  that  region  almost  always 
being  slow  and  deliberate.  They  were  strong,  healthy,  quiet  and 
composed,  frequently  ruddy  from  exposure.    A  number  smoked 


»  There  was  only  a  trail  from  Beaver  Dams  to  the  Hlx  Settlement.  A  chopped- 
out  way,  known  as  Daniel  Boone's  trail,  led  from  Elizabethton  up  Watauga  river, 
via  Beech  Creek  and  Windy  Gap.  It  was  by  this  trail  that  Rev.  James  Eden 
came  to  the  Hix  Settlement  to  preach  the  sermon  of  Andrew  Harman  when  he 
was  killed  some  six  years  before  Mr.  Prout  came.  Mr.  Harman  had  been  killed 
by  a  tree  which  fell  on  him. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  85 

corncob  pipes ;  even  women  rode  on  steers  with  children  in  their 
arms  (p.  iii).  Seven  deer  within  limits  of  Valle  Crucis  were 
killed  in  1854"  (p.  114). 

After  the  Civil  War. — From  the  death  of  Mr.  Skiles,  there 
was  no  minister  in  this  section  representing  the  Episcopal 
Church  till  Rev.  George  H.  Bell  was  ordained  in  1883.  At  his 
instance  St.  John's  was  moved  from  its  beautiful  situation  near 
Ward's  Store,  on  Lower  Watauga,  six  miles  below  Valle  Crucis, 
to  its  present  location  on  the  right  bank  of  Watauga  River,  two 
miles  higher  up  the  stream.  Its  location  is  fine,  but  the  change 
was  made  not  so  much  for  a  better  site  as  for  the  purpose  of 
serving  both  the  upper  and  lower  communities,  there  then  being 
no  mission  or  chapel  above  that  point.  Now,  however,  that 
there  is  a  chapel  at  the  Mission  School  at  Valle  Crucis,  it  would 
be  better  if  St.  John's  were  on  its  former  site.  Rev.  Milnor 
Jones  succeeded  Mr.  Bell,  coming  in  1895  and  remaining  three 
years.  This  was  made  a  missionary  district  in  1895,  and  work 
was  resumed  that  year  under  Bishop  Cheshire.  Then,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1902,  Rev.  Wm.  Rutherford  Savage  came  and  has  been 
in  this  section  ever  since.  He  is  located  at  Blowing  Rock. 
Serving  with  him  were  Rev.  Hugh  A.  Dobbin,  who  was  ordained 
August  6,  1909,  and  Rev.  John  Norton  Atkins,  who  was  or- 
dained December  22,  1907.  In  1914  Mr.  Dobbin  left  Valle 
Crucis  to  take  charge  of  the  Patterson  School  for  Boys  on  the 
Yadkin,  after  which  time  Rev.  Floyd  W.  Tomkins,  son  of  the 
distinguished  Rev.  Dr.  Tomkins,  of  Philadelphia,  took  charge  of 
Valle  Crucis,  St.  John's  and  Dutch  Creek  Mission.  Mr.  Savage 
has  charge  of  Blowing  Rock.  The  chapel  at  Todd  was  built  in 
1910,  and  is  in  charge  of  Mr.  Atkins,  with  Boone,  Easter  Chapel 
and  other  chapels  in  Ashe  County.  Rt.  Rev.  Junius  M.  Horner 
was  consecrated  bishop  of  the  Missionary  District  of  Asheville 
December  28,  1898.  The  house  now  used  as  the  rectory  was 
built  by  Mr.  Jones,  and  was  then  called  the  Mission  House. 
The  log  house  just  across  the  Banner  Elk  road  was  built  by 
Bishop  Ives,  and  is  the  only  one  of  the  old  Ives  buildings  now 
remaining.  Bishop  Horner  bought  back  the  upper  part  of  the 
Valle  Crucis  property   from  E.   F.  Lovill,  Esq.,  administrator 


86  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

of  James  P.  Taylor,  who  had  obtained  it  from  his  father,  Henry 
Taylor,  June  2,  1893.  The  deed  is  dated  December  4,  1903,  and 
the  consideration  is  $3,500.00  for  the  525  acres  conveyed.    (Book 

I,  P-  592.) 

Rev.  William  West  Skiles. — This  good  man  was  born  in 
1797,  came  to  Watauga  County  soon  after  the  school  was  started 
at  Valle  Crucis,  studied  theolog}^  and  medicine,  and  made  him- 
self generally  useful  and  helpful  to  all  with  whom  he  came  into 
contact.  He  died  at  the  home  of  Col.  John  B.  Palmer,  on  Lin- 
ville  River,  December  8,  1862,  and  his  remains  were  buried  first 
in  the  graveyard  of  the  first  St.  John's,  but  moved  in  1889  to 
their  present  resting  place  in  the  graveyard  of  the  present  church 
of  that  name  a  few  miles  below  Valle  Crucis.  He  taught  school, 
kept  store  and  practiced  medicine  among  the  poor  people  of  this 
county  for  many  years.  He  never  married.  He  is  still  remem- 
bered by  many  of  the  older  people  of  Watauga  and  vicinity.  His 
life  was  full  of  good  deeds. 

"The  Angelus." — Although  a  bugle  was  used  to  summon  the 
little  Valle  Crucis  family  to  work  and  to  worship,  there  is,  never- 
theless, something  about  the  story  of  this  old  institution,  com- 
bined with  the  name  of  the  valley  and  its  atmosphere  and 
surroundings,  which  recall  the  lines  of  Bret  Hart's  famous 
poem,  "The  Angelus :" 

"Bells  of  the  past,  whose  long  forgotten  music 

Still  fills  the  wide  expanse, 
Tingeing  the  sober  twilight  of  the  present 

With  color  of  romance; 
I  hear  your  call,  and  see  the  sun  descending 

O'er  rock  and  hill  and  sand. 
As,  down  the  coast,  the  mission  voices  blending, 

Girdle  the  sunny  land." 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

Ebenezer  Fairchild. 

First  Light  on  the  Jersey  Settlement/ — From  a  sketch  of 
the  Greene  Family  of  Watauga,  by  the  late  Rev.  G.  W.  Greene, 
Baptist  missionary  to  China,  we  learn  that  "about  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century  a  colony  moved  from  New  Jersey  and 
settled  in  Rowan  County,  North  Carolina.  This  "Jersey  Settle- 
ment" is  now  a  part  of  Davidson  County,  and  lies  near  the 
Yadkin  River,  opposite  Salisbury  .  .  .  H.  E.  McCullough, 
of  England,  had  secured  grants  to  large  tracts  in  North  Carolina, 
tract  No.  9  containing  12,500  acres,  including  much  of  the  land 
of  the  Jersey  Settlement.  Jeremiah  Greene  bought  541  acres 
of  this  tract.  This  land  is  described  as  lying  "on  the  waters  of 
Atkin  or  Pee  Dee,"  on  Pott's  Creek.  This  creek  passes  near  the 
village  of  Linwood,  within  a  mile  of  the  Jersey  church,  and 
empties  into  the  Yadkin,  not  far  away.  This  land  was  bought 
in  1762.  Some  years  later,  when  this  tract  of  land  was  divided 
between  his  two  sons,  Richard  and  Isaac,  the  new  deeds  were 
not  registered,  but  the  names  of  the  new  owners  were  written 
on  the  margin  of  the  page  where  the  old  deed  was  registered. 
The  Yadkin  becomes  the  Pee  Dee  in  South  Carolina.  In  his 
"Rhymes  of  Southern  Rivers"  M.  V.  Moore  says  that  Yadkin 
is  not  an  Indian  name,  but  a  corruption  of  Atkin  or  Adkin.  If 
Atkin's  initials  were  P.  D.,  then  P.  D.  Atkin  might  very  easily 
have  become  P.  D.  Yatkin,  just  as  "don't  you  know"  becomes 
"doncher  know."  Henry  Eustace  McCulloh  was  doubtless  the 
"H.  E.  McCullough,  of  England,"  referred  to  by  Mr.  Greene, 
as  he  was  the  agent  of  the  province  of  North  Carolina  in  Decem- 
ber, 1771,  and  was  commended  for  good  conduct   (Col.  Rec, 


1  Rev.  Henry  Sheets,  author  of  "A  History  of  Liberty  Baptist  Association," 
the  successor  of  the  Jersey  Settlement  Church,  says  that  the  McKoys,  Merrills, 
McGulres,  Smiths,  Moores,  Ellises,  Marches,  Haydens,  Wisemans  and  Tranthams 
are  the  names  of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Jersey  Settlement,  but  that  letters  to 
prominent  men  in  New  Jersey  failed  to  secure  any  information  as  to  this  colony. 
Governor  Ellis's  ancestors  were  among  these  settlers,  and  many  residents  of 
Ashe,  Watauga  and  Alleghany  claim  the  same  distinction. 


87 


88  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Vol.  IX,  p.  206),  and  he  surrendered  land  in  Mecklenberg, 
claimed  by  John  Campbell,  Esq.,  of  England,  without  authority, 
as  Campbell  claimed,  although  there  was  a  direction  in  the  min- 
utes of  the  council  journals  that  the  attorney-general  directing 
McCulloh  was  to  surrender  it.'  (Id.  p.  790.)  It  seems  that  land  in 
large  tracts  had  been  granted  to  certain  persons  of  influence  on 
condition  that  they  be  settled  within  certain  dates,  for  G.  A. 
Selwyn,  of  England,  appointed  H.  E.  McCulloh  to  surrender  any 
part  of  three  tracts  of  100,000  acres  each,  which  had  been  granted 
to  him  upon  the  above  conditions.  (Id.  Vol.  VI,  pp.  996-7.) 
This  was  in  November,  1763,  only  a  year  after  Jeremiah  Greene 
bought  his  541  acres  from  H.  E.  McCullough,  This  would  seem 
to  account  for  the  reference  by  Bishop  Spangenberg  to  the  400 
families  from  the  North  which  had  just  arrived  in  1752,  and  for 
the  fact  that  most  of  the  land  east  of  Rowan  County  had  been 
already  taken  up  at  that  time.    (Id,  Vol.  IV,  p.  13 12.) 

Meager  Facts  Concerning.' — This  settlement  consisted  of 
about  ten  square  miles  of  the  best  wheat  land  in  the  South,  and 
was  located  in  Davidson  County,  near  Linwood.  It  was  com- 
posed of  many  people  from  New  Jersey  who  had  sent  an  agent 
there  to  locate  and  enter  the  best  land  still  open  to  settlement. 
According  to  Rev.  C.  B.  Williams  in  his  "History  of  the  Bap- 
tists in  North  Carolina"  (p.  16),  "The  exact  year  in  which  the 
Jersey  Settlement  was  made  on  the  Yadkin  is  not  known.  It  is 
probable  that  this  settlement  left  New  Jersey  and  arrived  on  the 
Yadkin  between  1747  and  1755.  Benjamin  Miller  preached 
there  as  early  as  1755,  and  the  facts  indicate  that  there  were 
already  Baptists  on  the  Yadkin  when  Benjamin  Miller  visited 
the  settlement.  The  Philadelphia  Association  has  in  its  records 
of  1755  the  following  reference:  "Appointed  that  one  minister 
from  the  Jerseys  and  one  from  Pennsylvania  visit  North  Caro- 
lina." But  Miller  appears  to  have  gone  to  the  Jersey  Settle- 
ment still  earlier  than  1755     .     .     .     (p.  17).    Another  preacher 


»  See,  also.  Col.  Rec.  Vol.  V,  p.  xxxii. 

'  The  first  mention  of  this  settlement  is  probably  by  Bishop  Spangenberg 
(Col.  Rec.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  1311  to  1314),  in  which  he  spoke  of  400  families  with 
horses  and  wagons  and  cattle  having  emigrated  from  the  North  to  North 
Carolina. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  89 

who  visited  the  Jersey  Settlement  was  John  Gano.  He  had  been 
converted  just  before  this  time,  and  was  directed  by  Benjamin 
Miller,  pastor  of  Scotch  Plains  Church,  New  Jersey,  to  take 
the  New  Testament  as  his  guide  on  baptism.  He  became  a  Bap- 
tist, and,  learning  of  Carolina  from  Miller,  decided  to  visit  the 
Jersey  Settlement  on  his  way  to  South  Carolina.  This  he  seems 
to  have  done  in  1756.  During  his  stay  at  the  settlement  he  tells 
us  in  his  autobiography  that  "a  Baptist  Church  was  constituted 
and  additions  made  to  it."  He  left  the  colony  early  in  the  year 
1759,  and  so  the  church  must  have  been  organized  between  1756 
and  1758.  There  is  a  tradition  that  while  there  Gano  married  a 
Bryan  or  a  Morgan,  one  of  the  antecedents  of  the  Bryan  family 
of  Boone. 

John  Gano, — It  appears  from  Rev.  Henry  Sheets'  History  of 
the  Liberty  Baptist  Association  (Raleigh,  1907),  that  the  Rev. 
John  Gano  had  been  a  Presbyterian,  but  met  Rev.  Benjamin 
Miller,  the  pastor  of  the  Scotch  Plains  Baptist  Church  in  New 
Jersey,  who  induced  him  to  take  the  New  Testament  on  the 
mode  and  subjects  of  baptism.  In  a  short  time  he  joined  the 
Baptists  and  became  a  minister.  On  his  way  to  South  Carolina, 
Mr.  Gano  visited  the  Jersey  Settlement  on  the  Yadkin,  and  soon 
after  his  return  home  was  induced  to  make  a  second  trip,  when 
he  was  strongly  solicited  to  move  among  them.  It  was  on  this 
second  journey  that  he  was  accompanied  by  Ebenezer  Fair- 
child,  and,  by  traveling  about  eight  hundred  miles,  arrived  after 
a  journey  of  five  weeks.  We  have  most  of  Ebenezer  Fair- 
child's  diary  of  their  trip  to  and  from  the  Yadkin,  though  the 
first  few  pages  are  missing.  Fairchild  was  in  a  wagon,  while 
Gano  and  his  wife  and  child  were  in  a  chair  or  chaise,  which 
turned  over  on  one  occasion,  though  no  one  was  hurt. 

Ebenezer's  Diary. — It  begins  October  21,  1757,  at  some 
unnamed  place  along  the  road,  where  he  got  up  and  wrote  a 
letter  to  his  wife,  Mr.  Gano  preaching  on  the  23d,  after  which 
they  drove  to  a  Mr.  Winchester's,  where  they  remained  till 
Tuesday  morning  on  account  of  the  rain.  It  was  on  the  day 
following  that  Mr.  Gano  upset  the  chair,  "but  they  wasn't  hurt." 
Mr.  Gano  preached  that  night  on  "What  will  ye  that  I  should 


90  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

do  unto  you?"  after  which  Fairchild  smoked  a  pipe  and  went  to 
bed.  The  next  day  they  crossed  Menoe  Crosse  Creek  and  came 
to  Frederick  Town,  stopping  at  Arthur  Charleston's,  "where 
they  did  a  little  business."  They  soon  forded  the  "Patomoc," 
and  put  up  all  night  at  Mr.  Nolens.  The  next  day  "we  see  a 
wench  that  said  she  was  a  negroe  to  Mr.  [undecipherable]  son." 
They  then  crossed  "Goos"  Creek  and  turned  out  of  the  Bell 
Haven  Road  to  a  tree  marked  with  a  B,  where  they  slept  in  the 
woods  that  night.  All  the  next  day  they  drove  in  the  rain  and 
crossed  Bull's  Run,  and,  going  on  seven  "milds  furder,"  came  to 
"one  powel  ordnari,  or  powel  town."  This  was  Saturday  night, 
and  they  found  forty-five  travelers  already  there,  but  they  re- 
mained all  night.  Having  a  house  to  themselves,  did  not,  how- 
ever, prevent  their  being  kept  awake  till  after  ten  o'clock  by  the 
fiddling  and  dancing  of  seven  men.  The  next  day  Ebenezer  was 
so  upset  by  the  want  of  rest  the  night  before  that  he  could 
"hardly  get  any  ease  lying  in  the  wagon"  till  he  remembered  the 
cause  of  his  restlessness.  On  the  Sabbath  John  Gano  preached 
from  Galatians — chapter  and  verse  undecipherable.  "They  be- 
haved quite  od — -talked  in  meeting  and  did  not  sing  with  us,  ex- 
cept two  or  three  of  them."  The  next  day  they  crossed  Seder 
[Cedar?]  Creek  and  came  to  a  "taverne,"  but  passed  on  to  the 
"Rapahannock  and  crost  it."  As  it  was  then  night,  they  went 
to  James  Alieson,  "but  he  would  not  let  us  stay  there,  so  we 
drove  on  again  about  half  a  mild  and  campd  in  the  woods." 
There  Mrs.  Gano  was  quite  unwell,  but  they  got  her  some  sage 
tea  and  got  her  to  bed  also.  The  next  day  was  November  ist, 
and  they  drove  ten  miles  before  taking  breakfast,  going  nine 
miles  further  on  to  the  south  branch  of  the  Rappahannock  "and 
foarded  it  and  ate  supper  at  John  Bannon's,"  where  Mrs.  Gano 
spent  the  night,  Fairchild  and  her  husband  camping  out.  There 
they  bought  half  a  bushel  of  apples  for  a  shilling.  Later  on 
they  reached  Porter's  tavern,  where  they  "drank  a  dram,"  and 
then  went  on  again,  Mr.  Gano  buying  a  turkey  on  the  way,  which 
they  dressed  and  ate  at  camp  that  night.  The  following  day  they 
killed  a  deer  by  the  way  and  had  steaks  for  supper  that  night. 
At  a  tavern  kept  by  someone  unknown  to  Ebenezer,  he  got  a 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  91 

quart  of  cider,  and  ate  his  dinner  alone.  Mr.  Gano  left 
him  at  the  next  tavern,  and  Fairchild  "lay  alone  that  night." 
But  "as  there  were  a  bought  (about)  sixteen  Irishmen  or  there 
a  bought,  there  was  noise  all  rownd."  The  next  day  he  got  up 
early  and  crossed  a  prong  of  the  James  River  at  Tucker 
Woodles'.  On  Saturday  they  reached  Jacob  Micaux's,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  James  River,  where  Fairchild  went  hunting, 
but  got  nothing.  At  night  he  and  Micaux's  family  sang  psalms, 
hymns  and  said  poetry  till  bed  time,  when  he  "went  to  his  duty." 
That  is,  he  had  to  go  out  and  stay  with  the  wagon,  near  which 
several  "Irishmen"  were  camping,  who  usually  "made  a  noise." 
The  next  morning  he  went  early  to  what  seems  to  be  "Guglin" 
Court  House  to  meet  Mr.  Gano,  who  preached  from  I  Peter, 
9th  chapter,  verse  18,  "If  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,"  etc. 
On  the  fifth  they  bought  two  hens  and  "made  broth,  ate  supper 
and  went  to  bed."  The  next  day  Ebenezer  killed  a  pilot  (snake), 
and  they  "past  by  a  smith's  shop  and  a  taverne."  Then  they 
"crossed  Allen's  Creek  and  went  two  mild  furder  and  campt." 
On  Friday,  November  nth,  they  reached  "ronoak  and  fared 
over,"  meaning  probably  that  they  ferried  over.  They  bought 
corn  at  David  Michels,  where  Gano  again  left  Ebenezer  and 
"he  shifted  for  himself."  The  13th  was  the  Sabbath,  when 
Fairchild  salted  the  horses.  Gano  overtook  Fairchild  after 
crossing  the  Tar  or  the  Haw  River,  the  word  being  uncertain, 
bringing  with  him  John  Shurman,  but  Shurman  went  on  to  his 
own  home  that  night.  They  proceeded  on  to  Orange,  but  how 
do  you  suppose  he  spelt  it?  "Orring!"  The  next  day  Uriah  Carl 
and  another,  whose  name  cannot  be  deciphered,  "being  weary 
of  traveling  so  slo,  set  out  for  themselves  at  high  speed,  but 
Tuesday  we  overtook  them,  but  they  set  out  again."  Mr.  Gano 
bought  two  more  hens  a  short  time  afterwards,  which  Fairchild 
is  careful  to  state  that  they  "cooked."  As  it  rained,  Mrs.  Gano 
got  into  the  wagon  "and  rid  till  we  came  to  Little  Creek,  where 
she  got  out  and  maid  tea."  They  came  at  length  to  John  Hunt's 
and  then  drove  two  miles  to  Colonel  Smith's,  where  they  took 
out  the  teams,  "unloaded  the  waggin,  and  maid  it  our  home." 
Subsequent  disclosures  show  that  they  made  Colonel   Smith's 


92  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

their  home — not  the  "waggin" — where  they  remained  till  three 
days  after  Christmas,  when  they  set  out  for  their  New  Jersey 
home  again;  not,  however,  before  Fairchild  had  recorded  the 
fact  that  "John  Stits  Gano  this  day  walked  half  acrost  the  room 
all  alone — a  bat  came  into  the  room  tonight."  While  at  Colonel 
Smith's,  also,  it  seems  that  Fairchild  was  converted  by  Mr. 
Gano's  sermon  of  November  26th,  for  he  writes:  "Blessed  be 
God,  it  was  a  good  day  for  my  sole."  While  out  hunting  there 
they  saw  "a  man  on  horseback  with  a  woman  behind  him  a 
straddle."  During  their  stay  there  Fairchild  went  to  visit 
Ephriam  Coxe,  where  a  woman  told  him  she  had  lived  there  six 
years  and  had  been  but  to  three  houses  in  that  neighborhood. 
On  Christmas  Day  Mr.  Gano  preached  a  sermon  at  Colonel 
Smith's  house,  but  spent  the  night  at  John  Hunt's,  taking  break- 
fast with  Isaac  Thomas.  There  Fairchild  "tuned  my  fiddel,  and 
maid  ready  to  start  homeward  the  next  day."  But  that  night  he 
records  the  fact  that  he  hopes  things  will  grow  better;  that 
"men  and  women  do  try  to  preach.  Some  men  do  preach  with 
the  Bibel  wrong  end  up;  sometimes  two  or  three  are  preaying 
at  once,  two  or  three  exhorting  at  same  time."  Mr.  Marshal 
McLean,  Mr.  Breed,  Mr.  Stain,  McMulkey,  Mr.  Bentin,  and 
how  many  more  separately  ministered  there  I  do  not  know. 
John  Hunt  and  Benjamin  Marvel  separately,  but  preaching;   but 

I  believe  they  are  three  good  men.    Mr.  McDaniel 

(name  undecipherable),  Mr.  Swetens,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Minten — 
these  all  separately  ministered,  besides  Mr.  Marshall.  These 
"are  from  round  about — all  but  nineteen  within  fifty  mild  of 
Mr.  Gano  at  the  Jersey  Settlement."  They  had  intended  to 
start  back  on  the  27th,  but  the  weather  being  bad,  they  went 
instead  to  look  at  a  piece  of  land.  He  did  not  hke  this  as  well 
as  land  on  Muddy  Run,  with  a  "sand  spring"  near  the  door.  To 
this  spring  after  dinner  he  took  Mrs.  Gano,  who  Hked  it.  He 
adds  forebodingly:  "How  it  will  sute  my  wife  I  don't  know, 
but  I  hope  well,  and  my  wife  to  come  and  see  for  herself." 
"After  we  rid  about  awhile  we  went  to  John  Hunt's,  there  staid 
till  dark,  then  came  home."  On  the  28th  of  December  they  set 
off  on  horseback  for  New  Jersey,  and  reached  there  on  the  fif- 
teenth or  sixteenth  of  January,  1758,  after  crossing  the  "sus  ka 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  93 

hannar"  on  Friday,  the  13th.  This  was  a  quick  trip,  compared 
with  their  journey  down.  The  most  notable  thing  that  occurred 
on  their  return  journey  was  a  receipt  for  a  sore  backed  horse: 
A  pint  of  salt  and  a  quart  of  wheat  flour,  mixed  with  water  in  a 
stout  bag  or  sack.  This  is  then  placed  on  "a  clean  place  in  the 
fire,  where  it  is  baked  to  a  hard  or  firm  lump."  Then  it  is 
gritted  up  into  a  powder  and  poured  on  the  sore  place  on  the 
horse's  back.  It  was  prescribed  by  "John  poepper,  hoarse  doctor, 
Mary  Land." 

Mr.  Gano  Constitutes  a  Church. — In  Mr.  Sheet's  history 
(p.  75)  Mr.  Gano  said  that  before  he  left  the  Yadkin  a  Baptist 
Church  was  constituted  and  many  additions  made  to  it.  But  he 
left  it  in  1758  because  of  war  with  the  Cherokee  Indians.  A 
second  son  was  born  to  him  November  11,  1758.  And  the  new 
church  did  not  survive  his  departure  very  long  (p.  76).  In  a 
note  (p.  76)  Mr,  Sheets  thinks  they  never  had  another  pastor, 
and  that  the  records  were  destroyed  or  carried  ofif,  and  the 
church  finally  scattered  and  became  extinct.  The  settlement 
was  on  the  Yadkin  River  in  what  is  now  Davidson  County,  and 
mainly  on  the  south  side  of  what  is  now  the  Southern  Railway 
track,  near  what  has  always  been  known  as  the  Indian  Trading 
Ford, 

A  Colonial  Document. 

By  His  Excellency  JONATHAN  BELCHER,  ESQ., 
Captain-General  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of 
Nova   Caesarea,   or   New   Jersey,   and   Territories   thereon 
depending     in     America,     CHANCELLOR     and     VICE- 
ADMIRAL  in  the  same,  etc.: 
To  Ebenezer  Fairchild,  Esq.  : 

Reposing  especial  trust  and  confidence  in  him,  he  was  "under 
the  broad  seal  of  Great  Britain"  appointed  "insigne  of  that  com- 
pany whereof  John  Brookfield  is  captain.  You  are,  therefore, 
to  take  the  said  company  to  your  charge  and  care  as  insigne. 
Done  at  Elizabethton  in  New  Jersey  the  14th  day  of  July  in  the 
31st  year  of  His  Majesty's  reign,  Anoque  Domini,  1757. 
Seal.  J.  Belcher." 


94  -4  History  of  Watauga  County 

Lincoln  a  Plagiarist? — On  a  blank  discharge  from  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  K.  B.,  General  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  His 
Majesty's  forces  within  the  colonies,  lying  on  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  etc.,  is  written: 

Cyrus  Fairchild,  his  hand  and  pen; 
He  will  be  good,  but  God  knows  when. 
As  this  is  attributed  to  Abraham  Lincoln  by  some  of  his  biogra- 
phers as  an  example  of  precocious  literary  ability,  it  may  sur- 
prise them  to  learn  that  it  was  current  in  Watauga  County  before 
Lincoln  was  born. 

An  Ancient  Document. — Among  the  papers  of  the  late  Ebe- 
nezer  Fairchild  is  an  agreement  dated  May  23,  1761,  by  which 
John  Stevens  and  Alexander  Rutherford,  for  themselves  and  the 
devisees  of  Mary  Alexander,  undertake  to  convey  to  Ebenezer 
Fairchild,  of  Newtown,  in  the  county  of  Sussex,  eighty  acres 
of  "rights  for  unappropriated  land  in  the  Eastern  Division  of 
New  Jersey,  except  Romopok,  upon  the  payment  of  sixty  pounds 
Proclamation  Money  of  New  Jersey." 

Carpenter  and  Yeoman. — There  is  also  a  deed  from  Peter 
Dukerson,  carpenter,  of  Morristown,  province  of  East  New 
Jersey,  to  Ebenezer  Fairchild,  yeoman,  of  the  same  place,  for 
fifty  acres  in  Morristown,  for  seventy-two  pounds,  dated  May 
16,  1754,  and  in  the  27th  year  of  His  Majesty  King  George  the 
Second  of  Great  Britain. 

On  Bound  Meadows  Run. — There  is  a  warrant  for  the  sur- 
vey of  fifty-three  and  three-tenths  acres  of  land  in  the  county 
of  Sussex  on  the  head  of  a  southwest  branch  of  Wall  Kill,  called 
the  Bound  Meadows  Run,  for  the  devisees  of  Mary  Alexander 
at  the  request  of  Ebenezer  Fairchild,  by  virtue  of  a  warrant  to 
her  and  Robert  Hunter  Morris  for  1,600  acres  of  land  to  be 
taken  up  in  any  part  unappropriated  in  the  Eastern  Division  of 
New  Jersey.  It  is  dated  December  9,  1757,  and  recorded  in 
Book  W4,  page  14,  by  virtue  of  her  last  will  and  testament, 
which  is  recorded  in  Book  A5,  page  9.  All  recorded  in  the 
Public  Records  of  the  Proprietors  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  Sur- 
veyor General's  office  at  Perth  Amboy,  in  Book  S,  page  389. 
John  Smyth,  Jr.,  Surveyor  General. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  95 

AN  OLD   LETTER. 

Morris  Town,  August  23d,  1771. 
The  Church  of  Jesus   Christ  in  this  place  holding  Believers 
Baptism  Laying  on  of  Hands  Eternal  Election  &  Final  Per- 
severance of  the  Saints  in  Grace  &c 
To  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Roan  County  in  North  Carolina  of 
the  same  Faith,  or  to  any  one  of  the  sister  churches  to  whom 
These  Presents  may  Come,  Greeting: 
Whereas  our  Brother  Ebenezer  Fairchild  has  Been  Baptized 
in  a  Regular  Way  and  Received  by  Us  in  Full  Communion  who 
for  some  time  gave  Good  Satisfaction  to  this  Church,  But  after 
faling  into  some  Sensorious  Errors  was  Laid  under  Suspension, 
And  is  now  Removed  from  us  without  a  Regular  Dispensation 
has  Sent  us  a  Letter  Dated  September  28,   1770,  wherein  he 
seems  to  make  very  humble  Confession  of  his  Sins  and  Griev- 
ance to  the  Church  and  Desires  Forgivness  for  it  which,  as  he 
Confesses,  was  Drinking  too  hard.  Loose  Living,  and  also  not 
keeping  his  Place  in  the  Church  which  he  Acknowledges  and 
Begs  our  Prayers  to  God  for  him  that  he  may  be  Enabled  to 
Live  up  to  the  Profession  he  has  made,  which  may  the  Lord 
help  him  to  do. 

Wherefore  as  his  Life  and  Conversation  is  now  better  Known 
to  you  than  to  us,  Although  by  what  we  Hear  from  him  we  do 
hope  he  is  a  Humble  Penitent,  Therefore,  if  you  do  Receive  him, 
he  is  Dismissed  from  us,  and  the  God  of  all  Grace  Bless  you  all. 

Amen. 
Brother  Ebenezer  Fairchild  James  Goble 

we  rejoice  to  hear  from  you  Daniel  Walling 

such  agreeable  News  may  the  John  Brookfield 

Lord  grant  you  Grace  and  live  Ezekiel  Goble 

Agreeable  to  the  profession  Sam'l  Parkhurst. 

you  have  made  .  .  .  Pray  for  us. 
Signed  by  us  at  our  Meeting 
Part  for  All. 

The  Fairchild  Ladies. — These  ladies,  whose  names  were 
Rachel  and  Clara,  lived  in  Watauga  County  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  on  Howard's  Creek,  where 


96  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

William  Hardin  now  lives.  Rachel  Fairchild  had  married  a  man 
named  Smith,  but  he  died  soon  afterwards,  and  she  and  her 
sister  were  generally  known  as  Fairchilds.  They  were  the 
daughters  of  Cyrus  Fairchild,  son  of  Ebenezer  Fairchild. 
They  reared  Wyatt  Hayes,  and  after  his  marriage  deeded  to  him 
their  land,  he  having  agreed  to  support  them  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  In  Deed  Book  F,  page  497,  is  the  record  of  a  deed 
from  "Cirous"  Fairchild  to  Rachel  and  Clary  Fairchild,  showing 
that  Rachel  did  not  continue  to  be  known  by  her  late  husband's 
name  at  that  time.  The  consideration  named  is  "for  divers  good 
and  causes  and  considerations  for  the  service  of  my  daughters, 
Rachel  and  Clary  Fairchild,  for  the  last  fifteen  years  and  longer." 
The  land  was  the  200  acres  which  Ebenezer  Fairchild  had  en- 
tered on  Howard's  Creek  when  he  first  came  to  this  country. 
The  deed  is  dated  April  26,  1843.  It  is  probable  that  their  father 
died  soon  afterwards,  for  when  Wyatt  Hayes  was  four  years 
old  his  mother  died,  and  he  was  taken  to  the  home  of  the  Misses 
Fairchild  in  1846,  where  he  remained  till  they  died,  excepting 
the  time  when  he  was  in  the  Civil  War,  where  he  had  part  of  one 
of  his  feet  shot  off  at  Mechanicsville  in  the  first  of  the  Seven 
Days  Fight  around  Richmond  in  1862. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Various  Churches. 

True  Democrats. — According  to  Kephart  (p.  268),  "the 
mountaineer  is  intensely,  universally  Protestant,  and,  as  John 
Fox  says,  'he  is  the  only  man  in  the  world  whom  the  Catholic 
Church  has  made  little  or  no  effort  to  proseHte.'  Dislike  of 
Episcopalianism  is  still  strong  among  the  people  who  do  not 
know,  or  pretend  not  to  know,  what  the  word  means.  The  first 
settlers  among  the  Appalachians  were,  mainly,  Presbyterians,  as 
became  Scotch-Irishmen,  but  they  fell  away  from  that  faith, 
partly  because  the  wilderness  was  too  poor  to  support  a  regular 
ministry  and  partly  because  it  was  too  democratic  for  Calvinism, 
with  its  supreme  authority  of  the  clergy  .  .  .  This  much 
of  the  seventeenth  century  Calvinism  the  mountaineer  retains: 
a  passion  for  hair-splitting  argument  over  points  of  doctrine 
and  the  cocksure  intolerance  of  John  Knox;  but  the  ancestral 
creed  itself  has  been  forgotten.  The  circuit  rider,  whether 
Methodist  or  Baptist,  found  here  a  field  ripe  for  his  harvest. 
Being  himself  self-supporting  and  unassuming,  he  won  easily 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  He  preached  a  highly  emotional 
religion  that  worked  his  audience  into  an  ecstacy  that  all  primi- 
tive people  love.  And  he  introduced  a  mighty  agent  of  evangel- 
ization among  outdoor  folk  when  he  started  the  camp-meeting." 
Our  Morals. — "As  for  the  morals  of  our  highlanders,"  con- 
tinues Kephart  (p.  274),  "they  are  precisely  what  any  well-read 
person  would  expect,  after  taking  their  belatedness  into  consid- 
eration. In  speech  and  conduct,  when  at  ease  among  themselves, 
they  are  frank,  old-fashioned  Englishmen  and  Scots,  such  as 
Fielding  and  Smollet  and  Peppys  and  Burns  have  shown  us  to 
the  life  ...  I  have  seen  the  worst  as  well  as  the  best  of 
Appalachia  .  .  .  but  I  know  that  between  the  two  extremes 
the  great  mass  of  the  mountain  people  are  very  like  persons  of 
similar  station  elsewhere,  just  human,  with  human  frailties,  only 

97 


98  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

a  little  more  honest,  I  think,  in  owning  them  .  .  .  The  worst 
have  not  been  driven  into  a  war  against  society,  and  still  have 
good  traits,  strong  characters,  something  responsive  to  good 
treatment.  They  are  kind-hearted,  loyal  to  their  friends,  quick 
to  help  anyone  in  distress." 

Pioneer  Baptists. — Roosevelt  says  (Vol.  Ill,  pp.  loi,  102)  : 
"Presbyterianism  was  not,  however,  destined  even  here  [in  the 
Watauga  Settlement]  to  remain  the  leading  popular  creed.  Other 
sects,  still  more  democratic,  still  more  in  keeping  with  back- 
woods Hfe  and  thought,  largely  supplanted  it.  Methodism  did 
not  become  a  power  until  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  but 
the  Baptists  followed  close  on  the  heels  of  the  Presbyterians. 
They,  too,  soon  built  log  meeting-houses  here  and  there,  while 
their  preachers  cleared  the  forests  and  hunted  elk  and  buffalo, 
like  other  pioneer  settlers.  To  all  the  churches  the  preachers 
and  congregation,  alike,  went  armed,  the  latter  leaning  their 
rifles  in  their  pews  ^  or  near  their  seats,  while  the  pastor  let  his 
stand  beside  the  pulpit."  True  to  the  above  account,  the  Bap- 
tists were  the  first  to  penetrate  to  what  is  now  Watauga  County. 
Three  Forks  Church  was  started  in  November,  1790,  but,  while 
it  was  the  first  in  what  is  now  Watauga  County,  it  had  been 
preceded  in  the  territory  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  by  the  Beaver 
Creek  and  Old  Fields  churches.  From  Rev.  Charles  B.  Wil- 
liams' "History  of  the  Baptists  in  North  CaroHna"  (p.  121) 
we  learn  that  Three  Forks  Baptist  Church  became  an  association 
by  that  name  in  1840,  and  that  "like  the  Yadkin  and  Catawba 
associations,  the  Three  Forks  had  a  sharp  struggle  with  anti- 
missionism.  But  its  churches  are  now  taking  their  stand  in  the 
regular  lines  of  the  convention's  advanced  work.  It  numbers 
thirty-three  churches,  with  a  membership  of  2,728,  and  con- 
tribued  in  1900  to  all  objects  $1,457.00."  Col.  Thomas  Bing- 
ham, for  several  terms  a  member  of  the  State  legislature  and 
clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Watauga  County,  was  born  1845, 
and  remembers  that  as  late  as  1854  or  1855  two  Missionary  Bap- 
tists appeared  at  the  Cove  Creek  Baptist  Church,  near  which  his 
father  then  lived,  but  were  not  made  welcome  in  the  church. 


*  These    "pews"    were    simply    split   logs,    with   pegs    for   legs    or    support,    and 
without  backs  of  any  kind. 


fX.     ^ 


f^: 


i      / 


f 


y 


REV.  REUBEN  P.  FARTHING. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  99 

However,  they  preached  in  the  grove  that  night,  and  moved  their 
subsequent  meetings  to  the  house  of  his  father,  G.  M.  Bingham's, 
where  they  held  protracted  meetings,  one  that  summer  and  an- 
other the  following  winter.  But  a  few  years  later  Three  Forks 
itself  became  a  Missionary  Baptist  association,  as  did  also  Cove 
Creek. 

Farthing  Family. — The  coming  of  the  Farthing  family  to 
Beaver  Dams  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  the  cause  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  this  section.  They  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1826,  having 
come  from  Orange,  close  to  the  Wake  County  line,  two  brothers, 
William  W.  and  John,  having  been  first  here.  But  William  soon 
died,  and  John,  having  lost  his  wife,  returned  to  Wake,  where, 
having  married  again,  he  reappeared  in  Beaver  Dams  settle- 
ment in  1 83 1  and  settled  where  Zionville  now  flourishes.  They 
organized  Bethel  Church,  on  Beaver  Dams,  July  4,  185 1,  get- 
ting their  constitution  from  the  Cove  Creek  Church,  and  having 
a  membership  of  ten.  Three  other  churches  were  constituted 
from  Bethel,  viz:  Beaver  Dams,  in  September,  1874;  Forest 
Grove,  about  1889,  and  Timbered  Ridge  in  1906. 

A  Family  of  Preachers. — The  first  Dudley  Farthing,  father 
of  Rev.  William  W.  Farthing,  who  came  to  Beaver  Dams  in 
October,  1826,  was  a  public  speaker  of  note  in  his  home  county, 
but  he  always  said  that  as  he  could  blow  only  a  ram's  horn  and 
not  a  silver  trumpet,  he  would  not  be  a  preacher.  But  his  son, 
William,  was  a  preacher  of  force  and  fame,  and,  although  his 
health  was  such  after  his  removal  to  this  county  that  he  did  not 
preach  often,  he  left  four  sons,  upon  whose  shoulders  his  mantle 
fell  and  with  whom  it  abided.  They  were  Reuben  P.,  John  A., 
Stephen  and  Abner  C.  Farthing,  who  for  years  were  the  captain 
jewels  in  the  Baptist  carcanet.  And  their  descendants  still  wear 
the  armor  they  laid  aside,  and  are  still  battling  in  the  vanguard  of 
the  army  of  the  Lord  as  preachers  and  leaders,  while  still  others, 
feeling  that  in  the  pulpit  they  would  be  as  helpless  as  David 
would  have  been  in  the  armor  of  Saul,  in  their  own  way  and  in 
God's  good  time  are  striking  mighty  blows  in  the  sacred  cause 
of  righteousness.  No  family  in  Watauga  County  have  done 
more  for  the  general  uplift  than  that  of  the  Farthings. 


100  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Rev.  Joseph  Harrison. — This  "just  and  faithful  knight  of 
God"  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Harrison,  and  was  born  February 
4,  1799,  in  Iredell  County,  close  to  Black  Oak  Ridge,  now  Alex- 
ander County.  Joseph,  Sr.,  came  from  England  with  his  brother, 
Benjamin,  Ben  going  to  Indiana  and  Joseph  to  Iredell.  There 
he  married  Mrs.  Nancy  Price,  whose  father  was  John 
Caldwell.  They  had  five  children:  Nathan,  born  in  1824,  mar- 
ried Polly  Harrison,  his  cousin;  Joseph,  born  February  2,  1843, 
married,  first,  Elizabeth  Hamlet,  second,  Carolina  Wolff,  third, 
AHce  Baird,  and  fourth,  Albertine  Bond;  Malinda,  born  in 
1822,  married  Wilson  Bradshaw;  Mary,  born  in  1834,  married 
John  Cook,  and  Martha,  born  August  24,  1836,  married  Emanuel 
Van  Dyke.  He  preached  from  1825  till  his  death  in  1884.  He 
was  repeatedly  elected  Register  of  Deeds  of  Watauga  County, 
but  during  the  Civil  War  he  remained  loyal  to  the  Union,  re- 
fusing to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederacy,  with 
the  result  that  Rev.  D.  C.  Harmon  served  during  that  time. 

Cove  Creek  Baptist  Church. — There  was  such  a  strong  repre- 
sentation in  the  Three  Forks  Baptist  Church  from  the  Cove 
Creek  section  that  in  April,  1799,  it  held  its  meeting  there,  and 
again  in  June,  when  Sarah  Davis,  Abraham  Linvil  and  Susannah 
Vanderpool  were  received  by  experience,  while  in  the  following 
July  Catharine  Linvil,  Margaret  Linvil,  Mathias  Harmon,  John 
Holsclaw  and  Morgan  Isaacs  were  received  by  experience.  These 
were  followed  in  August,  1799,  by  Sarah  Davis  (probably 
daughter  of  the  Sarah  who  had  been  received  in  June),  Phoebe 
Vanderpool  and  George  Davis,  who  were  hkewise  received  by 
experience.  The  first  Saturday  in  September  Three  Forks 
Church  again  met  at  Cove  Creek  and  chose  Brothers  Chambers 
and  Samuel  Vanderpool  to  attend  the  association  at  King's 
Creek  on  the  fourth  Saturday  in  that  month.  At  this  meeting 
also  Brother  Vanderpool's  petition  for  a  church  at  Cove  Creek 
was  granted,  while  in  December,  1799,  the  newly  constituted 
Cove  Creek  Church  asked  Three  Forks  for  ministerial  help  for 
ordination,  and  it  was  granted,  the  constitution  having  been 
granted  already.  The  first  church  was  of  logs  and  tradition  says 
stood  on  the  creek,  but  was  washed  away  with  the  bridge  over 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  loi 

which  the  road  then  crossed,  half  a  mile  above  Sugar  Grove. 
The  road  was  then  changed  so  as  to  go  around  the  hill  and  ford 
the  creek  below  the  site  of  the  old  log  bridge  which  the  freshet 
had  carried  off.  This  church  was  then  moved  to  the  site  of  the 
present  Walnut  Grove  Academy,  but  was  still  of  logs,  and  Hugh 
M.  Isaacs,  who  was  born  in  1839,  attended  this  church  with  his 
mother  when  he  was  six  years  of  age,  and  remembers  distinctly 
that  the  birds  flew  around  inside  the  church,  feeding  their  young 
in  their  nests  in  the  roof  and  eaves,  the  logs  being  open,  without 
chinking  of  any  kind.  It  then  stood  where  the  Academy  now 
stands  and  where  there  are  yet  two  or  three  graves. 

Bethel  Baptist  Church. — This  church  was  constituted  July  4, 
185 1,  from  Cove  Creek  Baptist  Church.  The  members  were 
Wm.  B.,  Abner  C,  Stephen  J.,  Ann,  widow  of  Wm.  B.,  Anne 
W.,  Rachel  W.,  Mary  N.  and  Margaret  Farthing,  and  Madison 
Johnson  and  Nancy  Johnson.  The  first  church  was  of  logs  and 
stood  on  the  knoll  across  the  road  from  the  site  of  the  present 
church,  which  was  erected  in  1872  or  1873,  and  was  probably  the 
best  in  the  county  at  that  time.  It  has  constituted  three  other 
churches  which  have  drawn  their  membership  mainly  from 
Bethel:  Beaver  Dams  Baptist  Church,  constituted  in  Septem- 
ber, 1874;  Forest  Grove  Baptist  Church,  constituted  in  1889, 
and  Timbered  Ridge  Baptist  Church,  in  1906. 

South  Fork  Baptist  Church. — This  was  the  third  church 
constituted  in  Watauga  County,  and  stood  at  what  was  known 
as  Elk  Cross  Roads. 

Ebenezer  was  perhaps  the  fourth  church  to  be  constituted, 
and  was  built  at  what  is  now  called  Zionville.  Later  on  three 
churches  were  merged  into  this  and  called  Mt.  Zion,  but  after- 
wards took  the  name  of  the  place  at  which  it  stood,  Zionville. 

Other  Early  Churches. — Laurel  Springs  Church  was  consti- 
tuted before  the  Civil  War,  with  Joseph  Brown  and  Riley  Norris 
as  prime  movers.  The  Blowing  Rock  Church  began  about  1900 
with  the  Hartleys,  Greens  and  Browns  as  chief  supporters.  In 
1885  or  thereabout  the  church  at  Shull's  Mills  was  begun,  with 
the  Robbins,  Shulls  and  Browns  active  in  its  interest.  In  1890 
or  thereabout  George  and  Isaac  McGinnis  and  Marion  Story 


102  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

constituted  the  church  at  Mt.  Lebannon,  while  about  1895  James 
Perry  and  Carroll  Adams  started  Pleasant  Grove  at  Silver- 
stone.  Andrew  J.  and  Eli  Harman  began  the  Zion  Hill  Church 
about  1880,  and  at  about  the  same  time  Elias  Isaacs  and  the 
Phillips  family  were  active  in  constituting  Mount  Gillead. 
Bethany,  near  the  top  of  Beach  Mountain,  began  about  1895, 
and  Gap  Creek  about  1875,  with  Larkin  Michael  zealous  in  the 
interest  of  the  former  and  John  Hopkins  in  that  of  the  latter. 
Rich  Mountain  Church  was  constituted  about  1900,  and  Doe 
Ridge,  on  Stony  Fork,  about  1900. 

Brushy  Fork  Baptist  Church  was  constituted  February  26, 
1858,  by  Elders  D.  C.  Harman  and  Joseph  Harrison,  with  eleven 
members,  to  wit:  M.  C.  Harman,  Moses  Hateley,  John  A. 
Hagaman,  Sarah  Reece,  Sally  Hagaman,  Sarah  Hagaman,  Susan 
Danner,  Elvira  Holsclaw,  Elizabeth  Hix,  Melissa  Harman  and 
Sarah  Monday.  Elder  D.  C.  Harman  was  the  first  pastor  and 
served  the  church  in  succession  for  about  twenty-five  years, 
except  eight  or  ten  months,  when  he  was  in  the  Civil  War.  The 
following  elders  have  served  the  church  as  pastors:  D.  C. 
Plarman,  A.  C.  Farthing,  E.  F.  Jones,  J.  J.  L.  Sherwood,  David 
Green,  J.  F.  Filer,  E.  M.  Gragg,  J.  F.  Davis,  Sidney  King, 
Omey  Triplett,  S.  L.  Fox  and  J.  M.  Payne.  The  church  has 
ordained  the  following  ministers:  John  A.  Hagaman,  J.  F. 
Davis,  I.  J.  McGinnis,  Thos.  C.  Holsclaw,  S.  L.  Fox  and  John 
P.  Hagaman. 

The  Boone  Baptist  Church. — This  church  was  constituted 
in  1882  (Deed  Book  J,  p.  502),  by  W.  L.  Bryan  and  Thomas 
J.  and  W.  C.  Coflfey  and  others.  This  congregation  is  now  erect- 
ing a  large  and  handsome  brick  church  on  the  corner  of  Main 
and  School  House  Streets,  to  cost  over  $5,000.00. 

Other  Early  Churches. — The  South  Fork  Baptist  Church  at 
Elk  Cross  Roads  was  the  third  church  to  be  constituted  in  this 
county,  and  among  the  finest  and  best  beloved  of  its  pastors  was 
William  Wilcox.  Ebenezer  was  the  fourth  church,  and  it 
with  two  others  were  merged  into  one,  called  Mount  Zion,  which 
afterwards  took  the  name  of  the  town  which  grew  up  about  it — 
Zionville.    It  was  here  that  John  Farthing  had  settled  on  his  re- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  103 

turn  to  this  country  in  1831.  Antioch  was  organized  largely 
through  the  influence  of  the  Rev.  D.  C.  Harman,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  Messrs.  Dyer  and  Wiley  Harman,  as  well  as  members 
of  the  Hix  and  Ward  families.  In  it  the  Rev.  L.  W,  Farthing 
has  been  a  factor  of  great  good.  It  was  constituted  in  1848, 
and  a  log  house  which  stood  in  a  meadow  near  the  left  bank  of 
the  Watauga  River,  from  which  position  it  was  washed  away 
in  the  May  freshet  of  1901.  In  1904  the  original  site  of  the 
first  St.  John's,  surrounded  by  young  white  oaks,  was  bought 
from  the  Episcopal  Church  and  a  large  and  attractive  frame 
structure  erected  there. 

Stony  Fork  Association  Churches. — Among  the  Baptist 
Churches  belonging  to  this  association  are  Poplar  Grove,  Mount 
V.ernon,  Laurel  Fork  in  the  Storie  settlement,  Boone's  Fork, 
Yadkin  Elk  and  Doe  Ridge. 

Bishop  Asbury's  Journal. — It  is  generally  supposed  that  this 
good  man  did  not  travel  through  Watauga  in  his  trips  through 
these  mountains,  but  the  following  excerpts  show  the  contrary: 
"Monday,  April  28,  1788  (after  preaching  the  day  before  at  the 
Globe  on  John's  River  [p.  31]),  after  getting  our  horses  shod, 
we  .  .  .  entered  upon  the  mountains,  the  first  of  which  I 
called  Steel,  the  second  Stone,  and  the  third  Iron  Mountain ; 
they  are  tough  and  difficult  to  climb.  We  were  spoken  to  on  our 
way  by  most  awful  thunder  and  lightning,  accompanied  by 
heavy  rain.  We  crept  for  shelter  into  a  little  dirty  house,  where 
the  filth  might  have  been  taken  from  the  floor  with  a  spade.  We 
felt  the  want  of  fire,  but  could  get  little  wood  to  make  it,  and 
what  we  gathered  was  wet.  At  the  head  of  Watauga  we  fed, 
and  reached  Ward's  that  night.^  Coming  on  the  river  next  day, 
we  hired  a  young  man  to  swim  over  for  a  canoe,  in  which  we 
crossed,  while  our  horses  swam  to  the  other  shore.  The  waters 
being  up,  we  were  compelled  to  travel  an  old  road  over  the  moun- 
tains. Night  came  on  .  .  .  About  nine  o'clock  we  came  to 
Greer's     .     .     . 


=>  This  was  probably  Ben  Ward,  whose  descendants  are  among  Watauga's  best 
citizens.  There  is  a  tradition  that  while  at  Ward's  the  Bishop  needed  a  better 
light  than  that  afforded  by  the  open  fire,  and  that  Ward  supplied  it  by  throwing 
deer  bones  on  the  live  coals  from  a  heap  of  all  sorts  of  bones  kept  in  the  chimney 
jamb  for  that  purpose.     It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Journal,  however. 


104  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

"Monday,  April  5,  1790  (p.  78).  After  worming  the  stream 
(John's  River)  for  awhile,  we  took  through  the  Laurel  Hill 
and  had  to  scale  the  mountains,  which  in  some  places  were  rising 
like  the  roof  of  a  house.  We  came  to  the  head  of  Watauga 
River;  a  most  neglected  place.  Here  the  people  have  had  their 
corn  destroyed  by  frost,  and  many  of  them  have  moved  away. 
It  was  thus  we  found  it  in  Tyger's  Valley.  We  passed  by  W — 's, 
a  poor  lodging,  and  slept  at  the  Beaver  Dam  in  a  cabin  without 
a  cover,  except  what  a  few  boards  supplied.  We  had  very  heavy 
thunder  and  lightning,  and  most  hideous  yelling  of  wolves 
around,  with  rain,  which  is  most  frequent  in  the  mountains. 
Tuesday,  6th.  We  were  compelled  to  ride  through  the  rain,  and 
crossed  the  Stone  Mountain  .  .  .  We  came  on  to  the  dismal 
place  called  Roan's  Creek,  which  was  pretty  full  .  .  . 
Reaching  Watauga,  we  had  to  swim  our  horses,  and  ourselves 
to  cross  in  a  canoe  ...  At  length  we  came  to  Greer's,  and 
halted  for  the  night. 

"Wednesday,  March  27,  1793  (p.  189,  Vol.  II).  We  began  our 
journey  over  the  great  ridge  of  mountains.  We  had  not  gone 
far  before  we  saw  and  felt  the  snow  .  .  .  We  came  to  the 
head  of  Watauga  River.  Stopped  at  Mr.  S — 's  .  .  .  My 
soul  felt  for  the  neglected  people.  It  may  be,  by  my  coming  this 
way,  that  I  shall  send  them  a  preacher.  We  hasted  on  to  Cove's 
Creek;  invited  ourselves  to  stay  at  C — 's,  where  we  made  our 
own  tea,  obtained  some  butter  and  milk  and  some  most  excellent 
Irish  potatoes.  We  were  presented  with  a  little  flax  for  our 
beds,  on  which  we  spread  our  coats  and  blankets,  and  three  of  us 
slept  before  a  large  fire.  Thursday,  28th.  We  made  an  early 
start,  and  came  to  the  Beaver  Dam;  three  years  ago  we  slept 
here  in  a  cabin  without  a  cover.  We  made  a  breakfast  at  Mr. 
W — 's,'  and  then  attempted  the  Iron  or  Stone  Mountain,  which 
is  steep  Hke  the  roof  of  a  house.  I  found  it  difficult  and  trying 
to  my  lungs  to  walk  up  it.  Descending  the  mountain,  we  had  to 
jump  down  the  steep  stairs,*  from  two  to  three  and  four  feet. 


'  This   was   probably   Benjamin   Webb,    the   first   settler  on    Beaver   Dams,    and 
who  sold  out  to  Rev.  W.  W.  Farthing  in  1826. 

*  This  gap  is  commonly  called  Star  Gap,  though  many  insist  that  its  true  name 
is  Stair  Gap  because  of  the  steps  mentioned  by  Bishop  Asbury. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  105 

At  the  foot  of  this  mountain  our  guide  left  us  to  a  man  on  foot ; 
he  soon  declined,  and  we  made  the  best  of  our  way  to  Dugger's 
Ford,  on  Roan's  Creek.  We  came  down  the  river  where  there 
are  plenty  of  large,  round,  rolling  stones,  and  the  stream  was 
rapid.  Wednesday,  April  22,  1795  (p.  263,  Vol.  II).  Crossed 
the  ridge  and  kept  on  to  the  westward.  We  went  Major  J. 
White's  path,  and  found  it  abundantly  better  than  the  old  one. 
We  reached  the  top  of  the  ridge  in  about  six  miles.  Here  we 
found  ourselves  among  fruitful  hills ;  then  we  had  a  good  path 
for  six  miles  more,  except  where  there  were  some  laurel  branches 
and  roots.  We  stopped  at  S — 's,  and  it  was  well  we  did,  or  we 
would  have  been  well  nigh  starved,  both  man  and  horse.  I  went 
on  to  D — 's,  and  thence  to  Nelson's,  where  I  met  with  Brothers 
B — ,  A —  and  W — ,  ancient  men  among  us.  I  stood  the  fatigue 
and  sleeping  three  in  a  bed  better  than  I  expected.  From  White's 
to  Nelson's  is  eighty  miles.  We  crossed  the  Watauga  about 
twenty  times.  At  supper  we  ate  of  the  perch  that  are  taken  in 
great  plenty  from  Smith's  fish  spring,  I  judge  there  must  be  a 
subterraneous  communication  from  that  to  the  river."  Wednes- 
day, March  22,  1797  (p.  340,  Vol.  II).  After  preaching  at 
John's  River  on  the  21st,  "I  set  out  on  my  journey  for  the 
west  ...  It  began  to  rain  violently  before  we  came  to 
Henley's.  I  took  shelter  in  a  house  from  the  rain,  and  talked 
and  prayed  with  a  poor  woman.  We  dined  at  Mr.  Henley's, 
calling  at  Wakefield  only  to  talk  and  pray.  I  cannot  well  pass 
by  my  friends  without  calling.  We  hastened  across  Linville 
Mountain,  which  is  awfully  barren,  and  came  on  to  Young's 
Cove     .     .     ." 

White's  Spring  Church. — Whenever  Bishop  Asbury  visited 
John's  River  he  was  entertained  by  Major  Joseph  White,  as  the 
Bishop's  Journal  shows  (Vol.  II,  pp.  31,  78,  189).  By  April, 
1795,  Major  White  had  constructed  a  good  road  over  the  Blue 
Ridge,  probably  through  what  is  now  called  the  Coffey  Gap,  as 
the  Bishop  speaks  of  following  the  "Major  J.  White's  path,  and 
found  it  abundantly  better  than  the  old  one"  (Vol.  II,  p.  263). 


"  This  is  what  is  now  known  as  Fish  Spring,  four  miles  below  BuHer,  Tenn.  But 
there  is  nothing  separating  the  spring  from  the  river,  and  no  fish  are  found  In 
the  spring,  floods  having  washed  the  intervening  bank  away. 


io6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Major  White  had  a  camp  near  this  old  path,  and  the  fine  spring 
there,  and  just  below  the  Coffey  Gap,  still  goes  by  the  name  of 
White's  Spring.  This  is  the  same  White  who  was  a  major  in 
Colonel  McDowell's  regiment.  A  good  building  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  Methodists  was  erected  near  this  spring 
about  1895,  and  commands  a  fine  view.  According  to  Draper 
(note  on  page  149),  Captain  Joseph  White  was  wounded  at 
Cowan's  Ford  in  a  skirmish  September  12,  1780,  and  was  at 
King's  Mountain  (Id.  p.  474). 

Methodist  Churches. — According  to  Mr.  Cyrus  A.  Grubb, 
of  Laxton  Creek,  Methodism  began  in  this  county  about  1809 
when  an  itinerant  minister,  whose  name  he  has  forgotten, 
traveled  through  what  is  now  this  county  in  the  interest  of 
Charles  Wesley's  newly  founded  church.  Bishop  Asbury  having 
preceded  him  at  various  times  between  1788  to  1798,  but  passing 
through  only  a  small  corner  and  holding  meetings  in  this  section 
and  in  other  sections,  notably  in  Buncombe  County,  from  1800 
to  1813.  This  unnamed  pioneer  in  Methodism  is  said  to  have 
stopped  first  at  the  home  of  Gwyn  Houck  on  Old  Fields  Creek, 
next  at  Risden  Cooper's  on  Cranberry,  then  at  James  Jackson's 
on  the  ridge  between  Grassy  Creek  and  Meat  Camp,  afterwards 
going  to  Edward  Moody's  on  upper  Watauga,  followed  by  a 
visit  to  a  man  named  Davis  on  Cove  Creek.  No  visit  seems  to 
have  been  made  to  Boone,  or  what  was  probably  nobody's  home 
at  that  time,  for,  unless  the  first  Jordan  Councill  had  moved 
here  then,  this  locality  was  probably  "all  in  woods."  At  each 
place  he  "left  an  appointment,"  as  the  saying  went  in  those  days 
and  as  it  still  goes  in  many  parts  in  these  days.  Out  of  the  visit 
to  Cooper's  grew  what  is  now  Cranberry  Church,  on  the  ridge 
between  Cranberry  Creek  and  Meadow  Creek.  The  Cooper 
family  has  always  stood  for  this  branch  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, and  its  influence  has  been  powerful  and  efficacious  in  that 
cause.  James  Jackson  was  so  much  interested  in  the  necessity 
for  some  edifice  in  which  all  the  people  might  come  and  worship, 
go  to  school  or  discuss  public  affairs,  that  he  conveyed  to 
Edmund  Blackburn,  a  brother  of  Levi,  David  Miller  and 
Ephraim  and  William  Norris,  as  trustees,  a  tract  of  land  for  a 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  107 

school  house,  meeting  house  or  church,  as  was  desired  by  those 
using  it,  to  be  open  at  all  times  to  all  alike.  It  was  at  this  house 
that  the  first  Methodist  preacher  first  preached,  but  his  name 
has  been  forgotten.  Levi  Blackburn  lived  near  Jackson  Meeting 
House  at  that  time,  but  soon  afterwards  sold  out  to  Jonathan 
Norris  and  moved  to  Riddle's  Fork  of  Meat  Camp — a  section 
then  and  since  known  as  Hopewell.  Here  a  log  school  house 
was  used  as  a  church  when  the  congregation  proved  too  large 
to  be  accommodated  in  Levi's  hospitable  home,  where  for  many 
years  preaching  was  held  whenever  there  chanced  to  be  a 
preacher  in  the  neighborhood.  About  that  time  another  ap- 
pointment was  left  at  Elk  Cross  Roads,  to  which  Levi  Blackburn 
soon  moved  and  where  he  died,  and  where  he  started  another 
church,  using  his  home  or  a  log  school  house  for  the  purpose 
for  many  years.  This  is  as  far  as  Brother  Grubb's  information 
extends,  but  others  state  that  when  Henry  Taylor  came  to  live 
at  Valle  Crucis  he  became  active  in  the  cause  of  Methodism,  and 
his  family  have  since  followed  in  his  footsteps.  He  is  said  to 
have  induced  preachers  to  hold  meetings  in  the  orchard  in  rear 
of  the  present  store  house  of  W.  W.  Mast  at  Valle  Crucis,  in 
his  own  home  and  at  Franklin  Baird's  home,  a  mile  down  the 
Watauga.  As  interest  increased  he  acquired  the  home  that  had 
been  occupied  by  "Old  Man"  Christofile,"  a  chairmaker,  who 
lived  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  road  going  from  Valle  Crucis 
to  Charles  D.  Taylor's  present  mill,  inside  a  field.  This  house 
was  enlarged  and  was  the  first  Methodist  Church  in  that  com- 
munity. This  was  in  the  fifties.  This  small  house  was  used  only 
three  or  four  years,  when  another  was  built  where  the  present 
edifice  now  stands,  long  before  the  Civil  War.  The  present 
large  frame  church  was  built  in  1895.  Among  the  more  active 
pioneers  in  Methodism  in  this  place  were  Joel  and  Levi  Moody, 
Sally  Tester,  Franklin  Baird,  Andrew  Mast  and  the  first  Joseph 
Shull.  But  its  growth  was  slow  for  a  long  period.  Among  the 
first  elders  and  preachers  were  Elder  Haskew,  who  came  from 


'  Tradition  says  that  this  man  was  judicially  and  judiciously  whipped  at 
Boone  for  having  stolen  "hawgs."  One  who  saw  the  thirty-nine  lashes  "well 
laid  on"  remembers  that  the  licks  were  struck  with  small  willow  switches,  which 
made  first  white  and  then  red  stripes.  Christoffle  left  the  country  after  this 
disgrace. 


lo8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Tennessee  long  before  the  Civil  War;  Archelus  Brooks  and  a 
Mr.  Allspaw.  Since  the  Civil  War  the  church  has  grown  to  be 
the  largest  and  most  influential  of  the  denomination  in  the  entire 
county,  most  probably. 

Henson's  Chapel. — According  to  Col.  Thomas  Bingham, 
Elizabeth  Whitlow  was  the  first  Methodist  who  ever  came  to 
what  is  now  Watauga  County.  She  came  with  her  family  when 
they  were  on  their  way  to  Tennessee  in  1810  or  181 1,  and,  be- 
coming snow-bound  on  Brushy  Fork,  became  acquainted  with 
Colston  Davis,  whom  she  afterwards  married,  Colston  fol- 
lowed her  to  Tennessee,  where  they  were  married,  and  soon 
returned  and  started  a  Methodist  community.  This  is  probably 
the  Davis  with  whom  the  first  itinerant  left  an  appointment,  as 
stated  by  Cyrus  Grubb.  But  there  was  no  Methodist  Church  for 
a  long  time,  the  first  Methodist  preacher  who  passed  up  Cove 
Creek  using  the  log  Baptist  Church  which  formerly  stood  on 
the  site  on  which  the  present  Walnut  Grove  Academy  now  stands. 
But  he  preached  largely,  if  not  entirely,  to  Baptists,  and  when 
he  offered  to  leave  another  appointment  there  objection  was 
made.  Whereupon,  this  Methodist  preacher  asked  if  there  was 
not  some  member  of  the  congregation  who  would  open  the  doors 
of  his  home  for  the  next  appointment,  and  Golsten  Davis  offered 
his  own  home  for  that  purpose.  It  is  said  that  Davis  was  not  a 
very  prepossessing  looking  man,  and  that  up  to  that  good  hour 
his  wife  had  been  more  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  his  heart 
than  with  the  pulchritude  of  his  person.  But  when  he  rose  and 
made  this  offer,  tradition  says  she  declared  that  he  was  "pretty," 
using  a  generic  word  for  good  looks  which  is  still  common  with 
our  people.  At  that  meeting  at  Davis's  house  only  two  or  three 
were  present.  This  was  near  Amantha  and  that  preacher's 
name  was  Greer.  From  this  nucleus  grew  the  present  large 
Methodist  community  which  worships  at  Henson's  Chapel,  built 
about  1868,  the  widow  of  Charles  Henson  having  donated  the 
land  for  that  purpose.  Her  name  was  Elizabeth,  and  she  came 
with  her  husband  from  Iredell  County  about  1829  or  1830.  The 
present  house,  replacing  the  one  built  in  1868,  was  built  about 
1885.     This  congregation  is  credited  with  paying  more  money 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  109 

for  all  purposes  than  any  other  Methodist  Church  in  the  county, 
having  contributed  this  year  $563.00,  of  which  $360.00  is  for 
the  pastor's  salary.  It  has  196  members,  of  whom  J.  B.  Horton, 
Don  Horton,  Thomas  Bingham  and  J.  C.  Henson  are  very  active 
and  earnest.  Among  those  most  prominent  in  the  past  are  re- 
called the  names  of  George  M.  Bingham,  John  Combs,  Thomas 
Harbin  and  wife,  Charles  Henson  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth, 
George  Moody,  Mrs.  Eli  Farmer  and  Golson  Davis  and  wife. 
Among  those  who  preached  here  in  the  distant  past  were  Messrs. 
Miles,  Joshua  Cole,  Tillett,  Blackburn  and  Martin.  Sheriff 
A.  J.  McBride  was  for  a  time  a  Methodist  preacher,  but  toward 
the  close  of  his  life  became  a  Baptist  minister,  dying  in  that 
faith. 

The  Boone  Methodist  Church. — This  was  organized  soon 
after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  meetings  having  been  held  prior 
to  that  time  in  the  court  house  and  elsewhere.  But  about  1873 
land  was  bought  on  the  hill  on  which  now  stands  the  residence 
of  J.  M.  Moretz  and  a  church  seating  600  erected.  This  was 
used  till  September,  1897  (Deed  Book  T,  p.  369),  when  M.  B. 
Blackburn  sold  them  the  small  lot  on  which  the  present  church 
was  built.  The  Hardin,  Winkler,  Blair,  Norris,  Blackburn, 
Lovill,  Bingham,  Councill,  Critcher,  Rivers  and  Linney  families 
are  prominent  in  this  church. 

Other  Churches. — After  the  Civil  War  the  third  church  was 
built  at  Elk  Cross  Roads,  after  which  J.  N.  and  his  wife,  Nancy, 
Norris  conveyed  land  to  G.  W.  Norris  and  C.  A.  Grubb  and 
others,  as  trustees  in  April,  1886,  at  Fairview,  where  a  large 
congregation  worships  (Deed  Book  L,  p.  575).  On  the  4th  of 
February,  1882,  George  W.  Dugger  conveyed  to  Thomas  Prof- 
fitt,  R.  N.  Culver,  E.  H.  Banner,  J.  H.  Perry  and  A.  J.  Proffitt, 
as  trustees,  land  for  a  Methodist  Church  at  Banner's  Elk,  which 
church  was  soon  afterwards  erected.  In  this  community  the 
church  is  quite  strong,  its  members  having  worshipped  before 
acquiring  this  land  in  a  common  meeting  house  used  by  all 
denominations.  On  the  19th  day  of  April,  1902,  John  W. 
Hodges  and  wife  and  Robert  L.  Bingham  conveyed  to  L.  H. 
Michael   and   others,   as   trustees,   land   at   Rutherwood   for   a 


no  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Methodist  Church,  which  was  soon  afterwards  erected  (Deed 
Book  Z,  p.  142).  The  first  Methodist  Church  at  Hopewell 
was  a  small  log  house  which  stood  in  rear  of  the  present  home 
of  Wiley  W.  Blackburn  on  the  land  of  Joseph  Miller.  It  had 
been  built  by  Levi  Blackburn  and  his  sons  about  1850,  but 
afterwards  a  frame  church  was  erected  100  yards  above  the 
site  of  the  first  log  structure.  This  stood  till  about  1900, 
when  the  present  house  was  built  about  300  yards  from  the 
former.  As  well  as  Rev,  Lorenzo  Dow  Cole,  who  for  years 
has  been  the  chaplain  of  the  Nimrod  Triplet  Camp,  Confed- 
erate States  Veterans,  now  recalls,  the  first  Methodist  preacher 
in  this  county  found  Aunt  Elizabeth  Cooper  on  Meadow  Creek, 
away  back  in  the  earliest  days,  and  left  an  appointment  at  her 
house,  and  when  Cyrus  A.  Grubb  was  a  boy  they  were  preaching 
in  an  out-house  in  her  yard.  Out  of  this  in  1885  grew  the  pres- 
ent Cranberry  Church.  One  of  the  earliest  churches  built  was 
at  John  Morphew's,  and  later  on  near  Laxton's  Creek.  About 
1875  the  Blackburns  and  Grahams  built  a  church  at  Todd.  It  is 
called   Blackburn   Chapel.     Rev.  James   Daly,  Joseph   Haskew 

and Clawton  were  presiding  elders  prior  to  the  Civil 

War.  Among  the  preachers  who  have  served  the  Methodist 
Churches  since  the  war  are  Messrs.  George  Stewart,  G.  W. 
Miles,  L.  L.  Cralock,  B.  W.  S.  Bishop,  Taylor,  Wheeler,  Cook, 
Cordell,  Blair,  Bagley,  Vestal,  Jones  and  Bennett. 

A  Family  of  M.  E.  Church  Preachers. — William  Matney 
and  John  Wright  with  their  families  came  from  England  to 
America  just  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and 
settled  in  Virginia,  near  the  James  River,  William  finally  locating 
in  Pittsylvania  County,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  was  a  strict  John  Wesley  type  of  a  Methodist.  Two  of  his 
children,  John  and  James,  are  remembered  yet  by  his  North 
Carolina  descendants,  John  having  married  Nancy  Wright,  a 
daughter  of  John'  Wright  above  named,  and  after  a  few  years 
removed  from  Pittsylvania  to  a  farm  near  the  Moravian  Falls, 
in  Wilkes  County,  and,  after  most  of  his  children  were  grown, 
he  sold  this  farm  and  moved  to  Caldwell.  He  had  a  large 
family  of  children,  was  a  scholarly  man  for  his  day,  taught 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  iii 

school,  conducted  religious  services  and  was  an  effective,  old- 
time  Methodist  exhorter.  All  of  his  five  boys  married  except 
one  who  died  at  fourteen,  while  all  of  his  seven  girls  followed 
their  example,  one  of  them  marrying  Adam  Hampton,  of 
Watauga,  and  the  others  Caldwell  and  Wilkes  County  men. 
John  Matney's  eldest  son,  William,  settled  in  Missouri;  John 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  while  James  and  Thomas 
became  itinerant  Methodist  preachers  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 
Thomas  came  to  Watauga  County  just  after  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  James  followed  in  1871,  both  preaching  in  the 
bounds  of  the  Blue  Ridge  circuit.  James  Matney  organized  six 
of  the  churches  of  this  circuit,  the  first  having  been  in  1865  and 
in  the  home  of  Samuel  Brown,  the  grandfather  of  R.  M.  Brown. 
Thomas  Matney  had  eight  boys,  six  of  whom  were  preachers. 
Two  have  died  and  two  others  have  gone  to  other  States,  while 
two  still  remain  members  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Atlantic  Confer- 
ence. Thomas  Matney  died  at  Montezuma,  now  in  Avery 
County,  while  James  Matney  died  at  his  home  in  Watauga, 
February  28,  1914,  aged  ninety-one  years,  his  widow  and  three 
children  still  residing  here.  One  son.  Prof.  W.  W.  Matney, 
resides  in  Asheville.  The  men  of  this  family  seem  specially 
called  to  preach,  and  all  are  law-abiding  citizens  and  friends  of 
education,  temperance  and  progress. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Churches. — This  branch  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  did  not  begin  its  work  in  this  section  till  after  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War.  There  is  a  church  of  this  denomination 
on  the  Blue  Ridge,  known  as  Brown's  Chapel,  and  others  at  the 
mouth  of  Grassy  Creek,  on  the  head  of  Valley  Creek  and  at 
Silverstone,  and  the  Pine  Grove  Methodist  Church  one  mile 
from  Antioch  Baptist  Church  on  lower  Watauga. 

Primitive  Baptists. — For  years  this  church,  also  called  Hard 
Shells,  Anti-missionary,  etc.,  Baptists,  were  the  prevailing  de- 
nomination of  this  entire  mountain  country.  They  were  the 
pioneers  and  fought  the  first  battles  with  sin  in  this  wilderness, 
led  by  preachers  who  refused  all  compensation  for  their  services 
as  ministers  of  the  gospel.    A  church  of  that  faith  is  still  flour- 


112  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

ishing  on  the  upper  Watauga,  near  Shull's  Mills.  It  seems  that 
the  real  name  of  this  denomination  is  simply  "Baptists." 

The  Presbyterian,  Southern. — There  is  a  flourishing  church 
of  this  denomination  at  Banner's  Elk,  which  was  established 
there  about  1900,  and  another  at  Blowing  Rock,  established  in 
1898.  That  there  are  schools  with  both  these  churches  goes 
without  saying,  as  with  this  denomination  beside  the  foundation 
stone  of  Christ  and  Him  crucified  is  always  laid  still  another 
foundation  stone,  education.  The  good  work  these  churches  are 
doing  is  simply  incalculable.  With  them,  faith  without  works 
is  dead,  while  to  be  in  true  fellowship  with  them,  one  must  prove 
his  faith  by  his  works.  Schools,  hospitals,  orphanages,  domestic 
science  and  other  practical  and  helpful  enterprises,  signalize  this 
denomination  wherever  it  is  found.  Gradually  the  descendants 
of  the  old  Scotch  Covenanters  are  returning  to  the  home  of  their 
great-great-grandfathers,  always  to  remain. 

The  Lutherans. — This  church  is  the  Protestant  Church  of 
Germany,  having  been  founded  long  before  Henry  the  Eighth 
established  the  Church  of  England.  Martin  Luther  believed 
that  the  people  were  entitled  to  read  and  interpret  the  entire 
Bible,  and  to  that  end  defied  the  Diet  at  Worms  with  words  that 
will  live  forever:  "Here  I  stand,  God  helping  me.  I  can  do 
no  otherwise."  The  large  German  and  Dutch  element  of  our 
population  required  a  church  of  this  character,  and  one  was 
established  at  Valle  Crucis  before  Bishop  Ives  arrived  in  1842. 
Among  these  were  William  Van  Dyke,  Andrew  and  Alexander 
and  James  Townsend,  Harvey  Hollers,  Samuel  Lusk,  members 
of  the  Herman  family,  and  David  Shook,  all  Lutherans.  Their 
church  stood  to  the  left  of  the  road  going  from  Mast's  store  at 
Valle  Crucis  toward  the  Mission  School,  in  a  little  flat  above  Dr. 
Perry's,  nearly  opposite  the  site  of  the  first  Methodist  Church. 
It  was  here  that  Christian  Moretz  preached,  while  others  came 
occasionally.  It  is  mentioned  in  the  "Life  of  W.  W.  Skiles"  that 
members  of  this  church  worshipped  with  the  Valle  Crucis  Mis- 
sion during  the  time  of  Bishop  Ives.  Timothy  Townsend  is 
now  a  vestryman  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Valle  Crucis.  Prior 
to  the  establishment  of  this  church  at  Valle  Crucis,  about  1845, 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  113 

according  to  Alfred  J.  Moretz,  his  father,  John  Moretz,  estab- 
lished the  first  Lutheran  Church  in  the  county,  near  Soda  Hill, 
in  a  small  school  house.  This  church  was  visited  in  summer 
months  by  Lutheran  ministers  from  Lincoln,  Iredell  and 
Catawba  counties.  These  preached  at  first  in  German.  Among 
the  first  of  these  preachers  were  Alfred  J.  Fox,  of  Lincoln; 
Jonathan  and  Timothy  Mosers,  of  Catawba,  and  Father  Henry 
Goodman,  of  Iredell,  and  Adam  Elfird,  of  Lincoln.  The  first 
sermon  was  preached  at  Lookabill  school  house.  The  Lutheran 
Church  was  not  built  there  till  after  the  Civil  War,  say,  1866  or 
1867.  A  new  church  replaced  the  first  about  1890.  Another 
Lutheran  Church  was  built  about  1900  at  the  head  of  Meat  Camp 
Creek.  There  is  also  one  on  Dutch  Creek  at  Valle  Crucis,  while 
there  is  a  small  congregation  at  Gap  Creek.  The  Moretz,  Wine- 
barger,  Woodring  and  Davis  families,  of  Meat  Camp,  were  at- 
tendants of  these  churches.  There  is  a  German  Reformed 
Church  at  Blowing  Rock,  with  Rev.  John  Ingle  as  pastor.  The 
Lutherans,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Mr.  Carpenter,  are  pre- 
paring to  build  a  church  edifice  in  Boone. 

The  Episcopalians. — In  addition  to  the  facts  stated  in  Chap- 
ter VII,  it  should  be  recorded  that  on  June  26,  1882,  the  late 
D.  B.  Dougherty  conveyed  to  the  Diocese  of  North  Carolina 
a  lot  in  Boone  opposite  the  late  Dr.  W.  B.  Councill's  home  place. 
(Deed  Book  "],"  page  488.)  Shortly  thereafter  George  W. 
Councill  was  given  the  contract  to  build  the  present  St.  Luke's 
Church.  After  Mr.  Savage's  arrival,  in  1903,  a  vestibule  and 
chancel  were  added  to  the  original  building. 


CHAPTER  X. 
County  History. 

Formation  of  the  County. — In  1848  George  Bower,  called 
"Double  Head"  because  of  his  wisdom  and  farsightedness,  was 
in  the  State  Senate  from  Ashe,  and  Reuben  Mast  in  the  House. 
Bower  lived  in  Jefferson,  while  Mast  lived  near  Valle  Crucis, 
thirty-five  miles  from  the  county-seat,  which  rendered  it  very 
inconvenient  for  him  and  his  neighbors  to  attend  court.  As 
Ashe  County  embraced  in  its  limits  not  only  what  is  now 
Watauga,  but  the  present  county  of  Alleghany  also,  it  could  very 
well  spare  the  southern  portion,  which  was  too  remote  for  con- 
venience. Besides,  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  lived  in  the  territory 
which  it  was  sought  to  detach  from  the  mother  county,  and  his 
influence,  which  was  great,  was  thrown  for  the  new  county. 
As  he  was  the  brother-in-law  of  Senator  Bower,  he  naturally 
"had  the  ear  of  the  court."  A  bill  for  a  new  county  was,  ac- 
cordingly, introduced  in  the  legislature  and  passed  in  1849. 

Jordan  Councill,  Jr.'s,  Influence. — This  gentleman  for  years 
kept  the  only  store  in  this  section.  He  fixed  prices  of  all  things 
in  which  he  dealt.  He  bought  large  steers  for  as  low  as  nine 
dollars  each,  and  drove  them  and  the  larger  cattle  to  the  Valley 
of  Virginia,  frequently  accompanied  by  his  brother-in-law, 
George  Bower.  From  Virginia  they  went  north  and  bought 
their  stocks  of  goods,  shipping  them  by  water  to  Richmond,  Va., 
and  from  there  by  canal  boat  to  Lynchburg,  from  which  point 
they  were  brought  by  wagon  to  Boone  and  Jefferson.  Other 
goods  were  shipped  by  water  to  Fayetteville,  from  which  they 
were  brought  by  wagon  to  Boone.  Councill  would  load  wagons 
with  deer  hams  and  hides,  butter,  cranberries,  dried  fruit,  bees- 
wax, tallow,  etc.,  and,  drawn  by  six  horses,  these  wagons  were 
hauled  to  Charleston,  S.  C.  With  the  wagon  train  went  droves 
of  mules  and  horses,  which  were  sold  along  the  road  to  planters 
and  goods  purchased  with  the  proceeds.    He  unwittingly  hauled 

114 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  115 

a  rat  in  a  goods  box  from  Charleston  to  Boone  on  one  occasion. 
He  drove  cattle — fat  cows  and  heifers — to  Charlotte  and  Con- 
cord. Large  droves  of  cattle,  horses  and  mules  passed  through 
Boone  from  Kentucky  to  the  South  and  East  before  and  since 
the  Civil  War.  Hogs  were  driven  through  before,  but  not  since, 
the  Civil  War.  When  the  location  of  the  county  seat  was  to  be 
determined  it  was  the  influence  of  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  that 
fixed  it  near  his  store  and  dwelling.  Some  wanted  the  court 
house  at  Brushy  Fork  and  others  at  Valle  Crucis.  It  would 
most  probably  have  been  located  at  the  Muster  Ground,  half  a 
mile  east  of  Boone,  if  Benjamin  Councill,  Sr.,  had  been  willing 
to  donate  the  ground  for  that  purpose,  but  as  Ransom  Hayes 
and  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  were  willing  to  donate  twenty-five 
acres  each,  it  was  determined  to  locate  the  court  house  where 
F.  A.  Linney's  residence  now  stands,  Hayes  deeding  twenty-five 
acres  between  the  branch  above  Blackburn's  hotel,  then  called 
Upper  Branch,  and  the  branch  that  flows  by  the  new  post  office, 
then  called  the  Middle  Branch,  and  Councill  a  like  amount  of 
land  between  the  Middle  and  Lower  Branches,  as  the  stream 
that  flows  west  of  the  Critcher  hotel — the  old  Coffey  hotel — was 
called. 

Three  New  England  Visitors. — Watauga  has  had  three  dis- 
tinguished visitors  from  New  England:  Dr.  Elisha  Mitchell, 
of  the  North  Carolina  University;  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  and 
Miss  Margaret  W.  Morley.  To  our  everlasting  regret,  we 
pleased  only  that  last  of  these,  but,  as  she  was  the  most  recent, 
it  is  hoped  that  we  had  improved  since  the  visits  of  the  other 
two.  "Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend,"  said  Solomon 
thousands  of  years  ago.  If  so,  then  Dr.  Mitchell  and  Mr. 
Warner  were  our  friends  indeed,  for  they  "spoke  right  out." 
As  Dr.  Mitchell's  remarks  were  in  letters  to  his  wife  and  not 
intended  for  the  public,  nothing  he  wrote  rankles,  but  while  we 
are  anxious  to  attribute  the  Warner  strictures  to  dyspepsia,  he 
certainly  "stuck  to  what  he  said,"  having  preserved  what  he 
wrote  for  Harper's  Magazine  in  1884,  and  repeated  it  in  book 
form  (On  Horseback)  in  1888.'    He  certainly  flayed  us,  sparing 

*  "On  Horseback." 


Ii6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

nothing  and  nobody.  And  if,  in  this  Land  of  the  Sky,  he  saw  a 
bird  or  a  bee  or  a  sunbeam;  if  a  single  pleasant  odor  from  the 
chalices  of  the  wild  flowers  was  wafted  to  his  nostrils,  if  a  bird 
sang  within  his  hearing  or  a  child's  prattle  appealed  to  him  once 
during  the  whole  of  that  two  hundred  miles'  journey  through 
the  mountains  of  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina  in  the  liquid 
gold  of  our  summer  sunlight,  he  left  no  record  of  it  in  the 
saturnine  account  of  his  trip  which  he  published  to  the  world. 
On  the  other  hand.  Miss  Morley,  who  passed  over  a  part  of  this 
same  route  a  few  years  later,  saw  the  sunshine  imprisoned  in  our 
flowers,  heard  the  strains  of  invisible  choirs  in  babbling  brook 
and  singing  bird,  and  recognized  angel  faces  in  the  countenances 
of  little  children  clinging  to  those  whom  Mr.  Warner  called  their 
"frowsy"  mothers."  Mr.  Warner's  chief  trouble  seemed  to  be 
flies.  Whenever  he  stopped,  there  seemed  to  him  to  be  nothing 
but  flies.  They  were  not  only  in  the  ointment,  but  in  the  amber 
also.  And  no  wonder,  for  on  leaving  Abingdon,  Va.,  the  saddle 
he  rode  was  discovered  to  have  been  smeared  the  previous  winter 
with  tallow.  Seat,  pommel,  cantle,  stirrup  leathers  and  saddle 
skirts,  all  had  been  covered  with  tallow,  which  had  been  well 
rubbed  in  when  they  were  put  away  the  winter  before.  Mr. 
Warner  discovered  this  before  he  started  on  his  journey,  and 
bought  white  overalls,  which  served  to  protect  his  trousers  from 
the  grease.  This  grease,  mixed  with  the  dust  of  the  road,  at- 
tracted the  flies,  and  hinc  illce  lacrimce,  or  words  to  that  gen- 
eral effect. 

Dr.  Mitchell's  Geological  Tour.'— In  July,  1828,  this  gentle- 
man of  New  England  birth  and  North  Carolina  adoption,  for 
he  was  then  a  slave-owner,  made  a  tour  of  the  mountain  coun- 
ties at  the  expense  of  the  State,  and  "determined"  several  speci- 
mens of  minerals  that  were  submitted  to  him.  He  passed  over 
the  Ballou  iron  mines,  the  Ore  Knob  copper  mines,  the  mica 
mines  near  Beaver  Creek,  the  porcelain  clay  on  Howard's  Creek, 
and  was  near  the  Elk  Mountain  copper  vein;    he  visited  the 


'  "The  Carolina  Mountains,"  Houghton-Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,   1913. 

»  This  diary  was  published  by  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  its  James 
Sprunt  Historical  Monograph,  No.  6,  1905.     It  should  be  widely  read. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  117 

Grandfather  and  did  not  recognize  the  tamarack  tree  nor  the 
great  age  of  the  rocks  of  that  ancient  pile,  thinking  they  "be- 
longed to  the  transition  of  Tennessee,"  whatever  that  may  or 
may  not  mean.  But  he  made  no  report  of  his  journey  and 
seemed  never  to  have  suspected  that  copper,  iron  and  mica  of 
great  wealth  and  abundance  existed  at  the  points  indicated.  But 
he  did  find  fault  with  one  of  our  ladies  because  she  wiped  her 
soiled  hands  on  her  clean  apron  just  before  she  began  to  mix 
the  meal  for  his  bread,  and  called  some  of  the  women  with 
whom  two  hunters  were  living  illicitly  "schquaws,  very  pretty 
ones,  but  schquaws  notwithstanding."  He  visited  Robert 
Shearer's,  where  he  met  his  "pretty  daughter  and  her  husband, 
a  good-hearted  fellow,  not  half  good  enough  for  her."  He 
preached  at  Three  Forks  Baptist  Church,  stopped  at  Jordan 
Councill's  store,  which  he  found  open  on  Sunday,  and  visited 
Noah  Mast,  David  Miller  and  several  others. 

The  Tennessee  Boundary  Line. — In  1784  North  Carolina 
passed  an  act  to  give  Congress  twenty-nine  million  acres  lying 
between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi  River.  Congress 
needed  the  money  with  which  to  pay  off  debts  incurred  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  but  that  was  not  the  principal  reason  for 
the  cession  of  this  great  territory,  much  of  the  best  portions  of 
which  had  been  already  granted  to  settlers.  Up  to  that  time  the 
people  of  the  ceded  territory  had  presented  many  claims  for  com- 
pensation for  military  services,  supplies,  etc.,  in  campaigns 
against  the  Cherokees,  in  the  strict  justness  of  which  the  mother 
State  did  not  altogether  believe.  On  the  score  of  poverty  North 
Carolina  had  refused  to  establish  a  Superior  Court  in  this  terri- 
tory, called  the  Watauga  Settlement,  or  to  appoint  a  prosecuting 
officer.  The  four  counties  comprising  the  settlements  west  of 
the  mountains  were  Davidson,  Washington,  Sullivan  and  Greene, 
and  their  representatives  voted  in  the  legislature  for  the  ces- 
sion. The  act  of  cession  provided,  however,  that  the  sovereignty 
and  jurisdiction  of  North  Carolina  should  continue  over  the 
ceded  territory  until  it  should  be  accepted  by  Congress,  and 
made  the  act  void  if  Congress  should  not  accept  the  gift  within 
two  years.     As  most  of  the  Watauga  settlers  were  originally 


Ii8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

from  Virginia,  the  majority  were  anxious  for  an  excuse  to  with- 
draw from  North  Carohna  and  set  up  a  government  of  their 
own.  The  result  was  the  attempt  to  establish  the  independent 
State  of  Franklin,  with  John  Sevier  at  its  head.  This  attempted 
secession  failed  and  North  CaroUna  resumed  full  jurisdiction 
over  the  disputed  territory  before  March,  1788.  Congress  ac- 
cepted the  cession  of  the  territory,  and  in  1796  the  State  of 
Tennessee  was  organized.  In  1796  North  Carolina  ordered  a 
survey  of  the  boundary  line  between  the  two  States. 

Boundary  Line  and  Land  Grant  Disputes. — Any  map  of 
North  Carolina  will  show  that  the  line  between  it  and  Ten- 
nessee runs  due  south  from  the  Hiawassee  River,  instead  of 
following  the  general  southwestern  direction  with  the  trend  of 
the  mountains.  The  case  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  1914,  between  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina, 
grew  out  of  a  dispute  over  the  line  at  the  head  of  Telico  and 
Citico  Creeks,  just  north  of  the  Hiawassee  River,  being  what  is 
called  the  Rainbow  Country.  Telico  and  Citico  Creeks  rise  much 
further  east  than  the  points  at  which  the  State  line  crosses  those 
streams,  the  mountain  range  bending  eastward  instead  of  fol- 
lowing the  general  southwestern  course  of  the  range.  The 
Supreme  Court  decision  is  to  the  effect  that,  as  it  was  originally 
run  and  marked  there,  and  both  States  adopted  that  line  soon 
thereafter  as  being  in  accord  with  the  Act  pf  Cession,  each  State 
is  bound  thereby.  Why  Tennessee  consented  to  this  loss  of  ter- 
ritory may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  line  runs  due 
south  from  the  Hiawassee  River  to  the  Georgia  line.*  There  is, 
however,  no  evidence  that  the  commissioners  agreed  to  exchange 
what  North  Carolina  gained  in  the  "Rainbow"  country  for  what 
Tennessee  gained  south  of  the  Hiawassee.  But,  in  making  that 
trade,  North  Carolina  lost  the  Ducktown  copper  mines ! 

Military  Land  Warrants. — When  the  Tennessee  territory 
was  ceded  to  Congress  the  act  provided  that  all  military  land 
warrants  that  had  been  given  to  soldiers  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  all  entries  previously  made  in  the  ceded  territory, 

*  Archibald  D.  Murphey  anticipated  trouble  on  this  account  because  of  the 
claim  Tennessee  was  making  in  November,  1819,  that  the  mountain  range  did 
not  extend  south  of  the  Hiawasse  river.     Murphey's  papers.  Vol.  II,  p.  190. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  119 

should  be  reserved  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  warrants  and 
entries  in  case  the  holders  of  the  same  might  not  be  able  to  sat- 
isfy them  out  of  land  fit  for  cultivation  in  North  Carolina. 
Many  of  these  warrants  had  not  been  'so  satisfied.  Congress 
accepted  these  conditions.  However,  in  1803,  at  the  request 
of  Tennessee,  North  Carolina  granted  Tennessee  power  to  is- 
sue grants  and  perfect  titles  in  this  reserved  territory  as  fully 
as  could  North  Carolina,  except  that  North  Carolina  reserved 
the  right  to  issue  military  warrants  exclusively,  which  act  Ten- 
nessee ratified  August  4,  1804,  and  Congress  April  18,  1806. 
But,  as  time  went  on,  very  little  territory  was  left  in  Tennes- 
see except  Indian  lands,  to  which  the  Indian  rights  had  not 
been  extinguished.  As,  however.  North  Carolina  had  exe- 
cuted to  Tennessee  title  to  all  the  Tennessee  territory  by  deed 
dated  February  25,  1790,  Congress,  in  order  to  make  this  power 
effective,  had  to  cede  to  the  latter  State  nearly  half  of  the 
vacant  lands  within  its  limits,  which  it  did  by  the  same  act  by 
which  it  had  ratified  North  Carolina's  grant  in  1803  to  Tennes- 
see of  equal  power  with  herself  to  issue  grants  and  perfect 
titles,  except  military  warrants,  namely  the  act  of  April  18, 
1806.  All  the  territory  to  which  title  still  remained  in  Con- 
gress was  the  Chickasaw  Indian  Reservation,  which  by  treaty 
of  1818  vested  in  Congress.  Congress  then  empowered  Ten- 
nessee to  satisfy  North  Carolina  claims  out  of  lands  lying  west 
and  south  of  the  line  prescribed  in  the  act  of  April  18,  1806. 
North  Carolina  notified  holders  of  her  military  warrants  of  this, 
and  caused  the  muster  roll  to  be  published  and  transcribed,  but 
went  on  thereafter  to  issue  additional  military  warrants  until 
the  muster  roll  had  been  filled.  But,  in  1840,  some  of  these  mili- 
tary land  warrants  and  some  entries  also  remained  unsatisfied. 
Tennessee,  claiming  that  she  had  already  provided  for  all  valid 
military  land  warrants,  refused  to  made  provision  for  those  still 
outstanding.  But  this  provision  had  required  the  submission  of 
such  claims  to  a  commission  which  had  been  appointed  by  Ten- 
nessee alone,  and  had  ceased  to  exist  from  October  22,  1822,  so 
that  no  North  Carolina  military  land  warrants  issued  after  that 
date  could  be  submitted  to  that  commission.     Under  these  cir- 


120  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

cumstances  Robert  Love,  of  Haywood  County,  prepared  and 
submitted  to  Congress  a  memorial  in  1816,  and  succeeded,  ap- 
parently, in  getting  these  claims  satisfied,  and  another  memorial 
was  drawn  up  and  sent  to  Congress  by  Archibald  Murphey 
January  29,  1824,  according  to  Murphey 's  Papers  (Vol.  II,  pp. 
320,  328).  Many  of  these  military  land  warrants  were  held  by 
the  descendants  of  Revolutionary  soldiers  in  Ashe,  afterwards 
Watauga  County. 

Running  the  State  Line. — As  the  Cherokees  occupied  the 
territory  southwest  of  the  Big  Pigeon  River  in  what  is  now 
Haywood  County,  no  provision  was  made  for  running  the  line 
beyond  that  point.  Generally  speaking,  the  line  was  to  follow 
the  tops  of  the  Stone,  the  Smoky  and  the  Unaka  Mountains 
from  Virginia  to  Georgia,  but  to  be  surveyed  and  marked  only 
from  Virginia  to  the  Pigeon.  The  surveying  party  consisted  of 
Col.  Joseph  McDowell,  David  Vance,  Mussendine  Matthews, 
speaker  of  the  House,  commissioners.  John  Strother  and  Robert 
Henry  were  the  surveyors.  The  party  met  May  19,  1799,  at 
Captain  Isaac  Weaver's,  near  what  is  now  Tuckerdale,  a  station 
on  the  new  Virginia-Carolina  Railway,  in  Ashe  County.  The 
chain  bearers  and  markers  were  B.  Collins,  James  Hawkins, 
George  Penland,  Robert  Logan,  George  Davidson  and  J.  Mat- 
thews. James  Neely  was  commissary.  In  addition,  there  were 
two  pack  horse  men  and  a  pilot.  The  survey  began  on  the  20th 
of  May  and  ended  the  28th  of  June,  1799.  They  camped  on  the 
night  of  the  23d  of  May  in  the  Cut  Laurel  Gap,  whence  they 
sent  John  Strother  down  to  David  Miller's  on  Meat  Camp  to 
get  a  young  man  to  act  as  pilot,  but  Strother  failed  to  do  so,  and 
then  went  on  "to  Cove  Creek,  where  I  got  a  Mr.  Curtis  and 
met  the  company  in  a  low  gap  between  the  waters  of  Cove 
Creek  and  Roan's  Creek,  where  the  road  crosses  the  same." 
This  road  must  have  been  the  Indian  trail  which  passed  over  the 
low  gap  between  what  is  now  Zionville,  N.  C,  and  Trade,  Tenn. 
Traces  of  this  trail  can  still  be  seen  to  the  right  of  the  present 
wagon  road.  It  was  this  trail  that  Boone  followed  on  his  first 
trip  into  Kentucky.  The  new  pilot  was  discharged  on  the  28th 
because  he  proved  "not  to  be  a  woodsman;"  and  on  June  ist 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  121 

they  came  to  the  Wattogoo  River.  This  was  a  short  distance 
above  Watauga  Falls,  where  they  killed  a  lean  bear,  just  out  of 
winter  quarters,  which  they  ate  "with  bacon  and  johnny  cake  on 
Sunday  morning."  As  the  act  of  cession  required  the  line  to  be 
run  from  the  "place  where  the  Watauga  River  breaks  through 
the  mountain  a  direct  course  to  the  top  of  the  Yellow  Mountain 
where  Bright's  Road  crosses  the  same,"  and  as  the  Yellow  was 
not  visible  from  the  river  bed,  the  surveyors  had  to  go  back  to 
the  peak  overhanging  the  Falls  and  get  the  bearing  of  the  Yellow 
from  that  point.  The  diaries  of  Strother  and  Henry  show  that 
the  line  was  actually  run  and  marked  from  the  Watauga  Falls 
to  the  top  of  the  Yellow,  though  a  local  tradition  maintains  that 
the  party  simply  found  the  easiest  path  to  the  top  of  the  Yellow, 
without  surveying  or  marking  a  straight  line  from  the  point 
where  the  river  breaks  through  the  mountain.  It  was  here  that 
the  Cranberry  vein  deflected  their  compasses.  It  was  on  Satur- 
day, June  1st,  that  they  came  across  a  very  large  rattlesnake, 
which  Strother  called  a  rattlebug.  They  tried  to  kill  it,  but  "it 
was  too  souple  in  the  heels  for  us."  In  Robert  Henry's  diary  he 
mentions  Gideon  Lewis  as  the  guide  from  White  Top  Mountain 
to  the  place  where  they  sent  for  another,  when  they  got  to  the 
head  of  Meat  Camp.  One  of  his  descendants,  David  Lewis, 
lives  near  Ashland,  and  Rev.  Gideon  Lewis,  a  Dunkard  minister, 
lives  now  in  Taylor's  Valley,  Tenn.  Most  of  the  Lewises  of 
Watauga  are  descended  from  the  same  Gideon  who  piloted  these 
surveyors  along  the  State  line  in  1799. 

Watauga  County  Lines. — In  order  to  determine  the  lines  of 
Watauga  County  it  is  necessary  to  give  the  various  calls  of  sev- 
eral counties,  as  follows : 

Of  Burke:  Beginning  at  the  Catawba  River  on  the  line  be- 
tween Rowan  and  Tryon  Counties ;  thence  running  up  the 
meanders  of  said  river  to  the  north  end  of  an  island  known  by 
the  name  of  the  "Three  Cornered  Island ;"  thence  north  to  the 
ridge  that  divides  the  Yadkin  and  Catawba  waters ;  thence 
westerly  along  the  ridge  to  the  mountain  which  divides  the  east- 
ern and  western  waters,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Blue  Mountains  (sic).     All  that  part  of  Rowan  County  which 


122  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

lies  west  and  south  of  the  said  dividing  line  shall  thenceforth 
be  erected  into  a  new  county  by  the  name  of  Burke,  while  that 
part  east  of  the  dividing  line  shall  remain  Rowan  County.  Laws 
of  1777. 

Of  Buncombe:  Beginning  on  the  extreme  height  of  the  Ap- 
palachian Mountain  where  the  southern  boundary  of  this  State 
crosses  the  same;  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  said 
mountain  to  where  the  road  from  the  head  of  Catawba  River 
to  "Swannanoe"(sic)  crosses;  thence  along  the  main  ridge  di- 
viding the  waters  of  South  Toe  from  those  of  "Swannanoe" 
unto  the  Great  Black  Mountain;  thence  along  the  mountain  to 
the  northeast  end;  thence  along  the  main  ridge  between  South 
Toe  and  Little  Crabtree  to  the  mouth  of  said  Crabtree  Creek; 
thence  down  Toe  River  to  where  it  empties  into  the  Nollechucky 
River(sic)  ;"  thence  down  the  said  river  to  the  extreme  height 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  and  Cession  Line;  thence  along  the  Ces- 
sion Line  to  the  southern  boundary ;  thence  along  said  boundary 
to  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  thence  to  the  beginning.    Laws  of  1791. 

Of  Ashe:  "That  all  that  part  of  the  county  of  Wilkes  lying 
west  of  the  extreme  height  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains  shall 
be  and  the  same  is  hereby  erected  into  a  separate  and  distinct 
county  by  the  name  of  Ashe.'*  Potter's  Revisal,  Vol.  II,  p.  98, 
Laws  1799.  This  is  the  shortest  act  creating  a  new  county  on 
record,  and  the  supplemental  acts  required  to  make  it  clear  shows 
that  while  brevity  may  be  the  soul  of  wit,  it  is  not  that  of 
perspicuity. 

In  1814  (Rev.  Stat.  Vol.  II,  p.  98)  an  act  was  passed  to  estab- 
lish permanently  the  dividing  line  between  the  counties  of  Burke 
and  Ashe,  which  was  to  be  as  follows :  Beginning  at  the  Yadkin 
Spring  (which  is  fifty  yards  southeast  of  Green  Park  Hotel, 
Blowing  Rock)  ;  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  to  the  head  spring  of  the  Flat  Top  Fork  of  Elk  Creek 
(on  the  right  of  Linville  River  after  passing  Linville  Gap)  ; 
thence  down  the  meanders  of  said  creek  to  the  Tennessee  State 
line,  shall  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  perma- 
nent dividing  line  between  the  counties  of  Burke  and  Ashe. 


^  This  river  is  now  called  the  Toe  or  Estatoe  till  after  it  passes  into  Tennessee, 
when  it  becomes  the  Nollechucky,  or  simply  "the  Chucky." 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  123 

Of  Yancey:  That  all  that  part  of  Burke  and  Buncombe  in- 
cluded within  the  following  bounds,  to  wit:  Beginning  on  the 
extreme  height  of  the  Black  Mountain,  running  thence  along 
said  mountain  to  Ogle's  improvement;  thence  along  the  divid- 
ing ridge  to  Daniel  Carter's  Fork  field ;  thence  a  direct  course  to 
the  mouth  of  Big  Ivy  Creek;  thence  with  the  Warm  Springs 
Road  by  Barnard's  Station  to  the  Three  Forks  of  Laurel ;  thence 
a  direct  line,  so  as  to  include  James  Allen's  house  to  the  Ten- 
nessee line ;  thence  with  said  line  to  the  county  of  Ashe ;  thence 
with  the  line  of  said  county  to  the  Grandfather  Mountain; 
thence  a  direct  course  to  the  extreme  height  of  the  Hump 
Backed  Mountain  [just  east  of  LinviUe  River  above  the  Falls]  ; 
thence  with  the  Blue  Ridge  to  where  it  intersects  the  Black 
Mountain ;  thence  with  the  ridge  of  said  mountain  to  the  be- 
ginning, be  and  the  same  is  hereby  erected  into  a  separate  and 
distinct  county  by  the  name  of  Yancey.    Laws  of  1833. 

A  Supplemental  Act,  passed  in  1833  (Rev.  Stat.  Vol,  II,  pp. 
170,  171),  provided  that  the  county  courts  of  Buncombe  and 
Yancey  should  appoint  commissioners  to  ascertain  the  dividing 
line  between  said  two  counties  whenever  the  same  shall  be  neces- 
sary, and  that  they  should  commence  their  survey  at  Daniel 
Carter's  Fork  field  and  run  a  direct  line  from  thence  to  Barnard's 
Station,  from  which  point  the  line  shall  run  along  the  old  Warm 
Springs  Road  to  James  Allen's  Road,  so  as  to  include  his  house, 
and  thence  to  the  Tennessee  line. 

Watauga  County  Established. — "That  a  county  be  and  is 
hereby  laid  off  and  established  by  the  name  of  Watauga,  to  be 
composed  of  parts  of  the  counties  of  Ashe,  Wilkes,  Caldwell  and 
Yancey,  beginning  at  the  State  line  in  Lemuel  Wilson's  planta- 
tion and  running  with  the  State  line  in  a  northern  direction  two 
miles;  thence  running  as  near  as  may  be  in  a  direct  line,  so  as 
to  include  Thomas  Sutherland  in  the  county  of  Ashe,  to  the  top 
of  the  Big  Bald  Mountain;  thence  to  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek 
(now  Todd  or  Elkland)  on  the  South  Fork  of  New  River; 
thence  down  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  a  creek  [now  called 
Meadow  Creek]  that  runs  through  Samuel  Cooper's  plantation; 
thence  to  the  Deep  Gap  of  the  Blue  Ridge  between  the  waters 


124  -^  History  of  Watauga  County 

of  Stoney  Fork  and  Lewis  Fork  waters  of  the  Yadkin  River,  to 
where  the  road  leading  from  Wilkesboro  to  the  Deep  Gap 
crosses  the  top  of  Laurel  Spur;  thence  to  Elk  Creek  at  the 
Widow  Hampton's;  thence  to  the  top  of  the  White  Rock 
Mountain  [between  Joe's  Fork  and  Dugger's  Creek]  ;  thence  to 
the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  at  the  nearest  point  of  the  Yadkin 
Spring;  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to 
the  top  of  the  Grandmother  Mountain;  thence  with  the  lines  of 
Burke  County  to  the  corner  of  McDowell  County;  thence  to 
the  State  line  where  it  crosses  the  Yellow  Mountain ;  thence  with 
the  State  line  to  the  beginning.  Ratified  the  27th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1849,  Laws  of  North  Carolina,  1848-49,  pp.  66,  667,  Ch.  25. 

Mitchell  County:  It  was  established  out  of  portions  of 
Yancey,  Watauga,  Caldwell,  Burke  and  McDowell  Counties, 
with  the  following  boundaries :  Beginning  at  the  top  of  Grand- 
father Mountain;  thence  with  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the 
Bear  Wallow  Gap;  thence  to  the  Three  Knobs;  thence  to  Big 
Crabtree  Creek;  thence  down  said  creek  to  Toe  River;  thence 
down  said  river  to  the  Tennessee  line;  thence  with  the  Tennes- 
see line  to  Elk  River;  thence  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Laws 
of  1860-61,  Ch.  8,  p.  14. 

Changes  in  Watauga  County  Lines. — By  the  laws  of 
1876-77,  chapter  LXVII,  page  341,  the  lines  between  the  coun- 
ties of  Watauga,  Wilkes  and  Ashe  were  changed  so  as  to  run 
from  the  top  of  the  Wolf  Knob,  near  the  Widow  Tempy  Mikels, 
where  the  Watauga  and  Wilkes  County  lines  intersect,  and 
thence  running  a  north  course  to  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  at 
the  dividing  line  between  the  lands  of  Leander  Robbins  and 
Enoch  Triplett,  and  thence  a  north  course  to  the  top  of  Henson's 
Ridge;  then  a  north  course  to  the  ford  of  Gap  Creek,  near  the 
mouth  of  Alexander  Green's  lane ;  thence  a  northwest  course  to 
the  top  of  the  Big  Ridge  to  the  Ashe  County  line.  All  of  Ashe 
and  Wilkes  counties  within  these  lines  was  to  be  a  part  of  Stony 
Fork  township,  Watauga  County. 

By  the  laws  of  1870-71,  page  319,  "all  that  portion  of  Cald- 
well County  comprised  within  the  following  boundaries,  viz : 
beginning  at  the  Fair  view  on  the  Caldwell  and  Watauga  turn- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  125 

pike  road  on  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge;  thence  a  straight  line 
to  the  top  of  the  Grandfather  Mountain,"  was  annexed  to 
Watauga  County.  In  a  suit  between  Levi  Morphew  and  Elisha 
and  Joseph  Tatum  concerning  the  county  line  between  the  mouth 
of  Meadow  Creek  and  the  high  knob  near  Cranberry  Methodist 
Church,  about  1883,  it  was  decided  that  there  should  be  a 
resurvey,  the  first  survey  having  been  made  by  Reuben  Mast, 
county  surveyor  when  the  county  was  first  formed.  It  is  said 
that  Mast  guessed  that  Deep  Gap  was  south  sixty  degrees  east 
from  the  mouth  of  Meadow  Creek,  but  that  when  he  got  to  the 
first  high  knob  from  which  he  could  see  Deep  Gap  he  found  he 
had  been  wrong.  Instead,  however,  of  turning  back  and  running 
a  new  line,  he  continued  the  line  to  Deep  Gap,  leaving  much 
land  that  legally  belonged  to  Ashe  in  Watauga  County.  The 
court  ordered  a  new  survey,  to  be  run  on  the  true  degree,  and 
Rev.  L.  W.  Farthing  ran  and  marked  it.  (Levi  Morphew  v. 
Joseph  Tatum  and  others,  Minute  Docket  B,  page  172,  July 
Term,  1883,  Superior  Court,  Watauga  County.) 

Avery  County  Established. — By  the  Public  Laws  of  191 1, 
chapter  33,  page  63,  Avery  County,  named  in  honor  of  Col. 
Waightstill  Avery,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  the  one  hundredth 
county  of  North  Carolina,  was  established,  with  the  following 
boundaries :  "Beginning  at  the  highest  point  of  the  Grandfather 
Mountain,  the  corner  of  Watauga,  Caldwell  and  Mitchell  Coun- 
ties, and  running  a  direct  line  to  the  Hanging  Rock  Mountain; 
then  with  the  dividing  ridge  to  the  Turnpike  Road  in  the  gap  of 
Bower's  Mountain;  then  a  direct  course  to  the  eastern  prospect 
on  the  eastern  end  of  Beech  Mountain;  then  a  direct  course  to 
the  Buckeye  Spring;  then  down  and  with  the  meanders  of 
Buckeye  Creek  to  Beech  Creek;  then  with  the  meanders  of 
Beech  Creek  to  Watauga  River;  then  with  the  meanders  of 
Watauga  River  to  the  Tennessee  line;  then  with  the  Tennessee 
line  to  the  Grassy  Ridge  Bald ;  then  a  direct  line  to  Spear  Top ; 
then  with  the  main  height  of  Yellow  Mountain  to  the  highest 
point  on  Little  Yellow  Mountain;  then  a  direct  line  to  Pine 
Knob ;  then  to  the  mouth  of  Gouge's  Creek  on  Toe  River ;  then 
south   forty   degrees  east   to   the   Bald   Ground   on   Humpback 


126  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Mountain  at  the  McDowell  County  line ;  then  with  the  McDowell 
County  line  to  the  Burke  County  line;  then  with  the  Burke 
County  line  to  the  Caldwell  County  line;  then  with  the  Burke 
and  Caldwell  line  to  the  highest  point  on  Chestnut  Mountain; 
then  a  direct  course  to  Anthony's  Creek  so  as  to  include  all  of 
Carey's  Flats;  then  to  the  beginning."  Ratified  23d  of  Febru- 
ary, 191 1. 

Last  Change  in  County  Line. — The  act  creating  Watauga 
County  provided  that  the  line  should  run  from  the  top  of  the  Big 
Bald  Mountain  to  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek.  As  long  as  men 
remember  there  has  been  a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek, 
called  at  first  Elk  Cross  Roads,  and  later  on,  for  the  sake  of 
brevity,  and  in  honor  of  the  Todd  family,  Todd.  When,  how- 
ever, the  Virginia-Carolina  Railroad  reached  that  place,  it  was 
found  that  Todd  was  too  brief  for  euphony  or  the  terminus  of  a 
great  railroad,  and  changed  to  Elkland.  But  the  post  office 
still  remains  Todd.  Then,  too,  it  was  found  that  a  part  of  Todd 
or  Elkland  was  in  Watauga  and  part  in  Ashe  County,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  line  between  the  two  counties  did  not  follow 
Elk  Creek,  while  the  boundary  line  of  the  town  did  follow  that 
stream.  So,  in  order  to  avoid  confusion  and  for  other  reasons, 
Hon.  Robert  L.  Ballou,  State  Senator,  had  the  fine  changed  so 
as  to  run  from  the  top  of  the  Big  Bald  to  the  ford  of  Elk  Creek 
near  the  residence  of  Alex.  Blackburn,  just  above  the  town, 
from  which  point  it  follows  the  creek  to  its  mouth  in  the  South 
Fork  of  New  River,     (Ch.  34,  Public  Laws,  191 5.) 

Jail  and  Court  House  Changes. — The  land  for  the  first  court 
house  was  donated  by  Jordan  Councill  the  second.  It  was  on  the 
hill  now  occupied  by  F.  A.  Linney's  and  J.  M.  Moretz's  resi- 
dences. The  court  house  was  burned  on  the  29th  day  of  March, 
1873,  according  to  Col.  W.  W.  Presnell,  and  while  he  was  regis- 
ter of  deeds.*  It  was  thought  by  some  that  one  of  the  county 
officers,  against  whom  judgments  were  docketed,  caused  it  to 
be  burned,  but  this  theory  is  not  generally  believed  now.  Later 
on,  during  that  year,  a  new  court  house  was  built  on  the  lot  now 
occupied  by  the  Watauga  County  bank  building,  but  a  deed 
therefor  was  not  made  till  April   12,   1875,  when  Joel  Norris 


•  A  wind-storm  blew  in  the  gable  end  of  the  court-house  January  28,  1886. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  127 

conveyed  to  the  county  commissioners  one  half  of  an  acre  on 
the  corner  of  King  and  Water  Streets  for  $300.00  (Deed  Book 
G,  p.  208),  Thomas  J.  Coffey  and  W.  C.  Coffey  having  the 
contract  for  $4,800.00,  the  building  committee  having  been 
Henry  Taylor,  Dudley  Farthing  and  Jacob  Williams.  It  seems 
that  there  must  have  been  some  doubt  as  to  the  power  of  the 
county  commissioners  to  build  "the  court  house  on  a  lot  other 
than  the  one  on  which  the  old  one  stood  when  it  was  burned," 
for  chapter  CVII,  Laws  1873-74  (p.  143),  made  that  action 
legal.  The  county  commissioners,  consisting  of  j.  E.  Finley, 
Thos.  J.  Coft'ey  and  W.  H.  Calloway,  sold  the  lot  on  which  the 
jail  then  stood  to  Coffey  Brothers  for  $555.00.  The  deed  was 
dated  June  i,  1888  (Deed  Book  N,  p.  330).  On  May  22,  1889, 
Coffey  Brothers  sold  to  J.  E.  Finley,  W.  W.  Presnell  and  Joseph 
H.  Mast,  county  commissioners,  for  $200.00,  half  an  acre  of  land 
on  Burnsville  and  King  streets,  and  running  with  Burnsville 
street  across  the  branch  to  a  back  street.  This  is  the  lot  on  which 
the  present  jail  stands. 

The  First  Jail. — This  was  built  by  a  Mr.  Dammons  for 
$400.00,  and  stood  in  front  of  the  present  Murray  Critcher 
barn,  west  of  the  street  leading  from  the  Critcher  Hotel  to  the 
side  street  in  front  of  the  present  Baptist  Church.  It  was  of 
brick,  with  a  steel  cage  inside.  But  the  brick  were  of  poor 
quality  and  could  be  easily  removed  from  around  the  windows 
and  doorways,  and,  after  standing  a  few  years,  Elisha  Green  got 
the  contract  to  build  another  of  white  pine  logs,  the  same  steel 
or  iron  cage  which  had  been  in  the  first  being  used  in  the  second. 
This  stood  till  Stoneman's  raid,  when  it  was  burned.  After  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War,  Jack  Horton,  who  had  built  the  first 
court  house,  got  the  contract  to  build  a  new  jail,  which  was 
also  of  heavy  logs,  the  second  story  timbers  being  twelve  inches 
square  and  crossed  with  heavy  iron  bars  three  inches  broad  and 
bolted  to  each  log  by  heavy  iron  bolts.  This  was  removed  when 
the  jail  lot  was  sold.  The  present  jail  was  built  by  William 
Stephenson,  of  Mayesville,  Ky.,  in  1889,  for  $5,000.00. 

Court  Records  of  Ashe. — Some  of  our  heroes  of  the  past 
suffer  when  subjected  to  the  fierce  light  of  history,  among  whom 


128  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

are  Benjamin  Cleveland,  Richard  Henderson  and  Judge  Spruce 
McCay,  the  last  of  whom  was  denounced  by  Chancellor  John 
Allison,  of  Tennessee,  in  his  "Dropped  Stitches"  (pp.  51,  52) 
as  a  "heartless  tyrant."  This  gentleman  (McCay)  married  a 
daughter  of  Col.  Richard  Henderson,  according  to  Wheeler's 
History  (Vol.  H,  p.  384),  and  not  a  daughter  of  Gen.  Griffith 
Rutherford,  as  erroneously  stated  in  "Western  North  Carolina" 
(P-  374)-  He  presided  over  the  Superior  Court  of  Ashe  County 
in  September,  1807,  but  his  record  there  was  unobjectionable. 
It  was  only  when  he  was  in  Jonesboro,  in  August,  1782,  presid- 
ing over  the  court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  that  he  won  for  him- 
self such  condemnation.  It  was  Judge  Francis  Locke,  at  the 
March  term,  1809,  who  passed  such  a  cruel  and  bloody  sentence 
upon  Carter  Whittington,  at  Jefferson,  after  his  conviction  of 
perjury.  This  sentence  was  that  he  be  fined  £10,  stand  one  hour 
in  the  pillory,  have  both  ears  entirely  severed  from  his  head 
and  nailed  to  the  pillory. 

To  Restore  Lost  Records. — Laws  to  "restore  the  records  of 
Watauga  County  .  .  .  carried  away  and  lost  by  Kirk,  in 
1865,"  and  when  "the  court  house  and  all  the  records  therein 
were  burned,"  were  passed  in  1873-74  (Ch.  XIX).  Chapter  38, 
Laws  1874-75,  makes  the  certificate  of  the  clerk  of  the  late 
county  court  and  of  the  Judge  of  Probate  competent  to  secure 
reregistration  of  destroyed  record  of  deeds.' 

To  Encourage  Sheep  Raising. — The  laws  of  1850-51,  chapter 
184,  page  497,  authorized  a  majority  of  the  justices  of  Watauga 
County  to  lay  a  tax  on  the  citizens  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
any  person  or  persons  who  kill  any  wolf  or  red  fox  that  is 
caught  in  said  county,  which  was  amended  by  chapter  121,  Laws 
1874-75,  page  121. 

To  Protect  Fish. — Chapter  285,  Laws  1899,  provided  penal- 
ties for  the  destruction  of  fish  in  waters  of  Watauga  County, 
while  chapter  639  provided  for  fish-ways  over  dams  on  the 
South  Fork  of  New  River,  and  chapter  319  of  the  same  laws 
forbade  the  use  of  dynamite  to  destroy  fish;  chapter  345  of 
same  laws  regulated  fishing  in  Elk,  while  the  laws  of  1907  pro- 
hibits saw  dust  in  streams. 


See,  also.  Chapter  162,  Laws  of  1874-'75. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  129 

First  Term  of  Superior  Court. — There  is  much  confusion  as 
to  where  the  first  term  of  court  was  held  in  Watauga  County. 
It  is  generally  conceded  that  it  was  held  in  a  barn  in  rear  of 
what  was  then  the  home  of  Henry  Hardin  and  is  now  the  resi- 
dence of  Joseph  Hardin,  a  mile  or  more  east  of  Boone.  It  is 
also  generally  admitted  by  those  who  were  there  that  "hawgs" — 
not  hogs,  be  it  understood! — had  held  several  terms  of  court 
there  before  Watauga  County  was  formed.  That  should  tell  the 
entire  story  of  what  followed,  but  lest  it  fail  to  do  so,  it  may 
be  added  that  if  an  elephant  had  as  much  power  in  his  or  her 
hind  legs  as  each  denizen  of  that  barn  had  before  court  met,  he 
could  jump  around  the  world  in  one  jump.  But  these  facts  are 
insignificant  compared  with  the  question  as  to  what  court  was 
held  there  and  then.  If  it  was  the  County  Court,  then  Dudley 
Farthing,  Esq.,  presided  over  his  first  court  as  the  presiding 
justice  thereof — a  position  he  held  with  dignity  and  honor  till 
the  constitution  of  1868  substituted  the  Board  of  County  Com- 
missioners therefor.  If  it  was  the  Superior  Court,  then  Judge 
Anderson  Mitchell  presided  and  E.  C.  Bartlett  acted  as  clerk. 
It  is  contended  by  those  who  insist  that  it  was  the  Superior 
Court  which  was  then  held  there  that  there  are  yet  living  several 
men  who  were  jurors  at  that  term,  and  that  jurors  belong  ex- 
clusively to  the  Superior  Court.  This  is  a  mistake,  grand  and 
petty  jurors  having  been  a  part  of  every  other  term  of  the 
County  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,  according  to  the 
recollection  of  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan,  who  served  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace  several  years  before  that  court  was  abolished.  Besides, 
unless  it  was,  there  was  no  county  court  from  the  formation  of 
the  county  in  1849  until  some  time  in  May,  185 1,  for  by  an  act 
which  was  ratified  January  28,  1851,  it  was  expressly  provided 
that  "there  shall  be  a  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity  opened 
and  held  for  the  county  of  Watauga,  at  the  court  house  in  Boone 
on  the  sixth  Monday  after  the  fourth  Monday  in  March  and 
September,  in  each  and  every  year,  ...  at  which  time  the 
judge  holding  the  said  court  shall  appoint  the  necessary  court 
officers."  Watauga  was  then  placed  in  the  seventh  circuit,  and 
all  suits  pending  in  the  Superior  Court  of  Ashe  in  which  both 


130  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

parties  were  citizens  of  Watauga,  and  all  criminal  proceedings 
against  citizens  of  Watauga  were  transferred  to  this  court. 
And  it  was  further  provided  that  the  "spring  and  fall,  now  jury- 
terms,  of  the  Courts  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  shall  be  held 
in  .  .  .  Watauga  County,  at  the  same  time  and  on  the 
same  week  on  which  the  Superior  Courts  of  Law  and  Equity 
shall  be  holden,"  etc/  This  seems  also  to  make  still  more  doubt- 
ful another  disputed  point,  viz :  as  to  when  the  first  sheriff  was 
.elected  by  the  people.  For  if  he  was  elected  first  in  1852,  then 
the  general  impression  that  D.  C.  McCanless  absconded  during 
his  second  term  is  established,  and  if  he  was  elected  in  1850, 
then  McCanless  must  have  been  serving  his  third  term,  which 
some  still  insist  was  the  case.  But  this  seems  to  establish  another 
fact,  viz:  that  the  court  house  was  far  enough  advanced  by 
May,  185 1,  to  be  used  by  the  court,  for  all  who  were  present  at 
the  first  court  held  in  that  building  agree  that  it  was  far  from 
finished  at  that  time.  The  act  expressly  provides  that  the  first 
term  shall  be  held  "at  the  court  house  in  Boone."  If  there  was 
no  such  building  then,  it  is  likely  that  the  act  would  have  been 
differently  worded.  Still,  it  may  have  been  held  elsewhere,  as 
many  contend. 

A  Snap-Shot  in  Passing. — Mr.  Skiles,  in  his  "Life,"  leaves  us 
this  (p.  79)  :  "I  was  at  Boone  Tuesday  [before  May  21,  1850] 
and  saw  a  great  crowd;  it  was  court  week,  and  I  witnessed  an 
amusing  scene.  There  was  a  man  intoxicated  who  was  very 
rude  and  treated  the  court  with  contempt.  For  want  of  a  jail  to 
put  him  in,  the  court  ordered  him  taken  out  and  tied  to  a  wagon 
wheel  until  he  became  civil.  They  took  him  out,  tied  him,  and 
left  him  tied." 

A  Happy  and  Homogeneous  People. — Many  think  that  Wa- 
tauga has  the  best  dwelling  and  farm  houses  in  the  State;  that 
its  inhabitants  are  of  a  more  homogeneous  character  than  any 
other;  that  there  are  almost  as  few  tenants  as  in  any  other 
county,  except  Alleghany;  that  there  are  fewer  very  poor  and 
fewer  very  rich  people  than  elsewhere;    that  the  average  of  in- 


«  This  was  repealed,  (Laws  1852,  Ch.  XLVI,  p.  100)  and  the  terms  of  courts 
of  Pleas  and  Quarter  sessions  were  required  to  be  held  on  the  third  Monday  in 
February,  May,  August  and  November  of  each  year. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  131 

telligence  and  education  will  compare  with  those  of  any  other 
county  most  favorably;  that  there  is  as  little  crime  per  capita 
as  in  any  other;  that  there  is  as  great  church  attendance  and 
as  many  churches  and  school  houses  per  capita  as  in  any  other 
county;  that  the  apples,  cabbages,  beets,  buckwheat,  stock  of  all 
kinds,  and  dairy  products  surpass  all  other  counties  in  the  State. 
That  Roving  Spirit. — The  same  influences  which  brought 
our  ancestors  to  America  and  their  sons  into  the  unexplored 
mountains,  sent  their  grandsons  across  the  plains  in  1849,  ^^^ 
since  then  into  every  State  and  territory  of  the  vast  West.  When 
Missouri  was  first  opened  to  settlement  many  left  this  county 
and  tried  their  fortunes  there,  some  to  remain,  others  to  return. 
It  was  probably  this  "trek"  which  caused  so  many  families  to 
disappear  from,  the  church  rolls  of  Three  Forks  Baptist  Church. 
For  them,  there  was  still  something  else  to  find,  and  they  went 
and  sought  it,  some  of  them  to  realize  that  they  had  already 
chanced  upon  it  in  Watauga  County  (then  Ashe),  and  to  return 
to  enjoy  it.  Among  those  going  to  Missouri  were  the  Whitting- 
tons.  Dr.  Whittington,  of  Asheville,  is  a  descendant  of  Benja- 
min, and  his  wife,  who  was  a  Wilson,  of  Yancey.  Wiley 
Whittington,  a  brother  of  John  and  Cromwell,  who  went  to  Mis- 
souri, passed  on  still  farther  westward,  only  to  be  killed  at  last 
by  Indians  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  while  on  his  way  to  Cali- 
fornia. It  is  said  he  had  shot  an  Indian,  and  when  the  rest  of, 
the  Indian  band  demanded  his  surrender  by  his  party,  they  gave 
him  up  to  the  savages,  who  robbed  him  and  stripped  him  of  all 
clothing  and  then  left  him  to  perish  in  the  mountains.  Jonathan 
Lewis  left  Zionville  for  California  in  1849,  settled  in  Fresno  and 
got  rich.  He  went  from  Watauga  County  alone,  joining  a  party 
in  Missouri.  Alexander  Thomas,  Andrew  J.  McBride,  Marion 
W^ilson,  Jesse  Bradley  and  Wm.  Isaacs,  of  the  Cove  Creek 
section,  went  to  California  in  1849,  ^^^  McBride  left  a  diary, 
but  it  has  been  misplaced  within  the  last  few  years.  It  is  said 
that  his  brother,  Carroll,  went  with  him,  and  that  on  their  re- 
turn Carroll  stopped  in  Tipton  County,  Tennessee.  While  in 
the  West  they  killed  a  deer,  but  Indians  took  it  from  them  and 
forced  them  to  run  for  their  lives  and  to  hide  in  a  ravine.     It 


132 


A  History  of  Watauga  County 


is  also  said  that  they  made  money  in  California,  but  spent  it  all 
buying  a  waterproof  cloth  with  which  to  make  a  pipe  to  draw 
off  the  water  in  a  creek  above  the  point  at  which  they  had  dis- 
covered gold,  hoping  to  gather  much  from  the  bottom  of  the  bed, 
not  realizing  that  it  was  being  washed  down  from  above  till  too 
late. 

Legislative  Representatives." — Alexander  B.  McMillan,  in 
1850,  and  Benjamin  C.  Calloway,  in  1852,  both  of  what  was  and 
still  is  Ashe  County,  represented  Watauga  in  the  House,  and 
George  Bower,  also  of  Ashe,  in  the  Senate,  but  from  and  includ- 
ing 1854  Watauga  has  had  its  own  citizens  as  representatives  in 
the  House: 


Senators. 

Representatives. 

1854 

George  Bower,  of  Ashe. 

Jonathan  Horton. 

1856 

A.  M.  Bryan,  of  Ashe. 

George  N.  Folk. 

1858 

Joseph  H.  Dobson,  of  Surry. 

Mark  Holdsclaw. 

i860 

Joseph  H.  Dobson,  of  Surry. 
G.  N.  Folk  having  resigned. 

George  N.  Folk. 

his  place  was  filled  by 

Thomas  Farthing. 

1862 

Isaac  Jarratt,  of  Ashe.    ' 

William  Horton. 

1864 

Jonathan  Horton,  of  Watauga. 

William  Horton. 

1865 

A.  C.  Cowles,  of  Yadkin. 

Charles  Potter. 

1866 

A.  C.  Cowles,  of  Yadkin. 

William  Horton. 

1868 

Edmund  W.  Jones,  of  Caldwell. 

Lewis  B.  Banner. 

1870 

W.  B.  Council,  of  Watauga. 

W.  F.  Shull. 

1872 

J.  W.  Todd,  of  Ashe. 

J.  B.  Todd. 

1874 

A.  J.  McMillan,  of  Alleghany. 

L.  L,  Greene. 

1876 

Hervey  Bingham,  of  Watauga. 

W.  R.  Council. 

1879 

J.  Bledsoe,  of  Ashe. 

W.  R.  Council. 

I88I 

F.  J.  McMillan,  of  Alleghany. 

Thomas  Bingham. 

1883 

E.  F.  Lovill,  of  Watauga. 

W.  W.  Lenoir. 

1885 

J.  W.  Todd,  of  Ashe. 

E.  F.  Lovill. 

1887 

W.  C.  Fields,  of  Alleghany. 

Thomas  Bingham. 

1889 

W.   S.  Farthing,  of  Watauga. 

J.  A.  Crisp. 

I89I 

Benjamin  P.  Griggsby,  of  Ashe. 

D.  B.  Phillips. 

"  From  the  "North  Carolina  Manual.'' 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  133 

1893.  W.  C.  Fields,  of  Alleghany.  E.  F.  Lovill. 

1895.  W.  H.  Farthing,  of  Watauga.  L.  H.  Michael. 

1897.  J.  M.  Dickson,  of  Ashe.  Thomas  Bingham. 

1899.  W.  C.  Fields,  of  Alleghany.  W.  B.  Councill,  Jr. 

1901.  L.  H.  Michael,  of  Watauga.  William  H.  Calloway. 

1903.  H.  M.  Wellborn,  of  Ashe.  Lindsay  H.  Michael. 

1905.  S.  A.  Taylor,  of  Alleghany.  C.  W.  Phipps. 

1907.  E.  F.  Lovill,  of  Watauga.  W.  D.  Farthing. 

1909.  Robert  L.  Doughton,  of  Alleghany.  Smith  Hageman. 

191 1.  John  M.  Wagoner,  of  Alleghany.  Smith  Hageman. 

1913.  E.  S.  Coffey,  of  Watauga.  John  W.  Hodges. 

1915.  Robert  L.  Ballou,  of  Ashe.  A.  W.  Smith. 

Superior  Court  Clerks. — The  first  clerk  was  probably  ap- 
pointed by  Judge  Anderson  Mitchell,  who  held  the  first  court. 
A  fine  cherry  tree  stands  alone  in  the  field  near  where  the  old 
barn  stood.  The  fleas  which  attended  as  witnesses,  jurors  and 
spectators  are  still  remembered  for  their  cordial  reception  of 
their  human  rivals.  The  first  clerk  elected  by  the  people  was 
George  M.  Bingham,  of  Cove  Creek,  but  owing  to  an  impedi- 
ment in  his  speech,  he  resigned  at  the  first  term,  Mr. 

McClewee,  an  attorney  resident  in  Boone  at  that  time,  being  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  unexpired  term.  This  was  probably  in  1850. 
Then  followed  Col.  J.  B.  Todd,  Henry  Blair,  W.  J.  Critcher, 
appointed  to  fill  the  term  for  which  Col.  J.  B.  Todd  had  been 
elected  in  1868,  but  which  he  could  not  fill  because  he  could  not 
take  the  "iron-clad  oath"  of  Reconstruction.  Owing  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  records  when  the  court  house  was  burned  in 
1873,  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  dates  accurately  prior  to  that 
time,  but  from  then  on  the  records  show  that  J.  H.  Hardin 
served  from  1874  to  1882 ;  J.  B.  Todd  from  1882  to  1894 ;  M.  B. 
Blackburn  from  1894  to  1898;  John  H.  Bingham  from  1898  to 
1902;  Thomas  Bingham  from  1902  to  1910,  and  W.  D.  Farthing 
from  1910  to  the  present  time,  1915. 

The  registers  of  deeds  were  Rev.  Joseph  Harrison,  from  about 
1850  to  i860,  or  thereabout;  Rev.  D.  C.  Harman,  till  1865; 
Joseph  Harrison,  till  1870;  W.  W.  Presnell,  from  1870  to  1886; 


134  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Eugene  Blackburn,  from  1886  till  his  death,  when  W.  W.  Pres- 
nell  was  appointed  to  fill  out  his  term;  then  came  M.  B. 
Blackburn,  from  1888  to  1890;  then  Calvin  J.  Cottrell,  from 
1890  to  1894;  then  John  W.  Hodges,  from  1894  to  1898;  then 
J.  M.  May,  from  1898  to  1908,  followed  by  W.  Roy  Gragg,  from 
1908  till  now,  191 5. 

Sheriffs.— Michael  Cook,  1849  to  1852;  John  Horton,  1852 
to  1856;  D.  C.  McCanless,  1856  to  1859  (January);  Sidney 
Deal,  till  i860;  A.  J.  McBride,  from  i860  to  1866;"  Jack  Hor- 
ton, from  1866  to  1876;  A.  J.  McBride,  from  1874  to  1882; 
D.  F.  Baird,  1882  to  1886;  J.  L.  Hayes,  1886  to  1890;  D.  F. 
Baird,  1890  to  1894;  W.  H.  Calloway,  1894  to  1900;  W.  B. 
Baird,  1900  to  1904;  J.  W.  Hodges,  1904  to  1908;  D.  C. 
Reagan,  1908  to  1912 ;  E.  R.  Eggers,  for  part  of  Reagan's  un- 
expired term;  Asa  Wilson,  elected  1912,  but  resigned,  and  E.  R. 
Eggers  appointed  by  county  commissioners  to  fill  out  term  to 
1914;  W.  P.  Moody,  elected  in  1914.  Sidney  Deal  lived  where 
J.  W.  Farthing  now  lives,  and  was  elected  sheriff  by  the  people 
in  i860,  but  joined  the  army,  and  the  remainder  of  his  term 
was  filled  by  Jack  Horton.  Deal  moved  across  the  Blue  Ridge 
after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 

Financial. — The  debt  of  Watauga  County  is  too  small  to  be 
mentioned,  there  being  only  a  few  hundred  dollars  still  due  for 
the  new  court  house.  Real  estate  is  assessed  at  about  one-third 
of  its  real  value.  The  tax  rate  for  State  and  county  combined 
is  one  per  cent,  of  assessed  value,  being  twenty-seven  and  two- 
thirds  mills  for  State  and  seventy-two  and  one-third  for  county, 
and  $2.30  on  each  poll.  This  is  equivalent  to  about  thirty-three 
cents  on  each  hundred  dollars.  The  towns  have  no  debts  and 
raise  little  or  no  money  for  street  or  other  improvements,  what 
is  collected  for  any  purpose  being  largely  voluntary  contribu- 
tions in  many  cases  from  the  more  progressive  citizens  and 
licenses  from  "shows,"  etc.  County  affairs  are  keenly  looked 
after  not  only  by  the  county  commissioners,  but  by  many  citi- 


"  Some  claim  that  A.  J.  McBride  was  sheriff  during  the  Civil  War,  and  others 
that  Jack  Horton  held  the  office  from  1862  till  1876.  Owing  to  the  loss  of  the 
records  1873,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  exact  facts  now.  Some  claim 
that  Sidney  Deal  was  elected  sheriff  in  1860,  and  served  till  he  entered  the  Con- 
federate Army,  while  this  is  denied  by  others. 


COLONEL  JOE  B.  TODD. 

Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  135 

zens  who  are  eager  to  find  a  seam  in  the  pohtical  armor  of 
anyone  offending  in  the  way  of  extravagance,  carelessness  or 
fraud.    Every  dollar  collected  is  applied  as  the  law  requires. 

Watauga's  Contribution  to  the  Confederacy. — Company  D, 
First  Cavalry,  was  organized  in  Boone  May  11,  1861 ;  first 
captain,  Geo.  N.  Folk;  first  lieutenant,  Joe  B.  Todd;  second 
lieutenant,  James  Councill ;   third  lieutenant,  J.  C.  Blair. 

Company  B,  37th  Regiment,  organized  September,  1861,  in 
Boone.  First  captain,  Jonathan  Horton;  first  lieutenant,  A.  J. 
Critcher ;  second  lieutenant,  David  Greene ;  third  lieutenant, 
Jordan  Cook. 

Company  E,  37th  Regiment,  was  organized  at  Sugar  Grove 
August  8,  1861.  First  captain,  W.  Young  Farthing;  first  lieu- 
tenant, Paul  Farthing;  second  lieutenant,  W.  F.  ShuU;  third 
lieutenant,  Isaac  Wilson,  Jr. 

Company  I,  58th  Regiment,  reorganized  in  Boone  in  July, 
1862.  First  captain,  Wm.  Miller;  first  lieutenant,  Wm.  M. 
Hodges ;  second  lieutenant,  Jordan  C.  McGhee ;  third  lieutenant, 
James  Horton. 

Company  D,  58th  Regiment,  organized  at  Valle  Crucis  July  7, 
1862.  First  captain.  Rev.  D.  C,  Harman;  first  lieutenant,  Ben. 
F.  Baird ;  second  Heutenant,  W.  P.  Mast ;  third  heutenant,  Wm. 
Howington. 

Company  M,  58th  Regiment,  organized  early  in  the  winter  of 
1863  from  Ashe  and  Watauga.  First  captain,  Leonard  Phillips ; 
first  lieutenant,  Geo.  W.  Hopkins;  second  lieutenant,  Thomas 
Ray;  third  lieutenant,  J.  Riley  Norris,  with  about  fifty  of  the 
men  from  Watauga. 

Company  A,  6th  Cavalry  Regiment ;  Captain  B.  Roby  Brown, 
with  twenty  to  twenty-five  men  from  Watauga. 

There  were  other  companies  made  from  Ashe  and  Watauga 
by  William  G.  Bingham  and  Thomas  Sutherland,  who  joined  a 
Virginia  regiment  of  cavalry,  there  being  about  twenty-five  men 
from  Watauga.  There  were  five  full  companies  that  went  from 
Watauga,  each  of  which  must  have  contained  150  men,  from 
first  to  last,  and  parts  of  three  additional  companies  that  had 


136  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

at  least  100  Watauga  men,  besides  the  men  from  Watauga  County 
who  joined  other  regiments.  By  Moore's  Roster,  W^atauga 
County  actually  furnished  671  men,  and  the  Home  Guard  at 
Camp  Mast  must  have  contained  250  men.  Col.  W.  W.  Presnell, 
adjutant  of  the  Nimrod  Triplett  Camp  of  Confederate  Veterans, 
estimates  that  there  must  have  been  900  men  from  this  county 
in  the  service  of  the  Confederacy,  but  there  were  most  likely 
nearer  1,000. 

Col.  Presnell  estimates  that  there  were  at  least  100  men  from 
Watauga  County  who  went  through  the  lines  and  joined  the 
Federals,  or  remained  in  Watauga  and  worked  for  them  in 
Watauga  County  during  the  closing  months  of  the  war. 

He  also  says  that  Companies  D,  B  and  E  were  in  the  eastern 
or  Virginia  army,  while  the  other  companies  were  in  the  western 
army." 

Population  and  Other  Facts. — The  population  since  1850 
follows : 

1850       i860        1870       1880         1890         1900         1910 
3,400      4,957      5,287      8,160      10,611       13,417      13,423 

But  for  the  pigeonholeing  of  a  bill  which  Marcus  Holtsclaw 
had  passed  by  the  House  of  Commons  in  1858,  the  court  house 
would  have  been  changed  from  Boone  to  Brushy  Fork,  Holts- 
claw  having  been  elected  over  Thomas  Greene  and  William 
Horton  by  one  vote  on  the  issue  of  making  that  change. 
But  Joseph  Dobson,  of  Surry,  represented  Watauga  in  the  Sen- 
ate that  year,  and  he  put  Holtsclaw's  little  "bill  to  sleep." 

That  our  pioneer  ancestors  spun,  wove,  knitted,  made  rope, 
tanned  hides,  dyed,  made  shoes,  boots  and  moccasins ;  made 
pails,  buckets,  cradles,  bee-gums,  ladles,  chairs,  plows,  sleds, 
wagons,  knives,  guns,  and  almost  every  tool  then  in  use  goes 
without  saying,  for  they  were  cut  off  from  the  world  and  mark- 
ets of  all  kinds.  Dyes  were  obtained  from  yellow  oak,  from 
hickory,  which  dyes  yellow ;    butternut  dyes  brown,  black  wal- 


"  By  joint  resolution  No.  56,  of  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  1915, 
the  State  Historical  Commission  was  authorized  to  correct  and  amend  Moore's 
Roster  of  Confederate  troops  from  North  Carolina  so  as  to  include  all  who  were 
actually  in  the  service  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  the  present  list  being  faulty 
and  incomplete. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  137 

nut  dyes  dark  brown,  sumac  dyes  yellow,  alder  dyes  reddish, 
dogwood  dyes  red,  madder  dyes  red,  bedewood  dyes  purple, 
dye-flowers  and  snuff  weed  dye  yellow,  copperas  dyes  yellow, 
and  burnt  copperas  red.  To  "set"  dyes  they  used  laurel  leaves, 
copperas,  alum,  salt,  etc.  Honey  and  maple  sugar  and  syrup 
were  the  sole  "sweetening"  we  had  before  sorghum  came  in 
shortly  before  the  Civil  War.  Reaping  hooks  preceded  scythes 
and  cradles  many  years.  Grain  was  threshed  out  on  cloths  by 
the  use  of  flails  made  of  hickory  sapplings  beaten  soft  two  feet 
from  the  large  end. 

Soldiers  of  Mexican  War. — The  government  does  not  place 
"monuments"  over  the  graves  of  dead  Mexican  soldiers,  pre- 
sumably, else  George  Wright,  whose  body  lies  near  that  of  Moses 
Yarber,  would  be  similarly  honored.  He  has  a  son  living  in  the 
Beech  Mountains  who  doubtless  could  furnish  full  information 
for  a  tombstone,  but,  jemooney  Christmas !  just  think  what  it 
would  cost !  How  many  other  dead  Mexican  soldiers  are  buried 
in  these  mountains  is  unknown,  and  the  government  does  not 
seem  to  care.  A  few  are  still  living,  here  and  there,  among 
them  being  Benjamin  Pritchard,  now  living  on  Roaring  Creek, 
still  neat  and  soldierly,  and  Nehemiah  P.  Oaks,  who  lives  within 
a  mile  or  so  of  Elk  Park.  Pritchard  was  born  on  the  Blue 
Ridge,  near  the  McKinney  Gap,  about  1825,  and  remembers  that 
on  one  occasion  a  Mexican  threw  every  man  in  his  regiment  in 
wrestling  contests.  Then  Pritchard  was  sent  for  and  threw  the 
Mexican  three  straight  falls.  He  was  a  member  of  Captain  John 
Blalock's  company,  of  which  A.  T.  Keith  was  a  lieutenant. 
Blalock  had  to  resign  because  of  bad  health,  and  when  the  men 
elected  a  man  named  Constable,  who  lived  on  Cane  Creek,  cap- 
tain, Keith  also  resigned,  feeling  that  he  had  been  slighted. 
John  Payne  was  the  colonel  and  Montford  Stokes  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  regiment,  which  was  the  First  North  Carolina, 
Nehemiah  P.  Oaks  was  born  on  the  Humpback  Mountain, 
December  28,  1828,  and  belonged  to  the  same  company  and 
regiment.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  13th  Tennessee  Cavalry, 
and  draws  two  pensions.  Pritchard  also  draws  a  pension  for 
service  in  the  Mexican  War. 


138  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Assessments  for  Taxation  in  191 5.— It  will  be  interesting  to 
compare  the  assessments  of  property  this  year  with  those  for 
the  years  following  the  building  of  a  railroad  through  this  county. 
The  increase  in  population  between  now  and  then  will  also  be  of 
interest. 

Total  real  estate  assessment  in  1915  amounts  to.  .   $1783,983.00 
Total  personal  property  assessments  for  1915.  ..  .        948,866.00 

Total  assessments $2,732,849.00 

The  highest  average  assessment  per  acre  was  in  Cove  Creek, 
$14.17.  The  lowest  average  value  per  acre  was  Elk  Township, 
$3.91. 

The  Weather. — It  is  colder  in  Watauga  both  summer  and 
winter  than  in  any  other  county  of  the  State,  probably,  with  the 
exception  of  Ashe,  Alleghany,  Avery  and  Haywood.  The  "cold 
Saturday"  was  February  8,  1835.  The  date  of  the  Big  Snow 
cannot  be  fixed,  except  that  on  the  2d  and  3d  days  of  December, 
1886.  But  old  people  remember  hearing  of  a  snow  that  was 
so  deep  that  all  fences  were  obliterated  from  the  landscape,  and 
deer  were  slaughtered  by  the  score.  On  the  5th  of  June,  1858, 
corn  knee-high  was  killed  in  this  county  and  all  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, while  white-oak  trees  between  Boone  and  Jefferson  were 
killed  outright,  some  of  their  stumps  being  still  visible.  There 
was  a  frost  at  Blowing  Rock  July  26,  1876,  while  on  February 
13,  1899,  the  thermometer  went  to  fourteen  degrees  below  zero. 
On  the  15th  of  May,  1835,  there  was  snow  while  land  was  being 
laid  off  for  corn  and  sugar  water  was  being  boiled  for  maple 
syrup  on  Brushy  Fork. 

Agricultural. — Patch  farming  was  the  rule  for  years,  only 
small  clearings  being  possible  because  of  the  sparseness  of  the 
population.  Corn  could  not  be  raised  at  all  for  many  years  till 
the  land  was  opened  up  to  the  sunlight.  Owing  to  the  stumps 
and  roots,  it  was  difficult  to  plough  the  ground  at  first,  and  the 
planting  was  done  with  the  hoe.  Gradually  the  land  became 
warm  enough  to  produce  and  mature  corn  or  maize.     Cabbages 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  139 

and  all  root  crops  flourished  from  the  first  settlement.  Buck- 
wheat and  rye  did  well  long  before  wheat,  oats  and  other  small 
grain  began  to  thrive.  Stock  were  fed  on  Irish  potatoes  and 
buckwheat,  as  is  still  the  case  in  some  places.  Long,  red  Irish 
potatoes  were  carried  in  the  arm  as  are  ears  of  corn,  and  horses 
got  fat  on  them.  Hogs  were  kept  in  the  mountains  all  winter, 
as  the  mast  rarely  failed.  When  a  very  cold  or  snowy  time 
came,  corn  was  carried  to  these  hogs,  beds  were  made  for  them 
in  sheltered  places,  under  clififs  and  in  caves  of  rocks,  but  for 
many  it  was  literally  a  case  of  "root  hog  or  die."  Col.  W.  L. 
Bryan  has  a  bronze  medal  and  a  diploma  which  were  awarded 
to  him  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  for  the  best  buckwheat.  If 
a  colony  of  Swiss  could  be  induced  to  try  their  lot  with  us,  they 
could  demonstrate  the  fact  that  on  our  mountain  slopes,  prop- 
erly terraced,  we  could  raise  grapes,  fruit  of  all  kinds,  and  goats 
and  cattle  without  number.  Cheese  factories  have  been  already 
established  at  Sugar  Grove,  June  5,  191 5,  and  elsewhere.  The 
factory  at  Sugar  Grove  was  the  first  established  in  the  South. 
It  is  already  thriving.  With  a  little  harder  work  and  more 
scientific  methods,  wealth  would  follow  agriculture  in  Watauga. 
Mountain  Forests. — In  his  address  before  the  American  Geo- 
graphical Society  in  New  York  in  April,  1914,  Prof.  Collier 
Cobb,  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  said  that  seventy-six 
per  cent,  of  this  section  is  still  forest  cover,  or  a  little  more  than 
three  million  acres  of  forest  land  is  found  in  the  sixteen  moun- 
tain counties;  that  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina  are  the 
oldest  forest  land  on  the  continent,  and  the  botanists  and  plant 
geographers  are  agreed  that  the  deciduous  forests  of  eastern 
North  America  have  been  derived  from  the  forests  of  these 
mountains,  in  which  they  reach  their  greatest  development ;  that 
while  the  hardwoods  of  the  northern  United  States  have  migrated 
from  the  mountains  since  the  last  glacial  period,  it  seems  equally 
certain  that  the  coniferous  growth  on  the  Balsams  and  other 
high  mountains  was  forced  south  at  the  time  of  the  greatest 
extension  of  the  ice  sheet,  and  is  able  to  survive  now  only  in  the 
cooler  atmosphere  of  our  high  mountains,  where  the  mean  an- 
nual temperature  is  forty-eight  degrees,  and,  in  the  valleys  they 


140  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

enclose,  fifty-four  degrees  Fahrenheit;  while  the  rainfall  of  the 
region,  most  of  which  comes  in  the  growing  season,  is  seventy 
inches,  being  greater  than  that  of  any  other  portion  of  the 
United  States,  except  the  Puget  Sound  region.  The  United 
States  has  recently  acquired  an  immense  reserve  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Blowing  Rock.  The  Lenoir  timber  lands  were  sold 
in  1915  for  $40.00  per  acre.    They  are  near  the  Grandfather. 

Banks  and  Banking. — Watauga  has  three  banks,  one,  the  Wa- 
tauga County  Bank,  Boone,  was  organized  in  1904  with  $10,000.00 
capital.  This  was  increased  in  1908  to  $12,000.00,  in  1914  to 
$16,800.00,  and  in  1915  to  $17,000.00.  It  has  never  declared  a 
dividend  of  less  than  twelve  per  cent,  since  George  P.  Hagaman 
became  cashier,  and  once  declared  eighteen  per  cent.  The  Blow- 
ing Rock  Bank  was  organized  about  1904  with  $5,000.00  capital, 
which  has  been  increased  to  $16,000.00.  It  has  thriven  also. 
The  Valle  Crucis  Bank  was  organized  in  1914  with  a  capital  of 
$8,000.00.  The  cattle  industry  requires  much  money,  and  all 
kinds  of  stock  thrive  in  this  county. 

Altitudes. — The  following  heights  have  been  taken  from  S.  M. 
Dugger's  "Balsam  Groves  of  the  Grandfather  Mountain"  (p. 
286)  :  Blowing  Rock,  4,090;  Boone,  3,332;  Valle  Crucis,  2,726; 
Shull's  Mills,  2,917;  Cook's  Gap,  3,349;  Banner  Elk,  3,900;  Beech 
Mountain,  5,522;  Hodges  Gap,  3,376;  Hanging  Rock,  5,237; 
Sugar  Mountain,  5,289;  Grandfather,  5,964;  Dunvegan,  4,924; 
Howard's  Knob,  4,451;  Bald  of  Rich  Mountain,  5,368;  Sugar 
Loaf,  4,705;  Snake  Mountain,  5,594;  Elk  Knob,  5,555;  Flat 
Top,  4,537;  Deep  Gap,  3,105;  Elk  Park,  3,180;  Cranberry, 
3,160;  Montezuma,  3,882 ;  Linville,  3,800;  Yonah  Lossee  Road, 
from  4,000  to  5,000;  Beacon  Heights,  4,650;  Grandmother, 
4,686;  Linville  Gap  (Guyot),  4,100;  United  States,  4,081; 
McCanless  Gap,  4,250;  White  Top,  5,530;  Toe  River  Gap, 
5,188;  High  Pinnacle,  5,690;  Mount  Mitchell,  6,711;  Cling- 
man's  Peak  in  Blacks,  6,611;  Roan  Mountain,  High  Knob, 
6,313;  Big  Yellow,  5,500;  Cold  Spring  Balsam,  5,915;  Caney 
Fork  Divide,  6,370;  Double  Spring  Mountain,  6,380;  Enos 
Plott  Balsam,  6,097;  Amos  Plott  Great  Divide,  6,278;  The 
Pillar  of  the  Smoky,  6,255;    Mt.  Henry,  6,373;    South  Peak, 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  141 

6,299;  Thermometer  Knob,  6,157;  Mt.  Guyot,  6,636;  Mt.  Alex- 
ander, 6,299;  Mt.  LeConte  of  the  Bullheads,  6,612;  Mt.  Staf- 
ford, 6,535;  Mt.  Curtis,  6,566;  Master  Knob,  6,013;  Mt.  Love 
of  the  Smoky,  6,443;  Clingman's  Dome,  6,619;  Mt.  Buckley, 
6,599;  Mt-  Collins,  6,188;  Thunderhead,  5,520;  Devil's  Court 
House  in  Whitesides,  6,049;  Rocky  Bald  of  the  Nantahalas, 
5,822;  Tusquittee  Bald,  5,314.  Watauga  is  probably  the  high- 
est county  in  general  altitude  in  North  Carolina,  being  over 
3,000  feet  above  sea  level. 

Mount  Washington,  of  New  Hampshire,  is  6,286.  There 
are,  therefore,  twenty-three  peaks  in  North  Carolina  which  are 
higher.  There  are  twenty-three  other  peaks  over  6,000  feet,  but 
less  than  6,286.  There  are  seventy-nine  which  exceed  5,000,  but 
fall  a  little  short  of  6,000  feet.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  that  all  these  measurements  are  barometric,  and,  there- 
fore, inexact,  according  to  Horace  Kephart's  "Southern  High- 
landers." 


CHAPTER  XL 
The  Town  of  Boone/ 

Incorporation. — This  town  was  not  incorporated  till  the  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature  of  1871-72  (Ch.  50),  when  it  was  regularly- 
chartered  and  its  boundaries  defined.  But  this  act  was  amended 
in  1872-73  (Ch.  XXXI,  p.  411)  by  extending  the  corporate 
limits  so  as  to  begin  at  a  stake  half  a  mile  north  of  the  court 
house  and  running  thence  to  a  stake  half  a  mile  east  of  the  court 
house;  thence  to  a  stake  half  a  mile  south  of  the  court  house; 
thence  to  a  stake  half  a  mile  west  of  the  court  house,  and  thence 
to  the  beginning.  W.  L.  Bryan  was  its  first  mayor  and  has  held 
that  office  intermittently  for  twenty-five  years. 

Its  Attractions. — As  Boone  is  on  no  large  stream,  it  is  far 
distant  from  the  moisture  arising  from  rivers  and  creeks.  It 
is  not  high  enough  to  be  caught  in  low-hanging  clouds,  and  is 
free  from  their  damp  and  cHnging  mists.  The  town  is  3,332 
feet  above  tidewater,  with  a  spring,  summer  and  autumn  climate 
unsurpassed  in  the  mountains.  It  is  picturesquely  situated  at 
the  base  of  Rich  Mountain  and  almost  directly  under  Howard's 
Knob.  Its  population  consists  of  a  homogeneous  citizenship, 
with  no  very  wealthy  and  no  very  poor  people  in  its  make-up. 
Its  death  rate  is  less  than  that  of  any  other  town  of  its  size  in 
the  State.  Its  schools,  both  primary  and  normal,  afford  abundant 
opportunity  for  the  education  of  all.  The  school  population  of 
the  Appalachian  Training  School  is  better  behaved  and  more 
appreciated  by  the  citizens  of  Boone  than  that  of  any  other 
school  or  college  town  in  the  State.  Boone  has  a  public  library 
of  its  own,  and  access  to  many  thousands  of  volumes  in  the 
library  of  the  Appalachian  Training  School.  It  has  three 
churches,  one  bank,  a  Masonic  hall  and  three  hotels.    There  is  no 


1  Most  of  the  facts  for  this  chapter  were  furnished  by  Col.  and  Mrs.  Wm.  Lewis 
Bryan,  the  oldest  residents  of  the  place.  I  am  also  indebted  to  them  for  so  much 
other  information  which  I  have  embodied  in  this  book,  that  to  credit  them  with 
each  item  would  be  almost  impossible.  Colonel  Bryan,  indeed,  is  almost  as  much 
the  author  of  the  work  as  I  am  myself.     J.  P.  A. 


142 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  143 

reason  why  Boone  should  not  become  the  best  and  largest  sum- 
mer resort  in  the  State.  Inexhaustible  springs  on  Rich  Moun- 
tain afford  more  pure  water  than  a  population  of  twenty 
thousand  could  consume.  Boone  has  electric  lights  and  garages 
and  livery  stables.  Its  population  is  about  700  souls.  It  has 
local  and  long-distance  telephones,  several  physicians,  and  a 
drug  store.  The  view  from  Howard's  Knob  is  unsurpassed  in 
the  State. 

Miss  Morley's  Visit  to  Boone. — From  her  "Carolina  Moun- 
tains" (pp.  355  to  360)  the  following  detached  sentences  and 
paragraphs  are  taken : 

"Leaving  Blowing  Rock  one  day  in  mid- June,  you  perhaps  will 
walk  away  to  Boone,  some  ten  miles  distant,  three  miles  of  the 
way  a  lane  close-hedged  on  either  side  with  gnarled  and  twisted 
old  laurel  trees  heavily-laden  with  bloom  so  that  the  crisp  flower 
cups  shower  about  you  as  you  pass  and  the  air  is  full  of  their 
bitter,  tonic  fragrance.  Large  rhododendrons  stand  among  the 
laurel,  but  their  great  flower  clusters  are  as  yet  imprisoned  be- 
neath the  strong  bud-scales.  When  the  laurel  is  done  blooming, 
you  will  perceive  that  you  must  come  this  way  again  for  the  sake 
of  the  rhododendrons.  Little  streams  of  crystal  clearness  come 
out  from  under  the  blossoming  laurel,  flash  across  the  road,  and 
disappear  under  the  laurel  on  the  other  side.  How  sweet  the 
air  where  all  the  odors  of  the  forest  are  interwoven  with  the 
bitter-sweet  smell  of  the  close-pressing  flowers !  How  the  pulse 
quickens  as  one  steps  along.  Is  that  a  bird?  Or  is  it  your  own 
heart  singing? 

"Before  the  first  freshness  of  that  laurel-hedged  road  has 
begun  to  dim  from  familiarity,  you  emerge  into  the  open  where 
the  view  is  of  wide,  rolling  slopes,  green  hills  and  valleys  dotted 
with  roofs,  and  beyond  these  the  great  blue  distant  mountains 
soaring  up  into  the  sky.  That  steep  hill  to  your  left  is  bright 
red  with  sorrel,  a  sorry  crop  for  the  farmer,  but  a  lovely  spot 
of  color  in  the  landscape.  You  climb  up  this  sorrel-red  hill  to 
the  top  of  Flat  Top  Mountain,  up  over  the  rough  stones  and  the 
dark  red  sorrel  to  where  the  view  is  wide  and  fine.  But  Flat 
Top  Mountain  offers  you  more  than  a  view.    It  is  noon  when  you 


144  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

get  there,  for  you  have  not  hurried,  but  have  stopped  every 
moment  to  smell  or  to  see,  or  just  to  breathe  and  breathe  as 
though  you  could  thus  fill  your  bodily  tissues  with  freshness 
and  fragrance  to  last  into  your  remotest  life.  As  you  climb  up 
Flat  Top,  you  detect  a  fragrance  that  does  not  come  from  the 
flowers,  a  warm,  delicious  fragrance  that  makes  you  look  eagerly 
at  the  ground.  Seeing  nothing,  you  go  on  half  disappointed,  half 
buoyant  with  the  certainty  of  success — ah,  it  comes  again,  that 
delicious  warm  fragrance.  You  abandon  yourself  to  primitive 
instincts  and  trusting  your  senses  turn  about  and  walk  straight 
to  where  the  ground  is  red  with  ripe  strawberries.  You  sit  down 
on  the  warm  grass  and  taste  the  delectable  fruit.  A  bird  is  sing- 
ing from  a  bush  as  though  sharing  in  your  pleasure.  When  you 
have  gathered  the  best  within  reach,  you  lie  back  and  watch  the 
clouds  sailing  like  white  swans  across  the  sky.  Then  you  take 
out  the  bread  you  have  brought,  the  most  delicious  bread  ever 
baked,  for  it  has  in  some  magical  way  acquired  a  flavor  of  blos- 
soming laurel  and  rippling  brooks  and  blue  sky  and  the  joy  of 
muscles  in  motion,  of  deep-drawn  breath,  of  the  lassitude  of  de- 
licious exercise,  with  a  lingering  flavor  of  the  spicy  berries 
whose  fragrance  is  in  the  air  about  you.  Such  bread  as  this 
is  never  eaten  within  the  walls  of  a  house.  And  then  you  rest 
on  the  warm  hillside  fanned  by  the  cool  breeze,  for  no  matter 
how  hot  the  summer  sun,  there  is  always  a  cool  breeze  in  the 
high  world  at  the  back  of  the  Grandfather.  Before  starting  on, 
you  must  taste  again  of  the  exquisite  feast  spread  for  you  and 
the  birds,  whose  wings  you  hear  as  they  come  and  go,  fearless 
and  ungrudging,  for  there  is  enough  for  all. 

"Further  along  on  the  mountain  stands  an  old  weather-boarded 
house  whence  you  see  Boone  in  the  distance  lying  so  sweetly 
among  its  mountains.  A  path  here  leads  you  down  to  a  deserted 
cabin  in  a  lovely  hollow.  That  well-worn  path  at  the  door-step 
leads  to  the  spring  only  a  few  steps  away,  such  a  spring  as  one 
is  always  looking  for  and  is  always  finding  at  the  back  of  the 
Grandfather.  Its  water  is  icy  cold  and  it  is  walled  about  with 
moss-covered,  fern-grown  stones.  This  cabin  in  the  lovely 
hollow,  with  its  ice-cold  spring,  the  surrounding  fruit  trees,  the 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  145 

signs  of  flowers  once  cultivated,  gives  you  a  strange  impulse  to 
stop  here,  like  a  bird  that  has  found  its  nest,  but  you  go  on 
along  a  woodsy  by-road,  whose  banks  are  covered  with  pale 
green  ferns,  and  where  the  large  spiraea  in  snowy  bloom  stands 
so  close  as  almost  to  form  a  hedge.  The  velvety  dark-green 
leaves  of  wild  hydrangea  crowd  everywhere,  its  broad  flat  heads 
of  showy  buds  just  ready  to  open.  Enormous  wild  gooseberries 
invite  you  to  taste  and  impishly  prick  your  tongue  if  you  do. 
The  blackberries  make  a  great  show,  but  are  not  yet  ripe.  The 
roadside  now  and  then  is  bordered  with  ripe  strawberries.  This 
shady  way  brings  you  again  into  the  'main  leadin'  road'  you  left 
some  distance  back  when  you  climbed  the  sorrel-red  hill  to  the 
top  of  Flat  Top  Mountain,  and  which  now  also  has  its  wealth 
of  flowers,  among  which  the  pure-white  tapers  of  the  galax 
shine  out  from  the  woods,  while  here  and  there  a  service  tree 
drops  coral  berries  at  your  feet. 

"Soon  now  you  cross  the  deep,  wide  ford  of  Mill  River  on  a 
footbridge,  substantial  and  with  handrail,  and  where  you  stop 
of  course  to  look  both  up  and  down  the  stream  overhung  with 
foliage,  and  just  beyond  which  is  a  pretty  house  with  its  front 
yard  full  of  roses.  It  is  only  two  miles  from  here  to  Boone,  and 
you  breathe  a  sigh  of  regret  at  being  so  near  the  end  of  the 
day's  walk;  yet  when  you  find  yourself  in  Mrs.  Coffey's  little 
inn  with  its  bright  flowers  you  are  glad  to  sit  down  and  think 
over  the  events  of  the  day."* 

"Boone  is  at  the  foot  of  Howard  Knob;  is  a  pretty  snuggle 
of  houses  running  along  a  single  street.  Boone  says  it  is  the 
highest  county  seat  in  the  United  States  [she  should  have  added : 
'east  of  the  Rockies']  and  that  Daniel  Boone  once  stayed  in  a 
cabin  near  here,  whence  its  name.  However  all  that  may  be,  the 
lower  slopes  of  Howard  Knob  are  pleasantly  cultivated  and 
valleys  run  up  into  the  mountains  in  all  directions,  as  though  on 
purpose  to  make  a  charming  setting  for  Boone  the  county  seat. 

"That  first  visit  to  Boone! — what  a  sense  of  peace  one  had 
in  remembering  that  the  nearest  railroad  was  thirty  miles  away 
[it  is  now  at  Todd,  only  ten  miles  north]  ;    and  then — what  is 

2  This  is  the  identical  inn  that  In  1884  was  to  Charles  Dudley  Warner, 
Anathema  and  Maranatha. 


146  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

that? — a  telephone  bell  rings  its  insistent  call  and  Boone  is  talk- 
ing with  Blowing  Rock,  or  Lenoir,  or  New  York  City,  or  Heaven 
knows  where!  For  though  this  part  of  the  country  was  last  to 
get  into  railroad  communication  with  the  outer  world,  it  was  by 
no  means  the  last  to  grasp  the  opportunities  within  reach. 

"With  what  delicious  weariness  one  sinks  to  sleep  after  the 
day's  walk  over  the  hills !  Your  eyes  seem  scarcely  to  have 
closed  when  a  loud  noise  wakens  you  with  a  start — what  is  it? 
Nothing  excepting  that  the  day's  work  has  begun,  broad  daylight 
flooding  in  at  the  window.  Breakfast  is  ready,  coffee,  corn- 
bread,  fish  from  some  near  sparkling  stream,  rice,  hot  biscuit, 
eggs,  wild-plum  sauce,  honey  and  wild  strawberries — ^you  can 
take  your  choice  or  eat  them  all.  And  what  a  pleasant  surprise 
to  find  everything  seasoned  with  the  wonderful  appetite  of 
childhood  that  reappears  on  such  occasions  as  this ! 

"Your  body  seems  borne  on  wings,  so  light  it  feels  as  you 
leave  the  inn  and  again  take  to  the  road.  Back  to  Blowing 
Rock?  No,  indeed;  not  even  though  you  could  return,  part 
way  at  least,  by  another  road.  The  wanderlust  is  on  you — the 
need  of  walking  along  the  high  valleys  among  the  enchanted 
mountains.  That  seems  the  thing  in  Hfe  worth  doing.  As  you 
leave  Boone  you  notice  a  meadow  white  with  ox-eyed  daisies, 
and  among  them  big  red  clover-heads,  and,  if  you  please, 
clumps  of  black-eyed  Susans — for  all  the  world  like  a  summer 
meadow  in  the  New  England  hills.  Ripe  strawberries  hang  over 
the  edge  of  the  road. 

"From  Boone  to  Valle  Crucis  you  must  go  the  longest  way, 
for  so  you  get  the  best  views,  the  people  tell  you.  And  so  you 
go  a  day's  walk  to  Valle  Crucis,  where  the  Episcopal  settlement 
lies  in  the  fine  green  little  valley."  * 

Old  Map  of  the  Town  of  Boone. — When  the  town  was 
formed  the  county  court,  with  Judge  Dudley  Farthing  as  its 
chairman,  laid  it  off  into  streets  and  lots,  the  main  street  running 
east  and  west  being  called  King  Street,  the  first  street  to  the 
north  of  it  and  parallel  with  it  was  named  Queen  Street,  while 
the  street  running  between  the  present  Watauga  County  Bank 

'  la  her  "Carolina  Mountains"  Miss  Morley  says  that  even  our  roosters  crow 
with  a  Southern  accent. 


MRS.  WILLIAM  LEWIS  BRYAN. 
Who  has  lived  in  Boone  since  its  organization,  and  for  several  years  prior  thereto. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  147 

Building  and  the  law  office  of  E.  S.  Coffey,  Esq.,  was  designated 
as  Water  Street.  The  broad  street  running  south  from  King 
Street  and  between  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  R.  C.  Rivers 
and  Fletcher  and  Lovill's  law  offices  and  passing  down  in  front 
of  the  present  jail  was  called  Burnsville  Street,  as  it  led  to  the 
Burnsville  road. 

First  Residents  of  Boone  and  Vicinity. — The  land  on  which 
Boone  stands,  from  about  the  present  Methodist  parsonage  to 
the  forks  of  the  road  near  I.  W.  Gross's  residence,  belonged 
originally  to  John  and  Jerry  Green,  two  brothers.  One  of  them 
lived  in  a  large  log  house  between  the  present  Judge  Green's 
residence  and  the  storehouse  just  west  of  it,  and  the  other  in 
the  orchard  on  the  lot  where  Dr.  J.  W.  Jones  now  lives.  One 
of  them  sold  to  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  and  the  other  to  Ransom 
Hayes.  Then  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  built  the  present  large  old 
Councill  house  and  the  store  in  which  Richard  Green  now  lives. 
These  were  the  first  houses  in  Boone  proper,  if  we  except  the  log 
residence  of  Jordan  Councill,  Sr.,  which  stood  a  few  hundred 
yards  east,  at  the  Buck  Horn  Tree  place.  There  was  another 
house  which  stood  in  the  orchard  near  the  present  Blackburn 
hotel.  It  was  a  small  clapboarded  house,  with  only  one  room. 
Ben  Munday  and  family  occupied  it  first  and  afterwards  Elling- 
ton Cousins  and  family,  dark  of  skin,  lived  there  till  Cousins 
built  a  house  up  the  Blackburn  branch  in  rear  of  the  Judge 
Green  house.  It  is  still  known  as  the  Cousins  Place.  Then  B.  J. 
Crawley  built  the  store  and  residence  across  the  branch  in  rear 
of  W.  R.  Gragg's  house  and  above  the  Watauga  County  Bank. 
The  next  house,  now  occupied  by  R.  C.  Rivers  and  family,  was 
first  occupied  by  Jesse  McCoin.  Prior  to  1857  Jesse  McCoin 
and  Robert  Sumter  moved  away  and  Col.  J.  B.  Todd  rented  the 
Rivers  house  from  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  after  he  was  elected 
clerk.  Then  Captain  J.  L.  PhilHps  moved  in  and  remained  till 
Dr.  J.  G.  Rivers  came  in  1865.  Next  was  the  James  Tatum 
storehouse,  which  stood  where  W.  L.  Bryan  now  lives. 

The  First  Builders. — Soon  after  Boone  was  formed  Jordan 
Councill,  Jr.,  built  a  residence  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  R.  C. 
Rivers  as  a  home.    Indeed,  the  front  rooms  of  that  residence  are 


148  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  same  that  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  had  erected  there.  He  also 
built  a  house  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  new  post  office, 
just  west  of  the  middle  branch.  This  house  was  afterwards 
moved  to  the  rear  of  the  residence  and  used  as  a  kitchen.  It 
still  stands  to  the  south  of  the  wing  added  to  the  front  by  Mr. 
Rivers.  Mr.  Councill  also  built,  between  the  dwelling  and  the 
last  named  house,  a  small  room  for  Solomon  Crisp,  where  the 
latter  made  boots  and  shoes  and  sold  whiskey.  He  came  from 
Caldwell  County,  and  continued  in  business  in  that  store  from 
about  1850  till  about  1857,  when  Myrick  and  White  took  it. 
Crisp  was  in  the  Civil  War  and  still  lives  near  Patterson.  The 
residence  which  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  built  was  used  by  his 
tanner,  Jesse  McCoin,  and  the  house  he  erected  on  the  present 
post  office  site  was  used  as  a  residence  by  Robert  Sumter, 
another  tanner.  They  lived  there  till  about  1856,  when  they 
returned  to  the  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  from  which  they  had 
come.  B.  J.  Crawley  came  from  Forsythe  County  early  in  the 
fifties,  and  built  a  storehouse  and  dweUing  on  Water  Street, 
just  across  the  branch  from  the  Watauga  County  Bank.  He 
soon  afterwards  let  M.  T.  Cox  have  the  buildings.  Cox  after 
leaving  Boone  had  a  store  at  Soda  Hill  also,  where  Joel  Norris 
sold  goods  for  him.  Crosby  returned  to  Forsythe  before  the 
Civil  War.  Cox  then  closed  out  and  went  into  business  at 
Rutherwood,  now  Virgil,  with  Henry  Blair,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Cox  &  Blair.  J.  C.  Blair,  Henry's  son,  was  chief  clerk.  But 
the  firm  became  involved  and  Cox  left  some  of  his  creditors  in 
the  lurch  and  went  to  Arkansas.  The  Soda  Hill  store  was  sold 
out  by  the  sheriflf.  Elisha  Green,  however,  followed  Cox  to 
Arkansas  and  succeeded  in  collecting  some  money  for  a  few  of 
his  creditors,  while  Henry  Blair,  at  great  sacrifice,  succeeded  in 
paying  off  the  firm  debts  of  Cox  &  Blair.  Allen  Myrick  and 
Noah  White,  of  Guilford,  moved  into  Crisp's  store  about  1857, 
and  ran  till  about  1862,  when  they  married,  closed  up  their  busi- 
ness and  moved  to  Texas.  Both  had  been  widowers,  but  Myrick 
married  a  Miss  Coffin,  of  Guilford  County,  the  marriage  being 
performed  at  High  Point,  while  White  married  Titia  Moore,  a 
daughter  of  Reed  Moore,  of  Three  Forks. 

Then  was  built  the  James  W.  Council  house  and  store,  oppo- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  149 

site  the  Blair  hotel.  Next  came  the  house  just  east  of  the  Blair 
hotel.  It  was  built  by  Levi  Hartley,  of  near  Lenoir,  for  a 
whiskey  saloon.  His  sons,  Nathan  and  Samuel,  conducted  the 
business,  however,  Levi  never  having  moved  to  Boone.  His 
sons  carried  on  the  rum  business  there  till  just  before  the 
Civil  War.  Nathan  Hartley  married  Louisa  McGhee  and 
died  in  the  Civil  War.  Samuel  Hartley  married  a  daughter  of  a 
man  who  lost  his  mind  trying  to  invent  an  augur  which  would 
bore  a  square  hole.  Sam  died  in  Lenoir  after  the  Civil  War. 
He  was  a  good  citizen  and  much  respected.  T.  J.  Coffey  and 
brother  bought  the  property  and  added  to  it,  and  T.  J.  Coffey 
lived  there  after  his  marriage  till  he  moved  to  the  Hall  house. 
George  and  Phillip  Grubb  then  built  a  residence  on  the  corner 
now  occupied  by  the  law  offices  of  Lovell  and  Fletcher,  and  a 
blacksmith  shop  near  the  present  jail.  They  swapped  this  prop- 
erty to  John  Fraser  for  property  in  Taylorsville,  N.  C.  Frazer 
moved  in,  went  to  the  War  of  1861,  returned  to  Boone,  and 
afterwards  moved  to  Caldwell  County.  George  Grubb  quit  the 
blacksmith  business  and  went  to  carpentering.  His  brother, 
Phillip,  left  this  country  about  i860  and  never  returned. 

Saw  Mills  for  Boone. — Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  bought  a  saw 
mill  from  David  Sands  on  the  east  prong  of  New  River,  two 
miles  from  George  H.  Blair's  present  home.  Councill  after- 
wards sold  it  to  Michael  Cook,  the  second.  WilHam  Elrod  built 
a  saw  mill  over  the  north  or  Boone  fork  of  New  River,  near 
where  the  bridge  now  crosses  that  stream  on  the  turnpike,  two 
miles  southeast  of  Boone,  and  in  front  of  J.  Watts  Farthing's 
present  home.  Thomas  Blair,  who  lived  where  William  Trivett 
now  lives,  near  where  the  three  forks  of  New  River  join,  built 
a  saw,  grist  and  carding  mill  near  where  the  Turnpike  turns  up 
the  Middle  Fork  of  New  River.  He  swapped  to  Harrison  Ed- 
misten  for  a  farm  on  John's  River  soon  after  the  Civil  War. 
These  three  mills  were  bought  or  built  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
producing  lumber  with  which  to  build  the  new  town  of  Boone, 
and  must  have  been  in  operation  about  1849  or  1850. 

John  and  Ellington  Cousins. — These  brothers  came  from 
near  East  Bend,  Forsythe  County,  soon  after  Boone  was  formed, 
bringing  white  women  with  them.     Ellington's  wife  was  Mar- 


150  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

garet  Myers  and  John's  was  named  Lottie.  Ranson  Hayes  sold 
Ellington  an  acre  of  land  up  the  Blackburn  branch,  where  he 
built  a  house  and  lived  in  1857,  having  moved  from  the  house 
in  the  orchard  below  the  road  near  the  present  Blackburn  hotel. 
He  had  two  daughters.  Sarah  married  Joseph  Gibson  and  moved 
to  Mountain  City,  Tenn.,  where  he  carried  on  a  tannery  for 
Murphy  Brothers,  but  he  afterwards  returned  to  this  State  and 
lived  at  or  near  Lenoir,  finally  going  West,  where  he  remains. 
Ellington  died  at  Boone  and  his  widow  and  daughter,  nicknamed 
"Tommy,"  went  with  Gibson  and  his  wife  to  Mountain  City, 
where  she  also  married.  John  lived  near  Hodges  Gap  and  at 
other  places,  dying  at  the  Ed.  Shipley  place,  near  Valle  Crucis. 
He  had  several  children. 

Other  Builders. — Joseph  C.  Councill  built  the  brick  house 
now  used  as  the  office  of  the  Watauga  Democrat  long  before 
the  Civil  War.  The  workmen  employed  in  its  construction 
were  Bartlett  Wood  and  J.  C.  McGee.  Wood  was  a  mason, 
carpenter  and  cabinet  maker.  Councill  moved  to  Texas  after 
the  Civil  War,  where  he  married,  but  he  returned  to  Boone  and 
died  there.  Bartlett  Wood  helped  build  the  first  court  house 
and  a  dwelling  house  which  stood  between  the  present  residence 
of  W.  L.  Bryan  and  what  is  now  the  Blair  hotel,  among  the  first 
houses  built  in  Boone.  Wood  resided  in  this  house  till  shortly 
before  the  Civil  War,  when  he  took  a  contract  and  moved  to 
Shouns  Cross  Roads,  Tenn.,  where  he  remained  till  his  death. 

Hotels. — Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  and  Ransom  Hayes,  who  Hved 
where  Mrs.  L.  L.  Green  now  lives,  kept  boarders  before  the 
Civil  War  and  took  care  of  such  travelers  and  court  attendants 
as  came  to  Boone  till  about  1870,  when  T.  J.  and  W.  C.  Coffey 
opened  their  hotel,  soon  followed  by  W.  L.  Bryan,  who  built 
and  conducted  the  present  Blair  hotel  in  December,  1870.  It  is 
not  generally  known,  but  Squire  James  W.  Councill  and  Elisha 
Green  built  the  frame  of  a  large  hotel  on  the  site  of  the  Blair 
hotel  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  but  were  not  able  to 
complete  it.  When  Kirk's  regiment  came  in  March  or  April, 
1865,  they  took  the  timbers  and  made  a  stockade  around  the 
court  house,  using  also  for  the  same  purpose  the  timbers  of  the 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  151 

incomplete  house  built  by  William  F.  Fletcher  and  which  then 
stood  on  the  lot  where  M.  B.  Blackburn  now  has  a  bee  yard. 
J.  J.  Horton  built  a  store  and  dwelling  where  the  Blackburn 
hotel  now  stands  about  1880  and  where  he  carried  on  merchan- 
dising for  several  years.  When  M.  B.  Blackburn  was  elected 
clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1894,  he  moved  to  Boone  and 
occupied  the  dwelling  which  now  stands  above  and  to  the  north 
of  the  new  residence  of  Dr.  H.  McD.  Little,  which  was  completed 
in  1913.  Then  M.  B.  Blackburn  sold  goods  in  a  store  near  Mrs. 
L.  L.  Green's  residence  and  bought  the  hotel  property,  having 
exchanged  his  Meat  Camp  farm  for  it.  He  enlarged  and  im- 
proved the  original  house  considerably,  and  has  conducted  a 
mercantile  establishment  and  hotel  there  ever  since. 

One  of  the  first  houses  built  in  Boone  was  that  which  stands 
above  Dr.  Little's  present  residence.  The  frame  of  that  house 
was  cut  and  put  together  by  Jacob  Cook  at  Cook's  Gap  about 
1850,  when  Sheriff  Jack  Horton  bought  it  and  moved  it  to  its 
present  location.  Jack  Horton  married  a  Mast  and  lived  on 
Cove  Creek,  where  his  son,  James  Horton,  now  lives,  but  when 
he  was  elected  sheriff  in  1852  he  came  to  Boone,  Michael  Cook 
having  been  appointed  sheriff  by  the  court  when  the  county  was 
organized.  Horton  and  Cook  tied  in  the  race  before  the  people 
and  the  tie  was  cut  by  the  casting  vote  of  Squire  James  Reagan, 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  who  voted  for  Horton  in  the  contest  be- 
fore the  county  court.  Horton  then  moved  into  the  house  above 
Dr.  Little's. 

The  First  Merchants  of  Boone. — Jordan  Councill,  Sr.,  lived 
where  Jesse  Robbins  has  recently  built  two  cottages,  and  near 
which  stood  the  old  Buck  Horn  oak.  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  son 
of  Jordan,  Sr.,  built  and  occupied  the  old  frame  residence  which 
still  stands  north  of  the  road  to  Jefferson.  It  was  probably  the 
first  frame  house  built  in  the  county,  and  was  for  years  the  finest 
house  in  this  section  of  the  State.  The  store  house  used  by 
Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  stood  west  of  his  residence  and  between  the 
office  building  erected  by  Dr.  W.  R.  Councill  and  the  road.  The 
store  house  was  afterwards  moved  across  the  road  to  its  present 
location,  and  is  now  occupied  as  a  residence  by  R.  M.  Greene. 


152  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

What  is  now  Boone  was  for  years  known  as  Councill's  Store, 
and  as  early  as  1835  ^  POst  office  was  in  existence  there.  Sheriff 
Jack  Horton  had  a  store  house  which  stood  on  the  present  court 
house  lot,  fronting  what  is  now  M.  B.  Blackburn's  hotel.  It 
stood  on  the  same  side  of  the  street  as  the  present  new  court 
house  and  nearly  in  front  of  where  that  building  now  stands. 
In  this  store  Horton  sold  whiskey,  goods  and  kept  a  sort  of 
harness  and  saddlery  shop.  He  also  conducted  a  tan-yard  on 
the  lot  near  the  branch  which  runs  below  Blackburn's  present 
upper  barn,  where  traces  of  the  vats  are  still  visible.  James 
Todd,  of  Rowan  County,  was  the  saddler,  and  William  F. 
Fletcher,  of  Lenoir,  was  the  tanner  and  harnessmaker,  Fletcher 
is  said  to  have  been  related  to  William  Lenoir  and  married  Sarah 
Dula,  of  Yadkin  Valley,  He  lived  till  ten  or  twelve  years  ago, 
when  he  died  in  poverty.  He  had  neglected  the  hides  which  were 
being  tanned  in  1857,  and  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan  was  employed  to 
make  such  hides  as  had  not  been  too  badly  damaged  into  shoes. 
These  hides  had  been  removed  from  the  Horton  vats  to  those  of 
Henry  Hardin,  which  stood  where  they  still  stand,  in  rear  of  the 
present  residence  of  Joseph  Hardin,  one  mile  east  of  Boone  and 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Jefferson  road.  Here  these  damaged 
hides  were  finished.  It  was  soon  after  this  that  Jacob  Rintels, 
who  had  been  in  copartnership  with  Samuel  Witkowsky  above 
Elkville  on  the  Yadkin  River,  came  to  Boone  and  rented  Sheriff 
Jack  Horton's  store  room,  where  he  remained  for  about  one 
year,  removing  his  stock  of  goods  to  the  store  room  and  resi- 
dence which  had  been  built  by  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  for  his  son, 
James  W.  Councill,  on  the  land  now  occupied  by  the  residence 
of  J,  D,  Councill,  opposite  the  Blair  hotel.  James  W.  Councill 
had  kept  goods  in  this  store  for  awhile,  but  closed  out  and  rented 
the  store  room  to  his  cousin,  Joseph  C.  Councill,  son  of  Benjamin 
Councill.  Rintels  got  Milly  Bass,  a  respectable  white  woman,  to 
keep  house  there  for  him,  and  W.  L.  Bryan  boarded  there  while 
he  clerked  for  Rintels.  He  occupied  this  building  for  a  year  or 
two,  when  Rintels  moved  to  Statesville.  W.  L.  Bryan  bought 
the  debts  due  Rintels  and  then,  with  Moretz  Wessenfeld,  opened 
a  store  in  the  same  building.    But  Wessenfeld  soon  had  to  go  to 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  153 

the  army,  when  W.  L.  Bryan  bought  him  out  and  continued  to 
sell  goods  there  till  Stoneman's  raid,  March  28,  1865.  This 
building  was  burned  late  in  the  fall  of  1878,  and  the  present 
dwelling  was  erected  by  Jas.  W.  Councill,  father  of  J.  D. 
Councill,  assisted  by  his  sons,  the  following  spring.  James  H. 
Tatum,  of  Iredell,  came  soon  after  Boone  was  established,  and 
built  a  store  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  residence  of  W.  L. 
Bryan,  part  of  the  foundation  of  that  store  still  serving  as  part 
of  the  foundation  for  the  residence.  Tatum  ran  a  store  there 
several  years  and  then  rented  it  to  Joseph  C.  Councill,  who  sold 
goods  there  till  shortly  before  the  Civil  War,  when  he  moved  his 
goods  across  the  street  to  the  store  and  residence  built  by  Jordan 
Councill,  Jr.,  for  his  son,  James  W.  Then  Allen  Myrick  kept 
store  there  for  Shilcutt  &  Bell,  of  Randolph  County.  Bell  came 
to  Boone  several  times,  but  soon  closed  out  and  went  to  Texas. 
Then  Gray  Utley,  who  married  Tatum's  daughter,  got  an  inter- 
est in  the  land  and  sold  it  to  Col.  Wm.  Horton  and  E.  S.  Blair 
shortly  after  the  Civil  War.  Blair  was  the  brother-in-law  of 
Wm.  Horton,  and  sold  his  interest  in  the  land  to  him,  Col. 
Jonathan  Horton  obtaining  a  one-half  interest  therein  also. 
Jonathan  Horton  and  Mrs.  Rebecca  Horton,  widow  of  William, 
sold  the  land  to  W.  L.  Bryan  about  1889.  Sheriff  Jack  Horton 
occupied  this  store  awhile  as  an  office,  and  then  E.  S.  Blair  sold 
goods  there  for  Rufus  L.  Patterson  &  Co.,  of  Patterson,  for  a 
few  years  after  the  Civil  War.  Then  Col.  William  Horton  and 
Blair  sold  goods  there  for  awhile.  The  old  storehouse  was  re- 
moved and  a  large  new  store  erected  in  its  place.  It  was  well 
built  and  greatly  admired.  Colonel  Bryan  kept  a  large  stock  of 
goods  there  till  the  night  of  July  4,  1895,  when  the  store  and 
goods,  with  a  dwelling  which  stood  between  the  store  and  what 
is  now  the  Blair  hotel,  and  a  large  barn  in  rear,  were  burned  by 
James  Cornell  and  Marion  Waycaster,  who  had  been  hired  to 
burn  this  property  by  Lloyd,  Judd,  Tyce  and  Mack  Wagner. 
Their  object  was  to  burn  the  evidence  which  Colonel  Bryan,  who 
was  United  States  Commissioner,  had  locked  in  his  safe  against 
Tyce  Wagner  for  robbing  the  mail.  Judd,  Lloyd  and  Mack 
were   sentenced  to  the  State  penitentiary   for  ten  years   each, 


154  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Waycaster  got  twenty  years  and  Cornell  five  years,  the  latter 
having  turned  State's  evidence.  They  were  convicted  by  a  jury 
at  Boone,  at  the  spring  term,  1896,  of  Superior  Court,  presided 
over  by  Judge  Geo.  W.  Brown  (Minute  Docket  D,  p.  102). 
Tyce  was  convicted  in  the  United  States  Court  of  robbing  the 
mail  and  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  five  years.  Governor  Russell 
pardoned  all  who  had  been  sent  to  the  State  penitentiary.  By 
the  first  of  March,  1870,  W.  L.  Bryan  had  completed  the  store 
room  at  the  west  end  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Blair  Hotel, 
now  used  as  the  parlor,  and  carried  on  business  there  till  Sep- 
tember, 1873,  for  M.  V.  Moore,  of  Lenoir,  when  he  bought 
Moore  out  and  continued  the  business  there  till  1889,  when  he 
moved  into  the  new  store  room  he  had  built  on  the  site  of  the 
Tatum  store. 

Joseph  C.  Gaines,  of  Caldwell,  built  the  Ransom  Hayes  brick 
house  about  185 1  or  1852.  It  was  one  story  high,  with  a  ground 
plan  of  forty  by  twenty  feet,  with  brick  partition  through  center. 
It  had  a  chimney  at  each  end,  and  both  gables  ran  up  to  the 
rafters.  Hayes'  boys  waited  on  Gaines  and  the  latter  laid  all  the 
brick  in  eight  days.  He  was  paid  $70.00  for  his  work,  besides 
board.  This  house  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  from 
Brushy  Fork  just  before  it  reaches  Boone,  and  its  foundations 
are  now  the  foundations  of  the  two-storied  brick  house  occupied 
by  Mrs.  L.  L.  Green,  the  Hayes  house  having  been  burned. 
Calvin  Church,  of  Wilkes  County,  built  the  brick  house  occupied 
by  Judge  L.  L.  Green  till  his  death,  and  since  then  by  his  widow. 
It  is  two  stories  high.  Church  lived  on  the  Watauga  River  at 
the  Franklin  Baird  place  below  Valle  Crucis,  and  died  there,  and 
Henry  Taylor  was  executor  of  his  estate. 

Post  Bellum  Boone. — Rev.  J.  W.  Hall  was  a  Baptist  preacher 
and  performed  the  marriage  ceremony  when  Judge  L.  L.  Green 
was  married  to  Miss  Martha  Horton,  daughter  of  Sheriff  Jack 
Horton,  and  when  J.  Watts  Farthing  was  married  to  Miss 
Rivers,  daughter  of  Dr.  J.  G.  Rivers,  both  marriages  having  been 
solemnized  in  the  Masonic  Lodge  of  Boone  on  the  first  day  of 
March,  1876.  Mr.  Hall  was  also  a  carpenter  and  cabinet  maker. 
He  did  the  wood  work  on  the  second  court  house.    After  going 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  155 

to  McDowell  County,  he  went  to  Clay  County  and  thence  to 
Georgia,  where  he  remained.  But  before  leaving  Boone  finally 
he  went  for  a  time  to  Mountain  City,  Tenn.,  where  he  learned 
to  frame  dwelling  and  other  houses  by  nailing  the  uprights  to  the 
sills,  instead  of  mortising  and  tenoning  them,  as  had  been  the 
universal  practice  before  that  time.  On  his  return  from  Moun- 
tain City  to  Boone  he  built  the  dwelling  now  owned  and  occupied 
by  W.  Columbus  Coffey  in  accordance  with  the  new  method. 
Squire  D.  B.  Dougherty  built  a  small  house  for  the  post  oflEice 
just  east  of  the  Critcher  hotel  soon  after  the  Civil  War.  It  was 
enlarged  and  improved  and  used  by  D.  Jones  Cottrell  as  a  store 
room  about  1909  and  since.  St.  Luke's,  the  Episcopal  Church, 
was  built  about  1882  or  1883.  The  residence  now  owned 
and  occupied  by  J.  C.  Fletcher,  Esq.,  was  built  by  Dr.  L.  C. 
Reeves,  of  Alleghany  County.  He  married  Sallie  Councill, 
daughter  of  J.  W.  and  Mollie  Councill.  Dr.  Reeves  moved  to 
Blowing  Rock,  where  he  died.  J.  C.  Fletcher  bought  this  prop- 
erty about  1896,  and  has  occupied  it  ever  since.  He  married 
Miss  Carrie  H.  Bryan,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  L.  Bryan, 
December  16,  1896.  In  1913  he  was  appointed  examiner  of  land 
titles  under  the  Week's  law  for  the  acquisition  of  national  forest 
lands.  Soon  after  the  Civil  War,  in  which  he  had  served,  Major 
Harvey  Bingham  bought  the  lot  of  land  where  Brannock's  resi- 
dence now  stands,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  a  home  there, 
but  Rev.  J.  W.  Floyd,  a  retired  Methodist  minister,  from  east 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  bought  and  finished  the  house  and  lived  there 
several  years,  dying  there  about  1888.  Then  Joseph  F.  Spain- 
hour,  Esq.,  a  lawyer,  now  living  in  Morganton,  bought  and 
enlarged  the  house  and  lived  there  till  he  sold  the  place  to  the 
Hinckels,  of  Lenoir  (Deed  Book  N,  p.  63).  Benjamin  Bran- 
nock  then  bought  the  place  and  has  lived  there  since. 

Thomas  Greer  built  the  Beech  house  in  rear  of  the  residence 
of  W.  C.  Coffey,  between  1865  and  1868,  and  died  there,  having 
moved  there  from  the  head  of  Elk  after  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  with  T.  J.  Coffey.  Although  weatherboarded  now,  it 
is  really  a  hewed  log  house,  in  the  hewing  of  the  logs  for  which 
Captain  Cook,  a  son  of  Michael  Cook,  took  a  large  part. 


156  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

J.  G.  Rivers  came  from  Bluff  City,  Tenn.,  in  1863  to  Cove 
Creek,  N.  C,  on  account  of  his  Southern  principles.  In  the 
spring  of  1865  he  moved  to  Boone  and  bought  the  residence  now 
occupied  by  his  son,  R.  C.  Rivers,  from  Captain  J.  L.  Phillips, 
who  had  owned  the  property,  having  bought  it  from  Jordan 
Councill,  Jr.,  about  i860,  and  having  moved  there  from  Todd. 
Phillips  was  a  most  estimable  gentleman,  and  was  a  captain  in 
the  58th  North  Carolina  Regiment,  under  Col.  John  B.  Palmer. 
He  was  shot  in  the  forehead  by  a  pistol  bullet  during  a  battle  in 
Tennessee,  and  while  in  a  hospital  his  brains  actually  oozed  out 
of  the  wound.  Notwithstanding,  he  got  well  apparently  and  re- 
turned to  his  old  home  at  Todd,  where  he  taught  school  and 
made  shoes,  but  in  two  or  three  years  died  from  the  effects  of  the 
old  wound.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  the  Miss  Greer  who  mar- 
ried T.  J.  Coffey.    Phillips  was  a  brave  and  honorable  citizen. 

Coffey  Brothers. — Thomas  J.  and  W.  C.  Coffey,  two  brothers, 
had  carried  on  business  at  what  is  now  Butler,  Tenn.,  but  on  the 
left  bank  of  Roan  Creek,  before  the  Civil  War.  They  had  to 
leave  on  account  of  their  Southern  principles  after  the  war  com- 
menced. They  returned  to  their  old  home  in  Caldwell  County 
and  remained  till  after  the  close  of  the  war,  when,  in  1866,  they 
moved  to  Boone  and  opened  a  store  in  the  store  room  which 
stood  where  J.  D.  Councill's  residence  now  stands.  But  W.  C. 
Coffey  opened  a  branch  store  at  Zionville  and  moved  there  about 
1867.  T.  J.  Coffey  lived  in  the  Brown  cottage  just  east  of  the 
■Blair  hotel  after  his  marriage  to  Miss  Curtis,  of  Wilkes  County, 
till  the  Coffey  hotel  and  store,  now  occupied  by  Murray  Critcher, 
was  completed  in  1870. 

Coffey  Brothers'  Enterprises.— Thos.  J.  Coffey  and  brother 
used  to  operate  a  wagon,  harness  and  saddle  business  in  Boone 
for  years  after  the  Civil  War.  These  wagons  were  taken  to 
Kentucky  and  exchanged  for  horses  and  mules  which  were  driven 
South  and  sold.  The  wagons  were  made  about  two  hundred 
yards  east  of  the  house  now  occupied  by  Wilson  A.  Beech ;  the 
saddles  and  harness  were  manufactured  in  rooms  on  the  second 
story  of  the  present  Brick  Row,  east  of  the  Critcher  hotel.  John 
Allen  made  the  wagons  and  Joshua  Setzer  made  the  harness  and 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  157 

saddles.  They  also  tanned  hides  in  front  of  what  is  now  the 
residence  of  W.  A,  Beech.  They  bought  hides  in  the  South,  in 
bales,  besides  tanning  hides  for  local  farmers. 

Newspapers. — The  Watauga  Journal  was  the  first  paper  in 
Boone;  was  started  by  a  man  named  McLaughlin,  of  Moores- 
ville,  and  was  Republican  in  politics.  McLaughlin  left  and  went 
to  Johnson  City,  where  he  became  chief  of  police.  The  Enter- 
prise succeeded  the  Journal  in  1888  and  was  conducted  by  Judge 
L.  L.  Greene  and  Thomas  Bingham  during  the  Harrison  cam- 
paign, stopping  soon  after  his  election  in  1888.  The  Watauga 
Democrat  was  also  begun  in  1888  by  Joseph  Spainhour,  Esq., 
and  the  Democratic  party.  John  S.  Williams  also  was  connected 
with  it,  but  R.  C.  Rivers  and  D.  B.  Dougherty  took  charge  July 
4,  1889,  and  it  has  been  conducted  since  then  by  R.  C.  Rivers. 
The  Watauga  News  was  established  in  January,  1913,  by  Don 
H.  Phillips,  as  an  independent  paper,  but  it  suspended  after  hav- 
ing existed  for  about  a  year. 

Population. — The  town  has  grown  so  much  since  the  census 
of  1910  that  the  figures  there  given  would  be  misleading  now. 
Within  the  corporate  limits,  without  including  the  school  popu- 
lation of  about  300,  it  is  thought  there  are  something  over  400 
people.  This  is  a  pretty  constant  quantity,  as  there  are  but  few 
visitors  to  the  town  in  the  summer  season,  almost  all  stopping  at 
Blowing  Rock  and  seemingly  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  Boone 
is  on  the  map  at  all. 

Counterfeiters. — From  about  1857  and  till  1875  or  thereabouts 
a  gang  of  counterfeiters  and  horse  thieves  carried  on  their  busi- 
ness from  Taylorsville  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Boone  was  one  of 
their  headquarters.  Dark  and  blood-curdling  stories  are  still 
told  of  the  secret  murders  and  robberies  which  occurred  in  a 
house  near  Taylorsville,  which  stood  near  a  body  of  water.  It 
is  said  that  the  owner  of  this  house  enticed  travelers  to  stop  over 
night  with  him  and  that  they  were  never  heard  of  again.  When, 
years  afterwards,  the  pond  was  drained  saddles  and  bridles  were 
found  at  the  bottom,  heavily  weighted  with  stones.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  the  horses  were  hidden  in  the  woods  till  a  favorable 
opportunity  offered,  when  they  were  driven  across  the  moun- 


158  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

tains  to  Cincinnati,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  sold.  The 
basement  of  an  old,  unfinished  house  which  had  been  built  by 
W.  F.  Fletcher,  framed  and  covered,  was  used  as  a  hiding  place 
for  the  horses  as  they  passed  through  Boone,  being  tied  under 
that  dilapidated  building  during  the  nights  they  stayed  in  that 
town.  When  the  dwelling  of  the  man  living  near  Taylorsville 
was  removed  after  his  death,  skeletons  of  human  beings  were 
found  underneath  the  floor.  A  woman  saw  a  man  chasing  an- 
other near  this  house  at  dusk  one  evening,  and  reported  the  facts 
to  the  sheriff.  Investigation  revealed  nothing  but  tracks,  but 
when  the  road  was  changed  later  on,  a  human  skeleton  was 
found  buried  near  a  ford  under  the  bank  of  a  creek.  About 
1872  or  1873  Watauga  County  was  flooded  with  counterfeit  ten- 
dollar  bills  on  the  Bank  of  Poughkeepsie,  of  New  York.  They 
were  thick,  badly  printed  bills  and  were  far  too  green  in  color  to 
deceive  experts,  but  they  passed  current  here  for  some  time. 
The  house  in  which  these  men  congregated  at  intervals  stood 
near  the  present  site  of  the  county  court  house  till  about  1883, 
when  it  was  removed. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

War  Times  and  Afterwards. 

A  Hopeless  Task. — It  would  take  several  volumes  the  size  of 
this  to  give  the  history  of  the  troops  sent  from  Watauga  County 
into  the  Civil  War,  Their  record  is  partially  preserved  in  Clark's 
North  Carolina  Regiments,  Moore's  Roster  and  elsewhere.  Only 
some  of  the  principal  events  which  occurred  in  this  county  and 
in  those  portions  of  this  section  which  were  once  a  part  of 
Watauga  County  can  be  given.  There  were  at  least  one  thousand 
men  from  Watauga  in  the  Confederate  army  and  one  hundred 
in  the  Federal,  Company  I  of  the  Thirteenth  Tennessee  Cavalry 
having  no  less  than  thirty-three  Wataugans  in  its  ranks.  Col. 
George  N.  Folk  was  the  first  to  enlist  volunteers  in  this  county, 
and  the  response  which  his  call  met  with  was  but  the  forerunner 
of  many  more  enlistments  soon  to  follow.  Many  men  composing 
the  Fifty-Eighth  North  Carolina  Regiment,  Col.  J.  B.  Palmer's, 
went  from  this  county,  though  a  large  part  of  it  was  then  em- 
braced in  the  newly  formed  county  of  Mitchell.  Indeed,  Colonel 
Palmer's  home  on  the  Linville  River  had  been  in  Watauga  from 
the  time  it  was  purchased  and  the  residence  built  in  1858  till  the 
new  county  was  formed  in  1860-61.  The  old  county  line  then 
ran  below  his  residence  along  Pisgah  Ridge,  and  a  voting  pre- 
cinct, at  Levi  Franklin's  house,  now  the  upper  part  of  Potter 
Brown's  meadow,  is  still  remembered  by  some  of  the  older  resi- 
dents of  Boone  and  vicinity.  It  was  the  most  remote  of  all  in  the 
county,  and  the  messenger  bearing  the  returns  usually  did  not 
arrive  at  the  court  house  in  Boone  till  after  midnight.  That  he 
managed  to  get  here  even  as  late  as  that  was  due  to  the  practice 
prevailing  at  the  time,  of  keeping  "tab"  on  the  votes  as  they  were 
cast,  removing  them  from  the  hat  into  which  they  were  usually 
deposited,  examining  them,  and  crediting  each  candidate  for 
whom  they  had  been  cast  with  the  vote  to  which  he  was  entitled. 
Thus,  the  count  was  kept  as  rapidly  as  the  ballots  were  de- 

159 


i6o  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

posited.  But,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  an  important  legal 
feature  of  the  matter,  some  ballots  were  always  left  in  the  hat 
to  show  that  the  voting  was  still  going  on,  or  that  the  precinct 
had  not  closed.  Consequently,  when  the  sun  set  on  the  first 
Thursday  in  August  of  election  years,  there  were  but  a  few  bal- 
lots remaining  to  be  counted,  which  was  soon  done  and  the 
messenger  dispatched  with  the  result  to  Boone.  Captain  William 
M.  Hodges,  still  hale  and  active  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  re- 
members attending  that  precinct  in  1850  or  1852  in  the  contest 
between  Michael  Cook  and  Jack  Horton  for  sheriff.  He  took 
some  of  the  juice  of  the  peach  with  him,  a  gallon  and  a  half,  to 
be  exact,  and  carried  the  precinct  overwhelmingly  for  Cook,  his 
uncle,  or,  to  be  exact  again,  thirty-eight  out  of  forty  votes.  The 
dancing  which  took  place  at  Franklin's  house  during  that  day, 
in  which  barefoot  girls  and  women  joined,  was  the  most  vigor- 
ous, if  not  the  most  graceful,  he  ever  witnessed.  He  still  won- 
ders how  it  was  that  those  bare  feet  did  not  wear  through  to  the 
quick.^ 

"Keith"  Blalock. — It  might  seem  almost  as  if  the  history  of 
the  Civil  War  in  Watauga  were  inextricably  interwoven  with 
the  life  and  adventures  of  W.  M.  Blalock,  commonly  called 
'Keith"  Blalock,  a  nic-name  given  him  because  of  the  fact  that 
Alfred  Keith,  of  Burnsville,  was  a  great  fighter  during  Blalock's 
youth,  and  as  he  was  something  of  a  fighter  himself,  his  boy 
companions  called  him  "Keith."  Keith  and  his  wife,  born 
Malinda  Pritchard,  lived  "under  the  Grandfather"  when  the 
Civil  War  commenced,  and  both  became  members  of  Zeb  Vance's 
26th  Regiment,  he  as  W.  M.  and  she  as  Sam  Blalock.  She  wore 
a  private's  uniform  and  tented  and  messed  with  Keith.  She 
watched  the  men  "when  they  went  in  swimming"  near  Kinston, 
but  never  went  in  herself.  Keith  was  a  Union  man  and  joined 
only  to  avoid  conscription  and  in  the  hope  that  opportunity  might 
offer  for  him  to  desert  to  the  Union  lines.  But  the  fortunes  of 
war  did  not  afford  this  chance  as  speedily  as  he  wished,  so  he 
went  into  the  bushes  and  covered  himself  with  poison  oak.  When 
this  took  effect  the  army  surgeons  were  puzzled  as  to  the  nature 


1  He  also  wonders  if  one  of  the  Franklins,  who  had  his  tax  list  there,  ever  got 
it  straightened  out  after  the  dance  was  over  and  the  peach-juice  exhausted. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  i6i 

of  his  complaint,  but  they  agreed  that  he  was  then  unfit  for 
service  and  discharged  him.  Then  "Sam"  presented  himself  and 
convinced  his  colonel,  Zeb  Vance,  that  he  was  no  longer  fit  for 
duty  either,  his  lawful  tent  and  messmate  having  been  discharged. 
They  returned  to  their  home  under  the  Grandfather,  but  it  was 
not  long  till  Keith  had  cured  his  infirmity  by  the  frequent  appli- 
cation of  strong  brine  to  the  affected  parts,  brine  being  nothing 
more  or  less  than  strong  salt  water.  Then  Confederate  sympa- 
thisers wanted  to  know  why  he  did  not  return.  Keith  showed  his 
discharge,  and  they  answered  by  trying  to  arrest  and  conscript 
him.  He  and  "Sam"  retreated  still  further  up  under  the  Grand- 
father and  lived  in  a  rail  pen.  But  they  were  followed  even 
there,  and  on  one  occasion  Keith  was  so  hotly  pursued  that  he 
was  shot  in  the  left  arm,  and  had  to  take  refuge  with  some  hogs 
which  had  "bedded  up"  under  the  rocks.  Keith  then  went 
through  the  lines  into  Tennessee  and  became  recruiting  officer 
for  a  Michigan  regiment  stationed  in  Tennessee.  Whether  true 
or  not,  Blalock  believed  that  Robert  Green,  who  then  lived  in  the 
Globe,  but  had  also  a  place  at  Blowing  Rock,  was  in  the  party 
that  had  wounded  him.  Accordingly,  when  he  and  some  of  his 
comrades  met  Green  one  day  while  he  was  driving  his  wagon 
from  the  Globe  to  Blowing  Rock,  he  shot  Green  as  he  ran  down 
the  side  of  the  mountain,  breaking  his  thigh.  Green's  friends 
say  that  Blalock's  crowd  left  him  lying  as  he  had  fallen,  and  that 
he  managed  to  regain  his  wagon,  turn  it  around  and  drive  back 
home.  Blalock's  friends  say  that  after  he  had  wounded  Green, 
shooting  him  through  his  wagon  body  and  afterwards  bragging 
on  his  marksmanship,  he  went  to  him,  and  finding  him  uncon- 
scious, took  him  to  his  wagon,  put  him  in  it,  turned  the  wagon 
around  and  started  the  team  in  the  direction  of  Green's  home. 
This  is  doubted  by  Green's  friends,  however.  Robert  Green  was 
the  father  of  the  late  Judge  L.  L,  Green,  of  this  county. 

Four  Coffey  Brothers. — To  go  back  a  little,  Keith  Blalock's 
mother  had  married  Austin  Coffey,  while  Keith  was  a  very  little 
boy,  and  Coffey  reared  him  to  manhood.  Austin  Coffey  lived  al- 
most in  sight  of  the  home  of  his  brother,  McCaleb  Coffey,  in  the 
Coffey  Gap  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  on  the  old  Morganton  Road. 


1 62  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

McCaleb  was  rather  a  Confederate  sympathiser,  having  a  son, 
Jones,  in  the  Confederate  army.  Austin  was  rather  a  Union 
man,  though  too  old  to  be  drafted  into  the  service.  Of  course,  he 
sheltered  and  fed  Keith  and  his  comrades  whenever  he  or  they 
came  to  his  home.  But  William  and  Reuben  Coffey  were  pro- 
nounced Southern  men,  and  active  in  forcing  out-lyers  and 
others  subject  to  conscription  into  the  ranks  of  the  Confederate 
army.  Meantime,  Blalock  was  taking  recruits  through  the  lines 
into  the  Union  army  in  Tennessee.  Thus,  a  natural  antagonism 
sprang  up  between  him  and  WilHam  and  Reuben  Coffey. 

Danger  from  Tennessee. — Up  to  the  spring  of  1864  the 
Union  element  in  the  mountains  had  been  rather  timid,  but  as 
the  tide  of  battle  turned  against  the  Confederacy,  and  recruiting 
officers,  of  whom  James  Hartley  was  a  conspicuous  example, 
increased  throughout  the  mountain  region,  Union  men  and 
women  grew  bolder.  Then,  too,  there  had  been  numerous  de- 
sertions from  the  Southern  army,  and  men  not  only  from  these 
mountains,  but  from  Tennessee,  Georgia  and  Virginia,  were  lying 
out  in  the  mountains  almost  everywhere.  Of  course,  they  had 
to  live,  and  if  those  who  could  would  not  feed  them,  they  natur- 
ally tried  to  feed  themselves.  .To  do  this  they  had  to  pilfer, 
steal  and  finally,  in  bands,  to  rob  outright.  A  state  of  guerrilla 
warfare  was  thus  imminent,  when  an  event  occurred  which 
almost  revolutionized  matters  in  the  mountains.  This  was  Kirk's 
raid  through  the  mountains  to  Camp  Vance,  six  miles  below 
Morganton.  That  it  had  been  successful  was  almost  a  miracle, 
and  the  leaders  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  reaHzed  the  vulner- 
ability of  its  piedmont  region  to  like  incursions  from  East  Ten- 
nessee. It  should  be  remembered  that  General  Burnside  had 
long  been  in  possession  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  that  he  might 
at  almost  any  time  send  a  large  force  through  the  mountains 
and  destroy  the  railroad  from  Richmond  to  Columbia,  the  main 
artery  of  the  Confederacy.  To  guard  against  this  contingency. 
General  Robert  B.  Vance,  of  Asheville,  had  been  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  Military  District  of  Western  North  Carolina,  as  it 
was  officially  designated.  Also,  that  on  the  7th  of  July,  1863, 
the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  had  provided  for  the 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  163 

organization  and  equipment  of  the  Home  Guard,  officially  desig- 
nated as  "The  Guard  for  Home  Defense,"  to  be  composed  of 
all  males  between  eighteen  and  fifty  years  of  age.  In  April, 
1864,  Gen.  John  W.  McElroy,  commanding  the  forces  around 
Burnsville,  wrote  to  Governor  Vance  that  "the  county  is  gone 
up,"  and  that  there  was  a  determination  on  part  of  the  people 
generally  "to  do  no  more  service  in  the  cause." ' 

Longstreet's  Withdrawal. — General  Longstreet  had  been  de- 
tached from  Lee's  army  in  Virginia  and  sent  to  East  Tennessee 
in  1863,  where,  after  the  Battle  of  Chickamauga,  he  drove  the 
Federals  back  into  Knoxville  and  besieged  that  place.  But  Lee 
could  not  long  do  without  Longstreet,  and  so,  in  January,  1864, 
Longstreet  tried  to  withdraw  from  Knoxville  and  return  to 
Richmond  with  his  army.  No  sooner,  however,  had  Longstreet 
started  than  Burnside  started  after  him.  In  anticipation  of  this. 
General  Vance  was  ordered  to  cross  the  mountains  through  Hay- 
wood County  and  attack  Burnside  in  flank  as  he  pursued  Long- 
street.  Vance,  however,  was  captured  as  soon  as  he  reached 
the  western  slope  of  the  Smoky  Mountains,  and  sent  to  prison, 
his  force  of  about  1,200  men  of  all  arms  retreating  back  to 
Buncombe  as  best  they  might.  Thus  the  Military  District  of 
Western  North  Carolina  was  left  without  a  general.  But  Col. 
J.  B.  Palmer,  of  the  58th  North  Carolina,  asked  to  be  placed  in 
command,  and  he  was  accordingly  transferred  early  in  1864 
from  his  regiment  in  the  western  army  and  placed  in  command. 
But  General  Lee  wanted  a  West  Point  man  in  charge  of  this 
most  important  region,  and  assigned  General  James  G.  Martin 
to  that  position.  Meantime,  Keith  Blalock  was  passing  back 
and  forth  between  the  lines  and  keeping  the  Federal  authorities 
informed  of  conditions  around  his  old  home  "under  the  Grand- 
father." The  mountains  were  at  that  time  practically  defense- 
less. Camp  Vance  with  a  few  hundred  recruits  was  the  only 
force  of  moment  between  Knoxville  and  Salisbury,  where  were 
confined  thousands  of  Federal  prisoners.  Blalock  had  grown 
up  with  Joseph  V.  Franklin,  who  was  reared  near  Linville  Falls 
and  knew  the  country  like  a  book.     Col.  George  W.  Kirk  was 


Rebellion   Records,   Series  I,  Vol.  LIU,   p.   485. 


164  -4  History  of  Watauga  County 

then  in  command  of  the  Third  North  CaroHna  Mounted  Infan- 
try, United  States  Army,  and  persuaded  the  mihtary  authorities 
to  allow  him  to  make  a  raid  to  Camp  Vance,  release  the  con- 
scripts there,  steal  an  engine  and  train,  cut  the  wires,  go  on  to 
Salisbury,  release  and  arm  the  prisoners  there  and  turn  them 
loose  on  the  country.  It  was  a  daring  scheme,  and  the  wonder 
is  that  Kirk  was  allowed  to  make  the  venture. 

Kirk's  Camp  Vance  Raid. — With  130  men,  including  twelve 
Cherokee  Indians,  on  foot  and  carrying  their  rations  and  arms 
and  blankets,  Kirk  left  Morristown,  Tenn.,  June  13,  1864,  and 
marched  via  Bull  Gap,  Greenville  and  the  Crab  Orchard,  all 
in  Tennessee,  crossed  the  Big  Hump  Mountain  and  went  up  the 
Toe  River,  passing  the  Cranberry  iron  mine,  where  from  forty 
to  sixty  men  were  detailed  by  the  Confederate  government 
making  iron,  when  they  camped  near  David  Ellis'  house  and 
where  rations  were  cooked  for  Kirk's  men.  On  the  26th  they 
scouted  through  the  mountains,  passing  Pinola  and  crossing  Lin- 
ville  River.  The  following  day  they  got  to  Upper  Creek  at 
dark,  where  they  did  not  camp,  but  keeping  themselves  in  the 
woods  all  the  time,  got  to  Camp  Vance  at  daylight.  Here  they 
demanded  its  surrender,  which  was  agreed  to.  It  had  been 
Kirk's  plan  to  take  a  locomotive  and  cars  and  such  arms  as  he 
might  find  at  the  Camp  and  go  to  Salisbury,  where  the  Federal 
prisoners  confined  there  were  to  be  released.  Failing  in  that,  he 
wanted  to  destroy  the  bridge  over  the  Yadkin,  but  a  telegram 
had  been  sent  before  they  could  cut  the  wire  and  that  part  of 
their  scheme  was  abandoned.  They  captured  1,200  small  arms, 
3,000  bushels  of  grain,  279  prisoners,  thirty-two  negroes  and 
forty-eight  horses  and  mules.  Kirk  also  got  forty  recruits  for 
his  regiment,  and  then,  after  destroying  the  locomotive  he  found 
there,  three  cars,  the  depot  and  commissary  buildings,  he  started 
to  return.  R.  C.  Pearson  shot  Hack  Norton,  of  Madison  County, 
one  of  Kirk's  men,  at  Hunting  Creek,  but  Kirk  got  over  the 
Catawba  River  and  camped  that  night.  The  next  day  they 
crossed  John's  River  and  Brown's  Mountain,  where  they  were 
fired  into  by  pursuing  Confederates  at  3  :30  p.  m.  Kirk  put  some 
of  his  Camp  Vance  prisoners  in  front,  and  one  of  them,  B.  A. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  165 

Bowles,  a  drummer,  was  killed  and  a  seventeen  year  old  boy 
wounded.  Colonel  Kirk  was  himself  wounded  here  with  several 
others  of  his  command.  This  was  at  Israel  Beck's  farm.  They 
camped  that  night  at  top  of  the  Winding  Stairs  Road,  where 
they  were  attacked  next  morning.  Col.  W.  W.  Avery  and  Phillip 
Chandler  were  mortally  wounded,  Col.  Calvin  Houck  was  shot 
through  the  wrist  and  Powell  Benfield  through  the  thigh.  The 
attacking  party  then  retreated  and  Kirk  continued  his  retreat, 
passing  by  Col.  J.  B.  Palmer's  home  and  burning  it  that  morning. 
Kirk  and  all  his  men  escaped  without  further  mishap.  On  July 
21,  1864,  General  Stoneman,  wiring  from  Atlanta,  thanked  and 
complimented  Kirk,  but  instructed  General  Scofield  at  Knox- 
ville  not  to  allow  him  to  undertake  another  such  hazardous  ex- 
pedition. Joseph  V.  Franklin,  now  living  at  DrexeJ,  N.  C,  was 
the  guide.  A  man  named  Beech,  who  had  been  wounded,  was 
left  at  John  Franklin's,  near  Old  Fields  of  Toe,  where  he  was 
attended  by  Eleazer  Pyatt.  At  Henry  Barringer's,  on  Jonas's 
Ridge,  some  of  Kirk's  men  threw  ofif  some  of  the  plunder  they 
had  captured,  lest  its  weight  should  retard  their  retreat.  In  his 
"Reminiscenses  of  Caldwell  County"  (p.  51),  G.  W.  F.  Harper 
gives  an  account  of  an  attack  upon  Kirk's  retreating  men  by  ten 
men,  including  himself,  at  Moore's  Cross  Roads,  where  they 
captured  one  prisoner,  two  mules  and  some  arms.  No  mention 
of  this  is  made  in  the  official  report.  (See  Rebellion  Records, 
Series  i.  Vol.  XXXIX,  Part  I,  p.  232.)  Harper  also  states  that 
the  detachment  which  attacked  Kirk  at  the  head  of  the  Winding 
Stairs  was  under  command  of  Col.  Allen  Brown,  from  the  garri- 
son at  Salisbury,  with  militia  and  volunteers  from  Burke  County, 
and  was  well  armed.  The  pursuing  party  was  composed  of 
about  1,200  men. 

Death  of  William  Coffey. — Kirk's  raid  in  1864  emboldened 
the  Unionists  in  Watauga  County,  and  Blalock  went  about  in 
Federal  uniform,  fully  armed.  Between  August,  1864,  and 
February,  1865,  the  people  of  this  section  were  harassed  beyond 
measure,  for  not  only  had  the  deserters  and  outlyers  to  be  fed 
by  submitting  to  their  thefts  and  robberies,  but  a  body  of  men 
calling  themselves  Vaughan's  Cavalry,  and  claiming  to  be  Con- 


1 66  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

federates,  came  from  Tennessee  to  Boone  on  their  way  to  New- 
ton for  the  purpose  of  recruiting  their  horses,  it  was  alleged,  but 
to  keep  out  of  danger  also,  most  probably.  These  men  were 
worse  than  Kirk's  or  Stoneman's  men,  according  to  old  people 
still  living,  stealing  horses  and  mules  and  everything  else  they 
fancied.  What  they  did  not  like  they  destroyed,  throwing  out 
of  doors  many  of  the  household  goods  of  the  defenceless  women 
and  children.  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan  and  J.  W.  Councill  followed 
them  to  Newton  and  recovered  two  horses  they  had  stolen  from 
the  latter  in  1865.  In  these  circumstances,  there  is  no  wonder 
that  Blalock  hunted  out  his  enemies.  Reuben  Coffey  was  first 
sought,  but  he  was  not  at  home  when  Keith  called.  He  and  his 
aids  then  went  to  WilHam  Coffey's  field,  forced  him  to  go  half 
a  mile  with  them  to  James  Gragg's  mill,  and  to  sit  astride  a  rude 
bench,  where  he  was  shot,  Blalock  turning  over  that  act  to  a 
man  named  Perkins,  because  of  the  fact  that  William  Coffey 
was  the  brother  of  Austin  Coffey,  Keith's  step-father.  In  1864 
Keith  also  had  what  he  called  a  "battle"  with  Jesse  Moore  in 
Carroll  Moore's  orchard,  in  which  Jesse  was  wounded  in  the 
heel  and  Keith  had  an  eye  shot  out.  Pat,  a  son  of  Daniel  Moore, 
had  a  thigh  broken  in  same  fight.  This  was  in  the  Globe,  in 
Caldwell,  however. 

The  Murder  of  Austin  Coffey.^ — These  activities  soon 
brought  some  of  Colonel  Avery's  battalion  on  the  scene,  and  a 
party  of  Captain  James  Marlow's  company  went  to  McCaleb 
Coffey's  house  in  the  Coffey  Gap.  There  they  found  Austin 
Coffey,  who  was  recognized  by  John  B.  Boyd,  and  arrested. 
Boyd  left  his  prisoner  with  Marlow's  men  and  went  on  home  in 
the  Globe.  That  was  Sunday,  February  26,  1865.  Nothing  was 
seen  of  Austin  Coffey  after  that  till  his  body  was  discovered  a 
week  later  in  the  woods  by  searchers  sent  out  by  his  widow. 
All  sorts  of  stories  have  been  circulated  as  to  what  really  hap- 
pened to  Austin,  and  it  was  only  recently  that  what  is  probably 
the  true  account  was  obtained  from  J.  Filmore  Coffey,  of  Foscoe. 
This  gentleman  is  a  son  of  Austin  Coffey,  having  been  born  in 
1858.    When  he  became  a  man  and  had  married  he  stopped  one 


'  Austin  Coffey  was  the  son  of  Jesse  Cofley,   and  was  born  in  1818,   and  died 
on  the  27th  of  February,  1865. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  167 

night  in  1882  at  the  house  of  a  man  named  John  Walker,  near 
Shelby.  When  Walker  learned  Coffey's  name  and  that  he  was 
the  youngest  son  of  Austin  Coffey,  Walker  told  him  that  he. 
Walker,  had  been  a  member  of  Marlow's  company  when  Austin 
was  turned  over  to  them;  that  they  had  taken  him  to  a  vacant 
house  about  half  way  between  Shull's  Mills  and  Blowing  Rock, 
known  then  as  the  Tom  Henley  place,  where  Nelson  Coffey  now 
lives,  one-half  mile  west  of  the  Blowing  Rock  Road.  There  a 
fire  was  kindled  and  Coffey  went  to  sleep  on  the  floor  before  it. 
While  he  was  sleeping  this  John  Walker  was  detailed  to  kill 
Austin  Coffey,  but  refused.  It  was  then  that  a  base-born  fellow, 
named  Robert  Glass,  or  Anders,  volunteered  to  do  the  act,  and 
while  the  old  man  slept  shot  him  through  the  head.  The  body 
was  taken  to  a  laurel  and  ivy  thicket  near  by  and  hidden.  One 
week  later  a  dog  was  seen  with  a  human  hand  in  his  mouth. 
Search  revealed  the  body.  Glass,  after  suffering  much  mental 
torture,  died  long  before  1882  in  Rutherford  County.  J.  F. 
Coffey  acquits  both  John  Boyd  and  Major  A.  C.  Avery  of  all 
complicity  in  his  father's  death. 

Other  "Activities." — About  this  time  Levi  Coffey,  a  son  of 
Elisha,  threw  in  his  fortunes  with  Blalock  and  his  companions, 
and  when  Benjamin  Green  and  his  men  tried  to  arrest  Levi  at 
Mrs.  Fox's  house,  above  what  is  now  Foscoe,  the  latter  ran  out 
of  the  house  and  was  shot  in  the  shoulder,  but  he  escaped.  This 
was  during  the  autumn  of  1864,  as  well  as  can  now  be  deter- 
mined. This  caused  the  bushwhackers,  as  Blalock  and  his  fol- 
lowers were  called,  when  they  were  not  called  robbers  outright, 
to  turn  against  the  Greens,  and  finding  that  Lott  Green,  a  son 
of  Amos,  was  at  his  home  near  Blowing  Rock,  they  went  there 
at  night  to  arrest  or  kill  him.  Lott  was  expecting  a  physician  to 
visit  him  that  night,  and  when  someone  knocked  at  his  door,  he, 
thinking  that  the  doctor  had  arrived,  unsuspectingly  opened  it. 
Finding  who  his  visitors  really  were,  he  drew  back,  slamming 
the  door  to.  It  just  so  happened  that  there  were  at  that  time 
in  the  house  with  Lott  his  brother,  Joseph;  his  brother-in->law, 
Henry  Henley,  the  latter  of  the  Home  Guard,  and  L.  L.  Green, 
afterwards  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  then  but  seventeen 


1 68  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

years  old,  but  also  a  member  of  the  Home  Guard.  The  bush- 
whackers are  said  to  have  been  Keith  Blalock,  Levi  Coffey, 
Sampson  Calloway,  son  of  Larkin,  Edmund  Ivy,  of  Georgia, 
a  deserter  from  the  Confederate  army,  Adolphus  Pritchard,  and 

Gardner,  of  Mitchell.     Blalock  demanded  that  all 

in  the  house  surrender,  whereupon  Henly  asked  what  treatment 
would  be  accorded  them  in  case  they  surrendered,  and  Blalock  is 
said  to  have  answered:  "As  you  deserve,  damn  you."  Henley 
then  slipped  his  gun  through  a  crack  of  the  door  and  fired, 
wounding  Calloway  in  the  side.  The  bushwhackers  then  retired, 
and  the  Green  party,  who  followed,  saw  blood.  Calloway  was 
left  at  the  house  of  John  Walker,  two  miles  above  Shull's  Mills. 
Henly  led  the  party  at  Green's  house,  excepting  L.  L.  Green,  to 
Walker's,  and  surrounded  it.  Henly  was  at  the  rear  and  shot 
Edmund  Ivy  as  he  ran  out,  killing  him.  Blalock  called  to  a 
woman  to  open  the  gate,  and  Mrs.  Medie  Walker,  born  Mc- 
Haarg,  did  so.  Through  this  gate  Blalock  and  his  company 
escaped.  A  little  later  on,  February  26,  1865,  Captain  James 
Marlow's  infantry,  expecting  to  unite  with  a  detachment  of 
cavalry  under  Nelson  Miller  at  Valle  Crucis,  went  to  Austin 
Coffey's  house  and  arrested  Thomas  Wright  and  Austin,  Alex. 
Johnson,  who  claimed  to  be  a  recruiting  officer  for  Kirk,  having 
just  left  and  gone  to  McCaleb  Coffey's  house.*  The  infantry 
followed,  taking  Wright  with  them,  but  Wright's  wife  and 
Blalock's  mother,  then  Mrs.  Austin  Coffey,  went  a  nigh-way  and 
gave 'warning  to  the  inmates  of  McCaleb's  house  before  the  in- 
fantry arrived  by  calling  out  in  a  loud  voice  that  the  "rebels" 
were  coming.  Thereupon,  Johnson  dashed  out  of  the  door,  and 
although  fired  on,  escaped  unhurt.  Most  of  the  infantry  fol- 
lowed Johnson,  but  John  Boyd,  in  charge  of  four  or  five  men, 
.entered  the  house,  where  they  found  Sampson  Calloway,  he 
having  been  removed  from  the  Walker  house  which  Henly  had 
attacked.  Calloway  got  into  bed  and  was  not  arrested,  but  Austin 
Coffey  was  arrested,  as  before  related.  All  now  agree  that 
Austin  Coffey  did  not  deserve  his  fate:    that  he  was  a  big- 


•  Brooks  and  Smoot,  "two  preacher  men,"  also  engaged  in  piloting  Union  men 
through  the  lines  to  Tennessee,  via  Elk  Cross  Roads,  Sutherland  and  Cut  Laurel 
Gap,  were  killed  on  the  left  of  the  road  to  Blowing  Rock,  beyond  where  Kilby 
Hartley  lives,  by  the  Home  Guard. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  169 

hearted  man,  who  had  fed  Confederates  as  well  as  Union  men 
at  his  house.  He  was  a  Union  man,  but  not  active  in  arresting 
Southern  sympathizers,  and  had  tried  to  prevent  the  raids  on 
Lott  Green's  and  Carroll  Moores'  houses. 

Two  Michiganders  Escape. — Reuben  Coffey,  sick  of  living 
in  a  turmoil  with  his  neighbors,  had  left  the  Globe  and  moved  to 
a  house  on  Meat  Camp,  but  needing  some  household  articles  he 
had  left  at  his  Globe  home,  returned  during  this  winter,  accom- 
panied by  his  daughter,  Millie,  who  was  riding  a  white  horse. 
The  robbers  had  taken  all  of  McCaleb  Coffey's  horses,  and  when 
the  white  horse  appeared  McCaleb  threw  a  "grise"  of  corn  over 
his  back  to  be  taken  to  EHsha  Coffey's  mill  by  Miss  Millie.  On 
their  way  down  the  mountain  Reuben  and  his  daughter  met  two 
men,  who  said  they  were  from  Michigan  and  had  escaped  from 
prison.  They  were  not  in  uniform,  neither  were  they  armed. 
Reuben  had  a  gun  and  arrested  them,  after  which  he  took  them 
by  McCaleb  Coffey's  house  to  David  Miller's,  one  mile  away, 
hoping  to  get  Miller  to  go  with  him  and  them  to  Camp  Mast  on 
Cove  Creek,  but  Miller  excused  himself,  and  Reuben  went  on 
alone  with  his  prisoners.  When  they  got  to  the  intersection 
of  the  turnpike  with  the  old  Morganton  Road,  about  two  miles 
above  Shull's  Mills,  one  of  the  prisoners  called  Reuben's  atten- 
tion to  some  rude  benches  standing  on  one  side  of  the  road,  and 
when  he  looked  in  the  direction  indicated  the  other  seized  his 
gun,  while  his  companion  struck  Reuben  a  blow  on  the  back  of 
his  head  with  a  heavy  stick.  In  the  ensuing  scuffle  the  two  over- 
came Reuben  and  took  his  gun  away  from  him.  At  that  moment, 
after  having  tried  to  shoot  him  and  failing  only  because  the  cap 
snapped,  they  heard  Wilson  Beech,  a  boy,  returning  at  a  gallop 
from  the  mill,  when  they  ran  off  and  escaped.  This  boy,  now 
an  elderly  man,  remembers  that  he  was  working  in  the  field  at 
McCaleb  Coffey's,  with  Polly  Hawkins  as  a  helper,  when  they 
saw  James  C.  Coffey  coming  down  the  road  on  foot.  He  said, 
"Hurrah!   the  war  is  over."    This,  however,  was  in  April,  1865. 

The  Sins  of  the  Children. — Leading  up  to  the  surrender  of 
this  camp  are  several  very  distressing  circumstances.  Levi  Guy, 
who  lived  on  Watauga  River  near  its  falls  and  its  passage  into 


170  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Tennessee,  was  an  old  man  during  the  Civil  War.  His  three 
sons,  Canada,  Enoch  and  David,  were  active  Union  men.  Their 
enemies  called  them  robbers.  There  were  near  the  head  of 
North  Fork  of  New  River  several  men  of  the  name  of  Potter 
and  others  named  Stout.  Thomas  Stout,  another  old  man,  had 
three  sons,  Abram,  Daniel  and  John,  who,  with  the  Potters  and 
Guys,  were  charged  with  many  depredations  throughout  this 
region.  One  night  in  1863  a  band  of  men,  among  whom  were 
supposed  to  have  been  the  three  Guy  "boys,"  as  they  were  called, 
went  to  the  home  of  Paul  Farthing  on  Beaver  Dams,  where 
Lewis  Farthing  now  lives,  and  after  demanding  his  surrender, 
fired  into  the  log  walls  of  his  residence.  It  had  been  agreed  by 
the  people  of  this  neighborhood  that,  in  case  any  house  should 
be  attacked,  horns  or  trumpets  should  be  blown,  so  that  all  who 
heard  the  signal  might  hasten  to  the  assistance  of  those  in 
trouble.  This  alarm  was  sounded  from  the  upper  story  of  Paul 
Farthing's  house  by  his  women  folk,  while  he  fired  at  the  at- 
tacking party  from  the  rooms  below.  Several  neighbors  heard 
the  alarm  and  started  to  the  rescue.  Among  these  was  Thomas 
Farthing,  and  he  was  shot  dead  as  he  approached  the  house,  the 
robbers  taking  flight  immediately  thereafter.  Some  time  later 
Levi  Guy  was  captured  by  some  of  the  Confederate  Home  Guard 
and  hanged,  although  he  protested  that  he  had  done  nothing  more 
than  shelter  his  own  sons  when  they  came  to  his  house  for  food 
and  beds.  Paul  Farthing  was  falsely  charged  with  having  been 
concerned  in  this  deed. 

While  Isaac  Wilson,  son  of  Hiram,  was  ploughing  in  his  field 
at  the  head  of  the  North  Fork  of  Cove  Creek,  bushwhackers, 
among  whom  are  supposed  to  have  been  Potters  and  Stouts, 
slipped  up  on  him  and  shot  him  dead.  Soon  thereafter  Canada 
Guy  and  a  boy  named  Jacob  May,  a  son  of  Jeff  May,  of  Roan 
Creek,  Tenn.,  were  captured  by  Daniel  Sheppard  and  some  of 
Captain  Price's  men  of  Ashe  County,  near  Sutherland,  and 
hanged,  though  it  is  said  that  May  was  innocent  and  was  ex- 
honorated  from  all  complicity  by  Guy  before  he  was  killed." 


*  It  is  said  that  Sheppard  was  afterwards  captured  and  hanged  on  a  dogwood 
in  Johnson  County,  Tenn.,  but  that  the  rope  broke.  Jeff  May,  his  captor,  then 
tooli  the  halter  from  Sheppard's  horse  and  strangled  Sheppard  to  death  with  It. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  171 

After  this  it  is  claimed  that  Paul  Farthing's  house  was  again 
attacked  at  night,  but  that  he  returned  the  fire  and  wounded  or 
killed  one  of  the  assailants,  as  blood  was  seen  on  the  road  lead- 
ing away  from  the  dwelling.  Then,  sometime  afterwards — 
dates  are  lacking  all  through  this  period — Old  Man  Thomas 
Stout,  father  of  the  Stout  boy  or  boys  charged  with  having  been 
concerned  in  the  killing  of  Isaac  Wilson,  was  captured  by  Con- 
federate Home  Guards  in  the  spring  of  1864  and  taken  to  Hiram 
Wilson's  on  Cove  Creek,  where  he  was  kept  all  night.  Big  Isaac 
Wilson,  a  cousin  of  "Little"  Isaac,  the  slain  man;  Jay  or  Jehu 
Howington  and  Gilbert  Norris  are  said  to  have  started  with 
Stout  next  day  for  Camp  Vance,  below  Morganton,  and  after 
having  been  told  to  go  "the  nigh-way."  Thomas  Stout  was 
never  seen  alive  again.  Two  months  later  James  H.  Presnell 
was  cow-hunting  on  Rich  Mountain  and  found  a  shoe.  He 
reported  this  to  his  brother.  Col.  W.  W.  Presnell,  when  he 
got  back  to  their  home  on  Brushy  Fork.  The  next  day  the 
two  brothers  went  back  to  the  place  at  which  the  shoe  had 
been  found,  and  within  fifty  paces  they  found  what  remained 
of  the  body  of  Thomas  Stout,  including  his  gray  hair.  It  had 
been  placed  in  the  cavity  formed  by  the  blowing  down  of  an 
oak  tree;  logs  had  then  been  placed  beside  the  body  and  the 
whole  covered  with  brush  and  leaves.  Not  far  off,  dangling  from 
a  leaning  white  oak,  was  the  hickory  thong  by  which  he  had 
been  hanged,  with  the  noose  still  in  a  circular  form,  though 
it  had  been  cut  in  two  when  the  body  was  removed.  Colonel 
Presnell  reported  these  facts  to  Abram  Lewis,  an  officer  at 
Camp  Mast,  and  soon  afterwards  Thomas  Stout's  widow  had 
the  remains  removed  and  buried  near  her  home.'  Thus  was  the 
Bible  promise  reversed,  that  the  sins  of  the  fathers  should  be 
visited  upon  the  children;  but,  alas,  the  sins  of  the  children  are 
much  of tener  visited  upon  their  fathers ! 

Retribution? — It  became  necessary  sometime  in  the  fall  of 
1864  to  gather  the  crop  of  Big  Isaac  Wilson  on  the  head  of  the 


8  E.  B.  Miner,  of  Meat  Camp,  says  that  on  the  10th  of  April,  1865,  he  was 
near  the  Little  Cavit  of  the  Rich  Mountain,  and  hearing  some  one  sobbing,  went 
to  the  place  from  which  the  sound  came.  There,  at  the  root  of  the  tree,  stood 
Mrs.  Tom  Stout  with  the  bones  of  her  husband  in  her  apron,  crying  as  if  her 
heart  would  break. 


172  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

North  Fork  of  Cove  Creek.  Friends  of  Thos.  Stout  knew  of 
this  and  were  lying  in  wait  when  the  men  came  with  fell  purpose. 
They  shot  and  killed  Howington '  and  James  Norris,  a  son  of 
Gilbert's,  while  Big  Isaac  himself  was  severely  wounded,  but 
recovered.  It  is  said  that  Gilbert  Norris  afterwards  went  blind. 
All  concerned  in  the  death  of  old  Levi  Guy  are  said  to  have 
speedily  come  to  a  bad  end,  also. 

Some  Watauga  Amazons. — In  "the  course  of  human  events" 
it  so  happened  in  John  Walker's  lifetime,  as  it  had  in  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  that  things  had  got  past  all  endurance. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  Camp  Mast,  but  he  was  sick  and  tired  of  it 
all.  John  wanted  to  be  well  out  of  it,  but  he  did  not  wish  to 
desert.  Therefore,  when  it  came  time  for  him  to  spend  a  week 
at  the  home  of  his  father,  Meredith  Walker,  he  got  Levi  Coffey 
and  Erwin  Calloway,  a  brother  of  W.  H.  Calloway,  afterwards 
sheriff,  to  "capture"  him  at  the  end  of  his  week  at  home.  But 
it  would  never  do  for  Levi  to  be  known  in  the  matter,  as  he  was 
John's  best  friend,  and  for  Calloway  to  capture  him  unaided 
might  seem  to  smack  of  complicity.  But  it  had  so  chanced  that, 
some  time  before,  Henderson  Calloway  had  brought  in  from 
Tennessee  a  full  United  States  officer's  uniform,  shoulder-straps, 
belt  and  sword.  Adorned  in  these,  it  was  hoped  that  Erwin 
would  not  be  recognized,  but  where  were  the  "assisting  force" 
to  come  from?  Levi  was  not  long  in  answering.  His  own  wife, 
Edith  and  Elvira  Taylor,  Catharine  and  Jemima  Yarber  and 
Frankie  Banner  were  "force"  enough  for  the  occasion.  So  he 
got  them  to  assume  male  attire  and  armed  them  with  "stick 
guns."  At  night  Erwin  Calloway,  panoplied  in  full  regimentals, 
marched  his  squad  into  the  Walker  yard  and  halted  them  at  the 
front  door,  himself  rapping  for  admittance.  John  and  his  women 
folk,  with  white  faces,  appeared  and  opened  the  door.  Erwin 
demanded  his  surrender,  the  female  guard,  with  sergeant  Levi 
Coffey  remaining  in  the  dark,  but  still  dimly  visible.  There  was 
a  parley,  John's  women  pleading  for  him,  with  tear-bedimmed 


'  Dr.  J.  G.  Rivers  lived  at  the  Swift  place  on  Cove  Creek  and  was  the  first 
to  hear  of  the  killing  of  these  men.  He  ran  his  horse  to  Camp  Mast  and  reported 
the  facts,  and  the  entire  camp  hastened  to  the  scene.  Doctor  Rivers  was  with 
Howington  toward  his  end  and  Howington  asked  him  why  it  was  so  hard  for 
him  to  die.  Rivers  asked  if  he  had  anything  on  his  mind.  He  said  he  had 
helped  hang  old  man  Thomas  Stout,  and  had  never  known  any  peace  since.  He 
then  died. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  173 

eyes.  Erwin  went  inside,  leaving  Levi  to  keep  the  sentinels 
outside  alert  and  watchful,  which  he  did  by  gruff  commands. 
But  Erwin  was  obdurate,  and  tore  John  away  from  the  arms  of 
his  family  and  marched  him  to  the  squad  outside.  For  effect 
Jonathan  McHaarg  was  also  captured  at  the  same  time  and  place, 
the  women  of  the  family  alone  being  ignorant  of  the  deception 
practiced.  Meantime,  however,  it  had  become  bruited  about  that 
Yankees  were  in  the  gap  of  the  mountain,  and  France  and  Wilts 
Beech,  two  boys,  were  started  on  horses  for  Camp  Bingham  to 
bring  assistance.  These  were  met  by  Erwin's  squad  and  turned 
back,  while  John  Walker  was  taken  on  to  a  ridge  and  rock  cliff 
just  above  Elisha  Coffey's  Mill,  afterwards  known  as  Lenoir's 
Stonewall  Mill,  where  he  was  fed  by  Elisha  whenever  he  went 
out  to  feed  his  hogs.  It  was  about  one  week  later  that  John 
walked  into  his  home,  apparently  much  crippled  up  and  sorely 
distraught,  but  bearing  an  iron  clad  paper-writing  with  his  signa- 
ture attached,  a  duplicate  of  one  he  declared  the  Yankees  in  Ten- 
nessee had  compelled  him  to  sign  while  in  captivity  in  order  to 
secure  his  parole.  Of  course  this  was  merely  a  fake,  but  it 
worked,  for  when  Bingham  sent  for  John  the  messenger  advised 
John  to  respect  his  parole,  and  he  was  left  at  home  till  the  sur- 
render at  Appomattox  and  ever  thereafter. 

Camp  Mast  at  Sugar  Grove. — Captain  Price  had  a  company 
of  the  Home  Guards  at  Jefferson,  while  Major  Harvey  Bingham 
had  two  companies  at  a  camp  on  Cove  Creek,  four  miles  above 
Valle  Crucis,  which  had  been  named  in  honor  of  the  Mast 
family.  It  was  just  below  the  old  Mast  Mill,  now  called  Pete 
Mast's  Mill.  Geo.  McGuire  was  captain  of  one  company  and 
Jordan  Cook  of  the  other.  The  land  on  which  it  stood  is  now 
occupied  by  the  residence  and  grounds  of  Boone  Deal.  Only 
one-half  of  the  force  was  in  camp  at  any  one  time,  the  other 
half  being  at  their  homes  every  alternate  week.  The  camp  con- 
sisted of  wooden  shacks  and  tents.  There  were  also  some  forti- 
fications around  it.  Many  wounded  Confederate  soldiers  formed 
part  of  the  garrison  of  Home  Guards  stationed  there.  The  men 
were  rather  poorly  armed,  and  Major  Avery's  battalion  was  on 
its  way  to  supply  them  with  better  weapons  in  February,  1865, 
when  it  was  surrendered,  as  will  more  fully  appear  later  on. 


174  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

The  Battle  on  the  Beech. — In  the  fall  of  1864  nine  men  went 
to  James  Farthing's  home,  a  mile  and  a  half  below  what  is  now 
Ward's  Store  on  lower  Watauga  River,  robbed  him,  shot  him  and 
left  him  for  dead.  They  then  went  a  mile  further  up,  to  Reuben 
P.  Farthing's,  claiming  to  be  Confederates.  Thomas  Farthing 
was  up  stairs  in  Reuben's  house,  wounded.  But  he  had  a  pistol, 
and  hearing  what  was  passing  below,  put  his  head  out  of  the 
window  and  ordered  the  nine  men  to  leave.  They  did  so,  but 
took  several  horses  from  one  of  Thomas  Farthing's  brothers  as 
he  was  going  with  them  to  the  pasture.  Word  was  sent  to  Major 
Bingham,  who  immediately  came  with  eighteen  men.  Rations 
for  three  days  were  then  cooked  by  the  Farthings  for  these  men, 
and  they  followed  the  horses  to  Cranberry  and  recaptured  them, 
returning  to  the  old  Joel  Eggers  place  near  Balm,  where  they 
stayed  that  night.  Captain  James  Hartley  was  notified  of  their 
presence  there,  and  supposing  that  they  would  return  to  Valle 
Crucis  by  the  Bowers'  Gap,  secreted  himself  and  thirteen  of  his 
men  there  and  awaited  Bingham's  approach.  But  Bingham  had 
decided  to  return  to  Reuben  Farthing's  below  Ward's  Store  for 
the  purpose  of  returning  the  recaptured  horses.  There  is  a 
wagon  road  there  now,  but  then  there  was  only  a  trail.  One  of 
Hartley's  runners  informed  him  of  Bingham's  purpose,  and 
Hartley,  taking  a  near  way  up  the  ridge,  arrived  in  time  to  con- 
front them  at  the  place  now  owned  by  Lee  Gwaltney,  seven 
miles  from  Ward's  Store  and  one  mile  from  what  is  now  Balm. 
This  spot  is  about  half  way  between  the  Hanging  Rock  and  the 
South  Pinnacle  of  the  Beech,  but  then  known  as  the  Abe  Baird 
land.  In  the  fight  which  ensued  Richard  Kilby  was  killed  and 
Elliott  Bingham,  a  brother  of  the  Major's,  so  badly  wounded 
that  he  died  afterwards.  These  men  belonged  to  Major  Bing- 
ham's battalion.  None  of  Hartley's  men  was  hurt.  The  Con- 
federates retreated,  although  they  greatly  outnumbered  the 
attacking  force.  A.  J.  McBride,  of  Bingham's  command,  al- 
though a  preacher,  cursed  and  swore  when  ordered  to  retreat. 

Surrender  of  Camp  Mast. — It  is  difficult  to  get  the  exact  date 
of  the  fall  of  this  mountain  stronghold,  for  weak  as  it  was,  it 
was  all  there  was  at  that  time,  but  T.  P.  Adams,  of  Dog  Skin 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  175 

Creek,  says  it  was  the  5th  of  February,  1865.  As  he  was  one  of 
the  captured  garrison,  he  probably  knows.  Assuming  that  this 
is  the  correct  date,  on  the  4th  of  February  of  that  year  Captain 
James  Champion,  of  Indiana,  a  recruiting  officer  for  the  Federals, 
gathered  at  Banner  Elk  about  one  hundred  Union  men,  most  of 
whom  were  armed  after  one  fashion  or  another,  but  many  of 
them  had  no  weapons  at  all.  He  marched  them  that  day  to 
Valle  Crucis,  where  they  halted,  killed  one  of  Henry  Taylor's 
beeves,  cooked  it  and  had  supper.  This  dispatched,  Captain 
Champion  made  them  a  speech,  in  which  he  told  them  of  his 
plans.  But,  he  added,  that  if  there  was  any  man  in  the  party 
who  expected  to  loot  or  rob  or  burn  or  destroy  any  property  not 
strictly  contraband,  he  must  fall  out,  as  all  he  expected  to  do  or 
allow  to  be  done  was  to  burn  the  camp,  capture  the  garrison  and 
disable  the  arms  found  there.  Out  of  123  men  in  his  command, 
twenty  fell  out,  indicating  that  they  had  joined  in  the  hope  of 
plunder  only.  With  James  Isaacs  for  guide,  the  residue  started, 
following  the  public  road  to  the  old  Ben  Councill  place  at  what 
has  been  called  Vilas  since  Cleveland's  first  post-master  general 
was  in  office.  They  crossed  Brushy  Fork  Creek  at  this  point 
and  took  the  ridge  between  that  stream  and  Cove  Creek,  and 
came  down  upon  Camp  Mast  just  before  a  chill  dawn.  It 
seemed,  however,  as  they  passed  over  the  frozen  ground,  that  the 
clang  of  their  horses'  shoes  had  aroused  every  dog  in  Christen- 
dom, and  just  before  reaching  the  camp  a  flock  of  sheep  became 
frightened  and  fled  helter-skelter  down  the  ridge  toward  the 
camp,  with  bells  jingling  and  sheep  bleating,  thus  making  a  verit- 
able pandemonium.  But  the  camp  was  still  asleep,  and  Champion's 
men  were  placed  at  regular  intervals  around  it,  each  second  man 
being  required  to  build  a  fire.  When  the  palid  dawn  gave  way 
to  a  roseate  sunrise  and  reveille  sounded,  the  sleepy  garrison 
looked  out  upon  the  frozen  hills  but  to  discover  that  they  were 
indeed  encompassed  round  about,  if  not  by  an  army  with  ban- 
ners, at  least  by  an  apparent  wall  of  smoke  and  fire.  Champion 
had  divided  his  force  into  three  companies,  one  under  I.  V. 
Reese,  the  second  under  Aaron  Voncannon,  while  he  remained  in 
charge  of  the  third.     General  Franklin,  General  being  his  bap- 


176  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

tismal  name  and  not  a  mere  empty  title  of  military  rank,  was 
sent  forward  with  a  flag  of  truce,  returning  soon  afterwards  with 
Captain  George  McGuire,  who  was  native  and  to  the  manner 
born,  but  afterwards  suspected  by  some  to  have  conspired  with 
Champion  for  the  surrender  of  the  Camp,  as  the  latter  had 
selected  a  time  when  Major  Harvey  Bingham  had  gone  to  Ashe 
to  confer  with  Captain  Price  as  to  some  desired  co-operation 
between  the  two  forces.  McGuire  reported  that  he  had  taken  a 
vote  and  found  that  about  sixty  of  his  men  favored  surrender, 
while  eleven  voted  to  fight.  He  was  sent  back  for  the  names  of 
those  on  each  side  of  the  question,  and  soon  returned  with  them. 
The  minority  was  overruled  and  the  garrison  surrendered,  all 
being  over  by  nine  o'clock  that  winter  morning.  They  were 
taken  down  Cove  Creek,  crossing  Watauga  River  at  the  old  Ben 
Baird  place,  and  followed  the  old  Bedent  Baird  Road  over  Beech 
Mountain  to  George  Bugger's,  and  thence  to  where  Sam  Banner 
lived,  where  Keith  Blalock's  son  joined  them,  taking  charge  of 
the  prisoners.  When  these  reached  Ham  Ray's  at  Shell  Creek  in 
Tennessee  most  of  those  who  had  voted  to  surrender  were 
paroled  and  discharged,  while  all  of  those  who  had  voted  to 
fight,  except  T.  P.  Adams,  were  sent  on  to  Camp  Chace.  Mc- 
Guire went  on,  but  not  to  Camp  Chace.  He  rode  with  the 
officers  and  never  returned  to  this  State. 

Paul  and  Reuben  Farthing. — When  the  question  of  surren- 
dering was  put  to  the  garrison  at  Camp  Mast,  Paul  Farthing  de- 
clared that  the  surrender  of  the  Camp  meant  the  surrender  of  his 
life.  Miss  Sophronia  Mast,  a  daughter  of  the  venerable  Joseph 
Mast,  of  Sugar  Grove,  and  Miss  Melinda  Williams,  now  the  wife 
of  Mr.  Wesley  Holtsclaw,  were  returning  at  dawn  from  having 
sat  up  all  night  with  a  sick  neighbor,  when  they  discovered  that 
they  were  within  the  lines  of  Champion's  men  encircling  the  camp. 
They  were  detained  there,  and  while  waiting  to  be  allowed  to 
proceed  to  their  homes  advised  Paul  Farthing  and  his  nephew  to 
escape  by  following  the  stream  under  the  bushes  growing  on  the 
bank  of  the  creek  flowing  hard  by,  but  they  said  it  had  grown  too 
light  and  that  they  would  be  discovered  and  killed.  Paul  Farth- 
ing, however,  gave  Sophronia  his  pistol,  knife  and  pocket-book, 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  177 

and  Dr.  J.  G.  Rivers,  who  was  also  of  the  surrendered  garri- 
son, entrusted  some  things  to  Miss  WiUiams,  and  these  articles 
were  afterwards  faithfully  delivered  by  these  two  young  girls. 
Miss  Mast  afterwards  becoming  the  wife  of  Captain  Newton 
Banner.  The  two  Farthings,  Paul  and  his  nephew,  Reuben,  did 
die  at  Camp  Chase,  just  as  they  had  predicted  would  be  the  case 
if  surrendered. 

Stoneman's  Raid. — General  Stoneman  reached  Boone  in  the 
forenoon  of  March  28,  1865.  The  day  was  fair.  Some  men  in 
the  house  which  stood  where  J.  D.  Councill's  residence  now 
stands,  among  whom  was  W.  Waightstill  Gragg,  fired  on  the 
head  of  the  column  as  it  came  down  the  road  from  Hodges 
Gap.  This  was  enough :  Warren  Green  was  killed ;  so  were 
Jacob  M.  Councill  and  Ephraim  Norris.  The  following  were 
wounded:  Calvin  Green,  son  of  Alexander  Green;  Sheriff 
A.  J.  McBride,  Thomas  Holder,  son  of  Elisha;  John  Brown, 
son  of  Joseph  Brown,  of  Gap  Creek,  and  W.  Waightstill 
Gragg,  of  the  First  North  Carolina  Cavalry,  who  was  then 
at  home  on  a  furlough.  The  house  from  which  the  shooting 
had  been  done,  now  J.  D.  Councill's,  was  converted  into  a 
hospital  and  the  Federal  surgeon  did  his  best  for  the  wounded. 
Calvin  Green  was  taken  to  the  old  Jordan  Councill  house.  He 
had  been  badly  wounded,  but  recovered.  McBride  had  been  shot 
in  the  breast,  but  the  ball  followed  a  rib  and  lodged  near  his 
spine,  from  which  the  Federal  surgeon  removed  it,  while  Mc- 
Bride lay  on  his  stomach  on  the  floor,  without  anaesthetics  of 
any  kind.  Holder's  wound  was  in  the  hip  and  groin.  He  lived 
on  Howard's  Creek,  but  is  now  dead.  Brown  had  his  ankle 
broken.  Gragg's  wound  was  not  very  severe.  He  lived  a  short 
distance  above  the  house  now  occupied  by  Benjamin  Brannock. 
After  the  firing  from  the  Councill  house,  Stoneman's  men 
charged,  and  all  who  were  in  that  house  or  near  it  ran  through 
the  fields  toward  the  foot  of  Howard's  Knob.  Hence,  all  were 
wounded  in  the  rear,  except  McBride,  who  was  hit  in  the  breast. 
The  house  in  which  Jacob  M.  Councill  was  killed  is  called  the 
Mark  Hodge  house.  It  still  stands,  in  rear  of  Benjamin  Coun- 
cill's home,  though  untenanted  now.  Jacob  had  been  ploughing 
and  was  putting  his  harness  up  when  one  of  Stoneman's  men 


178  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

came  to  the  door  and  shot  him  dead,  notwithstanding  his  pro- 
testations. A  colored  woman,  Phoebe  by  name,  who  had  been 
at  work  with  him,  saw  the  deed. 

Official  Account. — Major-General  George  Stoneman's  com- 
mand, consisting  of  a  cavalry  division  and  a  battery  of  artillery, 
left  Knoxville  March  21,  1865,  and  camped  at  Strawberry  Plains, 
and  by  the  27th  forded  Doe  River  and  crossed  the  Smoky  Moun- 
tains into  North  Carolina,  moving  out  at  5  :oo  a.  m.  March  28th 
and  reaching  Boone  about  eleven  o'clock  that  morning.  Here  the 
division  divided,  the  first  brigade  taking  the  route  to  Yadkin 
River,  while  part  of  the  remainder  went  through  Deep  Gap  to 
Wilkesboro.  Col.  George  W.  Kirk,  in  command  of  the  second 
and  third  North  Carolina  Mounted  Infantry,  United  States 
Army,  left  Taylorsville,  Tenn.,  on  the  5th  of  April  and  came  to 
Boone,  where  he  was  joined  next  day  by  Brigadier-General  Davis 
Tillson.  On  the  morning  of  the  7th  Major  Bahney  left  with  the 
second  North  Carolina  Mounted  Infantry  for  Deep  Gap,  and 
Major  W.  W.  Rolhns,  with  200  men  of  the  third  North  CaroHna 
Infantry,  went  to  Blowing  Rock  Gap,  called  by  army  officers 
Watauga  Gap,  while  Colonel  Kirk,  with  406  men,  remained  in 
Boone.  General  Tillson  gave  instructions  for  building  rough 
but  formidable  field  works  and  the  collection  of  as  large  a  supply 
of  forage  and  subsistence  as  possible,  while  Kirk  was  instructed 
to  barricade  the  Meat  Camp  road  leading  through  State  Gap  and 
also  a  road  not  then  on  General  Tillson's  military  map,  leading 
through  Sampson  Gap,  between  Deep  and  Watauga  Gaps,  a  few 
miles  from  the  latter.  On  the  27th  of  April  the  second  and 
third  North  Carolina  Mounted  Infantry  were  moved  toward 
Asheville,  reaching  there  on  the  30th.  (Rebellion  Records, 
Series  I,  Vol.  XLIX,  Part  i,  pp.  323  to  337.)  Signal  stations  on 
mountain  tops  were  established  from  Butler,  Tenn.,  to  Lenoir, 
N.  C. 

Obeyed  Orders. — Boone  court  house  was  pierced  with  holes 
to  fire  through,  while  a  barricade  was  made  around  it  of  timbers 
taken  from  an  unfinished  building  which  then  stood  where  the 
Blair  hotel  now  stands,  and  from  another  half  finished  house 
then  standing  near  Blackburn's  present  hotel.     Deep  Gap  and 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  179 

Blowing  Rock  also  were  fortified,  traces  of  both  fortifications 
being  still  visible.  William  P.  Welch,  now  living  at  Deep  Gap, 
recalls  the  fort  and  many  incidents  connected  with  the  fortifica- 
tion of  that  place.  It  was  a  palisaded  fort  enclosing  about  one 
acre  and  ditched  around.  The  J.  D.  Councill  house  stands  now 
on  the  site  of  his  father's  residence,  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  fall 
of  1878,  which  was  used  as  a  hospital  for  the  wounded  soldiers 
who  fell  in  that  skirmish. 

Other  Details. — From  the  same  source  (p.  330)  it  is  learned 
that  when  camped  ten  miles  west  of  Jonesboro,  Tenn.,  the  train 
came  up  and  "the  First  and  Second  Brigades  drew  all  the  rations 
the  men  could  carry  conveniently.  On  the  26th  of  March  the 
command  moved,  cutting  loose  from  all  incumbrances  in  the 
way  of  trains.  One  wagon,  ten  ambulances  and  four  guns  with 
their  caissons  were  the  only  wheeled  vehicles  that  accompanied 
the  expedition  .  .  .  On  the  27th  a  portion  of  the  command 
moved  up  the  Watauga  River,  and  after  halting  for  a  short  time 
at  the  mouth  of  Roan  Creek  to  feed,  marched  until  12  :oo  p.  m., 
when  we  bivouacked  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Iron  Mountain 
until  daylight,  when  the  march  was  resumed.  About  10  too  a.  m. 
on  the  28th,  when  approaching  the  town  of  Boone,  it  was  learned 
that  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  home  guard  in  that  town  to  take 
place  on  that  day.  Major  Keogh,  aide-de-camp  to  Major-General 
Stoneman,  went  forward  with  a  detachment  of  the  Twelfth 
Kentucky  Volunteer  Cavalry  and  surprised  and  routed  the  rebels, 
killing  nine  *  and  capturing  sixty-eight.  ...  At  Boone  the 
command  separated,  General  Stoneman,  with  Palmer's  Brigade 
(First),  going  by  way  of  Deep  Gap  to  Wilkesborough,  whilst  I, 
with  Brown's  Brigade  (Second)  and  the  artillery,  moved  toward 
the  place  by  the  Flat  Gap  road.  .  .  .  At  9  :oo  p.  m.  Brown's 
Brigade  arrived  at  Patterson's  factory,  at  the  foot  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  found  an  ample  supply  of  corn  and  bacon.  I  remained 
in  rear  to  give  my  personal  attention  to  the  artillery,  which  did 
not  arrive  at  the  factory  until  7:00  a.  m.  on  the  29th.  After 
feeding  and  resting,  the  march  was  resumed  at  1 1  :oo  a.  m.,  a 
guard  having  been  left  in  charge  of  the  forage  and  subsistence 


*  Only  three  men  were  killed,  and  five  wounded. 


i8o  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

until  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Miller,  who  had  orders,  after  sup- 
plying his  command,  to  destroy  the  remainder  and  burn  the 
factory.  The  order  was  executed  .  .  ."  *  According  to  Gen- 
eral Stoneman's  report  (p.  324),  his  command  was  detained  on 
the  Yadkin  River  three  days  by  a  freshet,  but  the  tithing  depots 
along  the  route  traversed  by  their  various  parties  furnished  them 
with  supplies  in  the  greatest  abundance.  "The  number  of  horses 
and  mules  captured  and  taken  along  the  road,  I  have  no  means 
of  estimating.  I  can  say,  however,  that  we  are  much  better 
mounted  than  when  we  left  Knoxville.  Have  a  surplus  of  led 
animals  and  sufficient  besides  to  haul  off  all  of  our  captures, 
mount  a  portion  of  the  prisoners  and  about  a  thousand  contra- 
bands [negroes],  and  this  after  crossing  Stone  Mountain  once 
and  the  Blue  Ridge  three  times  and  a  march  made  by  head- 
quarters since  the  20th  of  March  of  500  miles  and  much  more 
by  portions  of  the  command.  The  rapidity  of  our  movements 
has  in  almost  every  instance  caused  our  advanced  guard  to 
herald  our  approach  and  made  the  surprise  complete." 

A  Real  Home  Guard. — The  men  who  met  in  Boone  on  the  day 
Stoneman  arrived  were  Confederate  soldiers  at  home  because  of 
wounds  or  illness  or  on  parole.  They  had  met  to  form  a  real 
home  guard,  not  against  the  Federals,  but  against  the  robbers 
and  marauders  of  both  sides.  Soon  after  the  close  of  hostilities 
the  Federal  authorities  at  Salisbury  authorized  some  of  the  Con- 
federate soldiers  who  had  been  officers  in  the  army  to  organize 
a  home  guard  for  Watauga  County.  Col.  Joseph  W.  Todd,  who 
then  resided  in  this  county,  was  made  captain,  and  he  soon  re- 
stored order  in  and  about  Boone.  He  moved  to  Jefferson,  where 
he  became  a  practicing  attorney.  He  was  born  September  3, 
1834,  at  Jefferson,  and  died  there  January  28,  1909.  He  married 
Miss  Sallie  Waugh,  of  Shouns.  For  his  ancestry,  see  sketch  of 
Jos.  W.  Todd,  his  cousin. 

Robbing  Mrs.  Jonathan  Horton. — While  Kirk's  men  were 
stationed  in  Boone,  about  the  first  part  of  April,   1865,  John 


»  Clem  Osborne,  of  North  Fork,  was  at  the  factory  for  the  purpose  of  buying 
thread.  He  was  chased  to  the  top  of  the  factory,  and  when  about  to  be  killed, 
gave  a  Masonic  sign,  which  saved  his  life.  Some  time  afterwards  when 
apparently  "tipsy"  he  was  urged  to  tell  what  sign  he  had  given  and  what  words 
he  had  used.  He  gave  a  sign,  and  mumbled  certain  words  indistinctly,  but 
which  turned  out  to  be  "Calf  rope."  He  wasn't  nearly  so  drunk  as  he  pretended 
to  be. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  i8i 

Ford,  William  Thomas  Benson  and  John  Roland  were  said  to 
have  been  concerned  in  the  robbery  of  Mrs.  Jonathan  Horton, 
on  Shearer's  Hill,  near  Three  Forks  Church,  and  taking  from 
her  clothing  a  purse  containing  some  jewelry.  She  was  made  to 
dismount  and  give  up  her  horse,  but  as  she  got  down  she  gave 
the  horse  a  lick  with  her  riding  switch  and  he  ran  away  home, 
thus  escaping  capture.  Later  on  Ford  and  some  of  his  com- 
panions stopped  at  the  home  of  Ransom  Hayes,  at  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Green  Brick  House,  and  one  of  Hayes'  daughters, 
now  Mrs.  W.  L.  Bryan,  noticed  that  he  was  wearing  on  the 
lapel  of  his  coat  a  gold  brooch,  containing  a  miniature  of  Mrs. 
Horton's  husband.  Col.  Jonathan  Horton.  She  asked  him  what 
he  was  doing  with  it,  and  he  said  he  had  no  use  for  it,  and  gave 
it  to  her  and  requested  that  she  return  it  to  Mrs.  Horton,  which 
was  done.  In  the  "Worth  Correspondence"  (Vol.  H,  p.  267), 
Colonel  Carr,  of  the  commission  to  investigate  oppressions  of 
Union  people,  claims  that  Benson,  who,  with  two  others,  was 
indicted  for  highway  robbery  from  the  person  of  Mrs.  Horton, 
was  of  the  Union  army  and  had  been  ordered  to  impress  horses, 
to  which  Solicitor  Bynum  replied  that  the  evidence  before  him 
showed  that  if  Benson  "ever  had  belonged  to  the  Union  army  he 
had  deserted,  and  the  robbery  was  under  no  authority,  but  for 
his  own  private  gain  and  done  under  circumstances  of  wanton 
outrage  and  cruelty."  It  cannot  be  determined  from  the  court 
records  what  the  facts  were  as  to  the  indictment,  but  several  old 
men  yet  living  were  at  the  trial  of  John  Ford  at  least,  and  re- 
member that  Judge  Buxton,  who  presided,  held  that  the  evidence 
showed  that  the  robbery  had  been  committed  before  Lee's  sur- 
render and  was  not  indictable  under  Andrew  Johnson's  procla- 
mation of  amnesty.  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that  John  Roland  was 
even  charged  with  that  offense,  and  it  is  well  established  now, 
from  the  general  opinion  of  his  neighbors  near  Cook's  Gap,  that 
Benson  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  robbery,  even  if  he  was  in- 
dicted for  it.  The  facts  about  Benson  are  said  to  be  about  as 
follows :  William  Thomas  Floyd  Benson  was  a  member  of  a 
regiment  in  the  Confederate  army  and  lived  near  Wilmington, 
N.  C.    He,  with  several  others,  deserted  and  got  to  Buck's  Ridge, 


1 82  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

near  where  Jordan  Hampton's  residence  now  stands.  Here  they 
camped  and  rested  a  week,  buying  a  heifer  of  William  Cook  and 
paying  for  other  rations  they  consumed  while  there.  They  then 
went  to  Carter  County,  Tennessee,  where  Benson  enlisted  in 
Stoneman's  command  as  WilHam  Thomas  Floyd,  enlisting  at 
Jonesboro.  He  now  draws  a  pension  in  that  name.  When  some 
of  his  relatives  some  years  ago  came  from  Wilmington  to  Blow- 
ing Rock  and  enquired  for  Thomas  Benson,  they  were  directed 
to  go  to  Cook's  Gap,  where  they  identified  him  as  their  kinsman. 
He  is  said  also  to  have  drawn  his  share  of  his  father's  estate 
some  years  ago.    His  character  is  good. 

"Peace,  Peace,  When  There  Was  No  Peace."— The  great 
Civil  War  was  over  at  last,  and  the  harassed  and  impoverished 
people  of  Watauga  County  hoped  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
and  the  burial  of  all  animosities,  feuds  and  misunderstandings. 
Most  men  and  women  "took  heart  of  hope"  and  began  all  over 
again.  Ploughshare  and  reaping-hook  took  the  place  of  sword 
and  rifle.  But  others  were  completely  discouraged  and  inclined 
to  .move  away  and  seek  homes  elsewhere.  Among  these  was 
Jordan  Councill,  the  second,  who  had  been  the  foremost  and  only 
merchant  in  this  section  from  about  1820  till  Boone  was  formed 
into  the  county  seat.  He  decided  to  sell  out  before  the  United 
States  government  confiscated  all  he  had.  Squire  Daniel  B. 
Dougherty,  however,  took  a  more  hopeful  view  of  the  future. 
Councill  offered  to  sell  out  to  Dougherty  for  half  the  value  of 
his  land,  and  Dougherty,  who  is  said  to  have  had  little  or  no 
money,  agreed  to  buy.  Accordingly,  on  the  first  day  of  August, 
1865,  Jordan  Councill  gave  D.  B.  Dougherty  his  bond  for  title 
to  all  his  land  and  property  in  and  around  Boone  when  Dougherty 
should  pay  him  $3,000.00  cash.  (Deed  Book  M,  p.  248.)  Coun- 
cill moved  away,  but  returned  and  recovered  all  the  property 
Dougherty  had  not  sold,  the  proceeds  of  that  which  had  been 
sold  having  been  applied  on  the  bond.  But  that  had  not  been  all. 
In  the  May  and  June  following  Appomattox,  a  sort  of  guerilla 
warfare  had  been  going  on  "below  the  Ridge,"  and  the  returned 
Confederate  soldiers  at  the  request  of  the  Federal  authorities 
formed  themselves  into  a  Home  Guard  for  the  protection  of 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  183 

such  little  personal  property  as  had  escaped  the  robbers  during 
the  war,  for  the  country  was  for  months  infested  with  all  sorts 
of  roving  characters,  returning  soldiers,  adventurers  and  desper- 
adoes of  all  kinds.  Henry  Henly,  who  lived  just  below  Blowing 
Rock,  was  killed  at  the  capture  of  Fort  Hamby,  and  anarchy 
seemed  to  have  "come  down  on  us  like  night." 

Fort  Hamby. — Even  after  the  surrender  the  trouble  con- 
tinued. "Several  worthless  characters  deserted  Stoneman's  com- 
mand along  this  march  and  formed  with  native  bushwhackers 
bands  under  the  leadership  of  two  desperate  men,  Wade  and 
Simmons.  Wade's  party  located  in  a  log  house  on  a  high  hill 
half  a  mile  north  of  Holman's  Ford  of  the  Yadkin  River,  in 
Wilkes  County.  Being  heavily  armed  with  army  rifles  and  pis- 
tols, they  made  daily  raids  into  the  surrounding  country,  robbing, 
plundering  and  terrorizing  the  citizens,  taking  everything  they 
could  find  to  eat,  as  well  as  horses,  etc.  Their  practice  was  to 
ride  up  to  a  house,  dismount  and  enter,  pointing  loaded  guns  at 
any  persons  occupying  the  house,  threatening  to  shoot  if  they 
opened  their  mouths,  while  others  were  searching  closets,  trunks, 
drawers,  etc.,  taking  what  suited  them.  The  people  for  miles 
and  miles  in  the  country  surrounding  lived  in  constant  dread  of 
them,  as  they  seemed  filled  with  a  spirit  of  hatred  and  revenge, 
treating  all  persons  not  in  sympathy  with  them  with  the  greatest 
cruelty.  The  house  they  used  was  finely  located  for  offensive  as 
well  as  defensive  operations.  On  a  high  hill,  facing  the  Yadkin 
River  on  the  south  and  front,  and  Lewis'  Fork  on  the  west, 
their  guns  could  sweep  the  country  for  a  half  a  mile  each  way  up 
and  down  the  river.  The  house  was  two  stories,  with  portholes 
cut  in  the  upper  story.  It  was  formerly  occupied  by  a  family 
named  Hamby,  and  after  being  fortified  was  known  as  Fort 
Hamby.  The  robbers,  numbering  probably  twenty-five  or  thirty, 
made  several  raids  into  Caldwell  and  Alexander  Counties  .  .  . 
insulting  in  the  grossest  manner  the  women  and  children  .  .  . 
Major  Harvey  Bingham,  with  a  small  home  guard,  followed  the 
raiders  out  of  Caldwell  County  on  May  6th  (1865)  .  .  .  sur- 
prising the  defenders  in  the  fort  at  night.  .  .  .  The  men 
begged  for  their  lives,  and  no  arms  being  in  sight.  Major  Bing- 


184  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

ham  gave  them  time  to  dress.  The  prisoners  .  .  .  rushed 
for  their  guns  and  fired  on  the  attacking  party,  killing  two, 
Robert  Clark,  son  of  General  Clark,  and  Henry  Henly  .  .  . 
the  others  .  .  .  made  their  escape,  leaving  the  dead  bodies 
on  the  ground.  The  next  week  they  raided  the  home  of  Rev. 
J.  R.  Green  in  Alexander  County.  But  his  son  was  home  from 
the  army  and  fired  on  the  robbers,  driving  them  off.  Col.  Wash- 
ington Sharp,  of  Iredell  County,  gathered  about  twenty  men, 
pursued  .  .  .  and  rushed  up  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
fort,  when  Wade's  men  opened  fire  and  killed  two,  Mr.  James 
Linney,  brother  of  Hon.  R.  Z.  Linney,  and  Mr.  Jones  Brown 
.  .  .  the  others  made  a  hasty  retreat,  leaving  the  two  dead 
bodies.  Colonel  Sharp  then  collected  a  squad  of  about  twenty 
returned  soldiers,  and  sent  a  message  to  Caldwell  County  for 
help  .  .  .  Among  those  who  went  were  A.  S.  Kent,  T.  L. 
Norwood,  Jas.  W.  Norwood,  George  H.  Dula,  Robert  B.  Dula, 
and  S.  F.  Harper.  They  collected  others  along  the  way  .  .  . 
and  waited  at  Holman's  Ford  for  the  Alexander  company  about 
May  i8th.  The  robbers  had  killed  a  woman  at  the  ford  the  day 
before.  The  fort  was  surrounded,  and  at  nightfall  a  kitchen  near 
the  fort  was  set  on  fire  and  from  it  the  fort  itself  caught.  Sharp 
was  in  command.  The  besieged  asked  what  would  be  done  with 
them  if  they  surrendered,  and  were  told  that  they  would  be 
killed.  They  came  out,  with  Wade  in  front  holding  up  his 
hands  as  though  he  intended  to  surrender,  but  kept  running  and 
escaped.  His  comrades,  four  men,  then  surrendered  and  were 
tied  to  stakes  and  shot,  after  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Gwaltney  had 
prayed  for  them.  This  ended  the  marauding  and  robbing  in  that 
section.  Henry  Hamby  was  from  Watauga  County.  The  above 
was  condensed  from  "The  Capture  of  Fort  Hamby,"  by  S.  Finley 
Harper  (p.  45)  ;  "Reminiscenses  of  Caldwell  County,  North 
Carolina,  in  the  Great  War  of  1861-65,"  by  G.  W.  F.  Harper. 

Blalock's  Threat.— When  Keith  Blalock  was  told  that  John 
B.  Boyd  had  arrested  Austin  Coffey  and  that  Coffey  was  dead, 
he  swore  he  would  kill  Boyd  if  it  took  forty  years  after  the  war 
to  do  so.  It  did  not  take  nearly  so  long,  for  on  the  evening  of 
February  8,  1866,  when  Boyd  and  William  T.  Blair  were  going 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  185 

from  a  house  on  which  they  had  been  at  work  they  met  Blalock 
and  Thomas  Wright  in  a  narrow  path  at  the  head  of  the  Globe. 
Blalock  asked,  "Is  that  you,  Boyd  ?"  and  Boyd  answered,  "Yes," 
at  the  same  time  striking  Blalock  with  a  cane,  the  blow  being 
aimed  at  his  head.  Blalock  caught  the  blow  on  his  left  wrist, 
ran  backwards  a  few  steps  and  shot  Boyd  dead  with  a  seven- 
shooting  Sharp's  rifle.  Keith  made  Blair  turn  Boyd's  body  over, 
and  finding  that  all  life  was  extinct,  turned  and  left  the  scene, 
stopping  at  Noah  White's  house  to  tell  him  what  had  been  done. 
Blalock  was  examined  before  the  Provost  Marshal  at  Morganton, 
and  he  sent  the  case  to  Judge  Mitchell  at  Statesville,  but  Gov- 
ernor Holden  pardoned  him  before  trial." 

Post  Bellum  Echoes. — From  "Correspondence  of  Jonathan 
Worth,"  published  by  Edwards  &  Broughton  Printing  Co., 
Raleigh,  1909  (Vol.  II,  p.  725,  etc.),  we  learn  that  Major  Frank 
Walcott,  one  of  the  military  commissioners  sent  to  investigate  al- 
leged persecutions  of  Union  men  in  Watauga  County,  wrote  that 
"Union  men  were  pursued  with  malicious  persecutions;"  that 
Austin  Coffey  was  murdered  by  the  Home  Guard  and  that  no 
steps  were  taken  to  prosecute  his  slayers,  and  that  "a  clearer  case 
of  self  defense  than  Blalock's  killing  of  John  Boyd  could  not 
be  made  out."  To  these  charges  W.  P.  Bynum  answered  that 
Blalock  had  killed  Boyd  since  the  war,  but  not  in  the  discharge 
of  any  military  duty  or  order,  and  that  the  grand  jury  found 
true  bills  against  all  implicated  in  the  killing  of  Austin  Coffey, 
and  that  the  case  would  be  tried  at  the  fall  term  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Watauga  County.  The  destruction  of  the  records  by 
fire  in  March,  1873,  precludes  any  record  evidence  from  that 
source,  but  tradition  says  that  the  solicitor  failed  to  make  out  a 
case  and  the  men  were  acquitted. 


"  John  Boyd  was  born  in  Caldwell  County.  Blalock  was  born  June  21,  1836, 
and  died  near  Montezuma,  N.  C,  August  11,  1913,  the  result  of  an  accident  on 
a  hand-car. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Some  Thrice-Told  Tales. 

The  Calloway  Sisters. — Benjamin  Calloway  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  this  section,  having  his  home  on  the  upper  Watauga. 
Two  of  his  daughters,  Fanny  and  Betsy ,^  must  have  been  women 
of  unusual  physical  charm.  That  each  was  possessed  of  a  char- 
acter of  motherly  devotion  which  halted  at  no  sacrifice  can  never 
be  doubted  by  anyone  who  knows  their  true  story.  It  was  the 
fate  of  one  of  these  women  unconsciously  to  supplant  another 
woman  in  the  affections  of  her  husband,  and  of  the  other  to  be 
supplanted  by  a  "mere  strip  of  a  girl."  But  the  time  came  when 
each  was  widowed  while  yet  the  father  of  her  children  lived. 
Still,  notwithstanding  the  ruin  of  their  affections,  each  "found  a 
way  out  of  the  wreck  to  rise  in,  a  sure  and  safe  one,"  through 
her  children,  each  emerging  from  the  fiery  furnace  of  affliction 
without  the  smell  of  fire  upon  her  garments,  nay,  glorified  and 
almost  apotheosized  beneath  her  crown  of  martyrdom. 

Pioneer  Hunters. — There  was  much  in  the  wild,  free  life,  no 
less  than  in  the  picturesque  costume  of  the  backwoods  hunter  of 
this  period,  garbed  in  hunting  shirt,  fringed  leggins,  moccasins, 
powder  horn  and  bullet  pouch,  to  attract  the  fancy  of  young 
girls  in  this  mountain  wilderness.  Light-hearted,  care-free, 
debonair,  they  sang  and  danced  and  frolicked  when  they  came 
in  from  their  traps  and  camps  in  the  peaks  and  crags  of  the 
wilder  mountains.  For  they  had  regular  huts  or  homes  at  dif- 
ferent places  on  their  "ranges,"  where  they  lived  in  solitude, 
often,  for  months  at  a  time.  One  of  them  is  thus  described  in 
the  "Life  of  W.  W.  Skiles"  (p.  53,  etc.). 

"They  pushed  bravely  on,  however,  and  at  nightfall  came  to  a 
small  clearing  in  which  stood  the  solitary  cabin  of  a  hunter.     It 


1  Ben  Calloway  was  closely  related  to  Col.  Richard  Calloway,  of  the  Kentucky 
pioneers,  and  named  his  daughters  for  the  two  daughters  of  Richard  Calloway, 
Fanny  and  Betsy,  who,  on  the  17th  of  July,  1776,  were  captured  by  Indians  with 
Jemima,  second  daughter  of  Daniel  Boone,  while  boat-riding  on  the  Kentucky 
river,  one  of  whom,  Betsy,  married  Samuel,  a  brother  of  Richard  Henderson. 

1 86 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  187 

was  built  of  unhewn  logs ;  the  chimney  consisted  of  sticks,  cross- 
ing one  another,  well  daubed  inside  and  out  with  clay.  The  roof 
was  shingled  with  oak  boards  three  or  four  feet  long,  kept  in 
place  by  logs  laid  lengthwise,  well  pinned  down,  with  here  and 
there  a  heavy  stone  to  give  additional  strength  against  winds. 
The  floor  was  of  hewn  lumber,  three  or  four  inches  thick.  There 
was  but  one  room  in  the  cabin,  with  a  rude  bed  or  two  in  one 
corner,  three  or  four  rough  chairs  of  home  make,  a  bench  or 
two,  a  table  to  match  in  the  center,  and  a  huge  fireplace  where 
logs  of  six  or  seven  feet  could  be  piled  together.  Over  the  door, 
on  wooden  pegs,  lay  the  rifle,  always  within  reach  and  always 
loaded.  Against  the  outer  wall  of  the  cabin  were  hung  antlers 
of  deer,  while  skins  of  wolf,  bear  and  panther  were  hung  up 
there  to  dry.  Here,  in  the  heart  of  the  forest,  lived  Larchin 
Calloway,  a  famous  hunter,  and  here  the  party  from  Valle 
Crucis  was  made  heartily  welcome.  They  were  hungry  and 
dripping  wet  from  head  to  foot,  but  the  latch-string  of  a  moun- 
tain cabin  door  always  hangs  outside  in  token  of  welcome." 

James  Aldridge. — This  hunter  and  pioneer  has  been,  of  late 
years,  somewhat  overshadowed  by  the  fame  of  his  son,  Harrison, 
probably  as  great  a  marksman,  trapper  and  backwoodsman  as  his 
father.  As  well  as  can  be  now  ascertained,  James  Aldridge 
came  to  what  is  now  called  Shull's  Mills  about  the  year  1819 
or  1820,  his  first  son  by  Betsy  Calloway  having  been  born  De- 
cember 15,  1 82 1.  James  claimed  to  be  a  single  man,  and  soon 
persuaded  Betsy  Calloway  to  marry  him.  He  must  then  have 
been  at  least  thirty-five  years  old,  for  he  had  left  a  wife  and  five 
children  in  Virginia  on  the  Big  Sandy  River,"  his  first  wife  hav- 
ing been  born  a  Munsey,  according  to  James  A.  Calloway,  one 
of  James'  grandsons.  It  is  claimed  that  he  married  Betsy,  but 
as  such  a  marriage  would  under  the  circumstances  have  been  a 
nullity,  it  is  immaterial  whether  he  did  or  not.  Certain  it  is  that 
she  always  went  by  the  name  of  Betsy  Calloway  and  that  she 
bore  him  seven  children :  Harrison,  who  married  Jensey  Clark ; 
Tempe,  who  married  Benton  Johnson ;  Jane,  who  married  Ensley 

2  The  Big  Sandy  separates  Kentucky  from  old  Virginia,  now  West  Virginia, 
and  rises  about  100  miles  north  of  Abingdon.  It  was  visited  by  Boone  in  the 
autumn  of  1767,  accompanied  only  by  a  man  named  Hill,  according  to  Bruce 
(p.  48),  who  says  he  then  visited  the  West  Fork  of  that  stream.  Aldridge  may 
have  lived  on  the  Virginia  or  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  Big  Sandy,  but  his 
descendants  in  Watauga  always  speak  of  his  home  as  having  been  in  Virginia. 


1 88  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Issacs,  Perrin  Winters,  Henry  Shull,  of  Virginia,  and  John 
Calhoun;  Ellen,  who  married  Frank  Fox;  Benjamin,  who  mar- 
ried Millie  Burleson  and  yet  lives,  Crossnore  being  his  post  office ; 
Waightstill,  who  married  Polly  Johnson  and  lives  near  Benja- 
min, and  Emeline,  who  married  Abram  Johnson.  Harrison,  in 
memory  of  a  faithful  dog  which  saved  his  Hfe  from  wild  hogs, 
had  that  dear  friend  buried  on  a  ridge  above  the  home  of  his 
son,  James  A.  Aldridge,  and  requested  that  he  be  buried  there 
also.  His  tombstone,  surrounded  by  a  substantial  stone  wall, 
records  the  fact  that  he  joined  the  Baptist  Church  October  22, 
1870,  and  died  January  11,  1905. 

James  Aldridge  was  seen  and  remembered  by  very  few  men 
or  women  who  are  living  today.  Those  who  saw  him  say  he  was 
slightly  above  the  average  in  stature,  with  dark  hair  and  blue 
eyes.  He  was  a  great  fiddler  and  hunter  and  of  a  happy  disposi- 
tion. He  first  lived  near  where  G.  W.  Robbins'  hotel  now 
stands,  but  after  the  birth  of  Harrison  moved  to  the  Hanging 
Rock  Ridge,  near  Nettle  Knob,  a  mile  from  James  A.  Aldridge's 
present  house,  for  it  seems  that  he  had  been  "squatting"  where  he 
first  settled,  but  entered  and  obtained  grants  to  land  in  1828. 
There  he  built  two  substantial  cabins,  with  large  fireplaces,  so 
deep,  in  fact,  that  the  dogs  frequently  went  behind  the  fire  and 
between  it  and  the  back  of  the  chimney,  where  they  sat  and 
blinked  at  the  people  in  front  of  the  hearth.  There  is  a  cleared 
place  in  the  "swag"  of  the  ridge  above  Robbins'  hotel  which  is 
still  pointed  out  as  the  place  where  James  Aldridge  burnt  willow 
logs  and  limbs  to  make  charcoal  for  powder,  which  he  manu- 
factured for  his  own  use. 

The  Real  Wife  Appears. — The  exact  date  of  the  coming  of 
the  real  wife  into  the  life  of  Betsy  Calloway  is  not  certain,  but 
shortly  after  the  birth  of  Waightstill,  her  last  child,  which  must 
have  been  about  two  years  after  the  birth  of  Benjamin,  he 
having  been  born  about  1834,  say,  1836,  a  fur  peddler  of  the 
name  of  Price,  as  Levi  Coffey  remembers  it,  came  to  the  home 
of  Edward  Moody  above  what  is  now  Foscoe."     Here  he  met 


'  In  his  geological  tour  through  Ashe  in  1828,  Dr.  Elisha  Mitchell  speaks  of  a 
hunter  as  living  on  the  head  of  the  Watauga  River  with  the  children  of  his  real 
wife,  who  was  then  residing  on  the  Big  Sandy,  in  Kentucky,  and  his  own 
children  by  another  woman  with  whom  he  was  then  living  as  his  wife.  If  this 
refers  to  James  Aldrlch,  then  Betsy  Calloway  had  two  children  by  him  after  his 
first  wife  appeared  in  the  scene,  for  both  Ben  and  Waightstill  were  born  after  1828. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  189 

James  Aldridge,  and,  knowing  something  of  his  past,  returned 
to  the  Big  Sandy  and  told  Aldridge's  wife  what  he  had  dis- 
covered. Soon  afterwards  a  woman  riding  a  fine  horse  stopped 
at  Edward  Moody's,  asked  the  way  to  James  Aldridge's  house, 
and  was  directed  there.  The  next  morning,  before  day,  Aldridge 
came  to  Moody's  and  bought  a  bushel  of  wheat,  which  he  had 
ground  on  Moody's  little  tub-mill  at  the  mouth  of  what  is  still 
called  Moody's  Mill  Creek,  near  Foscoe.  After  it  had  been 
ground  it  was  "hand-bolted,"  that  is,  sifted  through  cloth  by 
hand.  James  explained  that  "the  cat  was  out  of  the  bag  at  last," 
meaning  that  his  wife  had  appeared  on  the  scene.  When  asked 
how  Betsy  "took  it,"  he  answered  that  she  was  sulky,  but  that  he 
himself  was  treating  both  women  exactly  alike,  and  had  no  doubt 
but  that  Betsy  would  soon  get  over  it.  But  she  never  did.  She 
told  Aldridge  plainly  that  he  had  deceived  and  outraged  her  and 
her  children,  and  that  while  she  had  no  other  home  than  his,  and 
must  perforce  remain  there  in  order  to  rear  her  children,  their 
relations  had  ceased.  Finding  that  Betsy  was  not  disposed  to 
contest  her  rights,  Mrs.  James  Aldridge  lost  interest  in  James 
and  returned  to  her  former  home  on  Sandy.  Soon  afterwards 
several  of  her  children  appeared  on  the  scene,  the  boys  being 
Sam,  Frank  and  James,  while  a  girl,  Rachel,  married  William 
Calloway,  and  remained  permanently,  the  boys  returning  to  Big 
Sandy.  James  followed  his  wife  back  to  Big  Sandy,  where  he 
remained  awhile,  but  soon  came  back  to  Watauga,  but  finding  no 
welcome  from  Betsy,  he  again  returned  to  Big  Sandy.  It  is 
likely  that  his  real  wife  would  have  no  more  of  him  either,  for 
Betsy  and  her  oldest  son,  Harrison,  visited  his  hut  there  and 
found  him  living  with  a  young  girl.  He  threw  some  bear  skins 
on  the  floor,  where  she  and  her  son  passed  the  night,  leaving  at 
dawn  the  next  day.  James  came  again  to  Watauga,  when  Ben 
was  four  years  old,  gave  him  a  dime  and  patted  him  on  the  head. 
But  he  brought  two  large  brindle  bear  dogs  with  him,  and  his 
little  son  was  afraid  to  put  foot  out  of  doors  while  they  re- 
mained. This  must  have  been  about  1838,  since  which  time  no 
one  has  seen  James  Aldridge  in  Watauga  County.  His  grandson, 
James  A.  Aldridge,  says  he  heard  that  his  grandfather  died  on 
Big  Sandy  during  the  Civil  War,  aged  no  years. 


190  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Betsy  Calloway. — Ben  Calloway  says  that  his  mother  told 
him  that  she  had  dug  many  a  pound  of  sang  with  a  child  strapped 
to  her  back.  That  is,  she  had  had  to  go  into  the  mountains  to 
dig  sang  when  her  youngest  children  were  too  small  to  be  left  at 
home,  and  carried  them  with  her  from  the  necessity  of  the  case. 
"She  was  the  master  sanger  you  ever  seed"  is  the  way  one  old 
man  expressed  her  industry  and  devotion  to  her  children.  P'or 
sang  was  the  only  cash  article  in  those  days,  and  it  brought  only 
about  ten  cents  a  pound.  But  Betsy  could  make  a  living  in  no 
other  way,  except  when,  occasionally,  she  could  get  a  job  of 
scouring  or  washing  to  do  for  some  friendly  woman  for  her 
meals  and  meals  for  her  children.  She  was  also  a  master  sugar 
maker,  if  accounts  may  be  trusted,  and  worked  several  "sugar 
orchards"  through  the  mountains.  Her  old  kettle,  in  which  the 
sap  was  boiled,  is  still  to  be  seen  at  Foscoe  in  the  yard  of  the 
home  of  former  Sheriff  W.  H.  Calloway.  The  first  shoes  Ben 
Aldridge  ever  had  were  bought  by  Betsy  with  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  sang  dug  by  him.  She  had  to  take  the  sang  sometimes  as 
far  as  Abingdon,  and  this  particular  sang  which  Ben  had  dug 
was  sold  by  her  at  Blountville,  Tenn.  As  the  sang  was  gradually 
becoming  scarce,  she  went  to  Big  Sandy  to  sang,  taking  Harrison 
with  her.  It  was  while  on  this  trip  that  she  spent  a  night  at 
James  Aldridge's  cabin.  She  had  no  feeling  against  James 
Aldridge's  first  wife,  but  told  him,  though  he  had  lied  to  her,  to 
bring  his  children  and  she  would  do  the  best  she  could  by  them. 
Once  when  in  a  sugar  camp  on  Watauga  she  saw  tracks  of  a 
bear  in  the  snow  and  knew  that  they  were  those  of  a  she-bear 
with  cubs,  as  bears  do  not  come  out  of  winter  quarters  when 
snow  is  on  the  ground  except  to  get  sustenance  upon  which  their 
cubs  could  draw.  Harrison,  her  eldest  son,  killed  the  mother 
bear  and  caught  the  cubs.  Betsy  sold  the  maple  sugar  for  ten 
cents  a  pound  and  the  syrup  for  ten  cents  a  gallon.  When 
Harrison  was  seven  years  old  his  mother  was  baptized  in  Lin- 
ville  River,  near  Fred  Ledford's,  by  Rev.  Robert  Patterson,  at 
the  Elkhorn  Meeting  House.  She  took  care  of  all  preachers  who 
came  to  her  home,  and  Ben  was  always  glad  to  see  them  come, 
as  then  he  "got  something  good  to  eat."     He  used  to  put  corn 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  191 

into  dried  bladders  and  tie  the  bladders  to  chickens,  which,  when 
they  heard  the  rattle,  became  frightened  and  flew  across  the  table 
at  which  the  preachers  were  eating.  Once  he  tied  such  a  con- 
trivance to  the  horns  of  a  "billy-buck,"  as  he  terms  a  goat,  and 
he  nearly  ran  himself  to  death.  Betsy  Calloway  died  about 
1900  and  is  buried  in  the  Moody  graveyard  above  Foscoe. 

Delilah  Baird. — She  was  born  about  1807,  and  when  eighteen 
years  of  age  left  her  home  with  John  Holtsclaw,  who  had  been 
a  member  of  Three  Forks  Church  and  a  moderator  of  that  con- 
gregation at  its  meeting  in  October,  1821.  There  is  evidence 
also  that  he  was  a  preacher.  He  had  a  wife  and  seven  children 
living  at  the  time  Delilah  eloped  with  him,  about  the  year  1825, 
for  their  first  child,  Alfred  B.  Baird,  was  born  March  7,  1826.^ 
Delilah  knew  of  his  marriage,  but  she  went  with  him,  claiming 
that  she  believed  that  he  was  going  to  take  her  to  Kentucky. 
Instead,  he  took  her  to  the  Big  Bottoms  of  Elk,  one  mile  from 
what  is  now  Banner  Elk,  where  he  kept  her  in  a  camp  at  the 
mouth  of  a  branch  which  empties  into  Elk  almost  directly  in 
front  of  and  about  three  hundred  yards  distant  from  the  resi- 
dence of  James  W.  Whitehead.  This  was  a  bark  camp,  built 
against  the  trunk  of  a  large  fallen  tree.  It  was  here  that  her 
first  child  was  born.  Later  on  they  moved  into  a  rude  cabin 
lower  down  the  creek  and  near  an  apple  tree  which  still  stands 
in  Mr.  Whitehead's  meadow.  It  was  there  that  she  fought 
wolves  with  firebrands  when  they  came  too  near  the  house,  seek- 
ing to  devour  a  young  calf  which  she  kept  in  a  pen  near  her 
chimney.  She  also  "sanged"  on  the  Beech  Mountain,  and  finally 
recognized  one  of  her  father's  steers,  with  a  large  bell  fastened 
to  its  neck,  and  knew  that  she  was  not  in  Kentucky.  She  soon 
established  communications  with  her  home  connections,  and 
would  ride  up  a  ridge  and  across  Beech  Mountain  to  get  such 
supplies  as  she  required  and  sell  her  sang  and  maple  sugar.  She 
knitted  socks  and  stockings  while  riding  on  the  road  to  and  from 
her  old  home.  She  brought  dried  grass  in  a  sheet  in  order  to 
get  seed  for  the  meadow  around  her  new  home. 


*  According  to   Mrs.    Sallie   Hackney,   of   Neva,    Tenn.,   Delilah   Baird   was   three 
years  younger  than  her  first  cousin,  Alexander  Baird,  who  was  born  April  5,  1804. 


192  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

After  awhile  poor  Fanny  Calloway,  whose  place  in  her  hus- 
band's heart  and  home  Delilah  had  usurped,  came,  an  humble  sup- 
pliant, to  her  door,  asking  to  be  allowed  to  spin,  weave,  wash, 
hoe  or  do  anything  that  would  provide  John  Holtsclaw's  children 
with  bread.  John  Holtsclaw  was  getting  old  and  it  behooved 
him  to  provide  for  his  real  wife  before  he  should  go  to  his  long 
account.  Instead,  he  made  a  deed  to  Delilah  Baird  for  480  acres 
of  land  in  the  Big  Bottoms  of  Elk,  which  had  been  granted  in 
1788  when  that  part  of  the  State  was  in  Wilkes  County.  But  he 
made  her  pay  him  $250.00  for  it."  His  wife,  Fanny,  was  thus 
left  to  the  cold  charity  of  the  cold  world,  and  his  and  her  chil- 
dren had  to  make  their  own  way  as  best  they  could.  That  way, 
we  may  be  sure,  was  not  an  easy  one,  especially  for  poor  Fanny. 
But  nothing  is  surer  in  this  world  than  the  solemn  asseveration 
of  the  Bible :  "Vengeance  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  repay," 
He  kept  that  promise.  He  always  keeps  that  promise.  Among 
Fanny's  children  was  a  girl  named  Raney.  Raney  had  a  hard 
time  at  first,  but  she  finally  married  Abraham  Dugger,  for  years 
the  chief  owner  and  manager  of  the  Cranberry  mine.  After  his 
death  she  married  Daniel  Whitehead,  and  their  son,  James  W. 
Whitehead,  now  owns  all  the  broad  acres  which  John  Holtsclaw 
had  deeded  to  Delilah  Baird  and  away  from  his  own  legitimate 
children,  and  not  one  foot  of  that  land  or  of  any  of  the  land 
nearby  which  Delilah  got  from  the  State  belongs  to  her  de- 
scendants.' 

A  Sordid,  If  Belated,  Romance. — Sometime  in  the  summer 
of  1881,  when  Delilah  Baird  was  seventy-four  years  old,  she 
spent  the  night  with  Ben  Dyer's  mother  on  Cove  Creek.  It  was 
there  that  she  determined  to  write  to  Ben,  offering  him  a  home 
and  support  for  his  life,  and  adding,  "my  folks  are  lawing  me  to 
death,"  and  asking  him  to  come  and  help  her  defend  her  rights. 
At  this  time  she  dressed  gaily  and  was  supposed  to  be  demented, 
but  a  commission  de  lunatico  inquirendo,  consisting  of  Smith 
Coffey  and  two  others,  found  that  she  still  had  mind  enough  to 
manage  her  own  affairs.    After  the  usual  manoeuvres  of  courting 


»  The  deed  is  dated  May  2,  1838,  Book  N,  p.  515,  Ashe  County. 
•  Deed    Books    R.,    p.    274,    A.,    p.    498,    and    U.,    p.    98.      She    had    a    daughter, 
named  Aurilda,  who  married  Levi  Moody. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  193 

couples,  Dyer  agreed  to  come  upon  the  terms  stated,  and  Miss 
Delilah  wrote  in  September  following  that  she  was  delighted  that 
he  was  to  come,  assuring  him  again  that  she  had  plenty  "and  all 
we  will  have  to  do  is  to  sit  back  and  enjoy  ourselves."  But 
Miss  Delilah  was  too  non-committal  for  Dyer,  and  he  did  not 
come,  neither  did  he  write  again  till  November  14th,  when  he 
wrote  acknowledging  her  "second  letter,"  indicating  that  she  had 
written  "twice  to  his  once,"  a  thing  no  coy  maiden  ever  should 
do.  Just  what  that  last  missive  really  contained  is  not  known, 
for  the  judgment  roll  in  which  this  romance  is  preserved  (Judg- 
ment Docket  A,  p.  172,  Clerk's  Office,  Watauga  County)  does 
not  contain  it.  But  in  Dyer's  answer  he  states,  "You  make  me 
a  new  proposal  in  your  last  letter,  which  is  more  than  I  could 
expect  you  to  do,"  adding  that  he  could  never  repay  her  except 
"with  my  love  and  kindness  towards  you."  As  he  himself  stated, 
in  1883,  that  he  was  then  seventy-two  years  old,  three  years  Miss 
Delilah's  senior,  these  old  people  may  be  said  to  have  been 
progressing  rapidly  and  smoothly  along  the  primrose  path  of 
love  and  should,  therefore,  have  known  that  they  were  rapidly 
nearing  a  precipice. 

So,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  he  came,  saw  and  was  not 
conquered.  Neither  was  she.  For  she  paid  him  nothing,  gave 
him  no  home,  and  allowed  him  to  return  to  Texas  "loveless  and 
forlorn."  Then,  in  May,  1882,  in  an  action  before  D.  B. 
Dougherty  and  J.  W.  Holtsclaw,  justices  of  the  peace,  he  sued 
Miss  DeHlah  for  his  expenses  going  and  coming  and  while  here. 
They  gave  him  exactly  $47.50,  railroad  fare  to  and  from  Texas. 
He  appealed,  and  a  jury  of  "good  men  and  true"  gave  him  ex- 
actly the  same  amount  and  not  one  cent  more.  Moral:  Better 
let  the  women  have  their  own  way.  Miss  Delilah  died  about 
1890  and  is  buried  in  the  Baird  graveyard  at  Valle  Crucis.  Some- 
time prior  to  her  death,  October  20,  1880,  she  lived  with  her  son, 
Alfred  Burton  Baird,  in  a  small  log  cabin,  which  still  stands 
directly  in  front  of  James  W.  Whitehead's  home.  This  cabin 
was  shingled  with  yellow  pine  shingles  when  it  was  built  in 
1859,  and,  although  it  has  never  been  repaired,  the  roof  does  not 
leak  to  this  day. 


194  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

"Cobb"  McCanless. — David  Colvert  McCanless  was  a  son  of 
James  McCanless,  whose  wife  was  a  Miss  Alexander,  said  to 
have  been  nearly  related  to  Hon.  Mack  Robbins,  former  con- 
gressman from  Statesville.  James  McCanless  came  from  Iredell 
County  to  Shull's  Mills  and  resided  near  the  present  Robbins 
hotel  at  that  place.  James  was  a  man  of  education  and  taught 
school  where  Mrs.  Martha  Phipps  now  lives.  He  was  also  a 
cabinet-maker,  some  of  his  work  being  still  preserved.  James 
and  his  brother,  David,  of  Burnsville,  were  both  "fine  fiddlers." 
For  some  reason,  now  unknown,  Phillip  Shull  refused  to  grind 
James'  corn  for  him  on  his  mill.  This  mill,  built  about  1835, 
was  washed  away  about  1861  and  never  replaced,  though  the 
neighborhood  still  retains  its  name.  McCanless  went  before  a 
magistrate  and  got  the  usual  penalty  for  such  refusal  to  grind 
corn  without  good  excuse.  Shull  still  refused  and  McCanless 
still  collected  the  penalty  till  at  last  Shull  gave  in.  Colvert  was 
always  called  "Colb"  or  "Cobb,"  and  he  was  Jack  Horton's 
deputy  when  the  former  was  sherifif  from  1852  to  1856.  It  was 
then  that  "Colb"  announced  himself  as  a  candidate  against 
Horton.  It  is  said  that  the  oral  duel  that  then  ensued,  on  Meat 
Camp,  was  fierce.  "Colb"  ran  and  won.  He  and  Horton  had 
frequent  fist  fights,  both  being  powerful  men  physically — Horton, 
of  medium  height,  but  thick  set,  and  McCanless  tall  and  well 
proportioned.  McCanless  was  a  strikingly  handsome  man  and 
a  well-behaved,  useful  citizen  till  he  became  involved  with  a 
woman  not  his  wife,  after  which  he  fell  into  evil  courses.  As 
sheriff  he  was  tax  collector  and  also  had  in  his  hands  claims  in 
favor  of  J.  M.  Weath,  a  Frenchman,  who  sold  goods  throughout 
this  section  in  job  lots.  As  there  was  no  homestead  then,  what- 
ever an  officer  could  find  in  a  defendant's  possession  was  subject 
to  levy  and  sale.  January  i,  1859,  came  and  soon  afterwards 
came  also  a  representative  from  Weath  for  a  settlement  with 
McCanless. 

On  the  morning  of  January  6th  "Colb"  set  out  for  Boone,  ac- 
companied by  Levi  L.  Coffey,  a  near  neighbor,  then  about  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age.  "Colb"  told  Weath's  man  that  he  had  made 
many  collections  for  Weath,  but  had  offsets  against  some  of  them 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  195 

and  could  settle  the  balance  due  only  by  an  interview  with 
Weath  himself.  Therefore,  he  would  join  Weath's  man  at  Blow- 
ing Rock  the  following  morning  and  go  with  him  to  Statesville. 
He  and  Jack  Horton,  who  was  on  McCanless'  official  bond,  then 
took  a  ride  together,  after  which  Horton  sold  his  horse  to  one  of 
the  Hardins  and  McCanless  immediately  bought  the  same  horse 
for  the  exact  price  Hardin  had  paid  for  it.  During  the  same 
day  McCanless  conveyed  certain  real  estate  to  his  brother,  J. 
Leroy  McCanless.  Subsequently,  on  the  first  day  of  March, 
1859,  J.  L.  McCanless  conveyed  the  same  land  to  Jack  or  John 
Horton,  and  on  that  day  Jack  Horton  conveyed  it  to  Smith 
Coffey.  In  a  suit  between  Calvin  J.  Cowles  against  Coffey  it 
was  alleged  and  so  found  by  the  jury  that  these  conveyances 
from  D.  C.  to  J.  L.  McCanless  and  from  him  to  Jack  Horton 
had  been  given  to  defraud  the  creditors  of  D.  C.  McCanless  (88 
N.  C.  Rep.  p.  341).  Horton  is  said  also  to  have  secured 
McCanless'  saddle  pockets  with  many  claims  in  them  against 
various  people  in  Watauga  County,  these  pockets  having  been 
left  by  McCanless  in  a  certain  store  in  Boone  for  that  very  pur- 
pose, thus  securing  Horton  as  far  as  possible  from  loss  by  reason 
of  his  liabihty  on  McCanless'  official  bond.  McCanless  also  had 
the  proceeds  of  a  claim  which  as  sheriff  he  held  against  Wilson 
Burleson,  who  then  lived  near  Bull  Scrape,  now  Montezuma, 
Avery  County.  This  money  was  due  to  J.  M.  Weath  also,  and 
which,  for  safe-keeping,  had  been  placed  by  McCanless  with 
Jacob  Rintels  in  Boone,  in  whose  store  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan  was 
then  clerking,  then  known  as  the  Jack  Horton  Old  Store.  Late 
that  sixth  of  January  McCanless  called  on  Rintels  for  the  money, 
with  the  request  that  as  much  as  possible  be  paid  in  gold  and 
silver.  This  was  done.  McCanless  then  started  on  the  road  to 
Wilkes  County,  where  he  claimed  he  was  to  pay  the  money  over 
to  Robert  Hayes  on  an  execution,  having  told  Levi  Coffey  not 
to  wait  for  him,  as  he  was  not  going  to  return  home  that  night. 
But  instead  of  continuing  on  to  Wilkes,  McCanless  went  only  as 
far  as  Three  Forks  Church,  where  he  doubled  back  and  went 
up  the  Jack  Hodges  Creek  and  through  the  Hodges  Gap  to 
Shull's  Mills,  where  he  was  joined  by  a  woman.     They  went 


196  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

together  to  Johnson  City,  where  their  horses  and  saddles  and 
bridles  were  sold  to  Joel  Dyer.  There  they  took  the  train  for  the 
West.  After  D.  C.  McCanless  had  been  away  several  months, 
J.  L.  McCanless,  his  brother,  followed  him,  but  soon  returned  and 
took  west  with  him  D.  C.  McCanless'  wife,  who  was  born  Mary, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Greene,  her  children,  her  father  and  mother 
and  his  own  sisters,  who  had  married  Amos  Greene  and  Isaac 
Greene,  sons  of  Joseph  Greene. 

"Wild  Bill"  Kills  McCanless. — News  came  to  Watauga  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  that  "Colb"  McCanless  had  been  killed  in 
Kansas,  but  it  was  not  till  1883  that  the  details  became  known. 
But  in  that  year  D.  M.  Kelsey  published  "Our  Pioneer  Heroes 
and  Their  Daring  Deeds"  (pp.  481,  et  seq.),  Scannel,  publishers, 
from  which  the  following  facts  were  gleaned :  that  what  was 
known  as  the  McCanless  Gang  were  impressing  horses  in  Kan- 
sas, as  they  claimed,  for  the  Confederate  government,  but  in 
reality  for  themselves.  James  Butler  Hicok,  otherwise  known  as 
"Wild  Bill,"  was  connected  with  a  stage  line  at  Rock  Creek,  fifty 
miles  west  of  Topeka,  Kansas.  There  he  occupied  a  "dug-out," 
the  back  and  two  sides  of  which  were  formed  of  earth  of  the  hill- 
side, into  which  a  thatched  cabin  had  been  built.  There,  also,  on 
the  i6th  day  of  December,  1861,  in  a  fight  with  ten  of  McCanless' 
gang,  all  but  two  of  the  latter  were  killed  by  "Wild  Bill"  and  his 
friends.  Among  those  killed  are  mentioned  Jim  and  Jack  Mc- 
Canless. It  is  supposed  that  one  of  these  was  David  Colvert 
McCanless.  J.  LeRoy  McCanless  is  now  living  at  Florence, 
Colorado,  as  a  good  citizen  and  highly  respected  man.  Rev.  W. 
C.  Franklin,  their  nephew,  resides  at  Altamont. 

Bedent  E.  Baird. — There  is  probably  no  more  picturesque 
character  among  the  pioneers  of  this  section  than  that  of  Bedent 
E.  Baird.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  education  and  possessed  the 
best  library  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  He  was  what  would  be 
called  in  these  days  an  agnostic,  and  was  independent  in  thought 
and  deed.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  represent  Ashe  County  in 
the  legislature  and  was  for  many  years  a  magistrate.  He  named 
one  of  his  sons  for  Euclid,  the  geometrician.  It  is  said  that  his 
testimony  was  once  challenged  on  the  score  of  his  unorthodox 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  197 

belief,  and  that  when  he  answered  that  he  had  taken  the  oath 
as  a  magistrate,  the  presiding  judge  at  the  trial  refused  to  allow 
the  challenger  to  go  behind  that  statement. 

No  Water-Power  by  a  Dam-Site. — It  is  also  related  of  him 
that  he  told  Bishop  Ives,  who  was  looking  for  a  good  site  for  a 
water  power,  that  he  could  show  him  the  finest  site  for  such  a 
power  in  the  world.  The  Bishop,  keen  to  develop  the  country, 
then  followed  Squire  Baird  to  the  top  of  the  Beech  Mountain 
over  the  cart-road  which  Baird  had  had  constructed  nearly  to  the 
highest  point,  after  which  they  followed  a  trail  to  the  north 
prospect  or  pinnacle  of  the  Beech.  This  is  a  sheer  precipice,  or 
rather  overhanging  shelf  of  rock,  overlooking  the  head  of  Beech 
Creek.  "This,"  remarked  Baird  to  the  Bishop,  "is  the  finest 
site  for  a  water  power  in  the  mountains."  "But  where  is  the 
water?"  asked  his  Reverence.  "That  is  your  part  of  the  busi- 
ness," returned  Baird,  chuckling;  "I  have  provided  the  site — all 
I  agreed  to  do." 

Who  Were  These  Old  Bairds?— That  many  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  this  county  came  from  New  Jersey  seems  to  be  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  Dr.  Gilbert  Tennent,  of  Asheville,  has  a 
book  which  is  called  the  "History  of  the  Old  Tennent  Church," 
compiled  by  Rev.  Frank  Symes,  its  pastor,  and  printed  by  George 
W.  Burroughs,  at  Cranberry,  N.  J.  In  it  is  published  a  diagram 
of  the  pews  of  the  church,  one  of  which  in  1750  was  held  by 
Zebulon  and  the  other  by  David  Baird.  The  church  was  then 
called  the  Freehold  Church,  but  is  now  known  as  the  Tennent 
Church.  It  still  stands  in  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey.  Just 
what  relationship  these  Bairds  hold  to  the  Bedent  Baird  of 
Watauga  and  the  Bedent  and  Zebulon  Baird  of  Buncombe  in 
1790  seems  to  be  a  riddle  beyond  solution  at  the  present  day. 
But  that  Zeb  Vance's  mother,  who  was  a  Baird,  was  related  to 
the  Bairds  of  Watauga  is  about  as  certain  as  any  unprovable  fact 
can  well  be,  for  family  names,  family  traits  and  physical  family 
resemblances  are  so  marked  as  to  be  unmistakable. 

A  Mysterious  Enquiry. — Early  in  January,  1858,  Bedent 
Baird  received  a  newspaper,  on  the  margin  of  which  was  written 
a  few  lines,  in  which  the  claim  was  made  that  Bedent  E.  Baird 


198  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

was  akin  to  the  writer,  who,  however,  failed  to  sign  his  name.' 
But  he  had  given  his  post  office,  that  of  Lapland,  in  Buncombe 
County,  but  now  called  Marshall,  the  county  seat  of  Madison. 
Bedent  E.  Baird,  then,  in  1858,  in  his  eighty-eighth  year,  an- 
swered this  unknown  writer,  sending  his  letter  to  Lapland,  but 
he  received  no  answer.  From  this  letter  we  learn  that  John 
Baird  and  a  brother  came  from  Scotland  in  the  Caledonia  and 
settled  in  the  Jerseys,  meaning  in  New  Jersey.  This  John  Baird 
had  married  a  woman  named  Mary  Bedent,  and  they  named 
their  first  child  Bedent  Baird — the  very  first  of  the  name  "that 
was  ever  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  Their  seventh  son  was  named 
Ezekiel  and  he  married  Susanna  Blodgett,  whose  father  was 
killed  in  the  ambuscade  near  Fort  Duquesne  at  the  time  Brad- 
dock  also  met  his  death.  Ezekiel  Baird  moved  to  North  Caro- 
lina, where  Bedent  E.  Baird  was  born  about  1770.  Ezekiel 
Baird's  brother,  Bedent,  was  married  three  times  "and  reared 
three  numerous  families  at  or  near  the  German  Flats,  Canada," 
Ezekiel  Baird's  other  five  brothers  also  married  and  reared  fami- 
lies "who  helped  to  break  the  forests  and  settle  five  or  six  of  the 
southwestern  States." 

Peggy  Clawson. — One  of  the  strongest  characters  of  the  past 
was  that  of  Peggy  Clawson,  who  resided  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Elk  Cross  Roads.  She  was  the  wife  of  William  Clawson,  though 
for  some  time  it  was  doubtful  whether  this  was  to  be  the  case, 
as  her  evident  inclination  was  to  have  him  simply  the  husband 
of  Peggy  Clawson.  For,  tradition  says,  in  a  most  friendly 
spirit,  that  they  occasionally  "fell  out  and  kissed  again  with 
tears."  On  one  of  these  occasions,  as  the  story  goes,  for  it  is 
also  told  of  Ezra  Stonecypher,  she  had  driven  him  to  take  refuge 
under  the  bed.  Thinking  she  had  him  conquered  at  last,  she 
told  him  that  if  he  ever  said  another  "crooked  word  to  her,  she 
would  kill  him."  "Ram's  Horn,  Peggy,  if  I  die  for  it!"  came 
the  prompt  and  defiant  answer  to  her  challenge.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Three  Forks  Church  in  July,  1832,  for  at  that 
time  she  was  excommunicated  from  that  church  for  "beating  her 
son."    However,  in  due  time,  namely,  in  the  following  October, 


'  Adolphus  E.  Baird,  an  uncle  of  Governor  Z.  B.  Vance,  is  now  known  to  have 
been  the  one  who  wrote  the  unsigned  words  on  the  newspaper  referred  to. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  199 

she  "made  open  acknowledgment  for  her  transgression  and  was 
restored  to  full  membership."  One  morning  she  was  near  the 
cliff  or  bluff  between  John  L.  Tatum's  present  home  and  Todd, 
covered  with  laurel,  pines  and  ivy  bushes,  making  maple  sugar, 
A  dog  chased  a  bear  into  the  river,  and  she  got  into  the  canoe 
tied  near  by,  poled  out  to  the  bear  swimming  in  a  deep  hole  at 
the  base  of  the  cliff,  and  drowned  it  by  holding  its  head  under 
the  water  with  the  canoe  pole.  After  this  exploit,  it  being  Sat- 
urday, she  walked  down  to  the  Old  Fields  Baptist  Church  in 
time  for  morning  service. 

Some  Other  Old  Stories, — Welborn  Waters  was  employed 
after  the  Civil  War  to  exterminate  all  the  wolves  from  the  Vir- 
ginia line  to  the  Bald  Mountain  in  Yancey,  He  undertook  the 
task  and  succeeded,  howling  in  imitation  of  wolves  when  on  the 
mountains,  and  they,  unsuspectingly,  coming  to  him,  he  killed 
them.  It  is  related,  however,  of  the  old  Lewises,  as  the  first 
wolf  hunters  in  these  mountains  were  called,  that  wishing  to  get 
the  bounty  offered  for  wolf  scalps,  they  would  not  kill  the  grown 
wolves,  especially  the  females,  as  they  wished  them  to  bear  as 
many  litters  as  possible,  the  scalp  of  a  young  wolf  being  paid 
for  as  well  as  that  of  an  old  one.  It  is  related  till  this  day  that 
the  Wolf's  Den  on  Riddle's  Knob  took  its  name  from  the  fact 
that  the  Lewises  went  in  there  in  search  of  wolves  and  usually 
found  and  killed  a  litter  every  spring. 

Joseph  T.  Wilson,  commonly  called  "Lucky  Joe,"  was  in  jail 
in  Boone  at  the  November  term  of  the  Superior  Court  during  a 
very  cold  spell,  and,  pretending  to  have  frozen  in  his  cell,  was 
removed  in  an  apparently  unconscious  state  to  the  Brick  Row 
joining  the  Critcher  hotel,  then  the  old  Coffey  hotel.  Here  he 
was  resuscitated  by  the  late  Dr.  W.  B.  Councill,  but  instead  of 
taking  him  back  to  jail  to  freeze  all  over  again,  they  left  him  in 
the  Brick  Row  with  a  guard.  He  persuaded  that  guard  to  go 
out  and  get  some  more  fuel,  and  while  he  was  gone  the  frozen 
man  escaped  from  the  room  and  the  State.  He  was  recaptured 
in  Ohio  by  Alexander  Perry,  of  Burke,  however,  brought  to  Elk 
Park  and  thence  taken  by  the  then  sheriff,  David  F.  Baird,  to 
Morganton  to  jail,  where  he  remained  till  the  next  term  of  Ashe 


200  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

court,  to  which  his  lawyers  had  had  his  case  moved  on  account 
of  alleged  prejudice  in  Watauga  County.  He  was  convicted  in 
Ashe  and  served  ten  years  in  the  penitentiary  for  stealing  horses 
from  Alloway  and  Henry  Maines,  of  North  Fork.  While  in  the 
penitentiary  he  became  superintendent  of  the  prison  Sunday 
School,  and  by  apparent  good  conduct  had  earned  a  reduction 
from  the  full  term  of  his  sentence.  When,  however,  his  belong- 
ings were  examined  it  was  found  that  he  had  pilfered  many 
small  articles  from  the  penitentiary  itself,  and  consequently  lost 
what  he  had  earned  by  good  behavior  in  all  other  respects.  When 
he  got  back  home  he  studied  law  and  led  an  exemplary  life  till 
about  1904,  when  he  again  came  before  the  court,  was  convicted 
and  sent  to  the  Iredell  County  roads  for  five  years'  sentence. 
There  he  died,  aged  nearly  sixty  years. 

Elijah  Dotson  and  Alfred  Hilliard  quarreled  once,  standing 
at  a  safe  distance  apart,  a  mile  or  more,  one  being  in  his  own 
field  and  the  other  in  his  own  field  also.  This  occurred  on  Beaver 
Dams  before  the  Civil  War  and  no  telephone  wires  connected 
them.  This  difficulty  arose  from  a  cordial  and  sincere  invitation 
extended  by  Dotson  to  Hilliard  to  visit  certain  grid-irons  "where 
the  worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not  'squinched.'  "  It  is  also 
said  that  Hilliard  and  his  wife  late  in  life  joined  the  church,  and 
being  dissatisfied  with  their  marriage,  which  contract  had  been 
solemnized  by  an  unsaintly  justice  of  the  peace,  had  the  knot 
retied  by  a  minister  of  the  gospel  regularly  ordained. 

An  African  Romance. — On  the  i6th  day  of  October,  1849, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Mast,  then  living  where  the  Shipleys  now 
live,  near  Valle  Crucis,  were  poisoned  by  drinking  wild  parsnips 
in  their  coffee.  It  was  said  by  some  that  a  slave  woman  named 
Mill  or  Milley  had  been  whipped  for  having  stolen  twenty  dollars 
from  Andrew  Mast,  and  poisoned  William  Mast  out  of  revenge. 
Others  say  the  crime  was  committed  by  Mill  and  her  slave  lover, 
Silas  Baker,  in  the  hope  that  if  Mill's  master  and  mistress  were 
dead,  she  would  have  to  be  sold,  and  that  Jacob  Mast,  who  was 
about  to  marry  Miss  Elizabeth  Baker  and  move  to  Texas,  would 
buy  her  and  thus  prevent  these  dusky  lovers  from  future  separa- 
tion.   Although  there  was  no  direct  evidence  against  either,  Mill 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  201 

was  sold  to  John  Whittington  and  taken  to  Tennessee,  while 
Silas  was  taken  to  Texas  with  his  mistress  and  her  husband, 
Jacob  Mast. 

James  Speer  lived  on  Beaver  Dams  and  had  no  more  brains 
than  were  absolutely  necessary.  He  and  two  others  agreed  that 
all  three  should  go  to  South  Carolina,  where  Jim  was  to  color 
his  face  with  lampblack  and  suffer  himself  to  be  sold  as  and  for 
a  slave  of  African  parentage,  and  that  after  the  money  had  been 
paid  over,  he  was  to  remove  the  lampblack  and  escape  back  to 
Beaver  Dams,  where  the  proceeds  of  the  little  game  were  to  be 
divided  into  three  equal  parts.  This  may  have  been  done,  but 
as  Jim  did  not  get  his  third,  he  and  one  of  his  partners  were 
heard  to  quarrel  about  the  division  at  one  of  the  Big  Musters 
near  Boone.  It  was  not  a  lawyer  who  insisted  that  the  letter  of 
the  bargain  had  been  fully  carried  out  when  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  had  been  simply  divided  into  three  equal  parts,  but  one  of 
Jim's  own  partners,  who  had  never  studied  law  an  hour  in  all 
his  life.  Nor  was  it  in  accordance  with  any  sentence  of  any 
court  of  record  or  otherwise  that  Jim  disappeared  from  the  face 
of  the  earth  and  has  remained  "gone"  ever  since.  A  skeleton 
was  found  about  1893  in  some  cliffs,  usually  called  "rock  cliffs," 
in  rear  of  J.  K.  Perry's  residence  on  Beaver  Dams,  and  some 
have  supposed  that  these  bones  used  to  belong  to  Jim  Speer. 

Joshua  Pennell  manumitted  his  slaves  by  his  will,  and  his 
nephew,  Joshua  Winkler,  as  executor,  took  them  to  Kansas  and 
set  them  free.  Many  still  remember  their  passage  through  Boone 
just  prior  to  the  Civil  War.  Joshua  Winkler  and  Joshua  Pennell 
had  lived  in  Wilkes  County,  but  Winkler  soon  after  his  return 
from  Kansas  bought  land  in  Watauga  and  removed  to  this 
county,  where  he  died.  Among  other  valuable  properties  ac- 
quired by  him  was  the  old  Noah  Mast  farm  near  St.  Jude  post 
office,  afterwards  conveying  one-half  thereof  to  his  son,  William 
F.  Winkler. 

Jesse  Mullins'  "Niggers." — Jesse  Mullins  and  his  wife  were 
getting  old  just  prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  Civil  War. 
They  owned  two  negroes  in  addition  to  the  farm  which  still 
goes  by  the  name  of  the  Mullins  farm,  on  the  South  Fork  of 


202  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

New  River,  about  four  miles  from  Boone.  There  is  also  a  small 
hill  or  mountain  which  is  still  known  as  the  Mullins  Mountain. 
There  were  two  "interests"  who  had  their  eyes  on  those  slaves, 
and  one  night  the  slaves  disappeared.  The  next  heard  of  them 
was  the  arrest  of  two  young  men  in  a  Southern  city  for  trying 
to  sell  slaves  without  themselves  being  able  to  show  how  they 
got  them.  It  is  supposed  that  the  "interest"  which  had  been  out- 
generaled by  the  one  abducting  the  slaves  had  caused  the  arrest 
of  these  young  men.  They  were  released  and  the  slaves  re- 
turned to  their  true  owners.  It  is  said  that  the  most  famous 
Grecian  Sphinx,  that  of  Thebes  in  Bceotia,  once  proposed  a  riddle 
to  the  Thebans,  and  killed  all  those  who  tried  but  failed  to  give 
the  correct  answer.  CEdipus  solved  the  riddle,  whereupon  the 
Sphinx  slew  herself.  There  is  many  an  GEdipus  yet  living  in 
Watauga  County  who  might  solve  the  riddle  of  the  taking  and 
carrying  away  of  these  darkies  and  of  the  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment of  their  captors.  So,  too,  they  might  tell  who  was  one  of 
Jim  Speer's  partners,  and  whose  grave  is  said  still  to  smoke  in  a 
certain  church  yard  in  this  county  of  Watauga. 

Cross-Cut  Saw  and  Cross-Cut  Suit. — Just  before  the  Civil 
War,  how  long  no  one  now  knows,  Noah  Mast,  claiming  that  he 
had  loaned  Hiram  Hix  a  cross-cut  saw,  sued  him  for  its  re- 
covery. Hix  had  some  affliction  of  the  eye-lids,  rendering  it 
necessary  that  he  should  prop  them  open  with  his  fingers  in  order 
to  see.  He  and  his  wife  lived  under  a  big  cliff  near  the  mouth 
of  Cove  Creek,  called  the  Harmon  Rock-House.*  This  cliff 
projected  out  a  considerable  distance  and  the  open  space  was 
enclosed  with  boards  and  other  timbers,  thus  affording  some 
degree  of  comfort  even  in  winter,  the  smoke  going  out  of  a  flue 
built  against  the  side  of  the  cliff.  Here  Hix  kept  a  boat  and 
charged  a  nickel  to  put  passengers  across  the  river.  He  also 
built  a  sort  of  cantilever  bridge,  the  first  in  the  world,  most 
probably,  using  two  firm  rocks  which  extended  into  the  stream, 
thus  forming  a  narrow  channel  at  that  point.  Based  upon  these 
immovable  rocks  were  two  long  logs,  hewn  flat  on  the  upper 
surface,  one  projecting  from  each  bank  toward  the  other,  but  not 


*  The  first  white  child  born  in  Watauga  County  is  said  to  have  been  born  in 
this  rock  cliff;  but  its  name  is  not  known. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  203 

meeting  above  mid-stream  by  several  feet — too  wide  a  gap  to  be 
jumped  by  ordinary  folk.  The  shore  ends  of  these  logs  were 
weighted  to  the  ground  by  huge  stones  piled  on  them,  Hix  kept 
a  thick  and  broad  plank  which  was  just  long  enough  to  bridge 
this  gap  between  the  projecting  ends  of  the  two  logs.  Upon  the 
payment  of  five  cents  Hix  would  place  this  board  in  position 
and  the  foot-passenger  could  then  pass  over  dry-shod.  This  was 
a  "cantilever"  because  he  claimed  he  couldn't  leave  her  in  posi- 
tion. Whether  the  revenue  from  his  boat  and  board  was  suffi- 
cient to  pay  his  lawyers  in  the  suit  Mast  had  brought  against 
him  for  that  cross-cut  saw  or  not,  Hix  managed  to  keep  it  in 
court  till  he  won  it,  thus  throwing  Mast  in  the  costs,  which  is  a 
very  undesirable  place  to  be  thrown.  This  was  one  of  the  first 
suits  to  be  tried  in  the  new  town  of  Boone,  and  a  boy  who  heard 
one  of  the  lawyers  ask  a  witness  what  there  was  that  was 
"peculiar"  about  that  saw,  was  so  struck  by  the  word  "peculiar" 
that  he  remembers  it  to  this  day,  when  he  is  an  old  man. 

Absentee  Landlords. — Just  as  the  Scotch  used  to  steal  cattle 
and  the  Irish  of  the  present  day  complain  of  the  exactions  of 
landlords  who  do  not  live  in  Ireland,  so,  too,  did  our  Scotch  and 
Irish  fellow  citizens  make  trouble  for  those  living  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  who  drove  their  cattle  to  the  Watauga  mountains  in 
the  spring  and  took  them  back  home  in  the  fall.  Colonel  Ed- 
mund Jones  used  to  pasture  cattle  on  the  Rich  Mountain,  General 
Patterson  on  Long  Hope  and  the  Finley  family  on  the  Bald. 
All  these  lived  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  It  is  only  about  one  mile 
from  the  Wolf's  Den  on  Riddle's  Knob  to  the  Long  Hope  Moun- 
tain, in  which  rises  Long  Hope  Creek.  The  Bald,  or  the  Big 
Bald,  as  it  is  often  called,  contains  ninety  acres  without  a  tree, 
and  it,  the  Pine  Orchard  Mountain,  Riddle's  Knob  and  Black 
Mountain,  form  a  sort  of  basin  through  which  Long  Hope  Creek 
flows  into  the  North  Fork  of  New  River,  near  Creston.  Most 
of  this  used  to  be  covered  with  forests,  though  much  clearing 
has  been  done  since'  the  pioneer  days.  B.  R.  Brown  and  Lindsey 
Patterson  own  much  land  there  now.  Much  of  it  used  to  belong 
to  Gen.  Sam.  Patterson,  of  the  Yadkin  Valley.  Henry  Barlow 
and  family  used  to  live  in  a  cabin  in  this  basin,  but  Lindsey 


204  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Triplett  had  taken  his  place.  A  man  named  Byrd  was  the  first 
who  ever  Hved  there,  and  his  cabin  was  covered  with  shingles 
which  were  pinned  on  with  wooden  pins.  The  cabin  and  field 
around  it  are  still  called  the  Byrd  cabin  and  the  Byrd  field. 
Nelson  Grimsley  also  stayed  in  that  cabin,  and  subsequent  to  the 
Civil  War  came  Wayne  Miller,  after  whom  followed  Thomas 
Stevens,  only  to  be  succeeded  by  the  Greer  family,  who  are  there 
now.  Thomas  Isbell,  of  King's  Creek,  probably  owned  the  Bald 
first,  and  then  the  Finley  family.  But,  whoever  owned  the  land, 
the  people  living  around  resented  the  pasturing  of  cattle  there  by 
non-resident  owners.  When  W.  S.  Davis,  who  was  born  July 
24,  1832,  can  just  remember,  probably  in  1844  or  1845,  ^  dozen 
or  more  men  were  indicted  for  killing  cattle,  among  whom  were 
Buckner  Tatum,  Squire  John  McGuire,  James  Greer,  Samuel 
Wilcox  and  others.  According  to  Mr.  Davis,  they  were  tried  at 
Wilkesboro,  probably  on  account  of  local  prejudice  against  the 
landowners.  So  serious  were  the  cases  that  Buckner  Tatum 
preferred  another  atmosphere  to  the  free  air  of  Ashe,  as  it  was 
then,  sold  out  to  Elisha  Tatum  in  1845  and  left  the  country  for- 
ever, going  to  Georgia.  It  is  said  that  Sam.  Wilcox  killed  forty 
head  of  cattle  on  the  Bald  one  rainy  morning  before  breakfast, 
and  then  moved  hastily  and  permanently  to  Kentucky.' 

"School  Butter." — When  W.  S.  Davis  was  about  eighteen 
years  old,  say  in  1850,  he  suffered  with  his  back,  but  was  able 
to  be  up  and  about,  though  not  fit  for  hard  work.  About  this 
time  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Lookabill  school  house 
on  Meat  Camp  met  to  agree  upon  a  more  convenient  point  for 
the  school  house,  and  that  school  district  had  settled  on  the  site 
and  gone  to  work  cutting  the  logs  for  the  building.  This  site 
was  close  to  where  Edmund  Miller  now  lives  on  Grassy  Creek, 
These  log-choppers  "threw  in"  and  raised  enough  money  to  pay 
for  a  gallon  of  brandy.  Someone  borrowed  a  gallon  jug  from 
Aunt  Katy  Moretz,  and  "put  it  on"  W.  S.  Davis  to  go  after  the 
brandy,  he  having  been  selected  because  he  could  not  chop  logs. 
The  still  was  at  the  old  Councill  place,  where  the  Widow  Reagan 
now  lives.     Davis  set  out  upon  this  errand,  but  meeting  Wm, 


»  Finley  Greer's  statement  to  C.  A.  Grubb. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  205 

Proffit  on  the  way  and  learning  from  him  that  there  was  no 
brandy  at  the  still,  he  started  back,  his  jug  still  empty.  On  the 
road  to  the  still,  however,  he  had  passed  the  old  Lookabill  school 
house,  during  recess,  and  thirteen  boys  then  at  play  there  caught 
hold  of  his  old  brown  coat  and  threatened  to  put  him  in  the 
branch.  Davis  asked  that  the  teacher  be  consulted,  and  the  latter 
sent  word  to  let  Davis  alone,  which  the  boys  accordingly  did. 
But,  on  his  return  trip,  Ben  Ferguson  slipped  out  of  school 
without  permission,  tin  cup  in  hand,  and  asked  Davis  for  a 
drink  of  the  brandy  which  Ben  thought  was  in  the  jug.  Davis 
turned  up  the  jug  to  prove  his  statement  that  there  was  nothing 
in  it.  Then  Ferguson  asked,  "Bill,  ain't  you  afeard  to  say  'school 
butter?'"  Davis  did  not  know  the  consequences  of  saying 
"school  butter,"  and  answered,  "No ;  I'll  say  'school  butter'  when- 
ever I  please."  Thereupon  Ferguson  hastened  back  to  the 
school  house  and  told  the  assembled  boys  that  Bill  Davis  had 
"hollered  'school  butter.'  "  That  was  enough,  for  teacher,  boys 
and  girls  started  pell-mell  after  the  offender.  When  Davis  was 
about  twenty  steps  from  the  school  house  he  heard  a  noise,  and, 
looking  back,  saw  the  school  children  running  toward  him.  He 
ran,  but  was  overtaken,  Lorenzo  Dow  Allen,  the  school  master, 
having  taken  a  short-cut  and  headed  him  off.  Davis  warned  them 
of  what  the  consequence  would  be  in  case  anyone  touched  him. 
Jackson  Miller,  being  nearest,  got  the  lick  which  Davis  aimed  at 
the  head  of  his  foremost  assailant.  The  jug  broke,  leaving  only 
the  handle  in  Davis'  hand.  Davis  defied  the  next  one  to  "come 
on,"  but  he  did  not  come.  All  this  happened  on  top  of  the  hill, 
and  it  is  called  Jug  Hill  to  this  day. 

Lee  Carmichael, — Davis  feed  this  attorney  and  he  appeared 
for  him,  he  having  been  bound  over  by  Squire  Eli  Brown  to  the 
Superior  Court,  but  Carmichael  neglected  the  case  and  then 
Davis  employed  Quincey  F.  O'Neil,  of  Jefferson.  The  case  was 
tried  four  years  later  and  Davis  was  acquitted,  only  one  witness, 
Ben  Ferguson,  having  been  examined  for  the  State,  and  the 
judge  directing  acquittal.  It  had  cost  Davis  over  one  hundred 
dollars,  however.  Burton  Craig,  of  Salisbury,  was  the  solicitor 
who  prosecuted.     There  are  several  variants  of  this  story,  but 


206  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  above  is  from  W.  S.  Davis  himself,  the  only  survivor  of  the 
incident.  This  Lee  Carmichael  loved  the  cup  that  first  cheers 
and  inebriates  a  little  later  on.  That,  probably,  is  why  Davis  had 
to  fee  O'Neil.  Then  Carmichael  ran  for  Congress  and  was 
defeated.     He  died  soon  afterwards. 

The  Musterfield  Murder. — As  an  aftermath  of  the  Civil  War, 
say  about  1870,  there  turned  up  in  several  of  the  more  secluded 
sections  of  the  Southern  mountains  "men  with  a  past."  Whence 
they  came  and  whither  went,  no  one  knew.  Among  these  was  a 
man  who  called  himself  Green  Marshall,  who  suddenly  and  with- 
out invitation  put  in  an  appearance  on  what  is  now  universally 
and  enthusiastically  called  Hog  Elk,  just  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge, 
but  still  in  Watauga  County.  He  lived  in  the  family  of  young 
Troy  Triplett.  Together  they  came  to  Boone  one  day  and  had 
a  quarrel  near  the  court  house.  Later  on  that  day  they  left 
town  together,  and  when  they  got  half  a  mile  away  the  quarrel 
was  renewed  at  the  old  Muster  Ground  and  Marshall  stabbed 
Triplett,  wounding  him  so  badly  that  Triplett  died  several  days 
later  at  the  house  of  Henry  Hardin,  one  mile  east  of  Boone. 
Marshall  hid  that  night  in  the  house  of  a  colored  woman  named 
Ailsey  Council,"  her  home  being  beyond  the  ridge  in  rear  of 
Prof.  D.  D.  Dougherty's  present  home,  almost  south  of  Boone, 
ultimately  escaping  for  a  time,  but  being  caught  later  near  Hog 
Elk.  He  was  tried  and  convicted  of  manslaughter  and  served  his 
sentence.  No  one  knows  where  he  came  from  nor  where  he 
went  after  his  term  was  up.  It  was  remarked  after  this  murder 
that  Marshall  had  never  been  seen  without  an  open  knife  in  his 
hand.  Luke  Triplett,  the  dead  man's  father,  put  up  a  rough 
mountain  rock  in  the  shape  of  a  rude  slab,  four  feet  high  and 
twelve  to  fourteen  inches  broad,  on  the  spot  on  which  his  son 
had  been  stabbed.  He  had  chiseled  on  the  stone  his  son's  name 
and  a  rude  effigy,  showing  the  outline  of  a  man's  form  and 
a  wound  from  which  blood  was  apparently  flowing.  It  stood 
there  several  years,  but  disappeared.  It  is  said  that  the  blood 
from  the  real  wound  changed  the  color  of  the  vegetation  on 
which  it  had  fallen  for  several  years. 


"  Ailsey  Councill  is  said  to  have  named  what  is  now  known  as  Straddle  Gap, 
between  Brushy  Fork  Baptist  Church  and  Dog  Skin  Creek,  in  which  a  Boone 
Marker  has  been  placed.     This  gap  used  to  be  called  Grave- Yard  Gap. 


<,^^ 


potion 


HORTON  FAMILY  ARMS. 

Explanation.— A  stag's  head,  silver;  attired,  gold.  Crest  out  of 
the  waves  of  the  sea  proper,  a  tilting  spear,  erect,  gold;  enhled  with 
dolphin,  silver,  finned,  gold,  and  charged  with  a  shell.  Motto:  Quod 
vult,  valde  vult."    "What  he  wills  he  wills  cordially  and  without  stint. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  207 

A  Belle  of  Broadway. — Elizabeth  Eagles,  of  New  York  City, 
married  Nathan  Horton  in  that  place  July  10,  1783.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  John  Eagles  and  a  belle  of  what  is  now  the  metrop- 
olis of  America.  They  went  first  to  the  Jersey  Settlement,  after- 
wards moving  to  Holman's  Ford,  from  which  place  they  came 
with  William  Miller  and  his  wife,  Mary,  and  their  son,  David, 
and  Ebenezer  Fairchild  and  family  to  what  is  now  Cook's  Gap, 
six  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Boone.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
historic  places  in  America,  for  whatever  may  have  been  his 
course  from  there  westward,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Daniel  Boone 
and  his  companions  passed  through  this  gap  in  May,  1769,  on 
their  first  trip  into  Kentucky.  It  is,  moreover,  one  of  the  love- 
liest places  on  the  Blue  Ridge,  being  practically  a  tableland,  from 
whose  rolling  hills  views  of  unsurpassed  loveliness  stretch  away 
on  every  hand.  Rome,  that  "sat  on  her  seven  hills  and  from  her 
throne  of  beauty  ruled  the  world,"  had  no  lovelier  outlook  than 
this.  It  is  through  this  gap,  also,  that  the  first  railroad  to  cross 
the  Blue  Ridge  into  Watauga  County  is  most  apt  to  come.  But 
Jonathan  Buck,  a  hunter,  had  been  there  before  them,  as  had 
also  Richard  Green.  These  had  built  hunting  camps.  Buck  on 
what  is  still  known  as  Buck's  Ridge,  and  Green  at  Cook's  Gap. 
All  these  people  had  been  members  of  the  Jersey  Settlement,  as 
had  also  been  James  Tompkins  and  James  Jackson,  and  after- 
wards became  members  of  Three  Forks  Church.  The  grant  of 
640  acres  of  land  at  this  place  to  William  Miller  bears  date  May, 
1787,  and  it  was  doubtless  entered  some  time  before.  Tomp- 
kins' name  still  adheres  to  one  of  the  knobs  near  Deep  Gap,  and 
the  Jackson  Meeting  House  on  Meat  Camp  Creek  will  keep  his 
memory  alive  for  years  yet  to  come,  for  it  was  the  first  school 
house  built  in  this  section.  Corn  and  wheat  could  not  be  raised 
in  this  section  at  that  early  time,  and  these  settlers  on  the  Blue 
Ridge  found  themselves  in  the  dead  of  winter  without  other 
food  than  wild  meat  and  Irish  potatoes,  of  which  they  had 
garnered  a  goodly  crop.  William  Miller  and  Nathan  Horton, 
therefore,  took  four  horses,  all  they  had,  and  went  down  to  the 
Yadkin  Valley  for  a  supply  of  grain.  When  they  were  gone  the 
fire  in  Mrs.  Horton's  house  went  out,  and  as  she  did  not  know 


2o8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

how  to  kindle  another  from  flint  and  punk  and  steel,"  she  and 
David,  the  son  of  William  and  Mary  Miller,  set  out  on  foot  to 
go  down  to  the  head  of  Elk  Creek  to  get  fire  from  the  Lewis 
family,  who  were  then  her  nearest  neighbors.  The  distance  is 
stated  to  be  five  and  eight  miles,  either  of  which  was  a  long, 
hard  journey  for  this  delicately  reared  lady.  But  they  got  there 
and  started  back  with  a  chunk  of  fire,  she  bearing  her  baby  boy, 
William,  in  her  arms."  But  David  stumbled  just  before  they  got 
back  to  the  Horton  residence  and  the  "chunk"  fell  into  the  snow, 
then  ten  inches  deep  on  the  ground,  putting  the  fire  out  entirely. 
It  was  then  that  Mrs.  Horton  sat  down  on  a  log  and  cried.  But 
she  took  new  courage  very  soon,  and  they  went  on,  she  telling 
David  that  they  could  milk  the  cows,  drink  the  milk  and  get 
between  the  feather  beds  and  so  keep  from  freezing  till  Nathan 
Horton  and  William  Miller  should  return.  But  when  they  ap- 
proached the  home  they  saw  smoke  issuing  from  the  chimney, 
and  upon  entering  found  Richard  Green  sitting  contentedly  be- 
fore a  blazing  fire.  "This  is  my  camp,  madam,"  is  said  to  have 
been  Green's  first  greeting.  "It  is  my  home,"  was  Mrs.  Horton's 
ready  answer,  "as  we  have  patented  the  land  on  which  it  stands, 
but  when  my  husband  returns  he  will  pay  you  whatever  may  be 
right  for  the  improvements  you  have  put  upon  the  land."  This 
was  done,  Green  getting  four  deer  and  two  bear  skins  for  his 
camp.  Miller  also  bought  out  Jonathan  Buck,  whose  camp  he 
had  preempted,  paying  him  in  furs  also. 


"  Mrs.  Battle  Bryan  knew  better,  however.  She  opened  the  frizzin  which  covers 
the  pan  of  a  flint-lock  and  removed  the  powder  from  pan  and  touch-hole,  filling  the 
latter  with  tallow.  She  then  replaced  the  powder  in  the  pan  and  snapped 
the  gun,  having  placed  tow  nearby.  "Or,  a  piece  of  roughened  steel"  was 
hooked  over  the  forefinger,  and  the  punk  and  flint  held  between  thumb  and  fore- 
flnger  of  other  hand  was  struck  against  the  steel,  the  spark  catching  in  the  punk, 
commonly  called  "spunk." 

"  This  baby  was  destined  to  be  the  grandfather  of  William  Horton  Bower, 
member  of  Congress  in  1888. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
Some  of  Our  Show-Places. 

Fine  Scenery. — The  scenery  of  Watauga  County  is  as  fine  as 
any  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina.  From  Blowing  Rock, 
the  Grandfather,  the  Bald,  Howard's  Knob,  Riddle's  Knob,  Elk 
Knob,  the  Buzzard  Rocks  and  Dogs  Ears  views  can  be  had  that 
are  sublime.  Between  Banner  Elk  and  Montezuma  are  two  im- 
mense rocks,  called  the  Chimneys,  seventy-five  and  ninety  feet 
high,  which  have  never  been  photographed,  but  which  are  strik- 
ing objects  of  nature.  Hanging  Rock  above  Banner  Elk  and  the 
North  Pinnacle  of  the  Beech  Mountain  are  accessible  and  afford 
fine  views.  Dutch  Creek  Falls,  within  half  a  mile  of  the  Mission 
School  at  Valle  Crucis,  slide  over  a  rock  which  seems  to  be 
eighty  feet  high,  and  Linville  Falls,  now  in  Avery  County,  have 
two  falls,  each  about  thirty-five  feet  in  height.  Elk  Falls,  three 
miles  from  Cranberry,  are  well  worth  a  visit,  while  the  rapids 
of  Elk  Creek  below  the  old  Lewis  Banner  mill  are  wild  and 
attractive.  Watauga  Falls,  just  west  of  the  Tennessee  line,  and, 
therefore,  in  Tennessee,  are  not  really  "falls"  in  the  sense  of  hav- 
ing a  sheer  fall  of  water  in  a  perpendicular  direction,  but  they 
are  a  series  of  cascades  pouring  over  gigantic  rocks  in  a  gorge 
grand  and  gloomy  in  the  extreme.  It  is  rarely  visited,  however, 
many  people  imagining  that  a  post  office  called  Watauga  Falls 
between  Beech  Creek  and  Ward's  Store  are  the  real  falls,  while 
in  fact  there  are  no  falls  there  whatever.  The  turnpike  leading 
from  Valle  Crucis  to  Butler,  Tenn.,  passes  in  less  than  half  a 
mile  from  the  real  falls,  which,  however,  are  not  visible  from  the 
road.  The  "walks"  are  a  series  of  natural  stepping  stones  across 
the  Watauga  River  below  Flat  Shoals,  near  the  Tennessee  line. 
At  all  times  of  ordinary  high  water  one  can  cross  on  these  stones 
dry-shod.  The  Wolf's  Den  on  Riddle's  Knob  is  well  worth  a 
visit.  From  the  Rock  House  at  the  Jones  or  Little  place,  and 
from  Tater  Hill,  both  on  Rich  Mountain,  fine  views  can  be  had. 

209 


2IO  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Cove  Creek, — From  Sugar  Grove  to  the  Tennessee  line  Cove 
Creek  is  so  thickly  settled  as  to  be  almost  a  continuous  village. 
Several  creeks  come  down  from  Rich  Mountain  and  Fork  Ridge, 
and  on  such  streams  many  people  live  and  thrive.  For  Cove 
Creek  is  recognized  as  the  Egypt  of  Watauga  County.  It  con- 
tains some  of  the  most  fertile  land  in  the  State.  Its  people  are 
progressive  and  co-operate  in  all  public  enterprises.  Beginning 
at  Zionville,  near  the  Tennessee  line,  there  is  a  succession  of 
villages,  including  Mable,  Amantha,  Sherwood,  Mast  and  Sugar 
Grove.  Two  large  flouring  mills  are  on  the  creek,  while  there  is 
the  first  cheese  factory  ever  established  in  the  county  in  flour- 
ishing condition  at  Sugar  Grove.  Churches,  schools  and  masonic 
lodges  dot  the  hillsides.  Hospitality  reigns  in  every  household. 
The  people  are  prosperous  and  happy  and  helpful.  From  a 
point  near  the  mouth  of  Sharp's  Creek,  looking  toward  Rich 
Mountain,  is  a  view  that  is  as  beautiful  as  any  in  the  mountains. 
A  forest  of  young  lin  trees  has  been  set  out  on  one  of  the  worn- 
out  hillsides  and  will  soon  be  in  fine  condition ;  also  grafted 
chestnut  trees — that  is,  native  chestnut  trees  on  which  have  been 
grafted  French  and  Italian  shoots.  A  sang  garden  or  orchard  is 
flourishing  nearby,  while  the  town  of  Sugar  Grove  and  vicinity 
is  lighted  up  with  electric  lights.  Bath  tubs  supplied  with  clear 
spring  water  are  found  in  many  of  the  dwellings,  and  an  air  of 
prosperity  and  progress  pervades  the  entire  community  of  Cove 
Creek.  Automobiles  and  the  latest  improved  farm  machinery 
show  the  temper  and  spirit  of  the  people.  In  short,  there  is  no 
forward  step  which  can  be  taken  at  this  stage  of  its  growth  that 
Cove  Creek  has  not  taken.  Silverstone,  in  the  shadow  of  the 
Rich  Mountain,  is  one  of  the  loveliest  of  all  the  villages  of  this 
vicinity,  though  it  is  some  distance  from  Cove  Creek.  It  is,  how- 
ever, part  and  parcel  of  that  locality. 

"The  Biggest  Show  on  Earth." — This  is  the  boast  of  the 
Barnum-Bailey  shows,  but  it  falls  far  short  of  being  as  fine  a 
show  as  the  wild  flowers  of  Watauga  County  make  from  May 
till  December.  Nowhere  else  on  earth  do  the  rhododendron,  the 
azalea  and  the  mountain  ivy  or  calico  bush  called  kalmia  grow  to 
such  perfection  as  here.    Nowhere  else  on  earth  do  botanists  find 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  21 1 . 

so  large  and  fine  a  variety  of  wild  flowers  of  all  kinds.  The  rho- 
dodendron maximum  is,  as  its  name  indicates,  the  largest  of  the 
rhododendron  family,  which  derives  its  name  from  two  Greek 
words  meaning  a  rose  tree.  Both  its  leaves  and  its  blooms  are 
larger  than  any  other  variety.  It  is  what  we  call  mountain  laurel, 
as  distinguished  from  the  ivy  or  calico  bush,  which  has  spotted, 
bell-shaped  blooms.  But  we  make  no  distinction  between  it  and 
what  botanists  call  the  rhododendron  catawhiense,  which  has  a 
smaller  leaf  and  bloom  and  the  bloom  being  more  like  the  rose  in 
color.  The  largest  trunks  of  the  rhododendron  are  six  inches 
in  diameter  and  the  trees  twenty  feet  high.  In  her  "Carolina 
Mountains"  Miss  Morley  gives  most  impassioned  and  poetic 
descriptions  of  the  Watauga  flowers,  saying,  among  other  charm- 
ing things,  that  "all  flowers  are  imprisoned  sunshine  in  a  figurative 
sense,  but  of  no  others  does  that  seem  so  literally  true  as  of  'the 
flame-colored  azaleas'  (p.  50),  to  see  the  perfect  fire  of  which  you 
must  come  to  their  mountains."  She  also  calls  attention  to  the 
fringe  bush,  and  asks  how  it  came  to  the  Grandfather  Mountain 
"when  all  the  other  members  of  its  family  live  in  that  remote  Chi- 
nese empire  so  mysteriously  connected  with  us  through  the  life  of 
the  plants  ?"  In  this  class  she  places  the  silver  bell  tree,  the  azalea, 
the  fringe  bush,  the  wisteria  and  ginseng.  And  she  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  rhododendron  vaseyii,  which  sheds  its  leaves  in 
autumn.  This  was  thought  to  have  become  extinct,  but  it  is 
still  found  on  the  north  side  of  the  Grandfather  (p.  59).  But  all 
these  flowers  are  surpassed  by  the  lovely  blooms  of  our  apple 
and  cherry  trees  in  May  and  June,  for  nowhere  in  the  world  are 
apples  and  cherries  finer  or  more  abundant  than  here,  the 
Moses  H.  Cone  orchard  at  Blowing  Rock  and  that  at  Valle 
Crucis  producing  fruit  as  fine  and  in  greater  abundance  than 
almost  any  other  orchards  in  the  world.  Kelsey's  Highland 
Nursery  at  Linville  City  makes  a  business  of  selling  all  our  wild 
flowers.  Rev.  W.  R.  Savage,  of  Blowing  Rock,  cultivates  many 
of  them  in  his  garden.  Mrs.  W.  W.  Stringfellow,  of  the  same 
town,  also  takes  great  pride  in  cultivating  both  tame  and  wild 
flowers  and  in  distributing  bulbs  and  seeds  gratuitously  among 
the  mountain  people. 


212  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Valle  Crucis. — According  to  a  tradition  well  supported  by  the 
statements  of  many  reputable  cittizens  of  the  present  day,  Samuel 
Hix  and  his  son-in-law,  James  D.  Holtsclaw  came  in  1779  from 
Cheraw,  S.  C,  through  the  Deep  Gap,  to  what  is  now  known  as 
Valle  Crucis,  and  erected  a  palisade  of  split  logs,  with  their 
sharpened  ends  driven  into  the  ground,  so  as  to  enclose  about  an 
acre  and  a  half  surrounding  the  Maple  Spring  between  the  pres- 
ent residence  of  Finley  Mast  and  that  of  his  brother.  Squire 
W.  B.  Mast.  This  was  because  they  feared  Indians,  not  know- 
ing of  the  agreement  between  the  Watauga  settlers  and  the 
Cherokees  as  to  the  land  between  the  Virginia  line  and  the  ridge 
south  of  the  Watauga  River.  After  a  time  Hix  became  uneasy 
and  retired  to  the  wilderness  near  what  is  now  Banner  Elk, 
where  he  made  a  camp  and  supported  himself  by  hunting  and 
making  maple  syrup  and  sugar,  thus  avoiding  service  as  an 
American  or  a  Tory.  At  some  time  in  his  career  he  is  said  to 
have  had  a  cabin  in  a  cove  in  rear  of  the  present  residence  of 
Squire  W.  B.  Mast,  then  to  have  lived  in  the  bottom  above 
James  M.  Shull's  present  farm,  afterwards  moving  down  the 
Watauga  River  near  Ward's  Store,  where  he  died  long  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  It  is  said  that  he  never  took  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  American  cause  and  that  whenever  he  came  home 
for  supplies  his  mischievous  sons  would  frighten  him  by  firing  off 
a  pistol  made  by  hollowing  out  a  buck-horn  and  loading  the  cavity 
with  powder,  the  same  being  "touched  off  with  a  live  coal." 
Just  here  it  may  be  remarked — a  fact  not  generally  known — that 
if  a  live  coal  is  not  allowed  to  burn  itself  into  ashes,  it  becomes 
a  dead  coal,  which  yet  has  elements  of  immortality  in  it  to  such 
an  extent  that,  unless  it  is  ground  to  powder,  it  remains  charcoal 
indefinitely.  Such  coals,  in  beds  of  ashes,  are  still  plowed  up 
near  the  Lybrook  farm,  now  the  Grandfather  Orphanage,  one 
mile  from  Banner's  Elk,  still  called  by  old  people  the  Hix  Im- 
provement, that  being  the  place  where  Samuel  Hix  "laid  out 
during  the  Revolutionary  War."  Whether  he  had  a  grant  or 
other  title  to  the  Valle  Crucis  land  seems  immaterial  now,  as  he 
had  possession  of  it  when  Bedent  Baird  arrived  toward  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  for  Baird,  with  a  pocketful  of  money, 
had  to  go  a  mile  down  the  river  to  get  a  home  in  this  wilderness 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  213 

of  rich  land.  Then  Hix  is  said  to  have  sold  his  holdings  to 
Benjamin  Ward  for  a  rifle,  dog  and  a  sheepskin,  Ward  selling  it 
later  on  to  Reuben  Mast,  while  Hix  moved  down  to  the  mouth 
of  Cove  Creek.  Ward  soon  got  possession  of  this  also,  and  sold 
it  to  a  man  named  Summers,  who  was  living  in  a  cabin  on  the 
left  bank  of  Watauga  River  during  a  great  freshet  which  lifted 
the  cabin  from  its  foundation  and  carried  it  and  its  inmates,  the 
entire  Summers  family,  to  death  and  oblivion  in  that  night  of 
horrors.  A  faithful  dog  belonging  to  the  family  swam  after  the 
cabin  and  when  it  finally  lodged  against  a  rock,  the  dog  would  al- 
low no  one  to  enter  till  he  had  been  killed.  The  Hix  Hole,  just  be- 
low David  F.  Baird's  farm,  is  still  so  called  because  of  the  drown- 
ing there  of  James  Hix  and  a  Tester  about  1835,  when  a  bull  was 
ridden  into  the  river  in  order  to  recover  the  two  bodies.  Reuben 
Mast  lived  where  D,  F.  Baird  now  lives,  while  Joel  Mast  lived 
where  J.  Hardee  Talor  resides.  David  Mast  lived  near  where 
Finley  Mast's  large  mansion  now  stands.  Henry  Taylor,  whose 
father  was  Butler  Taylor,  came  from  Davidson  County  to  Sugar 
Grove  about  1849,  rnarried  Emeline,  daughter  of  John  Mast,  of 
that  place,  and  then  moved  to  Valle  Crucis  in  time  to  get  some  of 
the  money  paid  out  for  the  construction  of  the  Caldwell  and 
Watauga  turnpike.  This  road  must  have  been  begun  prior  to 
October,  1849,  for  Col.  Joseph  C.  Shull  remembers  that  William 
Mast  had  the  contract  to  build  the  bridge  across  Watauga  River 
one  mile  below  Shull's  Mills,  and  was  at  work  on  it  the  morning 
on  which  he  drank  the  poison  the  slave  girl,  Mill,  is  supposed  to 
have  put  in  his  coffee  for  breakfast,  for  he  came  to  Col.  Joseph 
C.  Shull's  father's  home  for  medicine  and  returned  to  work  on 
the  bridge,  but  soon  had  to  go  home,  dying  that  night  at  about 
the  same  time  his  wife  died.  It  was  to  the  valley  above  this  that 
Bishop  Ives  came  in  1843,  where  he  erected  the  school  and 
brotherhood  described  elsewhere.  This  valley  was  what  the 
editor  of  the  "Life  of  W.  W.  Skiles,"  Susan  Fenimore  Cooper, 
a  descendant  of  Fenimore  Cooper,  author  of  the  "Leather  Stock- 
ing Tales,"  says  the  Indians  would  call  a  "one  smoke  valley" 
(p.  17),  from  the  fact  that  but  one  family  dwelt  there  in  1842. 
That  family  was  that  of  Andrew  Townsend,  the  miller,  whose 
descendants  still  live  nearby. 


214  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Sugar  Grove. — Cutliff  Harmon  came  from  Randolph  County 
to  this  place  in  1791  and  bought  522  acres  of  land  from  James 
Gwyn,  it  having  been  granted  to  him  May  18,  1791.  Cutliflf 
married  Susan  Fonts  first  and  a  widow  by  the  name  of  EHza- 
beth  Parker  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife.  It  is  Sugar  Grove 
that  is  the  most  progressive  of  the  Cove  Creek  towns,  having 
electric  lights,  a  roller  mill,  the  first  in  the  county,  and  a  cheese 
dairy,  established  5th  June,  1915.  It  has  also  one  of  the  finest 
school  houses  in  the  county.  It  was  here  also  that  Camp  Mast 
was  located  during  the  Civil  War.  The  land  in  this  section 
is  considered  as  about  the  best  in  the  county.  Col.  Joseph 
Harrison  Mast,  who  died  September  8,  191 5,  had  his  residence 
here.  He  was  in  his  prime  one  of  the  best  and  most  substantial 
citizens  of  the  county  and  still  holds  the  respect  and  affection  of 
all  who  knew  him.  The  first  roller  mill  in  the  county  was 
established  here.  These  people  know  what  co-operation  means 
and  act  accordingly.  The  cheese  factory  is  the  first  that  was 
established  in  the  South,  and  promises  to  be  successful. 

Blowing  Rock. — From  the  "Carolina  Mountains"  (pp.  350, 
355)  we  learn  that  "from  Blowing  Rock  to  Tryon  Mountain  the 
Blue  Ridge  draws  a  deep  curve  half  encircling  a  jumble  of  very 
wild  rocky  peaks  and  cliffs  that  belong  to  the  foothill  formations. 
Hence,  Blowing  Rock,  lying  on  one  arm  of  a  horseshoe  of  which 
Tryon  Mountain  is  the  other  arm,  has  the  most  dramatic  outlook 
of  any  village  in  the  mountains.  Directly  in  front  of  it  is  an 
enormous  bowl  filled  with  a  thousand  tree-clad  hills  and  ridges 
that  become  higher  and  wilder  towards  the  encircling  wall  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  the  conspicuous  bare  stone  summits  of  Hawk's 
Bill  and  Table  Rock  Mountains  rising  sharp  as  dragon's  teeth 
above  the  rest,  while  the  sheer  and  shining  face  of  the  terrible 
Lost  Cove  cliffs,  dropping  into  some  unexplored  ravine,  come  to 
view  on  a  clear  day.  From  far  away,  beyond  this  wild  bowlful 
of  mountains,  one  sometimes  sees  a  faintly  outlined  dome, 
Tryon  Mountain,  under  which  on  the  other  side  one  likes  to  re- 
member Traumfest,  Fortress  of  Dreams. 

"Off  to  the  left  from  Blowing  Rock,  seen  between  near  green 
knobs,  the  shoreless  sea  of  the  lowlands  reaches  away  to  lave 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  215 

the  edge  of  the  sky.  And  looking  to  the  right,  there  lies  the 
calm  and  noble  form  of  the  Grandfather  Mountain,  its  rocky 
top  drawn  in  a  series  of  curves  against  the  western  sky.  Long 
spurs  sweep  down  like  buttresses  to  hold  it.  Trees  clothe  it  as 
with  a  garment  to  where  the  black  rock  surmounts  them. 

"The  view  from  Blowing  Rock  changes  continually.  The 
atmospheric  sea  that  encloses  mountain  and  valley  melts  the 
solid  rocks  into  a  thousand  enchanting  pictures.  Those  wild 
shapes  in  the  great  basin  which  at  one  time  look  so  near,  so  hard 
and  so  terrible,  at  another  time  recede  and  soften,  their  dark 
colors  transmuted  into  the  tender  blue  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  or 
again  the  basin  is  filled  with  dreamlike  forms  immersed  in  an 
exquisite  sea  of  mystical  light. 

"Sometimes  the  Grandfather  Mountain  stands  solidly  out, 
showing  in  detail  the  tapestry  of  green  trees  that  hangs  over  its 
slopes ;  again  it  is  blue  and  flat  against  the  sky,  or  it  seems  made 
of  mists  and  shadows.  Sometimes  the  sunset  glory  penetrates,  as 
it  were,  into  the  substance  of  the  mountain,  which  looks  translu- 
cent in  the  sea  of  light  that  contains  it.  As  night  draws  on,  it 
darkens  into  a  noble  silhouette  against  the  splendor  that  often 
draws  the  curves  of  its  summit  in  lines  of  fire. 

"Blowing  Rock  at  times  lies  above  the  clouds,  with  all  the 
world  blotted  out  excepting  the  Grandfather's  summit  rising  out 
of  the  white  mists.  Sometimes  one  looks  out  in  the  morning 
to  see  that  great  bowl  filled  to  the  brim  with  level  clouds  that 
reach  away  from  one's  very  feet  in  a  floor  so  firm  to  the  eye 
that  one  is  tempted  to  step  out  on  it.  Presently  this  pure  white, 
level  floor  begins  to  roll  up  into  billowy  masses,  deep  wells  open, 
down  which  one  looks  to  little  landscapes  lying  in  the  bottom,  a 
bit  of  the  lovely  John's  River  Valley,  a  house  and  trees,  perhaps. 
The  well  closes;  the  higher  peaks  begin  to  appear,  phantom 
islands  in  a  phantom  sea ;  the  restless  ocean  of  mists  swells  and 
rolls,  now  concealing,  now  revealing  glimpses  of  the  world  under 
it.  It  breaks  apart  into  fantastic  forms  that  begin  to  glide  up 
the  peaks  and  mount  above  them  like  wraiths.  The  sun  darts 
sheaves  of  golden  arrows  in  through  the  openings,  and  these  in 
time  slay  the  pale  dragons  of  the  air,  or  drive  them  fleeing  into 


2i6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  far  blue  caverns  of  the  sky,  and  the  world  beneath  is  visible, 
only  that  where  the  John's  River  Valley  ought  to  be  there  often 
remains  a  long  lake  of  snowy  drift.  Sometimes  the  clouds  blot- 
ting out  the  landscape  break  apart  suddenly,  the  mountains  come 
swiftly  forth  one  after  the  other  until  one  seems  to  be  watching 
an  act  of  creation  where  solid  forms  resolve  themselves  out  of 
chaos.  The  peaceful  John's  River  Valley,  winding  far  below 
among  the  wild  mountains,  is  like  a  glimpse  into  fairyland,  and 
one  has  never  ventured  to  go  there  for  fear  of  dispelling  the 
pleasing  illusion. 

"Near  the  village  of  Blowing  Rock,  at  the  beginning  of  those 
green  knobs  between  which  one  looks  to  the  lowlands,  is  a  high 
cliff,  the  real  Blowing  Rock,  so  named  because  the  rocky  walls 
at  this  point  form  a  flume  through  which  the  northwest  wind 
sweeps  with  such  force  that  whatever  is  thrown  over  the  rock 
is  hurled  back  again.  It  is  said  that  there  are  times  when  a  man 
could  not  jump  over,  so  tremendous  is  the  force  of  the  wind. 
It  is  also  said  that  visitors,  having  heard  the  legend  of  the  rock, 
have  been  seen  to  stand  there  in  a  dead  calm  and  throw  over 
their  possessions  and  watch  them  no  more  in  anger  than  in 
mirth  as  they,  obedient  to  the  law  of  gravity  instead  of  that  of 
fancy,  disappeared  beneath  the  tree  tops  far  below. 

"Blowing  Rock,  four  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  is  a  won- 
derfully sweet  place.  The  rose-bay  and  the  great  white  rhodo- 
dendron maximum  crowd  against  the  houses  and  fill  the  open 
spaces,  excepting  where  laurel  and  the  flame-colored  azaleas 
have  planted  their  standards.  And  in  their  seasons  the  wild 
flowers  blossom  everywhere ;  also  the  rocks  are  covered  with 
those  crisp,  sweet-smelling  herbs  that  love  high  places,  and 
sedums  and  saxifrages  trim  the  crevices  and  the  ledges. 

"Blowing  Rock  is  also  noted  for  the  great  variety  of  new 
mushrooms  that  have  been  captured  there,  though  one  suspects 
that  this  renown  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  mushroom  hunters 
happened  to  pitch  their  tents  here  instead  of  somewhere  else. 
For  other  parts  of  the  mountains  can  make  a  showing  in  mush- 
rooms, too." 

Some  Blowing  Rock  Attractions. — Besides  the  Blowing  Rock 
itself,  from  which  a  fine  view  can  be  had,  there  are  the  Ransom 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  217 

and  Grand  Views.  There  are  several  drives  and  trails  in  and 
near  the  Rock,  some  of  which  surpass  in  sylvan  beauty  any  to  be 
seen  on  the  Biltmore  estate,  as  the  former  are  through  primeval 
forests,  notably  the  drive  between  the  Stringfellow  and  Cone 
Lakes.  The  Randall  Memorial  Work  Shop  was  conceived  by 
the  late  W.  G.  Randall,  who  was  born  in  Burke  County,  North 
Carolina,  and  after  many  hardships  obtained  an  education  and 
became  a  famous  artist  in  oils.  He  spent  his  summers  in  Blow- 
ing Rock,  where  he  died,  after  living  nearly  twenty  sum- 
mers there.  His  remains  lie  in  Washington,  D.  C.  His  wife 
was  Miss  Anna  Goodlow,  of  Warren  County,  North  Carolina. 
It  is  in  this  Work  Shop  that  the  manual  industries  of  the  moun- 
tain people  are  preserved  and  fostered.  There  are  an  old- 
fashioned  hand  loom,  spinning  wheels,  etc.,  in  this  building.  The 
Blowing  Rock  Exchange  is  near  by,  and  its  object  is  to  afford  a 
greater  opportunity  to  the  home  people  to  sell  home-made  arti- 
cles, such  as  woven  rugs,  coverlids,  embroidered  bedspreads, 
laces,  articles  made  of  laurel,  baskets,  etc.  In  it  are  a  library,  a 
fine  collection  of  Indian  relics  and  mineral  specimens.  In  front 
of  the  Work  Shop  is  a  garden  of  rare  wild  and  cultivated  plants 
and  one  of  the  two  sundials  in  Watauga  County.  This  garden  is 
the  result  of  the  labors  of  Rev.  William  Rutherford  Savage, 
who  was  born  in  Pass  Christian,  Miss.,  October  20,  1854;  was 
graduated  at  the  Episcopal  Theological  Seminary,  Alexandria, 
Va.,  and  moved  to  Blowing  Rock  in  September,  1902.  He  is  a 
worthy  successor  to  the  late  Rev.  W.  W.  Skiles,  of  Valle  Crucis 
fame.  In  the  words  of  Rev.  Edgar  Tufts,  Mr.  Savage  has  done 
more  than  any  other  to  create  a  fraternal  feeling  among  all  the 
denominations  of  the  mountains. 

Ante-Bellum  Residents. — Col.  James  Harper,  Sr.,  of  Lenoir, 
built  a  frame  summer  residence  at  what  is  now  the  H.  W. 
Weeden  Fairview  house,  about  1858,  and  spent  the  summers 
there  till  the  Civil  War  began.  John  Bryant  lived  where  the 
Blowing  Rock  hotel  stands,  on  land  belonging  to  Col.  James 
Harper.  Edmund  Greene  lived  near  the  present  site  of  the 
Greene  Park  hotel,  and  Isaac  Greene  where  the  Boyden  house 
now  stands.  Joseph  Greene  lived  near  the  present  site  of  the 
German  Reformed  Church.    Amos  Greene  lived  on  the  opposite 


2i8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

side  of  the  road  from  the  present  residence  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Reeves, 
and  Lot  Estes  had  his  home  between  the  present  residence  of 
Col.  W.  W.  Stringfellow  and  the  creek.  Len  Estes,  his  son, 
built  the  mill  and  dam  after  the  Civil  War,  but  sold  out  to  Colonel 
Stringfellow  and  went  West.  He  kept  summer  boarders  and 
looked  like  General  Grant.  William  M.  Morris  bought  the  Amos 
Greene  place  about  1874  and  opened  a  house  for  summer  board- 
ers. He  was  most  successful,  and  the  good  things  he  furnished 
for  his  boarders  to  eat  will  be  forever  remembered  by  all  who 
had  the  good  fortune  to  sit  at  his  table.  He  had  a  most  remark- 
able little  bench-legged  cow,  which  gave  oceans  of  the  richest 
milk  imaginable.  His  deep  featherbeds  were  good  for  tired  legs 
after  a  day's  wading  in  the  creeks  fishing  for  speckled  trout.  He 
sold  out  to  Dr.  L.  C.  Reeves,  however,  and  moved  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge.  W.  W.  Sherrell  bought  the  Harper  property  and 
opened  two  or  three  small  houses  for  summer  boarders  about 
1877  or  1878  at  Fairview.  This  is  now  the  Weeden  place. 
Robert  Greene,  father  of  the  late  Judge  L.  L.  Greene,  lived 
where  the  Cone  Lake  now  is.  The  Kirk  Fort  was  in  the  Blowing 
Rock  Gap,  and  trees  were  felled  for  some  distance  down  the 
road  so  as  to  give  an  open  view  of  the  country  to  the  east.  After 
Gen.  M.  W.  Ransom  became  interested  in  the  place,  its  growth 
was  rapid,  and  the  completion  of  the  Yonahlossee  turnpike  in 
1900  assured  its  success. 

Along  the  Blue  Ridge. — We  will  now  notice  the  people  who 
originally  lived  along  the  Blue  Ridge,  from  Deep  Gap  to  Cofifey's 
Gap.  Solomon  Green  lived  in  the  Deep  Gap,  and  was  a  good 
citizen  and  entertained  the  traveling  public.  He  was  the  son  of 
"Flatty"  Isaac  Green,  who  Hved  on  Meat  Camp  near  the  noted 
Brown  place  of  640  acres,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  now  owned 
by  Lindsey  Patterson,  of  Winston- Salem,  and  the  upper  part  by 
L.  A.  Green,  who  lives  near.  L.  A.  Green  is  a  son  of  "Little" 
John  Green,  who  was  a  son  of  Richard  Green,  all  of  whom  are 
well  to  do  people.  The  next  settled  place  on  the  Ridge  was 
called  the  Old  Ellison  place,  where  William  Blackburn  now  lives. 
The  next  was  the  home  of  the  Rev.  John  Cook,  a  Baptist  minis- 
ter and  a  son  of  Michael  Cook,  of  Cook's  Gap,  and  he  lived  six 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  219 

miles  east  of  Boone,  where  his  grandson,  A,  B.  Cook,  now  lives, 
and  is  better  known  as  "Burt"  Cook.  From  this  point,  going 
west  along  the  Ridge,  we  next  reach  the  home  of  the  old  pioneer, 
Michael  Cook,  who  first  settled  in  the  noted  Cook's  Gap  and 
from  whom  it  took  its  name.  He  had  six  sons,  to  wit:  John, 
Adam,  David,  Robert,  Michael  and  William.  There  were  at 
least  two  daughters,  one  of  whom  married  Aaron  Hampton  and 
the  other  Rice  Hayes.  From  this  point  we  go  to  John  and 
Joshua  Storie's,  where  George  Storie  now  has  a  store.  George 
is  a  grandson  of  John,  his  father  having  been  Walter,  who  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Powell,  of  Caldwell.  Walter  lost  his  life  in  the  Civil 
War.  These  two  families  were  hard  working  and  industrious 
people  and  owned  adjoining  farms,  the  voting  place  being  called 
Storie's  Barn.  Jesse,  son  of  John  Storie,  is  probably  the  only  one 
living  of  the  two  old  families.  This  takes  us  to  what  is  now 
Blowing  Rock,  four  miles  further  west,  to  the  old  Green  settle- 
ment, where  the  two  noted  brothers,  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
Green,  lived.  These  brothers  were  so  much  alike  that  their 
neighbors  could  scarcely  tell  them  apart.  Isaac  Green,  called 
"Mountain"  Isaac,  lived  at  what  is  now  the  Boyden  place,  where 
he  reared  a  large  family.  Amos  Green  lived  where  Mrs.  Sallie 
Reeves,  widow  of  the  late  Dr.  L.  C.  Reeves,  now  Hves.  He  had 
a  large  family.  Alexander  Green,  son  of  Benjamin,  lived  where 
Mr.  Lance  now  lives,  one  mile  east  of  Blowing  Rock.  His  father 
used  to  live  there  before  him,  while  Joseph  Green  lived  east  of 
Green  Park  hotel.  He  was  the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  W.  L. 
Bryan.  A  small  Reformed  Lutheran  Church  stands  on  part  of 
the  land.  Warren  Green,  youngest  son  of  Joseph,  was  killed 
when  Stoneman  raided  Boone.  Robert  Greene  lived  where 
Cone's  Lake  now  is.  He  was  the  father  of  Judge  L.  L.  Greene, 
his  wife  having  been  Chaney  Elrod,  whose  father  lived  two  miles 
south  of  Boone,  where  J.  Watts  Farthing  now  lives.  Lot  Estes 
married  Chaney  Green,  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Green,  and 
lived  where  Colonel  Stringfellow's  house  now  stands.  Five  miles 
west  lived  McCaleb  Cofifey  at  what  is  called  Coffey's  Gap.  He 
married  Sally  Hayes,  a  sister  of  Ransom  Hayes.  They  had  four 
boys  and  no  girls.    The  boys  were  Jones,  Thomas,  Ninevah  and 


220  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

John.  All  were  killed  in  the  Civil  War  except  Jones  and  he  was 
badly  wounded.  No  one  else  lived  on  the  Blue  Ridge  from 
Coffey's  Gap  west  till  after  the  Grandfather  was  passed.  Finley 
and  Jesse  Gragg  probably  moved  to  the  top  of  the  Ridge  after 
the  Civil  War. 

Moses  H.  Cone. — He  began  to  acquire  real  estate  in  the 
vicinity  of  Blowing  Rock  about  1897,  and  secured  over  3,5CX) 
acres  of  land  before  his  death  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  December  8, 
1908.  The  mansion  he  erected  on  Flat  Top  Mountain  is  second 
only  to  that  of  George  W.  Vanderbilt  near  Asheville.  The  lake 
in  front  of  that  residence  is  one  of  the  picture  places  of  the 
mountains.  He  died  childless  and  intestate,  but  his  widow  and 
brothers  and  sisters  have  joined  in  the  creation  of  the  Moses  H. 
Cone  Memorial  Park  for  the  public  "in  perpetuity,"  after  the 
death  of  his  widow,  by  donating  the  above  land.  Moses  H.  Cone 
was  born  at  Jonesboro,  Tenn.,  June  29,  1857.  He  married  Miss 
Bertha  Landau,  of  Baltimore. 

An  Established  Pleasure  Resort. — Blowing  Rock  went  up 
top  as  a  pleasure  resort  soon  after  the  completion  of  the  turn- 
pike from  Lenoir  and  Linville  City.  Many  people  bought  land 
and  built  summer  homes  there.  Hotels  and  boarding  houses 
began  to  go  up  and  to  multiply  year  by  year.  Livery  stables, 
bowling  alleys,  automobiles,  drug  stores,  churches,  stores  of  all 
sorts  soon  became  numerous  and  provided  for  the  amusement 
and  needs  of  a  growing  summer  population.  It  has  a  flourishing 
bank  also,  a  long-distance  and  local  telephone  line,  several  physi- 
cians, and  everything  to  make  life  pleasant  for  the  permanent 
resident  and  the  transient  guest.  The  views  are  unsurpassed. 
Schools  provide  for  the  education  of  the  children,  and  all  sorts 
of  games,  entertainments  and  amusements  go  on  from  morn 
till  night  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The  mails  are  adequate,  and 
Charlotte  and  Raleigh  papers  reach  "The  Rock,"  as  it  is  called, 
on  the  day  they  are  issued.  In  other  words,  everything  that  is 
essential  to  a  first-class  pleasure  resort  is  provided,  and  all  tastes 
and  purses  can  be  suited,  as  the  range  of  hotel  and  boarding 
house  accommodation  is  extensive.  Blowing  Rock  is  established 
beyond  question  as  one  of  the  finest  and  most  popular  pleasure 
resorts  of  the  South. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  221 

Brushy  Fork. — John  Holtsclaw,  son  of  James  D.,  who  was 
the  son-in-law  of  Samuel  Hix,  moved  from  Valle  Crucis  in 
1801,  when  the  road  was  finished  down  Brushy  Fork  and  built 
and  operated  the  Buck  Horn  tavern,  which  stood  in  the  field  to 
the  left  of  the  road  going  down  the  creek  opposite  Floyd  Ward's 
present  home.  Buck  horns  were  nailed  to  a  large  white  oak 
which  stood  in  front  of  the  old  tavern.  Valle  Crucis  was  then 
off  the  main  road  to  Tennessee,  and  John  had  come  to  Brushy 
Fork  to  be  in  the  current  of  the  western  movement.  Later  on  a 
school  house  was  built  near  this  old  tavern,  which  has  long  since 
disappeared,  and  the  small  mound  on  which  it  stood  is  still 
pointed  out.  Marcus  Holtsclaw,  son  of  John,  lived  at  several 
places  on  Brushy  Fork.  John  also  built  and  operated  a  grist 
mill  a  third  of  a  mile  below  the  Brushy  Fork  Baptist  Church,  on 
the  right  of  the  road  going  down,  a  sycamore  stump  still  marking 
the  site  of  the  old  dam.  Almost  opposite  the  old  dam  site,  but  to 
the  left  of  the  road,  still  stands  an  old  stone  chimney  which  fur- 
nished a  fireplace  for  a  cabin  which  stood  on  ten  acres  of  land 
which  John  Tomlin  in  1830  to  1835  contracted  to  buy  and  pay 
fifty  dollars  for.  He  put  up  the  walls  of  a  large  log  house, 
Alfred  Hately  hewing  the  logs,  but  Tomlin  was  unable  to  finish 
paying  for  the  property  and  it  fell  back  to  its  original  owner. 
Tomlin  sold  goods  at  what  is  now  called  Vilas.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  John  J.  Whittington,  but  she  left  him  and  went  to 
Missouri.  What  became  of  him  is  not  known,  except  that  he 
also  left  Brushy  Fork,  never  to  return.  John  J.  Whittington 
lived  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  and  on  the  right  of  the  road,  and 
the  old  Whittington  graveyard  is  on  the  hill  on  the  right  of  the 
road,  while  the  Hagaman  graveyard  is  on  the  left.  John  Holts- 
claw's  youngest  son  is  buried  there.  He  had  married  Nancy,  a 
daughter  of  Moses  Hateley.  There  was  a  sang  factory  at  the 
Whittington  place  as  far  back  as  W.  W.  Presnell  can  remember. 
It  was  in  charge  of  Bacchus  J.  Smith,  of  Buncombe,  who  in  turn 
was  the  agent  of  Dr.  Hailen,  of  Philadelphia.  The  sang  factory 
stood  just  below  Joseph  Ward's  present  home.  M.  Granville 
Hagaman  first  lived  and  sold  goods  right  after  the  Civil  War  in 
a  house  where  Andrew  Greer  now  lives.     He  also  bought  sang 


222  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

there,  and  Col.  W.  W.  Presnell  gathered  and  sold  to  him  $47.00 
worth  of  sang  at  twenty-five  cents  a  pound  in  exactly  twenty- 
two  days.^  Where  Samuel  Flannery  now  lives  is  the  site  of  the 
original  home  of  Thomas  Hagaman,  who  settled  there  before 
the  Civil  War,  coming  from  the  Fork  Ridge.  The  Ben  Councill 
house  at  Vilas,  built  of  brick,  was  completed  about  1845  by  a 
man  from  Tennessee  by  the  name  of  Mace,  while  Polly  Cornell 
cooked  for  the  work  hands.  In  1827  the  parents  of  Col.  W.  W. 
Presnell  reached  Brushy  Fork,  coming  through  the  Coffey 
Gap  on  the  old  John's  River  Road  from  near  Taylorsville.  His 
mother,  Mary  Munday,  was  born  at  the  Black  Oak  Ridge  and 
his  father,  Solomon  Presnell,  in  Union  County  in  1810.  Where 
the  widow  of  ex-Sheriff  A.  J.  McBride  now  lives,  nearly  oppo- 
site the  Ben  Councill  brick  house  at  Vilas,  is  where  the  old 
Tomlin  and  Ben  Councill  store  house  stood.  It  was  built  of  logs. 
On  the  hill  above  the  present  residence  of  Wm.  L.  Henson  is  the 
site  of  the  first  Methodist  Church  that  was  ever  built  in  Watauga 
County,  but  it  seems  never  to  have  been  completed,  though 
Colonel  Presnell  says  that  his  mother  told  him  services  were  held 
there  soon  after  she  came  to  this  settlement  in  1827.  It  is  at 
Vilas  that  Ben  Councill  built  a  large  mill  for  that  day  and  time 
(1845),  and  from  that  place  the  road  forked,  one  prong  going 
through  the  Councill  Gap  to  Valle  Crucis  and  the  other  to  Sugar 
Grove,  from  which  point  it  went  through  the  Mast  Gap  to  Valle 
Crucis,  as  well  as  on  down  Cove  Creek  to  Watauga  River  and 
up  the  Cove  Creek  to  Tennessee.  The  Whittington  family  finally 
moved  to  Missouri.  The  Dugger  family  of  Cove  Creek  are  de- 
scendants of  Benjamin  Dugger,  who  came  from  Yadkin  Elk  in 
1793  or  1794  to  Brushy  Fork  and  entered  land  there,  and  for 
whom  the  Dugger  Mountain  and  creek  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
are  named.  There  were  three  Dugger  brothers  who  came  from 
Scotland  and  stopped  awhile  near  Petersburg,  Va.,  named  Ben- 
jamin, Daniel  and  Julius.  Ben  stopped  at  Yadkin  Elk,  Daniel 
went  to  Kentucky  and  Julius  settled  near  Fish  Springs  on  the 
Watauga  River,  Tennessee.  It  was  from  Julius'  children  that 
the  Banner's  Elk  Duggers  descended. 


^  One  of  the  sons  of  Newton  Banner  has  about  a  fourth  of  an  acre  in  ginseng, 
near  Sugar  Grove.  Others  have  large  patches  of  it  also.  Many  have  very  small 
plots  of  ground  in  shaded  corners  where  a  few  plants  are  tended. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  223 

ShuU's  Mills. — From  this  point  to  the  Linville  Gap  is  full  of 
historical  incidents  and  romantic  occurrences.  It  was  in  the 
field  in  front  of  the  Joseph  C.  Shull  home,  near  the  cattle  barn, 
that  young  Charles  Asher  was  shot  by  White's  men  after  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  soon  after  he  had  married  a  daughter 
of  David  Hix  and  settled  in  the  orchard  below  the  Shull  house. 
Here  also  came  James  Aldridge  soon  after  he  had  left  the  Big 
Sandy  and  his  wife  and  five  children  to  commence  life  anew  with 
Betsy  Calloway,  as  a  hunter  and  trapper.  Rev.  Henry  H.  Prout 
came  there,  too,  and  built  Easter  Chapel,  and  it  was  there  that 
Edward  Moody  and  his  wife  lived  lives  of  usefulness  and  in- 
spiration to  all  who  came  into  contact  with  them.  There,  too, 
came  Jesse  Boone,  a  nephew  of  Daniel,  and  built  a  cabin  on  one 
prong  of  Watauga  River,  which  has  ever  since  borne  the  name 
of  the  Boone  Fork.  Col.  Walter  W.  Lenoir,  soldier,  lawyer, 
legislator  and  philanthropist,  settled  just  above  ShuU's  Mill  at 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War  and  built,  or,  rather,  improved  a  mill 
there  which  has  ever  since  been  known  as  Lenoir's  Stonewall 
Mill.  The  Grandfather  Mountain  looms  above  it  on  one  side  and 
the  Hanging  Rock  on  the  other.  It  was  in  this  neighborhood  that 
many  of  the  most  tragic  events  of  the  Civil  War  occurred,  while 
just  across  the  Linville  Gap  is  the  romantic  valley  of  Altamont, 
the  old  home  of  the  Palmers  and  Childses,  who  had  been  lured 
from  New  York  and  Massachusetts  to  pass  their  days  in  these 
enchanting  surroundings.  It  was  the  broad  bottoms  and  other 
attractions  that  made  Bishop  Ives  apply  to  Phillip  Shull,  the 
father  of  Joseph  C,  for  a  deed  to  what  was  then  ShuU's  MUls, 
embracing  the  present  Shull  holdings  as  well  as  those  of  Alex. 
Moody  across  Lance's  Creek.  And  it  is  as  well  to  state  here 
that  Lance's  Creek  was  so  called  because  Lance  Estes  first  lived 
on  its  waters,  but  sold  out  to  Len.  Estes  February  8,  1830.  The 
ShuU  Mills  land  was  granted  to  Charles  Asher  in  1788,  when  it 
was  supposed  to  be  in  Washington  County,  Tennessee,  and  by 
him  conveyed  to  Joseph  White  in  1792,  and  by  Joseph  to  Ben- 
jamin White  in  1798.  It  was  from  this  neighborhood,  also,  that 
Cobb  McCanless  rode  to  Boone  with  young  Levi  L.  Coffey  on 
that  January  morning  in  1859,  where  he  was  confronted  with 


224  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  agent  of  the  Weyeth's,  for  whom  he  had  been  collecting 
money,  but  to  return  that  night  and  take  the  fatal  step  of  ab- 
sconding with  trust  funds  from  which  there  was  no  return.  The 
old  bridge  across  Watauga  River,  one  mile  below  ShuU's  Mills, 
still  called  the  Old  Bridge  Place,  and  on  which  William  Mast 
had  been  at  work  when,  in  October,  1849,  the  poison  he  and  his 
wife  had  drunk  that  morning  in  their  coffee  began  to  make  its 
fatal  effects  felt,  fell  down  in  1909  while  Wood  Young  was 
passing  over  it  in  a  wagon  drawn  by  two  mules ;  while  Zeb 
Dana  was  killed  there  in  1883  at  night  when  returning  with 
horses  which  he  thought  he  had  borrowed  and  their  owners 
thought  he  had  stolen.  The  old  Caldwell  and  Watauga  Turn- 
pike crossed  the  river  at  this  point,  but  after  the  Civil  War 
(1870)  Col.  Joseph  C.  Shull  changed  it  so  as  to  cross  at  the 
present  ford  and  run  in  front  of  his  residence,  instead  of  in 
rear,  as  it  had  done  before,  thereby  avoiding  a  moist  and  boggy 
place  near  his  well. 

Linville  Valley. — One  scarcely  thinks  of  this  region — from 
Linville  Gap  to  Linville  Falls — as  a  valley,  for  it  is  more  like  a 
high  ridge  upon  the  crest  of  which  a  silver  stream  winds  its 
romantic  way,  with  "here  a  blossom  sailing,  and  here  and  there 
a  lusty  trout,  and  here  and  there  a  grayling."  And,  most  won- 
derful, even  incredible,  it  seems,  is  the  fact  that  its  course  from 
Linville  Gap  to  the  Linville  Falls  is  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The 
Humpback  Mountain  lies  between  the  stream  and  the  eastern 
lowlands,  and  looks  for  all  the  world  like  the  Blue  Ridge,  but 
such  is  not  the  case.  And  more  wonderful  still  is  the  fact  that 
just  over  Pisgah  Ridge  is  one  prong  of  the  Tow  River,  flowing 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Following  this  ridge  out,  one  comes  to 
the  ridge  which  divided  the  waters  of  the  Watauga  from  those 
of  the  Toe,  and  the  Cherokee  territory  to  the  south  from  the 
Watauga  Settlement's  lands  to  the  north.  Indians  were  seen 
there  under  the  cliff  just  above  Pisgah  Church  before  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  to  which  point  they  had  been  chased  by  troops 
from  below  the  Blue  Ridge.  A  man  named  Fullward  evidently 
lived  on  the  branch  between  the  old  J.  B.  Palmer  house  and  the 
store  now  occupied  by  Bickerstaff  and  Stroup,  as  that  branch  is 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  225 

called  for  in  grant  No.  i  of  Burke  County  land.  This  grant  is 
dated  December  17,  1778,  and  is  to  J.  McKnitt  Alexander  and 
William  Sharp,  for  300  acres,  covering  what  will  always  be 
known  as  the  Palmer  Place  on  Linville  River.'  It  is  signed  by 
Governor  Caswell  and  has  the  old  bees-wax  seal  hanging  to  the 
grant  by  an  old  ribbon.  Who  Fullward  was  no  one  can  now  tell, 
but  there  was  also  another  early  settler  whose  name  even  has 
been  forgotten  and  who  lived  where  M.  C.  Bickerstaff  now  resides. 
William  White,  after  whom  the  Billy  White  Creek  of  this  place 
is  called,  then  lived  at  the  Bickerstaff  place,  but  he  moved  to 
Missouri  about  1821,  when  that  territory  was  opened  up  to 
settlement.  White  sold  to  James  Erwin  and  he  to  J.  B.  Palmer. 
George  Crossnore  settled  what  is  still  called  the  Crossnore  Place, 
where  Benjamin  Aldridge  now  lives,  and  he  was  probably  a 
hunter.  The  postoffice  and  neighborhood  still  bear  his  name. 
William  Davis,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  stole  his  wife,  a 
Carpenter,  from  Ashe,  and  settled  at  what  is  still  called  the 
Davis  Mountain,  now  the  Monroe  Franklin  place,  and  which 
Warsaw  Clark  now  owns,  one  mile  and  a  half  above  the  Cross- 
nore place,  where  Kate,  the  five  year  old  daughter  of  Davis, 
is  buried  under  an  apple  tree.  It  is  said  that  he  first  gave  the 
name  of  the  Cow  Camp  to  a  creek  of  that  name  which  runs  into 
Toe  River  because  of  the  fact  that,  having  no  feed  for  his  cattle, 
he  camped  near  them  on  that  creek  and  supplied  them  with  lin 
tree  limbs,  called  laps,  from  the  time  the  buds  began  to  swell 
till  the  grass  came.  Another  reason  is  given,  however,  for  this 
name,  which  is  that  there  was  abundance  of  stagger-weed  on  the 
creek,  and  when  the  cattle  ate  it,  as  they  did,  their  owners 
camped  on  the  creek  in  order  to  doctor  them. 

The  Ollis  Family. — John  Ollis  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle 
in  the  Linville  country,  making  his  home  just  above  Crossnore, 
where  he  cleared  a  field,  still  called  by  some  the  Ollis  Place, 
while  across  the  Fire-Scald  Ridge  is  a  rock  called  the  Ollis 


2  Col.  J.  B.  Palmer,  afterwards  colonel  of  the  58th  North  Carolina,  came  from 
New  York  State  in  1858,  and  built  a  large  frame  house  there.  Because  of  the 
execution  for  desertion  of  some  of  his  soldiers,  condemned  by  court-martial,  he 
could  not  return  there  after  the  Civil  War.  His  widow  sold  it  in  1889  to  Mrs. 
Anna  K.  Watkins,  wife  of  Maj.  G.  R.  Watkins,  of  U.  S.  Navy,  retired,  and  she 
to  C.  E.  Wood,  trustee,  in  1908.  Kirk  having  burnt  the  Palmer  house,  Major 
Watkins  erected  the  residence  now  on  the  old  site. 


226  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Deer  Stand.  He  was  of  German  extraction  and  was  a  soldier 
of  the  War  of  1812,  but  was  discharged  at  Salisbury  after  serv- 
ing only  sixty  days  on  account  of  physical  disability.  His  chil- 
dren were  Boston,  John,  Jr.,  Daniel,  James  and  George,  Sarah, 
who  married  a  Harrel;  Elizabeth,  who  married  James  Gragg, 
and  Mary,  who  married  Major  Gragg.  W.  H.  OUis,  one  of 
John's  sons,  was  born  September  22,  1840,  and  married  Melinda 
Harstin,  January  25,  1866. 

Other  Early  Settlers. — Harvey  Clark  settled  near  the  Har- 
shaw  place  below  Pinola ;  Andrew  Bowers,  at  the  Bowers'  Gap ; 
Abe  Gwyn  lived  above  Scaly,  near  Cranberry  mines ;  Rad  Ellis 
lived  on  the  Fork  Mountain,  while  Dr.  Wm.  Houston  lived  at 
what  is  now  called  Minneapolis,  where  he  bought  sang.  Dr. 
Houston  is  said  to  have  been  seven  feet  tall.  Bayard  Benfield 
now  lives  where  Abram  Johnson  first  put  up  a  forge.  It  is  said 
that  Johnson  frequently  looked  for  his  jacket,  as  the  vest  is 
called  here,  while  he  had  it  on  his  person,  and  that  the  floor  of 
his  home  was  made  of  red  hickory  six  inches  thick  and  so  closely 
joined  that  cracks  were  invisible.  Tilmon  Blalock  lived  on 
Beaver  Creek,  near  Spruce  Pine.  Larkin  Calloway  built  a  little 
mill  and  lived  at  what  is  now  Linville  City,  a  little  above,  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Torry  Webb,  lived  where  the  lake  now  is. 
Mathias  Carpenter  came  from  Pennsylvania  and  settled  on  New 
River  in  Ashe.  It  was  his  daughter  who  married  William 
Davis.  His  son,  Jacob,  moved  to  Three  Mile  Creek,  where  he 
died  July  18,  1856,  aged  eighty-six  years.  His  son,  Jacob,  of 
Altamont,  was  born  January  4,  1833.  Henry  Dellinger  came 
from  Burke  about  1834  and  settled  where  Linn  Dellinger  now 
lives.  Henry  salted  and  tended  cattle  in  the  mountains  for  the 
Erwins ;  John  Franklin  lived  at  the  Old  Fields  of  Toe  and  was 
one  of  Cobb  McCanless's  deputies.  Wesley  Johnson,  a  son  of 
Abraham's,  went  to  Utah  and  died  there  in  1880,  aged  eighty-one 
years. 

Elk  Crossroads. — As  Elk  Creek  comes  into  the  South  Fork 
of  the  New  River  at  this  point,  it  has  been  a  noted  place  for 
many  years.  Riddle  and  his  men  passed  there  with  Ben  Cleve- 
land after  they  had  captured  him  at  Old  Fields  in  April,  1781. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  227 

Wm.  Howell,  Wm.  Ray,  Solomon  Younce  and  G.  and  Joseph 
Tatum  were  early  settlers.  It  has  always  been  a  stopping  place 
and  a  noted  "stand"  for  the  sale  of  goods  and  provisions.  James 
Todd  and  Hugh  A.  Dobbins  kept  a  store  there  before  the  Civil 
War  and  several  others  have  sold  goods  there  since.  It  is  now 
called  Elkland  by  the  Virginia-Carolina  Railroad,  having  for 
several  years  borne  the  name  of  Todd.  Col.  E.  F.  Lovill,  of 
Boone,  kept  a  store  there  after  the  Civil  War,  and  then  moved 
to  Boone,  where  he  has  practiced  law  ever  since.  The  comple- 
tion of  the  Virginia-Carolina  Railroad  to  that  place  in  1915 
promises  to  make  of  it  a  large  town  in  the  near  future.  All  of 
Elkland  is  now  in  Ashe  County,  the  legislature  making  the  Hne 
follow  the  creek  from  its  mouth  to  the  Blackburn  ford.  The 
Tatum  place  was  first  granted  to  Thomas  Farmer  in  1788,  when 
this  was  a  part  of  Wilkes  County.  Farmer  sold  to  John  Lipps 
in  1796  for  £70,  "current  money."  (Deed  Book  C,  p.  598.) 
Lipps  sold  to  Susanna  Holman  in  1799  for  same  amount  (E,  p. 
241),  and  she  sold  to  William  Clawson  in  1802  (A,  p.  534),  who 
held  it  till  1835,  when  he  sold  it  to  Ebeneezer  Clawson,  and  he 
to  Buckner  Tatum  in  1836  (L,  p.  122),  and  in  the  year  1845 
Buckner  sold  it  to  Elijah  Tatum,  the  father  of  John  L.,  its 
present  owner  (N,  p.  483). 

Banner's  Elk. — John  Holsclaw  was  the  first  permanent  resi- 
dent of  this  place,  though  Samuel  Hix  had  occupied  a  place  in 
the  laurel  a  short  distance  away  at  what  is  now  the  Grandfather 
Orphanage.  Baker  King  and  Ben  Dugger  at  some  time  had  a 
camp  on  that  very  land.'  It  was  there,  too,  during  the  stormy 
days  of  1863  to  1865  that  Lewis  and  Martin  Banner  piloted 
many  an  escaped  Federal  prisoner  and  Union  man  trying  to  get 
through  the  lines  into  Tennessee.  Only  a  few  in  the  secret 
knew  of  the  place — Dan  Ellis,  of  Elizabethton,  Tenn. ;  Harrison 
Church,  another  conductor  of  the  underground  railroad,  and 
Keith  Blalock  were  admitted  into  the  inner  temple.  Andrew 
Bowers  lived  in  what  is  still  known  as  the  Bowers'  Gap  and  gave 
his  name  to  the  Bowers'  Mountain  between  Banner's  Elk  and 
Valle  Crucis.    Down  on  Elk,  Abram  Gwyn  lived  at  what  is  still 


3  This   camp   is   called   for   in  deed   from   John   Holtsclaw   to   Delilah   Baird   of 
date  May  2,  1838,  to  the  Big  Bottoms. 


228  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

called  the  Ford  of  Elk.  George  Dugger  came  later  on  and  set- 
tled about  where  the  road  to  Dr.  Jenning's  hotel  leaves  the  turn- 
pike. This,  however,  was  on  the  Shawnehaw  side  of  the  ridge. 
There  were  no  clearings  of  any  extent  at  Banner  Elk,  except 
those  at  the  Hix  Improvement,  which  was  very  small,  and  at 
the  Big  Bottoms,  but  there  were  two  "deadenings,"  one  called  the 
Moses  Deadening,  and  the  other  the  Lark  Chopping.  But  nearly 
one  hundred  years  ago  Martin  Banner  had  walked  through 
from  Surry  to  Nashville,  accompanied  by  a  single  companion 
and  having  one  horse  between  them.  He  passed  through  Banner 
Elk  and  determined  to  return  there  at  some  future  time.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1845  he  returned  with  his  family,  crossing  Watauga 
River  at  a  ford  opposite  the  place  Walter  Baird  now  lives,  it 
being  then  the  home  of  Bedent  Baird,  and  followed  his  cart  way 
or  wagon  road  to  his  place  on  Beech  Mountain,  where  he  turned 
to  the  left  by  the  Roland  clearing  and  reaching  Banner's  Elk 
at  what  is  now  called  Balm.  But  he  did  not  stop  there,  pitching 
his  tent  permanently  near  what  is  now  the  Lowe  Hotel.  His 
brother,  Lewis,  came  three  or  four  years  later  and  built  his  cabin 
where  his  daughters,  Mrs.  Wetmore  and  Miss  Nannie  Banner, 
now  live,  a  mile  above  Martin's  home.  Levi  Moody  and  Joel 
Eggers  lived  above  Lewis  Banner's  house,  Martin  Banner 
moved  across  Sugar  Mountain  Gap  and  built  a  new  home  near 
the  head  of  the  North  Fork  of  Toe  River  in  1866.  Some  time 
later  he  was  on  a  visit  at  Eb  Harris's  home  near  what  is  now 
Montezuma,  where  he  died  as  the  result  of  a  fall.  He  was  born 
February  7,  1808,  and  died  February  19,  1895.  John  Franklin 
and  Marcus  Tuttle  also  lived  near  Montezuma  at  that  time.  It 
was  then  called  Bull  Scrape  because,  being  on  the  very  crest  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  there  is  a  current  of  cool  air  constantly  stirring 
and  the  cattle  on  the  ranges  thereabout  used  to  assemble  there  in 
the  heat  of  the  day  and  lie  under  the  trees  while  the  amorous 
bulls  pawed  the  ground  around  and  locked  horns  over  their 
bovine  love  scrapes.  Close  to  what  is  now  Linville  City,  a  rather 
small  city,  but  remarkably  clean  and  attractive,  lived  Tyree 
Webb,  then  a  very  old  man.  The  road  through  the  McCanless 
Gap,  reaching  from  Banner  Elk  to  LinviUe  Gap,  was  not  con- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  229 

structed  till  about  1895,  though  a  trail  went  through  there  "furder 
back"  than  anyone  now  remembers."  Behind  a  thick  laurel,  near 
where  Napoleon  Banner  now  lives,  was  the  camp  of  a  man 
named  Ollis,  who  was  hiding  out  during  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Ashes  and  coals  can  still  be  plowed  up  near  that  place.  He  used 
to  live,  as  did  Samuel  Hix,  by  hunting  and  making  a  crop  of 
potatoes  in  a  little  patch,  ekeing  out  his  simple  fare  with  maple 
syrup  and  sugar  from  the  maple  trees  which  had  made  this  sec- 
tion their  home  time  out  of  mind,  and  which  give  its  name  to 
Sugar  Mountain.  After  awhile  Burton  Baird,  Delilah's  son, 
married  the  Widow  Keller,  and  her  daughter  Aurilda,  called 
"Rildy"  for  short,  married  Levi  Moody.  Below  Harrison  Al- 
drich's  house  on  head  of  Watauga  River  lived  Tom  Fudge  and 
two  old  maids,  one  of  whom  was  named  Laudermilk,  for  whom 
he  milked,  tended  garden  and  did  other  work."  He  had  a  little 
gun  with  a  very  short  barrel.  He  was  a  little  dried-up  man,  but 
useful  to  these  two  forlorn  women.  William  Baird  lived  at  what 
is  now  called  Matny.  Mike  Snider  lived  at  what  is  now  called 
Elk  Park,  where  he  operated  a  small  grist  mill.  Down  at  Old 
Fields  of  Toe  lived  James  Calloway  and  the  Maxfield  family, 
the  Clarks  and  Braswells  living  above  that  place,  and  there  after 
the  Civil  War  Gen.  Robert  F.  Hoke  and  associates,  James 
Wilson  and  Sam.  McD.  Tate,  decided  that  sheep  raising  in  these 
mountains  would  be  profitable,  got  control  of  the  Old  Fields  of 
Toe,'  imported  a  genuine  Scotch  shepherd  and  a  genuine  Scotch 
shepherd  dog,  several  fine  bucks,  and  then  bought  up  over  a 
hundred  natives  ewes.  It  did  not  pay  as  well  as  had  been  ex- 
pected, native  dogs  being  too  much  for  the  one  imported  collie. 
Even  the  tie-tie  business  for  pipe  stems  was  carried  on.  John 
Hardin  and  his  son,  Jordan,  moved  from  the  Hardin  place,  a  mile 


*  Shep.  M.  Dugger,  the  distinguished  author  of  the  "Balsam  Groves  of  the 
Grandfather  Mountain,"  and  his  brother-in-law,  J.  Brwin  Calloway,  built  the 
Grandfather  hotel,  half  a  mile  from  Linville  Gap,  in  1885  ;  but  it  was  burned 
in  1914.  It  served  a  good  purpose  as  a  resting-place  for  tourists  to  the  Grand- 
father Mountain. 

5  In  1857  Newton,  Ab.  and  Luther  Banner,  caught  trout  in  the  North  Toe 
River,  and  ran  with  them  to  the  head  of  Banner  Elk,  crossing  at  Sugar  Gap, 
replenishing  the  water  as  they  went,  and  this  stocked  Elk  Creek  above  Elk 
Palls.  Rev.  H.  H.  Prout  also  stocked  Linville  River  above  the  Falls  from  head 
of  Watauga  River. 

'  A  man  named  Birchfleld  was  probably  among  the  first  settlers  at  the  Old 
Fields  of  Toe,  dying  there  of  milk-sick  many  years  ago. 


230  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

east  of  Boone,  and  lived  at  Cranberry  forge  from  about  1850 
till  after  the  Civil  War,  during  which  Jordan  had  charge  of  the 
property.  John  Hardin  died  in  1873.  Between  these  places  and 
Banner's  Elk  there  was  constant  communication.  The  rapid 
development  of  Banner's  Elk  and  its  surrounding  country,  in- 
cluding all  the  places  named  herein,  is  too  recent  to  need  record- 
ing here.  The  coming  of  the  Rev.  Edgar  Tufts,  however,  was 
the  most  fortunate  event  in  the  history  of  that  section.  (See 
chapter  on  Schools.) 

On  Foot  to  Banner's  Elk. — Miss  Morley  gives  us  this  account 
of  her  trip  to  Banner's  Elk.  Does  that  "gold  tree"  still  stand 
we  wonder?    The  only  way  to  find  out  is  to  go  and  see. 

"From  Valle  Crucis  to  Banner  Elk,  under  the  Beech  Moun- 
tain, is  another  day's  walk,  when  again  you  take  the  longest 
way  up  Dutch  Creek  to  see  the  pretty  waterfall  there  and  where 
the  clematis  is  a  white  veil  over  the  bushes,  and  up  the  steep 
road  by  Hanging  Rock  where  the  gold  tree  grows.  This  is  an 
oak,  known  far  and  near  because  its  top  is  always  golden  yellow. 
The  leaves  come  out  yellow  in  the  spring,  remain  so  all  summer, 
and  in  the  fall  would  doubtless  turn  yellow  if  they  were  not  al- 
ready that  color.  The  people  say  there  is  a  pot  of  gold  buried 
at  the  roots,  but  this  pleasant  fancy  has  not  taken  a  serious 
enough  hold  to  menace  the  life  of  the  tree. 

"Stopping  at  a  picturesque,  old  time  log  house  to  rest,  a  little 
girl  invites  you  to  go  to  the  top  of  Hanging  Rock,  which  invita- 
tion you  gladly  accept,  thereby  getting  one  of  the  most  enjoyable 
walks  of  the  summer,  your  little  guide  telling  you  all  the  way 
about  the  flowers  and  the  birds  and  stopping  under  an  over- 
hanging cliff  with  great  secrecy  to  show  you  a  round  little  bird's 
nest  with  eggs  in  it  cleverly  hidden  in  the  moss.  One  suspects 
it  was  the  chance  to  show  this  treasure  that  led  the  child  to 
propose  the  long  climb  to  the  top  of  the  mountain.  The  goose- 
berries of  Hanging  Rock  are  without  prickles,  perhaps  because 
the  wild  currants  growing  there  have  stolen  them.  Imagine 
prickly  currants !  There  is  plenty  of  galax  on  Hanging  Rock, 
the  mosses  and  sedums  and  all  the  other  growths  that  make 
mountain  tops  so  agreeable.     The  top  of  Hanging  Rock  is  a 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  231 

slanting  ledge,  from  which  the  mountain  gets  its  name.  At 
Banner  Elk  you  will  want  to  stay  awhile,  it  is  so  pretty,  and  you 
will  also  want  to  climb  the  beautiful  Beech  Mountain  with  its 
grassy  spaces  and  its  charming  beech  groves. 

"From  Banner  Elk  you  take  the  short  walk  over  to  'Gallo- 
ways,' close  under  the  shadow  of  the  Grandfather,  and  from 
here  the  long  and  beautiful  walk  down  the  Watauga  River  at  the 
base  of  the  Grandfather,  then  along  the  ridges  back  to  Blowing 
Rock,  watching  as  you  go  details  of  the  mountain  beneath  whose 
northern  front  you  are  passing.  The  open  benches,  the  rocky 
blufifs  and  abrupt,  tree-clad  walls  of  this  side  of  the  mountain, 
which  we  call  the  back  of  the  Grandfather,  are  not  impressive 
like  those  long  southern  slopes  sweeping  from  a  summit  of  a 
little  less  than  six  thousand  feet  down  into  the  foothills.  For  the 
mountain  on  this  side  is  stopped  by  the  high  plateau  from  which 
it  rises.  Yet  it  is  good  to  be  at  the  back  of  the  Grandfather. 
From  the  Watauga  road  we  see  the  profile  from  which  the  moun- 
tain is  said  to  have  received  its  name,  although  one  gets  a  better 
and  far  more  impressive  view  of  it  from  a  certain  point  on  the 
mountain  itself. 

"And  so  you  return  to  Blowing  Rock  after  days  of  wander- 
ing, only  to  rest  awhile  and  start  again,  gaining  endurance  with 
every  trip  until  the  ten  miles'  walk  that  cost  you  a  little  weari- 
ness becomes  the  twenty  miles'  walk  that  costs  you  none.  You 
cannot  tire  of  the  road,  for  every  mile  brings  new  sights,  new 
sounds,  new  fragrances,  new  friends,  new  flowers,  one  charm  of 
walking  here  being  the  endless  variety.  No  two  days  are  alike; 
each  has  its  own  pleasant  adventures." 

Meat  Camp. — This  was  one  of  the  first  places  to  be  settled 
in  Ashe  County,  William  Miller,  the  Blackburns  and  James  Jack- 
son going  there  from  the  Jersey  Settlement  as  early  as  1799, 
while  Ebenezer  Fairchild,  of  the  same  colony,  settled  on  How- 
ard's Creek,  only  a  short  distance  away.  Jackson's  grave  is  still 
pointed  out  in  the  woods  near  the  site  of  the  old  Jackson  Meet- 
ing House,  while  the  cabin  of  an  old  hunter  named  Abbey  stood 
in  what  is  now  the  garden  of  John  C.  Moretz.  Brown  got  the 
first  grant  to  land  on  this  creek,  part  of  the  Lindsey  Patterson 


232  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

farm,  before  he  had  ever  seen  it,  having  entered  it  from  the 
natural  boundaries  furnished  him  by  Daniel  Boone  and  his 
associates.  The  cabin  in  which  the  old  hunters  stored  their  meat 
and  hides  when  on  hunts  in  this  region  stood  in  a  rocky  patch 
just  above  the  bend  of  Moretz's  mill  pond,  the  foundation  of  the 
old  chimney  still  showing  above  ground.  It  was  this  camp  and 
the  use  to  which  it  was  put  as  a  sort  of  primitive  packing  house 
that  gave  the  name  of  Meat  Camp  to  the  creek.  John  Moretz 
and  his  wife  and  family  came  to  Meat  Camp  in  September,  1839. 
There  was  already  an  old  mill  there  when  he  came,  which  he 
bought  from  Samuel  Cooper,  who  then  moved  to  Meadow  Creek. 
The  dam  of  the  old  mill  was  of  logs,  but  John  Moretz  put  sixty 
men  to  work  erecting  the  stone  dam  which  still  stands.  With  the 
grinding  and  other  work  of  the  mill  was  also  a  carding  machine. 
But  late  in  the  fall  of  1847  the  mill  burned,  the  supposed  act  of 
an  incendiary,  as  it  occurred  just  before  day.  But  he  rebuilt, 
leaving  out  the  linseed  oil  feature  only.  After  his  death  Alfred 
J.  Moretz  tore  that  mill  down  and  built  the  one  which  still  stands. 
Alfred  Moretz  moved  to  his  present  home  at  Deep  Gap  in  April, 
1885. 

The  Rich  Mountain. — This  mountain  deserves  its  name,  for  it 
is  richer  than  most  bottom  lands.  This  is  true  of  the  top  as  well 
as  of  the  slopes  and  coves.  It  is  said  that  Ezra  Stonecypher  lived 
in  a  cabin  above  T.  P.  Adams'  barn,  and  ashes  and  charcoal  are 
still  plowed  up  there.  But,  like  Daniel  Boone,  Ezra  loved  plenty 
of  elbow-room,  and  so,  when  a  man  moved  on  to  Cove  Creek 
and  settled  there,  Ezra  moved  to  Norris's  Fork  of  Meat  Camp 
and  built  a  poplar  log  cabin.  This  was  several  miles  from  the 
Cove  Creek  intruder,  and  Ezra  was  happy  for  a  time,  but  only 
for  a  time,  as  another  pushing  person  obtruded  himself  on  Meat 
Camp  and  settled  there,  which  was  the  straw  that  broke  the 
camel's  back,  for  Ezra  pulled  up  stakes  and  moved  to  Kentucky. 
One  of  his  sons  met  Col.  Thomas  Bingham  there  during  the  Civil 
War,  and  proved  that  he  knew  all  about  Rich  Mountain  and  that 
section  of  the  county.  Then  Dr.  Calloway,  it  seems,  got  a  grant 
to  two  tracts  called  the  Big  and  Little  Cay-vit  (Caveat?),  and 
after  awhile,  say  about  1840  or  1845,  Col.  Edmund  Jones  got 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  233 

title  to  some  of  the  mountain  and  pastured  his  cattle  there.  Sev- 
eral people  have  lived  at  what  is  still  called  the  Jones  Place  on 
Rich  Mountain,  but  Allen  Beech  went  there  from  Caldwell  in 
1848  and  remained  several  years,  his  son,  Allen  W.,  having  been 
born  there  February  11,  1854.  The  late  Hon,  R.  Z.  Linney 
bought  the  Tater  Hill  and  other  land  on  the  Rich  Mountain  about 
1902  and  had  a  turnpike  built  from  the  Rich  Mountain  Gap 
above  Boone  to  the  gap  in  Rich  Mountains  above  Silverstone, 
through  which  a  road  from  Meat  Camp  passes  over  to  Cove 
Creek  and  Zionville.  Dr.  H.  McD.  Little  owns  part  of  the  Rich 
Mountain  and  pastures  many  cattle  there.  The  two-story  rock 
house  on  Dr.  Little's  land  was  built  by  Col.  R.  Z.  Linney  and 
stands  on  what  is  also  known  as  the  Jones  Place.  Part  of  this 
rock  house  fell  down  in  June,  1915. 

The  Tatar  Hill. — No  one  ever  makes  any  apology  for  calling 
this  striking  mountain  peak  by  its  real  name — Tater  Hill.  For 
it  was  never  a  potato  hill,  potatoes  being  mere  ornaments  for 
the  skill  of  French  chefs.  Taters  are  what  we  were  "raised" 
on,  while  city  children  were  "reared"  on  potatoes.  The  first 
man  to  see  the  charm  of  this  lonely  spot  was  one  Chapley  Well- 
burn.  He  entered  it  in  April,  1799,  four  hundred  acres  of  it, 
and  lived  there,  probably  hunting  for  a  living,  the  people  who 
live  on  lower  levels  being  the  only  ones  who  indulge  in  the  pas- 
time of  earning  a  "livelihood."  Well,  he  thought  he  had  a  title 
to  that  land,  and  in  1876  J.  B.  Todd,  by  order  of  the  court,  con- 
veyed this  title  to  one  of  his  descendants  in  Wilkes  (Deed  Book 
R,  p.  108).  But  Alfred  Adams  knew  a  thing  or  two,  one  of  them 
being  that  adverse  possession  under  color  of  title  would  "ripen" 
that  title  into  an  "indefeasible  estate  of  inheritance,"  or  words 
to  that  general  effect.  So  he  got  the  very  best  "color"  "the  air," 
to  wit,  a  grant  from  the  sovereign  State  of  North  Carolina — 
not  from  Sovereign  Linn,  who  was  living  in  this  county  at  that 
time.  Adams  occupied  about  three  hundred  acres  of  his  grant, 
and  when  he  locked  horns  with  H.  M.  and  W.  N.  G.  Wellburn, 
through  his  grantee,  John  H.  Bingham,  about  the  year  1902, 
over  the  entire  four  hundred  acres  and  other  lands  also,  he  won 
three  hundred  of  them  handily.  (See  Minute  Docket  E,  p.  154, 
Clerk's  Office.)     It  developed  in  the  trial  of  that  suit  that  one 


234  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Flannery,  meaning  not  necessarily  that  he  had  no  family,  but 
that  he  might  have  been  almost  any  Flannery,  claimed  the  land 
in  the  flatwoods  under  Tater  Hill,  but  left  about  1849,  after 
which  a  man  named  James,  but  whether  John  James  or  James 
John  is  not  known,  came  and  brought  a  pack  of  hounds  with  him. 
Hounds  have  to  eat.  So  do  wolves.  In  the  duel  to  see  which 
should  eat  the  other,  the  wolves  won.  James  thought  his  turn 
might  come  next,  either  to  eat  or  to  be  eaten,  so  he  returned  to 
Alexander  County,  whence  he  had  come,  which,  sad  as  that  fate 
might  be,  was  better  than  furnishing  the  funeral  baked  meat 
for  a  lupine  holiday.  Then,  about  1902,  came  the  late  Romulus 
Z.  Linney,  who,  remembering  that  his  old  namesake  had  been 
"fetched  up"  by  wolves,  boldly  entered  on  this  demesne  and  re- 
tained possession  till  his  demise,  demesne  and  demise  having 
different  meanings.  But  he  built  a  rock  wing  to  his  four-room 
dwelling,  which  still  stands  and  in  which  he  spent  many  happy 
days.  This  is  the  gentleman  who,  before  he  had  tasted  of  the 
delights  of  the  Tater  Hill,  was  offered  a  high  office  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  In  declining  it,  he  said  that  he  would  not  give  up 
his  spring  rambles  in  the  Brushy  Mountains  of  Wilkes  for  any 
office  within  the  gift  of  the  American  people.  But  he  gave  them 
up  for  Tater  Hill ! 

The  Grandfather  Mountain. — Following  is  Miss  Morley's  de- 
scription of  this  oldest  mountain  on  earth : 

"The  path  beyond  the  river  [Watauga]  is  cut  through  dense 
kalmia  and  rhododendron  maximum  (our  laurel)  that  make  a 
wide  band  along  the  base  of  the  mountain,  then  it  leads  up  and 
up  through  the  more  open  forest.  There  is  no  sweeter  walk  in 
the  world  than  that  up  Grandfather  Mountain,  where  the  path 
winds  among  the  trees,  a  canopy  of  leaves  screening  the  sky,  the 
forest  shutting  from  view  the  outer  world.  Once  there  were 
large  wild  cherry  trees  on  the  slopes  of  the  Grandfather,  but  the 
wood  being  valuable  .  .  .  there  are  only  saplings  left,  and 
a  few  patriarchs  that,  though  useless  for  lumber,  give  an  air  of 
dignity  to  the  forest  in  company  with  the  clear  gray  shafts  of  the 
tulip  trees,  the  grand  old  chestnuts,  the  oaks,  the  maples,  beeches, 
birches,  ashes  and  lindens  that  mingle  their  foliage  with  that  of 
the  pines  and  spruces. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  235 

"Yau  pass  beside  or  under  large  detached  boulders  covered 
with  saxifrages,  sedums,  mosses  and  ferns,  and  in  whose  crev- 
ices mountain-ash  trees  and  twisted  hemlocks  have  taken  root 
as  though  for  purposes  of  decoration,  and  in  the  damp  hollows 
away  from  the  path  great  jack  vines  hang  from  tree  tops.  The 
rock  ledges  sometimes  make  caves  where  bears  were  wont  to 
live,  for  the  Grandfather  was  once  a  famous  place  for  bears. 
Squirrels  still  'use  on  the  mountain,'  as  the  people  say,  and  a 
'boomer'  will  be  apt  to  bark  down  at  you  as  you  go  along.  You 
hear  the  waters  of  a  stream  in  the  ravine  below,  and  here  and 
there  you  cross  a  natural  garden  of  'balimony'  or  some  other 
precious  herb  that  the  people  gather  in  the  season.  About  two- 
thirds  of  the  way  up  you  take  a  path  that  branches  off  to  the 
left  and  leads  you  over  the  mossy  rocks  to  an  open  place  on  the 
edge  of  a  gorge,  where,  looking  off,  you  see  the  clear-cut  profile 
of  the  Grandfather  sculptured  on  the  edge  of  a  rocky  bluff,  the 
bushy  hair  that  rises  from  the  forehead  consisting  of  fir  trees 
that  when  whitened  by  the  winter  snow  give  a  venerable  ap- 
pearance to  the  stone  face.  Somewhat  above  this  profile  from 
this  point  is  also  visible  another,  with  smaller  and  rounder  fea- 
tures, which  of  course  is  the  Grandmother. 

"Returning  to  the  main  path  and  continuing  the  ascent,  the 
way  grows  wilder,  and,  if  possible,  sweeter.  One  has  a  sense  of 
rising  spiritually  as  well  as  physically.  At  the  base  of  a  high 
cliff,  framed  in  foliage  and  crowned  with  the  rosy-flowered 
rhododendron  catawhiense,  gushes  out  the  famous  Grandfather 
Spring  that  is  only  ten  degrees  above  freezing  throughout  the 
summer.  Up  to  this  point  there  is  a  bridle  path;  beyond  here 
it  is  necessary  to  walk.  The  rose-bay  still  in  bloom  clings  to  the 
rocks,  in  whose  crevices  little  dwarf  trees  have  taken  root  along 
with  the  mosses,  ferns  and  saxifrages. 

"The  path  gets  very  steep  and  rocky.  You  are  now  among 
the  balsam  firs,  those  trees  to  name  which  is  to  name  a  perfume, 
and  you  go  climbing  up  over  their  strong  red  roots.  The 
pathway  becomes  a  staircase  winding  about  moss-trimmed  rocks 
in  whose  crevices  are  tiny  contorted  balsams  like  Japanese 
flower-pot  trees.     Enormous  coal-black  lichens  hang  from  the 


236  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

cliffs  and  the  ground  is  softly  carpeted  with  mossy  growths  and 
oxalis,  out  from  whose  pretty  pale  leaves  look  myriads  of  pink- 
and  white  blossoms.  Long  after  the  rhododendron  catawbiense 
is  done  blooming  below,  one  finds  it  in  its  prime  on  the  high 
peaks  of  the  Grandfather. 

"Up  among  the  balsam  firs  and  about  the  rocks  grow  large 
sour  gooseberries  and  enormous  sweet  huckleberries,  and  it  was 
here  we  found  a  new  and  delicious  fruit.  The  bushes  crowding 
the  woods  in  places  were  loaded  with  bright  red  globes  the  size 
of  a  small  cherry,  each  dangling  from  a  slender  stem.  These 
delightful  berries  were  mere  skins  of  juice,  tiny  wine-bottles  full 
of  refreshment  for  a  summer  day  ...  we  discovered  them 
on  other  mountains,  though  never  much  below  an  altitude  of  six 
thousand  feet  .  .  .  Up  through  the  spruces  and  balsams  you 
mount  in  the  resplendent  day,  lingering  at  every  step  .  .  . 
Thus  climbing  through  the  resplendent  day  you  reach  the  sum- 
mit, 'Calloway's  High  Peak,'  the  highest  point  on  the  mountain, 
but  from  which  one  cannot  command  the  circle  of  the  horizon. 
It  is  necessary  to  get  the  view  from  two  points,  which  is  all  the 
better.  The  rocks  at  the  lookout  towards  the  south  being  covered 
with  heather,  one  can  lie  on  the  delightful  couch  studded  all 
over  with  little  white  starry  flowers,  to  rest  and  receive  the  view 
.  .  .  In  the  distance  lies  White  Top,  on  whose  summit  three 
States  meet     .     .     . 

"Leaving  this  place  and  walking  on  to  the  point  that  looks  to 
the  south,  one  shares  the  feelings  and  almost  the  faith  of 
Michaux.  The  view  is  very  impressive,  because  of  that  steep 
descent  of  the  mountain  into  the  foothills,  the  long  spurs  sweep- 
ing down  in  fine  lines  to  a  great  depth  .  .  .  The  Black 
Mountains  stand  forth  very  high  and  very  blue,  and  beyond  them, 
among  the  many  familiar  forms,  are  distinguished  what  one  sup- 
poses to  be  the  faint  blue  line  of  the  Smokies,  or  is  it  the  nearer 
Balsams?  .  ,  .  Sooner  or  later  you  will  find  your  way  to 
McRae's,  which  is  to  the  south  side  of  the  Grandfather  what 
Calloway's  is  to  the  north  side,  a  farmhouse,  where  you  can  stay 
awhile.  There  is  a  trail  over  the  end  of  the  Grandfather  by 
which  you  can  go  directly  from  Calloway's  to  McRae's,  but  to 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  237 

strike  this  trail  you  have  to  walk  down  the  Linville  River,  which, 
rising  in  an  open  space  but  a  stone's  throw  from  the  head  of 
the  Watauga,  flows  in  quite  the  opposite  direction,  and  through 
so  narrow  a  pass  that  you  have  to  keep  crossing  and  recrossing 
it,  no  small  matter  in  a  season  of  rains,  for  there  are  no  foot 
logs  at  all  .  .  .  But  the  Linville  is  one  of  the  streams  you 
are  glad  to  know  through  all  its  sparkling  length,  from  the  spring 
behind  the  Grandfather  to  where  it  escapes  in  wild  glee  through 
the  gorge  below  the  falls.  There  are  peacocks  at  McRae's,  and 
Mr.  McRae  has  not  forgotten  how  to  play  on  the  bagpipes  that 
have  so  stirred  the  blood  of  his  race  .  .  .  But  you  will  have 
to  coax  him  to  do  it.  McRae's  stands  on  the  Yonahlossee  road 
that  connects  Linville,  just  below  the  mountain,  with  Blowing 
Rock  .  .  .  From  McRae's  there  is  a  path  up  the  Grand- 
father ...  to  another  peak  reached  by  a  very  sweet  climb 
through  the  balsams,  which,  in  this  region,  are  smaller  and  more 
companionable  than  the  straight  giants  of  the  Black  Mountains, 
these  of  the  Grandfather  being  twisted  and  friendly  and  pro- 
foundly fragrant.  From  this  peak  one  can  see  in  all  directions, 
excepting  where  one  of  the  Grandfather's  black  summits  ob- 
structs the  view. 

"It  is  the  lichens  growing  an  the  rocks  that  give  so  sombre 
an  appearance  to  the  top  of  the  Grandfather,  those  big,  black 
lichens  with  loose  and  curled  up  edges.  Grandfather's  black, 
rocky  top  is  eight  miles  long,  and  once  Mr.  Calloway  (with  the 
assistance  of  others)  blazed  out  a  rude  trail  so  that  we  could  all 
take  that  wonderful  knife-edge  walk  up  in  the  sky  over  the 
peaks  of  the  Grandfather,  Indian  ladders — that  is,  a  tall  tree 
trunk  from  which  the  branches  have  been  lopped,  leaving  pro- 
truding ends  for  steps — helping  us  up  otherwise  insurmountable 
cliffs. 

"The  Yonahlossee  road  ought  to  be  followed  early  in  the  sum- 
mer, for  then  the  meadowy  tops  of  the  long  spurs  are  like  noble 
parks  created  for  man's  pleasure.  The  rhododendron  catazv- 
biense  lies  massed  about  in  effective  groups  and  covered  with 
rosy  bloom,  beyond  which  one  looks  out  over  a  wide  landscape 
of  mountains  and  clouds.    From  these  open,  flower-decked  spaces 


238  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  road  passes  into  the  shadowy  forest,  to  emerge  upon  a  bushy 
slope  where  blazing  reaches  of  flame-colored  azaleas  astound 
your  senses.  There  are  other  flowers  along  the  way,  but  you 
scarcely  see  them,  intoxicated  as  you  are  with  the  glory  of  the 
rhododendrons,  and  after  them  the  azaleas,  for  these  marvelous 
growths  almost  never  blossom  within  sight  of  each  other.  You 
would  say  they  know,  like  ladies  at  a  ball,  how  important  it  is 
to  avoid  each  other's  colors. 

"Under  the  trees  along  the  roadside  the  earth  is  covered  with 
a  superb  carpet  of  large  and  handsome  galax  leaves,  for  the 
Grandfather  is  distinguished  by  the  great  beauty  and  abundance 
of  its  galax.  Laurel,  too,  claims  standing  room  on  the  side  of  the 
grand  old  mountain,  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  one  notices  the 
apparent  capriciousness  of  the  laurel,  which  forms  an  impene- 
trable jungle  for  long  stretches  and  then  stops  short,  not  a 
laurel  bush  to  be  seen  for  some  distance,  when  with  equal  sud- 
denness it  reappears  again. 

"The  splendid  slopes  of  the  Grandfather  are  enchanting  also' 
when  autumn  colors  them — deep  red  huckleberry  balds,  trees 
wreathed  in  crimson  woodbine,  vivid  sassafras,  tall  gold  and 
crimson  and  scarlet  forest  trees — it  seems  more  like  the  bril- 
liant display  of  a  northern  forest.  You  would  say  that  the 
outpouring  of  fragrance  must  pass  with  the  summer.  Not  so. 
As  you  walk  among  the  trees  in  their  thin,  bright  attire  you  have 
a  feeling  of  their  friendliness.  The  forest,  as  it  were,  breathes 
upon  you,  you  are  drowned  in  the  sweetness  of  resinous  per- 
fumes that  distil  from  a  thousand  pines,  firs  and  hemlocks.  When 
the  leaves  of  the  trees  are  growing  scarce  and  changing  to  duller 
hues,  into  the  open  spaces  witch-hazel  weaves  its  gold-wreathed 
wands  and  brightens  the  woods  like  sunshine. 

"Turning  to  the  right  from  the  Yonahlossee  Road,  a  short 
distance  up  from  McRae's,  you  walk  along  under  the  chestnut 
trees  just  beginning  to  open  their  burs,  away  from  the  Grand- 
father out  over  a  beautiful  spur  that  ends  in  an  open,  rounded 
summit.  The  road  to  this  place  has  side  paths  that  lead  you  to 
high  cliffs,  whence  you  look  ofif  towards  Blowing  Rock,  and 
where  the  sweetest  of  mountain  growths  cling  to  the  crevices 


THE    YONAHLOSSEE    ROAD 

By  permission  of  author  and  publishers  of  "The  CaroHna  Mountai 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  239 

and  drape  the  edges  of  all  the  rocks.  For  some  reason  the  trees 
here  are  small,  the  chestnuts  being  not  much  larger  than  bushes, 
but  the  nuts  are  proportionately  large,  the  largest  nuts  one  ever 
saw  on  our  native  chestnut  trees,  and  they  are  peculiarly  sweet, 
again  a  hint  to  the  fruit-makers,  who  from  this  could  doubtless 
create  a  nut  as  large  as  the  chestnuts  of  France  and  as  sweet  as 
those  of  America.  The  summit  of  this  little  mountain  of  the 
large  chestnuts  is  one  of  your  favorite  places  to  go  for  a  day  of 
rest  and  contemplation.  It  is  a  lovely,  soothing  place,  as  it  ought 
to  be,  for  it  is  the  Grandmother  Mountain." 

Grafting  French  Chestnuts. — Mr.  Jack  Farthing,  of  Tim- 
bered Ridge,  demonstrated  some  years  ago  that  French  and 
Italian  chestnuts,  when  grafted  to  the  native  trees,  will  produce 
as  large  chestnuts  as  those  imported  as  French  and  Italian,  and 
Newton  Banner  also  has  several  trees  so  grafted  which  are 
never  failing. 

Dr.  Buxton's  Description. — A  letter  from  Rev.  Jarvis  Bux- 
ton, which  speaks  with  greatest  admiration  of  the  grand  sunrise 
seen  from  the  top  of  the  Grandfather  Rock,  is  thus  quoted  in  the 
"Life  of  Skiles"  (p.  50)  : 

"I  have  seen  the  glorious  sunrise  at  sea,  but  nothing  of  sky 
at  sea  ever  filled  my  vision  with  such  deep  impressions  of  glory 
as  came  from  those  gorgeous  skies — brilliant  hues  ever  shifting, 
dissolving  and  re-combining,  ever  growing  in  brightness  as  the 
morning  advanced,  till  the  vast  heavens  seemed  filled  with  the 
glory  and  flame  of  color;  while  below,  stretching  far  away  into 
the  azure,  the  hills  still  slept  their  lowly  sleep  of  silence,  with  the 
heavens  all  aglow  above  them." 

Beaver  Dams. — There  is  no  more  picturesque  section  than 
this  in  all  the  North  Carolina  mountains,  nor  is  there  any  popu- 
lation more  self-respecting  and  law-abiding.  It  has  never  known 
lawlessness,  depravity  or  loose  living.  Schools  and  churches 
have  been  common  since  it  became  sufficiently  settled  to  support 
them.  From  an  account  book  kept  by  the  late  Dudley  Farthing, 
his  son.  Col.  Henry  Harrison  Farthing,  of  Timbered  Ridge,  can 
tell  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  residents  of  this  section  in  1826  and 
1827.     George  Wilson  lived  on  Fork  Ridge,  which  is  between 


240  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Cove  and  Beaver  Dam  creeks;  Benjamin  Harley  lived  where 
Lewis  Farthing  now  Hves ;  Joel  Dyer,  father  of  Ben.,  lived  where 
James  Cable  now  lives;  Micajah  Lunsford  lived  up  under  the 
Stone  Mountain,  where  the  Millsaps  and  Eggers  now  live,  but 
his  family  moved  to  Tennessee  after  the  death  of  Micajah;  a 
man  named  Wallace  lived  in  the  "Pick  Breeches"  country,  which 
is  on  the  right  of  the  Baker's  Gap  road,  going  west,  between 
where  the  Millsaps  and  Eggers  families  now  live  and  the  top  of 
the  mountain/  Col.  Phineas  Horton  told  Mr.  W.  S.  Farthing 
forty  years  ago  (1875)  that  he  had  helped  to  build  the  road  up 
Beaver  Dams  and  over  Baker's  Gap,  which  was  the  main 
thoroughfare  from  North  Carolina  to  Tennessee  in  1826,  and 
over  which  drovers  took  their  stock  of  all  kinds,  but  principally 
hogs.  Mrs.  William  W.  Farthing,  widow  of  the  minister  of  that 
name,  lived  just  below  Bethel  Church,  though  the  house  is  now 
gone,  and  entertained  the  traveling  public.  Her  husband  died 
there  in  January,  1827,  having  lived  there  only  since  the  previous 
November.  Thomas  Curtis  lived  where  Lee  Osborn  now  lives 
at  the  foot  of  the  George  Gap  road  on  the  Cove  Creek  side,  and 
he  said  that  the  first  clearing  on  Beaver  Dams  was  the  field  in 
which  the  Farthing  graveyard  now  is  and  where  a  log  cabin 
stood.  It  was  there  that  the  first  log-raising  and  log-rolling,  or 
clearing,  took  place  on  Beaver  Dams.  Curtis's  sons  went  west, 
but  in  1910  a  greatgrandson,  Webb  Mast,  by  name,  came  back 
and  had  a  picture  taken  of  the  old  Ben  Webb  house  site.  The 
Webb  cabin  stood  above  the  place  where  Alfred  Trivett  now 
lives,  Webb  having  moved  to  middle  Tennessee  after  he  sold  to 
Rev.  W.  W.  Farthing  in  1826.  One  of  Ben  Webb's  daughters 
married  Reuben  Mast  and  died  in  that  old  cabin.  Reuben  Mast 
then  married  one  of  Thomas  Curtis's  daughters  and  moved  to 
Texas.  It  was  in  this  first  cabin  that  Bishop  Asbury  stayed  on 
one  of  his  trips  through  Beaver  Dams  and  when  it  was  covered 
by  only  a  few  boards.  When  Mrs.  W.  W.  Farthing  kept  the 
tavern  on  Beaver  Dams,  an  old  man  stayed  all  night  there  and 


'  Big  and  Little  Hessian  are  names  given  to  two  peaks  on  the  Tennessee- 
North  Carolina  line,  near  Zionville.  They  are  said  not  to  be  really  named 
Hessian,  but  Hay-Shin,  because  although  they  are  the  shin  or  shank  of  the 
mountain  they  have  hay  on  them,  nevertheless.  Some  claim  that  they  are  named 
the  Big  and  Little  Ration  because  "out-lyers,"  during  the  Civil  War  got  their 
rations  there,  the  rations  being  left  by  friends  and  relatives  living  near. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  241 

started  away  the  next  morning.  He  was  never  seen  again  alive, 
but  some  time  afterwards  a  dead  body  was  found  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Stone  Mountain  Branch,  and  it  was  supposed  to  have  been 
his,  and  it  was  also  thought  that  he  had  left  the  road  over  the 
Baker  Gap  and  gone  to  sleep  in  the  woods,  and,  waking  up, 
became  bewildered  and  followed  the  branch  to  its  mouth,  where 
he  starved  or  froze.  His  name  was  never  learned.  The  body  was 
buried  in  the  graveyard  where  Rev.  W.  W.  Farthing  and  his 
wife  are  buried,  just  above  where  Alfred  Trivett  now  lives.  The 
first  mill  on  Beaver  Dams  was  one  mile  above  Bethel  Church, 
where  an  old  mill  is  still  running  today.  The  Timbered  Ridge, 
on  which  Col.  H.  H.  Farthing  lives,  was  so  called  from  the 
heavy  timber  which  grew  there.  Behind  his  house,  on  a  high 
plateau,  is  a  most  commanding  view,  easily  reached  by  a  well 
graded  road,  and  from  which  the  gorge  of  the  Watauga  River, 
the  gloomy  slopes  of  the  great  Beech  Mountain,  the  valley  of 
Cove  Creek,  and  the  Big  and  Little  Hessian,  the  Bald  and  the 
Elk  mountains  can  be  plainly  seen.  It  invites  a  magnificent  hotel 
and  summer  resort  adornments,  and  for  climate  is  unrivaled. 

Boone's  Beaver  Dams  Trail. — The  Cable  family  who  first 
settled  on  Dry  Run,  just  over  the  Baker  Gap,  claim  that  they 
were  living  on  Boone's  trail  into  Kentucky.  That  trail  is  said  to 
have  passed  down  Cove  Creek  to  the  place  where  Dr.  J,  B. 
Phillips  now  lives,  from  which  point  it  left  Watauga  River, 
passed  over  Ward's  Gap,  and  then  followed  a  ridge  down  behind 
the  homes  of  W.  S.  and  J.  H.  Farthing,  crossing  the  Beaver 
Dam  Creek  near  where  Alfred  Trivett  now  lives — the  old  Ward 
and  W.  W.  Farthing  home — and  passed  on  up  the  ridge  by  the 
Star  Spring  over  the  Star  or  Stair  Gap  to  Roan's  Creek  in  Ten- 
nessee. The  Star  Springs  are  at  the  foot  of  the  Stone  Mountain, 
one  being  at  the  head  of  the  Stone  Mountain  Branch,  which 
empties  into  Watauga  River  near  W.  A.  Smitherman's  farm,  one 
mile  below  the  Flat  Shoals,  the  other  being  at  the  head  of  the 
Little  Prong  of  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  the  two  springs  being 
scarcely  100  yards  apart,  but  on  opposite  sides  of  a  ridge.  Star 
is  the  name  given  these  springs  because  of  particles  of  mica  in 
them  which  shine  like  stars.    There  is  little  doubt  that  this  was 


242  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Boone's  trail,  but  it  seems  not  probable  that  he  would  have  gone 
so  much  out  of  his  way,  when  by  going  across  the  Grave  Yard 
or  Straddle  Gap  and  over  the  mountain  at  Zionville,  he  could 
have  got  to  Shoun's  Crossroads  on  Roan's  Creek,  and  thence 
followed  the  Laurel  Creek  almost  directly  to  Abingdon,  and 
thence  to  Cumberland  Gap,  a  route  many  miles  nearer  than  by 
going  by  Sycamore  Shoals,  and  thence  to  Cumberland  Gap,  and 
over  a  more  level  country.  He  did  go  via  Sycamore  Shoals  in 
1775,  but  not  in  1769. 

Beech  Creek  and  Poga. — The  first  man  Col.  H.  H.  Farthing 
remembers  as  living  in  the  Beech  Creek  country  was  a  man 
named  Hately,  who  resided  near  the  mouth  of  Beech  Creek. 
This  was  long  before  the  Civil  War.  L  Valentine  Reese  has 
lived  a  mile  below  since  before  the  Civil  War,  where  he  has 
carried  on  a  mercantile  business.  After  the  turnpike  was  finished 
down  the  river,  say  about  1854,  the  country  began  to  settle  up 
slowly,  though  it  was  used  principally  for  ranging  cattle,  hunting 
and  fishing.  There  was  also  a  Harman  settlement  near  the 
mouth  of  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  near  what  is  now  called  the  Cow  Ford.  But  Colder  Coun- 
cill  Harman  and  John  Tester  settled  there  even  before  the  turn- 
pike was  built.  The  first  settlers  on  Poga  were  Samuel  Trivett, 
Phillip  Church  and  Vincent  Greer,  although  some  man  had  set- 
tled on  the  Dark  Ridge  Branch  before  these  came  to  that  section. 
Vincent  Greer  lived  in  the  Loggy  Gap,  he  having  married  Jennie 
Brewer,  "a.  big,  portly  woman,  sir,"  to  use  a  quite  descriptive 
phrase  of  one  of  the  neighbors.  All  Poga  has  been  cleared  within 
the  recollection  of  men  yet  living.  Poga  is  said  to  have  derived 
its  name  from  the  alleged  fact  that  a  man  got  lost  in  that  sec- 
tion and  wandered  around  a  long  time.  When  found,  he  said  he 
had  been  "pokin"  around  all  day — hence  poky  or  pogy.  But  in 
his  "Rhymes  of  Southern  Rivers,"  M.  V.  Moore  claims  that 
pogy  is  nothing  but  a  corruption  of  boggy,  which  was  also  the 
name  of  the  Elk  River. 


CHAPTER  XV: 

Schools. 

Ante-Bellum  Education. — Much  has  been  written  about  the 
want  of  education  of  the  mountain  people.  Some  of  it  has 
been  deserved  and  some  undeserved.  There  have  always  been 
schools  in  Watauga  County.  Tradition  tells  of  schools  as  far 
back  as  the  coming  of  the  first  settlers  into  this  country.  It  is 
true  that  education  was  not  general,  neither  was  it  of  an  ad- 
vanced type.  But  children  were  taught  the  rudiments — the  three 
R's — from  time  immemorial.  The  minutes  of  Three  Forks 
Church  show  chirography  that  would  be  a  credit  to  the  best  pens- 
man  of  today/  and  while  the  spelHng  is  sometimes  erratic  and 
lacks  uniformity,  the  language  is  terse  and  plain,  leaving  no  doubt 
as  to  its  meaning.  Some  of  the  phrases  are  even  more  forceful 
than  any  of  the  present  time,  and  the  tendency  to  follow  Bible 
language  is  marked,  showing  close  Bible  study.  When  a  member 
was  admitted  to  the  church,  the  invariable  formula  was  "a  door 

was  opened  and received  into  the  church."     That 

the  church  doors  are  always  open  to  any  who  would  enter,  goes 
without  saying,  but  that  "a  door"  was  opened  for  the  reception 
of  that  particular  person  seems  far  more  expressive  and  forceful. 
"She  confessed  her  transgression,"  was  another  phrase  of 
strength  and  scriptural  authority.  And  even  now  we  have  ex- 
pressions which  transcend  any  that  modern  philology  has  substi- 
tuted for  those  of  the  sixteenth  century.  "He  heired  that  land," 
is  far  more  significant  and  direct  than  to  say  "he  inherited"  it. 
We  "mend"  when  we  improve  in  health,  which  is  far  better  than 
to  say  that  we  "get  better."  "It  don't  differ"  certainly  is  more 
economical  and  quite  as  expressive  as  "it  makes  no  difference." 


1  Space  will  not  permit  the  record  of  public  schools,  a  full  account  of  which 
can  be  obtained  from  the  reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  Education. 

'  John  W.  Owen  appears  to  have  recorded  these  minutes,  which  are  correct 
in  diction  and  spelling.  Thomas  Morris,  a  kinsman  of  Mrs.  Geo.  L.  Van  Dyke, 
was  a  fine  scribe  also,  his  copy-book,  still  preserved  by  her,  showing  specimens 
of  his  writings  when  he  was  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  being  remarkable.  All 
writing  of  those  days  was  done  with  a  quill  pen. 


244  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

But  an  adept  at  such  matters  has  given  an  entire  chapter  to  our 
short-comings,  as  well  as  to  our  long-goings  in  that  respect.  Hear 
him: 

Peculiarities  of  Our  Speech. — In  chapter  XIII  Mr,  Kephart 
sums  up  many  of  the  most  striking  peculiarities  of  our  speech 
which  differentiate  us  from  most  people.  Following  is  a  con- 
densation of  some  of  them:  The  insertion  of  sounds  where 
they  do  not  belong,  as  musician^r;  the  substitution  of  one  sound 
for  another,  due  to  a  change  of  vowels,  as  ruther  for  rather; 
difficulty  in  pronouncing  diphthongs,  as  brile  for  broil ;  the  occa- 
sional substitution  of  consonants,  as  atter  for  after;  the  con- 
version of  nouns  into  verbs  of  action,  as  "that  bear'll  meat  me  a 
month;"  the  coining  of  a  verb  from  an  adjective,  as  "much  that 
dog,  and  see  won't  he  come  along;"  the  creation  of  nouns  from 
verbs,  as  "I  didn't  hear  no  give-out  at  meetin',"  or  from  an 
adjective,  as  "Nance  took  the  biggest  through  at  meetin',"  and 
"a  person  has  a  rather/'  meaning  preference;  the  use  of  cor- 
rupt forms  of  verbs,  as  gwine  for  going,  het  for  heat;  the 
formation  of  peculiar  adjectives  from  verbs,  as  "them's  the 
travelinest  horses  I  ever  seed;"  the  use  of  verbs  for  adverbs,  as 
"if  I'd  a  been  thoughted  enough;"  the  use  of  the  old  syllabic 
plural,  as  in  nestles,  pasties,  beasties;  the  great  abundance  of 
pleonasms,  as  "I  done  done  it,"  and  "in  this  day  and  time;"  the 
use  of  double,  thribble  and  even  quadruple  and  quintuple  nega- 
tives, as  "I  ain't  never  seen  no  men-folks  of  no  kind  do  no 
washing;"  intensifying  expression,  as  "we  had  one  more  time," 
"we  jist  pintblank  got  to  do  it,"  etc.  Biscuit-bread,  ham-meat, 
rifle-gun,  rock-clift,  ridin'  critter,  cow-brute,  man-person,  women- 
folks, preacher  man,  granny-woman  and  neighbor  people  are 
common  everywhere  in  the  mountains. 

We  Are  Commended  for  Much. — This  author  in  the  same 
chapter  credits  us  with  seldom  being  at  a  loss  for  words,  even  if 
we  have  to  create  them.  They  are,  however,  always  produced 
from  English  roots,  but  if  all  else  fails,  we  fall  back  on  "spang," 
a  coinage  peculiarly  our  own.  The  use  of  the  old  English  past 
tense  of  holp,  stunk  and  swum  is  commended,  holp  being  used 
both  as  a  preterite  and  as  infinitive,  and  he  gives  examples  of  a 
strong  preterite  with  dialectical  change  of  the  vowel  in  brung. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  245 

drap,  drug,  friz,  shet  and  shuck,  and  of  weak  preterites  in  div, 
driv,  fit,  rid,  riz,  seed,  throwed,  etc.  Even  our  most  illiterate 
"startle"  the  "furriner"  by  the  glib  use  of  such  words  as  tutor 
for  rear  or  train,  denote  for  signify,  caviled  for  quarreled,  dis- 
cern for  realize  and  proffered  for  offered.  He  says  that  cuckold 
and  moon-calf,  which  have  none  but  a  literary  usage  in  America, 
are  often  heard  in  the  mountains,  and  of  the  much-derided  "hit" 
he  says,  "His,  pronoun  hit,  antedates  English  itself,  being  the 
Anglo-Saxon  neuter  of  he;"  and  on  another  page,  280,  he  says 
hit  and  it  are  used  indifferently,  as  euphony  may  seem  to  require. 
We  use  fray  for  affray  or  fight,  and  fraction  for  rupture,  which 
we  find  in  Troilus  and  Cressida.  "Feathered  into  them"  he  says 
is  heard  here,  and  refers  to  the  time  when  arrows  were  driven 
into  the  fl.esh  up  to  the  feathers.  We  call  married  women 
"mistress"  and  "miz"  for  short,  and  aged  men  "old  grandsir." 
We  still  "back"  letters,  instead  of  addressing  them,  as  was  the 
custom  before  envelopes  were  invented.  We  call  a  choleric 
person  "tetchous,"  and,  like  Ben  Franklin,  we  "carry"  our  wives 
and  daughters  to  different  places  when  we  accompany  them 
there.  To  most  of  us  molasses  is  "them,"  and  license  to  marry 
invariably  is  called  "a  pair  of  Hcenses."  Of  some  of  our 
idioms  he  cites :  "I  swapped  bosses,  and  Fll  tell  you  for  why ;" 
"Your  name  ain't  much  common ;"  "You  think  me  of  it  in  the 
mornin' ;"  "The  woman's  aimin'  to  go  to  meetin' ;"  "I  had  a  head 
to  plow  today;"  "Reckon  Pete  was  knowin'  to  the  sarcum- 
stance;"  "I  knowed  in  reason  she'd  have  the  mullygrubs  over 
them  doin's,"  and  "You  cain't  handily  blame  her." 

Place  Names. — He  gives  a  number  of  names  of  places  which 
have  adhered  to  them  for  years  merely  because  of  some  event 
which  happened  there.  Among  these  are  Dusk  Camp  Run,  Mad 
Sheep  Mountain,  Dog  Slaughter  Creek,  Drownin'  Creek,  Burnt 
Cabin  Branch,  Broken  Leg,  Raw  Dough,  Burnt  Pone  and  Sandy 
Mush.  The  fighting  spirit  blazes  forth  in  Fighting  Creek,  Shoot- 
ing Creek,  Gouge-eye,  Vengeance,  Four-Killer  and  Disputantia. 
Personal  names  are  common  everywhere,  as  Jake's  Creek,  Dick's 
Creek  and  Jonathan's  Creek.  But  he  had  not  heard  of  the 
Snow  Wine  Branch  of  the  Beech  Mountains,  and  so  did  not 
include  it. 


246  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Not  Guilty  in  Watauga. — Several  words  and  colloquialisms 
are  recorded  which  seem  strange  to  some  of  us  in  Watauga 
County,  as  gin  for  if,  do'  for  door,  dauncy  for  mincing,  doney- 
gal  for  sweetheart,  toddick  or  taddle  for  the  toll-measure  at  a 
mill,  swiwet  for  hurry,  upscuddle  for  quarrel,  etc. 

Occult  Errors. — Both  Mr.  Kephart  and  Miss  Morley  are 
struck  with  the  use  of  "soon"  for  "early,"  but  to  most  of  us 
there  is  nothing  wrong  in  this  use,  and  we  "fling  a  rock"  in  South 
Carolina  as  well  as  in  the  mountains  when  to  "furriners"  we 
throw  a  stone.  Why,  too,  should  we  not  ask,  "Are  you  plumb 
bereft?"  if  we  wish  to  know  if  one  is  entirely  bereft  of  one's 
senses?  What,  too,  is  wrong  with  "Sam  went  to  Andrews  or  to 
Murphy,  one,"  or  "I  don't  much  believe  the  wagon  will  come 
today,"  or  "  'Tain't  powerful  long  to  dinner,  I  don't  reckon  ?" 
They  may  be  plainly  wrong  to  others,  but  to  us  they  are  "plumb 
right."  In  conclusion,  he  adds  that  instead  of  having  a  limited 
vocabulary  of  three  hundred  words,  he  had  himself  taken  down 
from  the  lips  of  Carolina  mountaineers  some  eight  hundred 
dialectical  or  obsolete  words,  to  say  nothing  of  the  much  greater 
number  of  standard  English  terms  that  they  command. 

No  Foreign  Words  Admitted. — Mr.  Kephart  has  detected 
only  three  words  of  directly  foreign  origin  in  the  vocabulary  of 
the  mountaineers  (p.  289) — doney,  from  Spanish  or  Italian 
donna;  kraut,  from  the  Germans,  and  "sashiate"  or  "sashay," 
from  the  French  chasse.  And  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
although  the  eastern  band  of  Cherokees  have  lived  with  the 
Smoky  Mountain  highlanders  for  from  seventy  to  eighty  years, 
the  mountain  dialect  contains  not  one  word  of  Cherokee  origin. 
Many  of  the  whites,  however,  do  use  the  word  "O-see-you," 
which  is  the  Cherokee  for  "Howdy  do."  What  he  calls  the  obso- 
lete title  of  linkister  or  interpreter,  is  nothing  but  a  corruption 
of  the  present  word  linguister. 

Our  Literary  and  Moonshine  Fame  Secure. — Kephart,  in 
his  "Southern  Highlanders,"  agrees  with  us  in  thinking  that  ours 
is  the  purest  English  spoken  anywhere  in  the  world  today.  As 
has  been  shown,  he  commends  us  for  very,  very  much.  He  con- 
demns us  for  little,  if  anything.    And  to  this  high  praise  we  can 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  247 

now  add  that  of  no  less  distinguished  a  Hterary  lion  than  Mr. 
Cecil  Chesterton,  of  London,  England — not  Connecticut.  This 
is  how  he  is  quoted  in  the  Literary  Digest  for  June  19,  1915 
(p.  1469)  :  "I  do  not  want  anybody  to  suppose  that  I  am  sug- 
gesting that  the  American  language  is  in  any  way  inferior  to 
ours  (the  Enghsh!).  In  some  ways  it  has  improved  upon  it  in 
vigor  and  raciness.  In  others  it  adheres  more  closely  to  the 
English  of  the  best  period.  Thus  an  American  uses  the  word 
'sick'  as  it  is  used  in  the  Jacobean  Bible — to  his  not  inconsider- 
able embarrassment  sometimes,  I  should  think,  when  he  finds 
himself  in  European  society.  Also  he  uses  old  forms  like 
'gotten,'  which  we  have  abbreviated.  If  you  want  the  purest 
Shakespearian  English,  I  believe  you  have  to  go  among  the 
illicit  whiskey  distillers  on  the  Southern  mountains.  But  I  was 
never  fortunate  enough  (in  a  double  sense)  to  come  in  contact 
with  this  ancient  and  delightful  race." 

Ante-Bellum  School  Teachers. — Following  is  a  partial  list  of 
school  teachers  who  taught  at  various  places  in  Watauga  prior 
to  the  Civil  War,  as  remembered  by  several  old  men  and  women 
at  various  points  in  what  is  now  and  used  to  be  Watauga 
County:  James  McCanless,  William  Roland,  George  N.  Evans, 
Vine  Thompson,  H.  H.  Prout,  Mack  McCleard,  Culver  Wise, 
Josiah  Wise,  Levi  Chandler,  Joseph  Culberson,  Levi  Chandler, 
John  Wise,  Alex  Dobson,  John  Patterson,  Sterling  Sallens,  Wm. 

C.  Wise,  George  Grissom,  Isaac  and  Harvey  Wise,  

Miller,  Wm.  Thomas,  Pink  Matheson,  Erastus  Longacre,  Samuel 
Watson,  a  one-armed  man ;  Levi  Heath,  H.  A.  McBride,  Joel 
Dyer,  Wm.,  Reuben  and  James  Farthing,  William  Draughan, 

Byland,  Poovey,  Wm.  Cannon,  T.  C.  Coffey,  Abner 

C.  Farthing,  Edward  Faucett,  Lewis  Church,  Thomas  Hodges, 
Martin  Harrison,  Joshua  Rominger,  Jonathan  Norris,  Joseph 
Woodring  and  Christian  Woodring,  L.  Dow  Allen,  W.  W.  Pres- 
nell,  Hamilton  Blackburn,  H.  B.  Blackburn,  Charles  Lippard, 
T.  C.  Land,  Carroll  McBride,  A.  F.  and  H.  A.  Davis,  Timothy 
Moretz,  Leonard  Phillips,  Thomas  Bingham,  J.  B.  Miller,  Frank 

Whittington,  Christian  Moretz,  Dr. Thurman,  David 

Calton,  Geo.  Dyer,  John  Kennedy,  Robert  Coffey,  Elbert  Dinkini. 


248  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Our  Schools. — The  public  schools  of  Watauga  are  matters  of 
record  and  need  no  extended  mention  in  these  pages.  To  rescue 
the  story  of  ante-bellum  efforts  in  education  is  quite  as  much 
as  there  is  occasion  for  in  this  work.  In  old  days  there  were 
no  schools  till  after  the  crops  were  gathered  in  and  secured  for 
the  winter.  Then  men  were  employed  to  teach  in  various  locali- 
ties upon  written  contract,  the  teacher  boarding  among  the  pa- 
trons. There  is  still  preserved  among  the  many  valuable  old 
papers  of  Col.  Henry  H.  Farthing,  of  Timbered  Ridge,  a  con- 
tract duly  executed  between  the  subscribers  and  Alfred  Fox  for 
a  school  to  commence  on  the  9th  of  November,  1835,  and  last 
three  months,  for  which  the  teacher  was  to  receive  $1.50  for 
each  scholar  and  board  for  himself,  and  the  subscribers  "agree 
to  tolerate  him  with  due  and  legal  authority  in  school."  It  is 
nowhere  recorded  that  any  school  teacher  in  these  mountains 
got  rich  by  teaching  school,  but  Massachusetts  herself  has  no 
such  record  for  any  of  her  ante-bellum  pedagogues,  either. 
Then,  too,  there  were  what  were  termed  "Saturday  and  Sunday 
teachers,"  who  taught  on  those  days,  or,  sometimes,  only  on 
Saturdays,  when  they  were  called  "Saturday  teachers."  The 
coming  into  Watauga  County  of  Rev.  Henry  H.  Prout  in  1843, 
or  1845,  to  teach  school  was  a  great  step  forward,  and  old  men 
now  living  on  upper  Watauga  speak  of  him  as  the  most  scholarly 
man  they  ever  met,  and  credit  him  with  having  taught  them 
more  than  they  ever  learned  from  any  other  teacher.  Unfortu- 
nately, during  the  first  term  of  the  regular  school  at  Valle  Crucis, 
about  1845-46,  several  unruly  boys  were  sent  there  from  east  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  under  the  impression  that  the  school  was  a  sort 
of  reformatory  for  recalcitrant  youths.  This  disheartened  sev- 
eral of  the  ladies  connected  with  the  mission,  and  they  withdrew 
one  after  another  (Skiles,  p.  20).  However,  after  Mr.  Thurs- 
ton's death,  in  1846,  Rev.  Jarvis  Buxton  came,  after  which  the 
school  got  a  good  start,  Mr.  Prout  going  up  to  Mrs.  Edward 
Moody's  to  teach. 

"Straights  and  Pot-Hooks."— Mrs.  Battle  Bryan  used  to  tell 
her  son.  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan,  of  Boone,  that  the  way  in  which 
writing  was  taught  in  her  girlhood  was  by  requiring  the  be- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  249 

ginner  to  make  numerous  vertical  lines,  one  after  the  other,  till 
a  degree  of  perfection  was  attained,  when  the  same  straight  lines 
were  required  to  be  made,  but  with  the  addition  of  small  curved 
lines,  turning  upward,  and  called  hooks.  The  arithmetics  that 
preceded  Davies'  were  Pike's,  Smiley's  and  Fowler's,  and  the 
spelling  book  that  was  the  forerunner  of  Webster's  Blue  Back 
was  Dillsworth's.  A  few  of  these  old  school  teachers  are  now 
distinctly  remembered  by  Col.  W.  L.  Bryan,  who  supplies  the 
following : 

Phillip  Church. — When  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  old, 
he  went  to  Phillip  Church,  who  lived  in  the  edge  of  Ashe  County, 
near  Riverside.  He  taught  at  the  old  Lookabill  school  house, 
which  stood  close  to  David  Lookabill's  residence,  one  mile  east 
of  Soda  Hill,  and  on  the  road  leading  from  the  Deep  Gap  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  to  the  Deep  Gap  between  the  Snake  and  Rich  moun- 
tains where  those  mountains  come  together  and  where  the  road 
forks,  one  prong  going  to  Zionville,  N.  C,  and  the  other  to 
Trade,  in  Tennessee.  It  was  a  free  school,  which  was  usually 
taught  in  the  fall  and  winter,  after  the  crops  had  been  gathered 
and  there  was  little  for  the  children  to  do.  He  attended  this 
school  about  three  months,  or  one  session.  Soon  after  the  close 
of  that  session  Church  married  Samuel  Trivett's  daughter,  and 
moved  with  his  father-in-law  to  the  Poga  Creek  settlement  be- 
tween Beech  Creek  and  Ford  of  Elk,  where  he  died  in  1914. 
Colonel  Bryan  got  as  far  as  "abase"  at  that  time. 

Jonathan  Norris. — This  pedagogue  was  called  "Lame  Jona- 
than," because  he  had  rubbed  brimstone — powdered  sulphur — 
over  a  skin  eruption  and  had  then  gone  in  swimming.  The  re- 
sult was  almost  complete  bodily  paralysis,  though  his  mind 
remained  clear.  He  taught  at  the  Lookabill  school  house  also, 
and  Colonel  Bryan  attended  his  school  parts  of  two  terms, 
Norris  lived  till  he  was  about  sixty  years  old,  when  he  died  at 
his  home  near  Soda  Hill. 

Eli  M.  Farmer. — Colonel  Bryan's  next  teacher  was  Eli  M. 
Farmer,  at  the  same  school  house.  This  gentleman  married  a 
Miss  Austin,  of  Caldwell  County,  and  died  on  Cove  Creek  about 
1890. 


250  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Burt  Davis. — This  was  the  next  teacher,  but  he  taught  at 
Soda  Hill  school  house  and  at  Eli  Brown's  school  house.  Davis 
married  Carolina  Moretz  first,  and,  after  her  death,  Martha 
Lookabill.  His  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Squire  Johnnie 
Moretz,  and  his  second  the  daughter  of  David  Lookabill.  The 
latter  still  lives  on  Elk  Creek,  above  Todd.  Davis  himself,  how- 
ever, died  about  1900. 

Todd  Miller,  of  Wilkes  County,  was  the  next  of  Colonel 
Bryan's  instructors,  and  he  taught  at  the  Ben  Greene  school 
house  between  the  latter  gentleman's  residence  and  where  his 
son,  Jacob,  now  lives  on  the  Little  Fork  of  Meat  Camp  Creek. 
It  was  there  that  he  went  through  Davies'  arithmetic  and  ended 
his  school  days.  This  was  in  the  fall  or  winter  of  1857,  and 
after  the  Colonel  had  been  clerking  for  Joseph  Councill  and 
Allen  Myrick.  Before  that  he  had  studied  Fowler's  arithmetic. 
That  and  the  blue  back  spelling  book  were  the  only  books  he 
had  during  all  his  school  days.  His  mother  told  him  that  Dills- 
worth's  Speller  was  the  spelling  book  which  had  preceded  the 
blue  back. 

The  Twisting  Temple. — Battle  Bryan  called  the  school  house 
on  Meat  Camp  by  this  name  because  the  frame  was  not  exactly 
plumb  and  square,  but  leant  a  little  to  one  side.  The  district  has 
kept  that  name  ever  since.  The  house  stood  where  Frank 
Reagan  lives  now.  The  district  has,  however,  been  divided  into 
the  Tugman  School  and  the  Green  Valley  School,  and  a  better 
house  has  replaced  the  Twisting  Temple.  Still,  this  old  Twist- 
ing Temple  School  District  has  furnished  one  congressman, 
E.  S.  Blackburn;  one  lawyer,  E.  S.  Blackburn;  two  teachers, 
two  physicians,  the  latter  being  Thomas  Blackburn  and  B.  W. 
Ferguson. 

Lees-McRae  Institute. — Without  the  slightest  flourishing  of 
trumpets  or  sounding  of  the  big  bass  drum,  Rev.  Edgar  Tufts 
came  to  Banner's  Elk  about  1901  and  established  a  boarding  and 
day  school  for  girls.  This  has  been  successful  from  the  begin- 
ning and  continues  to  flourish.  The  terms  are  reasonable  and 
the  instruction  thorough.  Within  recent  years  Grace  Hospital 
was  started,  Mrs.  Helen  Hartly  Jenkins,  of  New  York,  having 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  251 

given  more  than  anyone  else.  It  is  equipped  with  a  complete 
operating  room  and  laboratory.  It  has  several  rooms  for  pa- 
tients undergoing  treatment.  The  cool  and  pure  mountain  air 
aids  much  in  all  surgical  operations.  The  Grandfather  Orphan- 
age was  started  in  the  spring  of  1914,  the  Lybrook  farm 
having  been  secured  for  that  purpose.  The  capacity  of  the 
orphanage  has  been  doubled  already.  Girls  are  given  practical 
instruction  in  many  useful  arts.  The  key  to  these  benefactions 
is  "in,  of,  for,"  meaning  that  they  are  in  the  mountains,  of  the 
mountains  and  for  the  mountain  people.  This  tells  the  entire 
story  most  eloquently.  The  church  which  is  nearing  completion 
will  be  one  of  the  most  attractive  architecturally  in  the  State. 
The  two  large  conglomerate  rocks  or  pudding  stones  on  either 
side  of  the  entrance  are  in  themselves  rare  curiosities.  The 
school  most  sensibly  closes  during  the  cold  months  of  winter, 
and  is  open  during  the  summer,  spring  and  fall  months,  opening 
in  the  spring  and  closing  in  December.  The  good  already  ac- 
complished and  yet  to  be  achieved  is  incalculable. 

School  Teachers  in  Boone  Before  Civil  War. — Miss  Annie 
Rutledge,  from  Wilkesboro,  taught  in  the  court  house.  Miss 
Barber,  of  Lenoir,  taught  in  the  court  house.  While  being  driven 
in  a  buggy  by  Joshua  Winkler  from  Lenoir  to  Boone,  with  trunk 
on  back  of  buggy,  they  met  a  man  named  Dooley  as  they  came 
up  the  mountain  from  Patterson  towards  Blowing  Rock.  They 
talked  with  him  and  started  on.  Soon  they  found  that  the  trunk 
was  missing.  Winkler  went  back,  but  never  got  the  trunk.  It 
was  never  recovered. 

Col.  J.  B.  Todd  also  taught  in  the  court  house.  After  the 
Civil  War  Henry  Dixon,  of  Alamance,  taught  in  the  court  house. 
W.  B.  and  Robert  Arrowood  and  Professor  Blake,  of  Davidson 
College,  their  uncle,  taught  in  a  small  one-room  house  which 
stood  in  the  corner  of  the  lot  where  Dr.  J.  W.  Jones  now  lives, 
near  the  present  drug  store.  Professor  Blake  started  the  school, 
but  left  it  in  charge  of  his  nephews  when  he  returned  to  David- 
son. W.  B.  Arrowood  is  now  a  Presbyterian  preacher.  They 
boarded  with  Dr.  J.  G.  Rivers.  Miss  Margaret  Cofifey  taught  in 
1869.     After  the  Arrowoods,  came  Prof.  John  McEwen,  who 


252  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

taught  in  Masonic  Hall.  James  Warner  taught  here  three 
months.  James  H.  Hall,  of  Mount  Airy,  also  taught  at  Masonic 
Hall  in  1874.  Then  came  Mr.  McEwen.  J.  F.  Spainhour  and 
J.  F,  Hall  taught  at  the  academy  which  stood  where  Calvin 
Cottrell's  stable  now  stands.  This  consisted  of  two  large  rooms, 
one  above  the  other,  and  had  been  built  but  not  quite  finished 
by  the  Three  Forks  Baptist  Association.  It  turned  the  building 
over  to  the  Boone  Baptist  Church,  which  finished  it.  W.  F. 
Shull  was  another  teacher  who  has  not  been  forgotten. 

A  Normal  School  at  Boone. — By  chapter  229,  Laws  of  1885, 
a  normal  school  was  authorized  at  Boone  for  the  training  of 
teachers,  and  a  sum  not  to  exceed  $500.00  was  appropriated  out 
of  the  University  Normal  School  Fund  with  which  to  pay  in- 
structors. This  was  a  small  beginning,  but  it  has  had  a  great 
ending. 

Appalachian  Training  School. — In  1903,  Professors  B.  B. 
and  D.  D.  Dougherty  were  teaching  a  private  school  at  Boone, 
having  succeeded  in  securing  the  erection  of  a  large  and  commo- 
dious building  for  that  purpose.  But  in  that  year  the  legislature 
incorporated  the  Appalachian  Training  School  and  made  an 
appropriation  for  its  support.  It  had  already  begun,  however, 
for  in  1899  the  sum  of  $1,500.00  had  been  appropriated  on  con- 
dition that  a  like  sum  should  be  provided  by  the  people.  By 
several  yearly  appropriations  following  the  first,  the  present 
plant  was  built,  consisting  of  about  a  dozen  buildings,  a  water 
power  electric  light  plant  and  library.  There  are  500  or  more 
acres  of  valuable  land  belonging  to  the  school.  There  are  three 
sessions  annually,  with  an  attendance  of  from  four  to  five 
hundred.    There  is  a  competent  faculty. 

T.  P.  Adams  went  to  Raleigh  at  his  own  expense  in  1905  and 
urged  the  inauguration  of  the  training  school,  and  when  in  the 
late  fall  of  the  year  the  science  building  was  about  to  be  left 
exposed  to  the  elements  all  winter,  he  carried  mortar  and  brick 
for  one  month  till  the  roof  was  on.  He  also  insisted  on  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Edmisten  farm,  containing  the  present  dam  and 
electric  light  plant,  and  in  the  face  of  much  opposition  from 
other  directors,  succeeded  in  having  the  purchase  completed  be- 
fore the  option  expired. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  253 

Skyland  Institute. — This  school  was  started  about  1891  by 
Miss  Emily  C.  Prudden.  She  conducted  it  for  a  short  time, 
after  which  it  was  turned  over  to  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  About  1912  this  association  reconveyed  it  to  Miss 
Prudden,  since  which  time  it  has  not  been  open.  It  was  a  girls' 
school,  with  industrial  training,  and  did  a  vast  amount  of  good. 
It  was  located  at  Blowing  Rock. 

The  Silverstone  public  school  house  is  now  said  to  be  the 
best  in  Watauga  County,  containing  four  large  rooms  and  an 
auditorium  with  a  seating  capacity  of  from  800  to  1,000  people. 
The  chief  movers  and  workers  in  this  were  John  Mast,  Larkin 
Pennell,  Newton  Mast,  A.  J.  Wilson,  A.  L.  Wilson  and  T.  P. 
Adams.  It  cost,  without  paint  or  equipment,  $2,000.00,  all  of 
which  is  fully  paid.  The  present  term  is  five  months,  and  in 
another  year  it  will  probably  be  nine  full  months.  Silverstone 
School  District  was  the  first  in  the  State  to  vote  a  special  tax  to 
continue  the  school  two  months  and  for  compulsory  attendance. 

Walnut  Grove  Institute. — In  December,  1903,  Finley  P. 
Mast  agreed  to  give  three  acres  on  the  Old  Meeting  House  hill, 
where  the  Cove  Creek  Baptist  Church  used  to  stand,  for  a  school 
building  and  campus.  T.  C.  McBride,  J.  H.  Bingham,  D.  C, 
W.  H.  and  J.  C.  Mast  agreeing  to  give  $100.00  each,  and  to 
procure  all  subscriptions  possible,  began  work  and  finished  the 
school  house  in  August,  1904.  It  is  large  and  convenient.  This 
district  then  voted  a  tax  of  thirty  cents  on  each  hundred  dollars 
of  property  and  ninety  cents  on  each  poll  for  six  years,  without 
a  dissenting  vote.  In  1910  the  same  tax  was  renewed  for  five 
years,  with  but  two  votes  in  the  negative.  Not  one  dollar  was 
paid  to  complete  the  actual  work  of  construction  of  the  institute, 
W.  E.  Dugger,  Ben.  Dugger,  J.  C.  Smith,  D.  C,  W.  H.,  J.  H. 
and  J.  C.  Mast  doing  the  work  themselves. 

Other  Schools  and  Academies. — Cove  Creek  Academy  was 
built  about  1885,  Enoch  Swift,  J.  H.  McBride,  W.  F.  Sherwood 
and  Asa  Wilson  being  active  in  its  inauguration  and  subsequent 
support.  Rev.  Wiley  Swift,  who  is  so  active  in  the  cause  of  the 
factory  children's  interests,  is  a  son  of  Enoch  Swift.  The 
academy  at  Valle  Crucis  was  built  about  1909,  and  W.  W.  Mast, 


254  -^  History  of  Watauga  County 

T.  H.  Taylor,  T.  C.  Baird,  J.  M.  Shull,  D.  F.  Mast,  W.  E. 
Shipley,  C.  D.  Taylor,  W.  H.  Mast  and  D.  F.  Baird  were  its 
principal  promoters. 

Valle  Crucis  School  for  Girls. — On  the  site  of  the  old  Ives 
school  has  been  reared  several  large  and  convenient  buildings 
in  which  a  school  for  girls  is  taught.  It  was  opened  about  1903, 
Rt.  Rev.  Junius  M.  Horner,  bishop  of  the  Missionary  District 
of  Asheville,  being  ex-officio  its  head  and  directing  mind.  Many 
of  the  girls  of  the  neighborhood  have  taken  advantage  of  this 
opportunity  to  gain  an  education,  while  at  the  same  time  learning 
many  useful  lessons  in  domestic  affairs.  Great  good  is  being 
accomplished  and  the  people  are  coming  more  and  more  to  ap- 
preciate the  advantages  offered  by  this  school. 

First  Agricultural  Instruction. — From  De  Rosset's  "Church 
History  of  North  Carolina"  we  learn  that  Bishop  Ives  had  a 
herd  of  blooded  cattle  sent  to  Valle  Crucis,  from  which  it  was 
intended  to  produce  a  finer  breed  of  cattle  in  this  section.  Also, 
from  Haywood's  "Bishops  of  North  Carolina,"  that  the  Valle 
Crucis  Farm  was  early  put  under  the  direction  of  a  young  agri- 
culturist from  New  York,  which  was  the  first  practical  instruc- 
tion ever  given  in  any  school  or  college  in  North  Carolina. 

Prominent  in  the  Cause. — Messrs.  D.  D.  and  B.  B.  Dough- 
erty, of  Boone,  have  been  and  still  are  active  in  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, as  is  also  Col.  E.  F.  Lovill,  who  for  years  has  done 
yeoman  service  for  the  Appalachian  Training  School  without 
reward  or  the  hope  of  reward.  He  has  been  for  years  chairman 
of  the  board  of  trustees.  These  gentlemen  also  have  been  active 
in  trying  to  get  railroads  to  this  section,  and  have  not  abated  one 
whit  of  their  efforts  because  of  failure.  Moses  H.  Cone,  de- 
ceased, late  of  Blowing  Rock,  not  only  built  a  school  house 
there,  but  agreed  to  contribute  four  dollars  for  every  dollar  that 
was  given  by  anyone  else.    His  loss  was  irreparable. 

The  Lenoir  School  Lands. — On  the  i6th  day  of  February, 
1858,  the  late  William  Avery  Lenoir  conveyed  to  Thomas  Farth- 
ing, trustee,  five  tracts  of  mountain  lands,  aggregating  about 
two  thousand  acres,  lying  principally  on  Beech  Creek  and  the 
waters  of  Curtis's  Creek  and  Elk  River.  The  considerations 
moving  him  thereto  were  his  appreciation  of  "the  kind  regard 


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A  History  of  Watauga  County  255 

manifested  toward  him  by  the  citizens  of  Watauga  County,  to 
promote  the  settlement  of  this  new  county  and  the  education 
of  the  children  in  the  same,  and  Thomas  Farthing's  promise  to 
execute  the  trust  without  charge  or  deduction  except  for  taxes, 
etc."  Mr.  Farthing  was  the  trustee  who  was  to  sell  such  lands 
as  he  could  and  invest  the  proceeds  in  interest-bearing  securities 
for  fifteen  years  after  the  date  of  the  deed,  and  then  turn  the 
sum  so  resulting  over  to  such  a  school  board  as  the  State  might 
provide,  and  if  none  were  so  provided,  to  the  school  authorities 
of  Watauga  County  for  the  education  of  its  children.  The 
Civil  War  came  on,  however,  and  Thomas  Farthing  died  without 
having  executed  the  trust,  whereupon  his  widow  and  heirs  and 
W.  W.  Lenoir,  representing  the  estate  of  W.  A.  Lenoir,  also 
deceased,  on  the  nth  of  August,  1877,  joined  in  a  deed  con- 
ferring this  trust  on  R.  H.  Farthing,  son  of  Thomas.  The 
lands  have  been  sold  and  the  proceeds  applied  as  directed. 
(Deed  Book  L,  p.  409.) 

School  House  Loan  Fund. — By  chapter  372,  Laws  191 1,  a 
permanent  fund  was  established  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
school  houses.  This  fund  was  provided  from  the  "fines,  for- 
feitures- and  penalties"  in  criminal  cases,  and  the  same  was  to  be 
loaned  to  such  school  committees  as  might  need  such  money 
to  aid  in  the  erection  of  school  houses,  to  be  repaid  in  ten  annual 
instalments,  the  whole  bearing  only  four  per  cent,  interest. 

Samuel  Lusk. — This  gentleman  was  not  a  schoolmaster,  but 
he  was  a  most  conscientious  stonemason,  and  was  employed  to 
build  a  chimney  for  a  schoolhouse  on  Meat  Camp.  When  the 
chimney  was  finished  it  drew  well — very  well  indeed,  but  it  was 
in  the  wrong  direction,  and  instead  of  drawing  the  smoke  from 
the  fireplace  up  the  flue  and  out  at  the  top  of  the  chimney,  it 
drew  the  air  from  the  top  of  the  chimney  down  into  the  school- 
room, thereby  causing  the  chimney  to  smoke  outrageously.  It 
was  said  by  James  Reagan  that  it  even  drew  the  buzzards  out 
of  the  sky.  This  hurt  Uncle  Sammy's  feelings  inexpressibly. 
He  came  from  Lincoln  County  to  the  Castle  Settlement  a  few 
miles  above  what  is  now  called  Todd,  but  afterwards  moved  to 
Dutch  Creek,  near  Valle  Crucis,  where  he  died,  leaving  a  family 
of  highly  respected  children. 


256  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Col.  W.  W.  Presnell. — This  gentleman  lost  an  arm  in  the  Civil 
War  and  had  to  teach  thereafter  for  a  livehhood.  His  wife  also 
lost  an  arm  during  the  same  trying  period  while  helping  to  feed 
a  cane  mill.  The  first  schoolmaster  to  whom  he  went  was  Eli 
Mast,  who  taught  in  one  of  the  sang  factories  in  the  meadow 
just  below  Joseph  Ward's  barn  on  the  old  Whittington  property. 
This  was  about  1847  or  1848.  Mark  Holtsclaw,  Thomas  Smith, 
Wm.  Carver,  Col.  Joe  B.  Todd,  Joshua  Fletcher,  Larkin  Pips, 
Smith  Reece,  Jacob  Hayes,  D.  C.  Harman  and  Thomas  Hodges 
were  other  schoolmasters  who  taught  public  schools  on  Brushy 
Fork  from  1848  till  the  Civil  War.  Colonel  Presnell  also  tells 
of  a  man  called  "Master"  Huff,  a  school  teacher,  master  being 
the  most  common  designation  for  teachers  at  that  time.  He 
taught  writing  by  causing  the  students  to  make  straight  marks, 
to  which  were  added  loops,  called  pot-hooks.  The  Dillsworth 
Speller  preceded  the  Blue  Back  many  years. 

The  Ablest  Schoolmaster, — But  first  and  best  among  all  these 
schoolmasters  was  Thomas  Lanier  Clingman,  for,  from  1843 
till  1861,  he  was  a  teacher  in  every  county  in  his  congressional 
district.  He  spent  a  year  or  more  in  Watauga,  mining  in  the 
Beech  Mountains  (1870,  1871)  and  is  still  well  remembered  by 
many  of  our  older  citizens.  He  was  a  fine  angler  and  an  un- 
erring shot  with  rifle  or  pistol.  And,  though  he  did  not  teach 
little  children  in  ante-bellum  log  school  houses,  he  was  con- 
stantly instructing  the  "big"  children  of  these  mountains  around 
their  firesides  and  on  the  hustings — not  by  books,  but  by  word  of 
mouth,  enforced  and  made  indelible  by  apt  illustrations  and  in 
most  practical  ways.  There  may  be  more  book-learning  among 
us  now  than  in  former  days,  but  no  people  were  better  versed  in 
all  useful  information  concerning  crops,  plants,  woodcraft,  the 
mechanic  arts,  minerals  and  the  laws  of  nature  than  our  unlet- 
tered ancestors.  General  Clingman  kept  them  fully  informed  as 
to  the  progress  of  the  outside  world  in  all  matters  which  con- 
cerned their  material  welfare,  and  at  the  same  time,  far  more 
than  all  others  combined,  kept  the  outside  world  posted  as  to 
the  wonderful  beauty,  resources  and  advantages  of  this  mountain 
region — its  minerals,  its  physical  phenomena  and  the  progress 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  257 

of  its  inhabitants.  Being  a  frequent  contributor  to  Appelton's 
Journal,  the  National  Intelligencer  and  other  widely  circulated 
periodicals,  he  was  the  first  and  only  one  to  tell  the  world  of  the 
passing  of  the  wonderfully  brilliant  meteor  of  i860,  of  the  de- 
structive waterspouts  of  1876,  and  of  the  apparent  earthquake 
at  the  head  of  Fines  Creek,  which  he  visited  and  explored  in 
1848  and  185 1.  Years  before  the  United  States  established  its 
meteorological  station  on  Mitchell's  Peak,  General  Clingman 
had  explained  why  the  climate  of  the  Asheville  Plateau  is  the 
dryest  east  of  the  Rockies,  and  it  was  entirely  through  his  influ- 
ence that  Dr.  Arnold  Guyot,  of  Princeton  College,  and  Dr.  S.  B. 
Buckley  visited  and  measured  all  the  highest  mountains  in  west- 
ern North  Carolina  just  before  the  Civil  War.  Calhoun,  as  early 
as  1835,  had  foretold  the  existence  of  the  Blacks  as  the  highest 
mountains  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  although  Professor 
Mitchell  actually  measured  them  soon  afterwards,  his  services 
to  science  were  negatived  by  the  uncertain  data  he  took  con- 
cerning their  altitude.  Compared  with  the  work  of  Clingman, 
Buckley  and  Guyot  among  all  our  mountains,  Mitchell's  baromet- 
rical measurements  among  the  Blacks  was  inconsiderable. 

Statesman,  Soldier,  Scientist. — When  North  Carolina  makes 
up  her  jewels  no  gem  among  the  brilliants  that  sparkle  in  her 
coronet  of  achievement  will  shine  with  "a  purer,  serener  or  a 
more  resplendant  light"  than  that  of  Thomas  Lanier  Clingman, 
for  as  statesman,  soldier  and  scientist,  as  well  as  teacher,  guide 
and  friend,  he  was  incorruptible,  patriotic  and  inspiring.  But 
for  nothing  that  he  did  will  his  memory  be  more  precious  or 
more  richly  cherished  than  for  his  dignified  and  noble  refusal 
to  contend  with  an  honorable  gentleman  whose  mouth  had  been 
closed  by  death  in  an  effort  to  establish  the  truth  as  to  who  had 
first  visited  and  measured  the  highest  peak  of  the  Black  Moun- 
tain chain. 

Country  Above  Fame. — For  at  this  time  the  country  was  torn 
and  rent  asunder  by  the  demon  of  sectionalism,  and  Clingman 
found  better  use  for  his  time  and  talents  than  in  contending  for 
an  honor  which,  however  great,  was  as  dust  in  the  scales  when 
weighed  against  the  welfare  of  his  native  State  and  section. 


258  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Then,  too,  his  fame  was  already  secure,  for  he  had  met  upon  the 
arena  of  House  and  Senate  the  doughtiest  and  most  skilful  of  the 
political  gladiators  of  the  fifties,  and  had  lowered  his  sword  to 
none.  Looming  blue-black  on  the  border  of  North  Carolina 
and  Tennessee,  General  Clingman  knew  that  there  was  a  yet 
statelier  and  more  imposing  pile  than  the  Blacks,  and  that  at  the 
culmination  of  this  gigantic  range  his  name  had  been  indis- 
putably and  forever  linked  with  the  grandest  mountain  of  the 
Appalachian  system — Clingman's  Dome  of  the  Great  Smoky 
Mountains ! 

Our  Mountain  Heights  Still  Doubtful. — Whether  this  in- 
comparable mountain  be  higher  or  lower  than  the  disputed  peak 
of  the  Blacks,  is  still  a  doubtful  point,  for  we  are  told  by  Horace 
Kephart  that  all  our  mountains  still  remain  to  be  measured  ac- 
curately. He  says  (p.  56)  :  "Yet  we  scarcely  know  today,  to  a 
downright  certainty,  which  peak  is  supreme  among  our  South- 
ern highlands.  The  honor  is  conceded  to  Mount  Mitchell  in 
the  Black  Mountains,  northeast  of  Asheville.  Still,  the  heights 
of  the  Carolina  peaks  have  been  taken  (with  but  one  exception, 
so  far  as  I  know)  only  by  barometric  measurements,  and  these, 
even  when  official,  may  vary  as  much  as  a  hundred  feet  for  the 
same  mountain.  Since  the  highest  ten  or  a  dozen  of  our  Carolina 
peaks  differ  in  altitude  only  one  or  two  hundred  feet,  their  actual 
rank  has  not  yet  been  determined.  For  a  long  time  (p.  57)  there 
was  controversy  as  to  whether  Mount  Mitchell  or  Clingman 
Dome  was  the  crowning  summit  of  eastern  America.  The  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey  gave  the  height  of  Mount  Mitchell  as  6,688 
feet,  but  later  figures  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
are  6,711  and  6,712.  In  1859  Buckley  claimed  for  Clingman 
Dome  of  the  Smokies  an  altitude  of  6,941  feet.  In  recent  gov- 
ernment reports  the  Dome  appears  variously  as  6,619  ^"^  6,660 
feet.  In  191 1  I  was  told  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Ramsour  that  when  he 
laid  out  the  route  of  the  railroad  from  Asheville  to  Murphy  he 
ran  a  line  of  levels  from  a  known  datum  on  this  road  to  the  top 
of  Clingman,  and  that  the  result  was  'four  sixes'  (6,666  feet 
above  sea  level).  It  is  probable  that  the  second  place  among  the 
peaks  of  Appalachia  may  belong  either  to  Clingman  Dome  or 


Photo,  by  Vest. 


HON.  THOMAS  LANIER  CLINGMAN. 
Statesman,  soldier,  scientist. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  259 

Guyot  or  LeConte  of  the  Smokies,  or  to  Balsam  Cone  of  the 
Black  Mountains,  In  any  case  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains  are 
the  master  chain  of  the  Appalachian  system,  the  greatest  mass 
of  highland  east  of  the  Rockies  (p.  58).  The  most  difficult  and 
rugged  part  of  the  Smokies  (and  of  the  United  States  east  of 
Colorado)  is  in  the  saw-tooth  mountains  between  Collins  and 
Guyot,  at  the  headwaters  of  Oconalufty  River." 

Who  Measured  the  Highest  Peak? — Dr.  Arnold  Guyot,  of 
Princeton  College  (now  University),  pubHshed  an  article  in  the 
Asheville  Nezvs,  July  18,  i860,  to  the  effect  that  Dr.  Mitchell's 
measurements  of  this  mountain  failed  to  agree  with  each  other; 
that  the  location  of  the  highest  peak  had  remained  indefinite, 
even  in  the  mind  of  Dr.  Mitchell  himself,  "as  I  learned  it  from 
his  own  mouth  in  1856."  At  that  time,  i860,  the  peak  now  called 
Mitchell's,  or  Mount  Mitchell,  was  called  Clingman's,  while  the 
peak  now  known  to  some  as  Clingman's  was  called  Mount 
Mitchell.  Dr.  Guyot  says  of  this :  "If  the  honored  name  of  Dr. 
Mitchell  is  taken  from  Mount  Mitchell  and  transferred  to  the 
highest  peak,  it  should  not  be  on  the  ground  that  he  first  made 
known  its  true  elevation,  which  he  never  did,  nor  himself  ever 
claimed  to  have  done,  for  the  true  height  was  unknown  before 
my  measurement  of  1854  .  .  .  Nor  should  it  be  on  the 
ground  of  his  having  first  visited  it,  for,  though  after  his  death 
evidence  which  made  it  probable  that  he  did  [came  out],  he 
never  could  convince  himself  of  it.  Nor,  at  last,  should  it  be 
because  that  peak  was,  as  it  is  alleged,  thus  named  long  before, 
for  I  must  declare  that  neither  in  1854  nor  later  during  the 
whole  time  I  was  on  both  sides  of  the  mountain,  did  I  hear  of 
another  Mount  Mitchell  than  the  one  south  of  the  highest,  so 
long  visited  under  that  name,  and  that  Dr.  Mitchell  himself, 
before  ascending  the  northern  peak  in  1856,  as  I  gathered  it  from 
a  conversation  with  him,  believed  it  to  be  the  highest." 

Politics  or  Public  Opinion? — Dr.  Guyot  further  said  in  the 
same  article  that  General  Clingman  "could  not  possibly  know 
when  he  first  ascended  it  [the  highest  peak]  that  anyone  had 
visited  or  measured  it  before  him,  nor  have  any  intention  to  do 
any  injustice  to  Dr.  Mitchell."     General  Clingman  in  1884  told 


26o  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Charles  Dudley  Warner  ("On  Horseback,"  pp.  94  to  96)  that  he 
had  been  the  first  to  discover  the  highest  peak,  and  he  also  told 
this  writer  later  that  he  had  made  this  discovery  by  climbing 
a  balsam  tree  on  what  was  then  called  Mount  Mitchell,  the 
southern  peak,  and  applying  a  spirit  level  to  the  surrounding 
horizon.  Thus,  the  superior  height  of  the  northern  peak  was 
disclosed  to  him,  and  he  then  proceeded  to  measure  and  claim  it. 
He  told  others  the  same  story.  Dr.  Warner  states  that  public 
sentiment  awarded  Dr.  Mitchell  this  honor  because  of  his  tragic 
death.  (Id.  p.  95.)  But  was  that  all?  iTere  is  what  Hon.  Z.  B. 
Vance,  long  Clingman's  political  opponent,  said  in  a  letter  to 
Prof.  Charles  Phillips,  dated  Asheville,  August,  1857:'  "Y,et 
there  are  some  who  believe  that  Clingman  superintended  the 
creation  of  those  mountains,  and,  therefore,  has  a  right  to  know 
more  about  them  than  anyone  else.  The  editor  of  the  News 
[the  late  Major  Marcus  Erwin],  who  expects  to  go  to  CHngman 
when  he  dies  (and  perhaps  will)  ...  is  already  beginning 
the  war  against  the  dead,  as  you  will  see  by  reference  to  that 
sheet  of  last  week.  I  advised  the  Spectator  men  to  keep  per- 
fectly quiet,  and  would  give  the  same  advice  to  the  doctor's 
friends  elsewhere.  Let  us  prepare  our  case  in  silence  and  wait 
patiently  for  the  good  feeling  to  operate  among  the  mountain- 
eers, which  is  now  going  on  admirably.  In  the  meantime  the 
proper  efforts  might  be  made  to  rectify  Coke's  map  [which  gave 
Clingman's  name  to  the  highest  peak]  and  to  push  up  the  influ- 
ential journals  at  a  distance,  a  thing  that  the  faculty  are  better 
able  to  do  than  anyone  else.  Only  one  thing  remains  to  be  done, 
in  my  opinion,  to  make  our  proof  complete — to  have  the  bearings 
of  the  High  Peak  taken  from  Yeates'  Knob  and  compared  with 
Dr.  Mitchell's  memorandum  thereof.  I  hope  steps  will  be  taken 
to  do  this  before  long,  as  Clingman  intends  doing  it  himself 
after  the  election.  I  understand,  though  I  have  not  seen  it,  that 
Mitchell's  map  also  puts  that  peak  down  as  Mount  Clingman, 
Is  it  true?     .     .     ." 

In  the  same  letter  Senator  Vance  speaks  of  certain  certificates 
from  Big  Tom  Wilson  and  others,  but  their  contents  are  not 
disclosed.     There  was  also  published  in  the  same  paper  a  copy 


»  Published    by    R.    D.    W.    Connor,    secretary    N.    C.    Hist.    Com.,    in    Charlotte 
Observer,  p.  11,  Jan.  24,  1915. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  261 

of  an  address  to  solicit  from  citizens  of  North  Carolina  and 
friends  of  Dr.  Mitchell  funds  for  the  removal  of  his  body  to 
the  highest  peak  and  the  erection  of  a  monument  there.  Five 
thousand  dollars  was  asked  for,  but  nowhere  in  that  address  can 
be  found  any  claim  that  Dr.  Mitchell  either  discovered  or  meas- 
ured the  highest  peak.  Its  language  is :  "In  view  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  the  first  to  visit  these  mountains  and  to  make  known 
their  superior  height  to  any  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
that  he  spent  a  great  portion  of  his  time  and  finally  lost  his  life 
in  exploring  them,"  the  subscriptions  were  asked.  As  the  result 
of  this  appeal,  is  also  published  a  subscription  list  containing  the 
names  of  only  ten  subscribers,  with  WilHam  Patton  at  the  head 
for  $100.00,  and  the  entire  amount  aggregating  only  $195.00. 

Big  Tom  Wilson  was  with  Dr.  Mitchell  on  his  first  trip,  when 
it  is  claimed  that  he  measured  the  highest  peak,  and  his  certifi- 
cate should  settle  the  controversy.  But  where  is  it?  Where  is 
the  data  showing  the  comparison  of  the  "bearings  of  the  High 
Peak  from  Yeates'  Knob  with  Dr.  Mitchell's  memorandum 
thereof  ?"  Did  Mitchell's  geography  or  map  concede  the  highest 
peak  to  General  Clingman?  We  are  in  the  dark  as  to  these 
matters.  But  we  have  Judge  David  Schenck's  report  of  an  in- 
terview with  Big  Tom  on  the  subject. 

The  Crucial  Question. — Did  Dr.  Mitchell  ever  visit  the  peak 
which  now  bears  his  name?  ''Big  Tom"  Wilson  is  the  only  wit- 
ness, and  upon  his  testimony  rests  the  validity  of  the  claim  that 
he  did.  What  is  that  testimony  ?  Simply  this :  that  the  search 
party  with  Wilson  first  "examined  the  area  of  ground  on 
Mitchell's  Peak,  where  the  doctor  went,  and  then  going  to  the 
trail  he  [the  doctor]  was  directed  to  take,  and,  finding  no  sign, 
they  commenced  the  descent  towards  the  south  side  by  the  east 
prong.  They  had  not  gone  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  until 
Adniram  D.  Allen  found  an  impression  in  the  moss  .  .  ." 
This  was  the  first  trace  of  the  doctor,  and,  after  following  it 
some  distance,  they  went  back  to  "examine  where  the  track 
first  left  the  peak  .  .  .  and  found  that  the  doctor  had  taken 
a  'horse  trail'  by  mistake  for  the  trail  which  led  to  'Big  Tom's.'  " 
This  is  every  shred  of  evidence  concerning  the  peak  in  the  inter- 
view between  Wilson  and  Judge  David  Schenck  on  the  26th  day 


262  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

of  September,  1877,  and  which  was  published  in  the  Charlotte 
Democrat  of  November  2,  1877.  From  it  can  be  deduced  only 
that  there  was  no  "sign"  of  the  doctor's  having  been  on  "the 
area  of  ground  on  Mitchell's  peak,"  but  that  when  "they  com- 
menced the  descent  towards  the  south  side,"  the  very  side  on 
which  stood  the  peak  which  had  always  been  called  Mitchell's, 
they  found  the  first  sign  in  the  moss  "not  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  away."  There  is  no  evidence  that  they  went  to  the  south 
peak  at  all,  where  it  is  probable  the  professor  went,  and  from 
which  he  was  going  when  they  found  his  track  in  the  moss. 
What  is  meant  by  "where  the  track  first  left  the  peak"  and  that 
he  took  "a  horse  trail  by  mistake  for  the  trail  which  led  to  Big 
Tom's,"  is  all  that  even  vaguely  points  to  the  fact  that  the  doctor 
had  been  on  the  northern,  or  highest,  peak. 

Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle's  Error. — In  an  article  on  Dr.  Mitchell, 
written  by  Dr.  Battle,  the  last  survivor  of  the  University  Faculty 
of  June,  1857,  and  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Elisha  Mitchell 
Scientific  Society,  March,  1915,  he  refers  (p.  161)  to  "Letters 
from  the  Raleigh  Register  in  reply  to  General  Thomas  L.  Cling- 
man,  who  claimed  that  Dr.  Mitchell  was  never  on  the  highest 
peak  of  the  Black  Mountains,  but  that  he,  Clingman,  was  the 
true  discoverer.  He  caused  W.  D.  Cooke  to  designate  on  his 
wall-map  the  highest  peak  as  Mt.  Clingman.  On  the  death  of 
the  Doctor  he  gracefully  surrendered  his  claim.  It  is  now  con- 
ceded that  Dr.  Mitchell  was  right.  He  is  confirmed  by  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey  of  i88i-'2,  the  highest  and  final  au- 
thority." Dr.  Battle  is  right  in  saying  that  Gen.  Clingman 
"gracefully  surrendered  his  claim,"  but  it  is  not  generally  "con- 
ceded that  Dr.  Mitchell  was  right,"  and  the  United  States  Survey 
simply  ascertained  the  highest  peak  among  the  Blacks,  but  did 
not  and  could  not  prove  that  Dr.  Mitchell  had  ever  been  upon 
that  spot. 

Clingman's  "Speeches  and  Writings." — North  Carolina  has 
not  yet  reared  any  monument  to  this  one  of  her  greatest  sons. 
But  in  his  "Speeches  and  Writings,"  published  by  himself  after 
the  Civil  War,  he  has  erected  to  his  own  memory  a  monument 
more  eloquent  than  "storied  urn  or  animated  bust,"  and  more 
enduring  than  bronze  effigy  or  marble  cenotaph. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

Gold  and  Other  Mines. 

Gold  Mining. — Some  time  in  the  fifties,  Joe  Bissell,  of  Char- 
lotte, worked  every  branch  which  runs  away  from  the  Muster 
Field  Hill,  east  of  Boone,  looking  for  gold  and  finding  some. 
The  branch  running  from  Joseph  Hardin's  was  worked  almost, 
if  not  quite,  down  to  the  river,  especially  where  it  passes  through 
the  old  Reuben  Hartley  place,  now  occupied  by  Farthing  Ed- 
misten.  Henry  Blair  worked  the  same  stream  afterwards,  just 
before  the  Civil  War,  and  sold  dust  at  eighty  cents  a  penny- 
weight. Blair  used  a  hand-rocker,  fifty  cents  a  day  being  at 
that  time  the  price  of  labor.  Others  also  worked  the  branch 
running  from  the  Muster  Ground  southeast  by  Eli  Hartley's.  The 
next  work  was  done  by  Ison  Doby  for  J.  C.  Councill  about 
1858-59  just  where  the  Moretz  and  Hartzog  saw  mill  now  stands, 
and  below  the  road  where  Robert  Bingham  lives.  This  stopped 
when  the  Civil  War  began,  but  afterwards  John  and  Dick  Haney, 
brothers,  came  from  about  King's  Mountain  and  leased  Henry 
and  Joseph  Hardin's  branch,  but  failed.  Colonel  Bryan  cashed 
some  of  the  gold  offered  by  them  at  first,  and  it  was  all  right, 
but  later  on  the  dust  became  mixed  with  copper  filings,  and  the 
Haney  brothers  did  not  try  conclusions  with  Uncle  Sam  as  to 
their  responsibility  for  this  mistake.  This  was  about  1870-72. 
Phillip  Chandler,  from  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  worked  same 
stream  about  1858-59.  Colonel  Bryan  and  George  Dugger 
worked  around  the  edge  of  the  Muster  Field,  but  the  dust  was 
too  fine.  When  the  former  was  a  boy  there  was  a  deep  hole  or 
shaft  still  open  on  the  Muster  Field  which  had  been  dug  by  old 
time  miners.  Miss  Eliza  Jordan,  youngest  daughter  of  Jordan 
Councill,  the  first,  is  said  to  have  panned  out  enough  gold  near 
Joseph  Hardin's  to  pay  for  a  new  silk  dress  before  the  Civil 
War.  She  afterwards  married,  first  George  Phillips,  and  then 
Rittenhouse  Baird. 

263 


264  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

First  Owners  of  Cranberry. — Sometime  about  1780  Reuben 
White  took  out  a  grant  for  100  acres  covering  the  Cranberry- 
iron  vein,  and  Waighstill  Avery  obtained  four  small  grants  sur- 
rounding White's  grant  (100  N.  C.  Rep.  i,  127  Id.  387).  In 
1795  William  Cathcart  was  granted  99,000  and  59,000  acres  in 
two  tracts,  covering  almost  all  of  what  is  now  Mitchell  and 
Avery  counties.  Isaac  T.  Avery  inherited  Waightstill  Avery's 
interest  in  this  land  and  to  numerous  640  acre  grants  along  the 
Toe  River.  John  Brown  became  agent  for  the  Cathcart  grants, 
and  as  these  conflicted  with  the  Avery  lands,  a  compromise  was 
effected,  under  which  I.  T.  Avery  got  a  quit  claim  to  about 
50,000  acres  in  1852,  including  the  Cranberry  mines,  excepting 
the  Reuben  White  tract,  which  had  passed  to  William  Dugger 
by  a  chain  of  deeds,  he  having  contracted  to  sell  to  John  Hard- 
ing, Miller  and  another.  Hoke,  Hutchinson  and  Sumner  got 
title  from  Hardin,  but  had  to  pay  several  thousands  of  dollars  to 
Brown  and  Avery  to  settle  their  claims  upon  the  Cranberry  ore 
bank.  The  forge-bounty  grant  to  these  lands  obtained  by  the 
Perkinses  was  sold  by  order  of  court  for  partition  at  Morganton 
and  bought  in  by  William  Dugger ;  but  before  getting  title  to  the 
land,  Dugger  agreed  that  I.  T,  Avery  and  J.  E.  Brown,  son  of 
John,  should  each  have  a  one-third  interest  in  the  mineral  outside 
the  original  grant  to  Reuben  White.  This  agreement,  however, 
was  not  registered,  and  the  Supreme  Court  at  Morganton,  under 
which  the  decree  of  sale  for  partition  had  been  made,  having 
been  abolished  after  the  Civil  War,  and  the  clerk  of  that  court, 
James  R.  Dodge,  having  died,  an  ordinance  of  the  State  conven- 
tion of  1866  empowered  the  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  at 
Raleigh  to  execute  the  title  which  Dodge  should  have  made  to 
William  Dugger,  but  made  no  reference  to  Brown's  and  Avery's 
interests  therein.  To  still  further  complicate  matters,  William 
Dugger  had  sold  his  interest  without  excepting  these  equitable 
claims  upon  the  mineral  rights  in  the  property.  But  Brown  and 
Avery  gave  notice  of  their  claims  and  compelled  the  purchasers 
to  pay  them  for  their  interest  in  the  minerals. 

Iron  Forges. — There  were  three  of  these  in  what  was  Wa- 
tauga County :  Cranberry,  Toe  River  and  the  Johnson  forges. 
The  first  grew  out  of  the  discovery  of  the  Cranberry  metallic 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  265 

ore  by  Joshua,  Ben  and  Jake  Perkins,  of  Tennessee,  who  in  a 
rough  play  at  a  night  feast  and  froHc  at  Crab  Orchard,  Tenn., 
after  a  log-rolling,  had  attempted  to  remove  the  new  flax  shirt 
and  trousers  from  Wright  Moreland,  and  had  injured  him  suffi- 
ciently to  arouse  his  anger  and  cause  him  to  take  out  a  warrant 
for  them.  They  escaped  to  North  Carolina,  where  they  sup- 
ported themselves  by  digging  sang.  In  search  of  this  herb,  they 
discovered  the  Cranberry  ore,  and  having  been  concerned  in  the 
Dugger  forge  on  Watauga  River  four  miles  above  Butler,  Tenn., 
constructed  a  dam  about  half  way  between  Elk  Park  and  the 
Cranberry  Company's  store,  only  nearer  to  the  Boone  road  than 
to  the  present  railroad.  Here  they  put  in  a  regular  forge  with 
all  the  equipment  used  in  that  day,  including  the  water  trompe, 
furnace,  goose-nest,  hammer,  etc.  This  was  about  1821.  Soon 
after  they  started  their  forge  Abraham  Johnson,  the  agent  of 
John  Brown,  the  land  speculator,  built  a  forge  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Toe  River,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of 
White  Oak  Creek  and  near  the  mouth  of  Cow  Camp  Creek.  He 
got  some  of  his  ore  from  a  deposit  near  by,  but  also  hauled  ore 
from  the  Cranberry  vein.  Still  later  on,  William  Buckhannon 
had  a  forge  built  by  one  Calloway  one-half  a  mile  above  what 
is  now  Minneapolis,  on  Toe  River,  but  he  had  little  or  no  ore 
nearer  than  that  at  Cranberry,  from  which  he  also  drew  his 
supply.  After  the  Perkinses  had  been  at  work  some  time  they 
are  said  to  have  applied  for  and  obtained  a  grant  from  North 
Carolina  for  3,000  acres  of  land  for  having  made  3,000  pounds 
of  iron,  but  shortly  thereafter  John  Brown,  who  kept  a  keen  eye 
out  for  squatters  and  trespassers  on  what  was  then  the  Tate 
and  Cochran  land,  though  then  claimed  by  him  under  a  junior 
or  Cathcart  grant,  convinced  the  Perkinses  that  he  held  a  superior 
title  to  theirs,  and  they  bought  his  title  to  the  land.  They  then 
sold  to  William  and  Abe  Dugger,  who  came  from  the  old  Dugger 
forge  above  Butler  and  operated  the  mine  till  Abe's  death,  when, 
being  offended  with  his  son,  George,  for  having  married  Caro- 
lina McNabb,  a  perfectly  respectable  girl,  left  his  interest  in  the 
mine  to  his  three  daughters,  Mattie,  who  afterwards  married 
Jerry  Green;  Nancy,  who  had  married  Charles  Gaddy,  and 
Elizabeth,  who  had  married  Joseph  Grubb,  leaving  George  only 


266  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

fifty  acres  just  below  the  law  office  of  L.  D.  Lowe,  Esq.,  at 
Banner's  Elk.  John  Hardin  became  guardian  of  Mattie,  then 
unmarried,  taking  possession  of  the  mine  about  1850  and  re- 
taining it  till  sometime  during  the  Civil  War.  With  him  went 
Peter  Hardin,  then  twelve  years  old,  who  remained  with  the 
Cranberry  mine  longer  than  any  other  in  its  existence.  Peter 
was  the  son  of  a  Creek  Indian  whom  Nathaniel  Taylor,  of 
Elizabethton,  Tenn.,  had  brought  with  him  from  the  Battle  of 
the  Horse  Shoe  in  1814,  and  who  was  named  Duffield,  after  an 
academy  at  Elizabethton,  according  to  Dr.  Job's  reminiscenses 
of  that  town.  Jordan  Hardin,  son  of  John,  took  possession  of 
the  mine  during  the  Civil  War  and  worked  from  forty  to  sixty 
men,  making  iron  for  the  Confederate  government.  This  iron 
was  in  bars  for  the  manufacture  of  axes  and  was  hauled  to  Camp 
Vance,  below  Morganton,  by  Peter  Hardin,  one  four-horse  load 
every  month,  winter  as  well  as  summer.  It  was  sometime  dur- 
ing or  after  the  possession  of  the  Hardins  that  a  man  named 
Dunn  had  some  connection  with  Cranberry,  but  exactly  what 
could  not  be  ascertained  accurately.  Thomas  Carter,  who  had 
operated  a  plant  for  the  manufacture  of  guns  at  Linville  Falls 
during  the  Civil  War,  and  Gen.  Robert  F.  Hoke  then  obtained 
an  interest  in  the  Cranberry  mine  and  forge,  and  General  Hoke 
sold  the  property  to  the  present  company.  Carter,  in  May,  1867, 
having  agreed  to  convey  his  interest  therein  to  Hoke  for  $44,- 
000.00.  When,  however.  Carter  tendered  Hoke  a  deed  therefor, 
Hoke  gave  him  a  sight  draft  on  a  New  York  bank  for  the  price 
agreed  to  be  paid.  This  draft  was  not  paid.  The  money  to 
meet  it  was  to  have  been  provided  by  the  sale  of  the  property  by 
Hoke  to  Russell  and  his  associates,  who  refused  to  take  it  be- 
cause Carter  would  not  deliver  the  deed  for  his  interest  till  he 
had  been  fully  paid.  Carter  got  an  injunction  against  the  sale, 
and  the  Supreme  Court  upheld  Carter.  (Carter  v.  Hoke,  64 
N.  C,  348.)  Carter  and  Hoke  soon  effected  a  compromise  and 
the  title  to  the  property  was  thus  settled.  After  Hoke  and  Com- 
pany sold  the  property  soon  after  the  Civil  War  it  remained  in 
the  control  of  Peter  Hardin,  who  kept  the  hotel  and  looked  after 
the  property  generally  for  many  years.  He  was  allowed  to 
make  and  sell  all  the  iron  he  wished  and  to  operate  a  small 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  267 

saw  mill.  When  the  present  company  began  to  build  the  rail- 
road from  Johnson  City  to  the  forge,  Peter  Hardin  kept  a  store 
at  Cranberry  and  was  postmaster,  keeping  all  the  accounts  of 
the  employees  of  the  company  and  delivering  all  the  mail,  etc., 
although  he  could  not  read  a  line,  the  clerical  work  having  been 
done  by  his  wife  and  her  daughters  by  a  former  marriage. 
White  people  stopped  at  Pete's  hotel  and  were  well  entertained 
by  these  care-takers.  They  still  live  near  Elk  Park,  and  have 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who  know  them.  They  are 
called  colored  people,  but  their  good  names  are  as  white  as  those 
of  the  best  people  in  the  State.  Abram  Johnson  died  at  his 
home  near  what  is  now  Vale,  on  the  E.  T.  &  W.  N.  C.  R.  R.,  in 
the  house  which  stood  where  Bayard  Benfield  now  lives,  near 
the  mouth  of  White  Oak  Creek,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  sol- 
dier in  the  War  of  1812.  His  wife  died  there  August  18,  1880, 
and  he  October  15,  1881,  aged  about  107  years,  according  to  the 
record  of  Jacob  Carpenter,  of  Altamont. 

Some  Old  Hammermen. — Among  those  who  worked  at  iron 
mines  in  this  county  were  Jess  Sizemore,  at  Johnson's  forge,  and 

Jack    Mayberry,    Grandire,    Wash    Heaton,    Elisha 

Stanley  and  George  Dugger,  all  at  Cranberry. 

Gen.  Thos.  L.  Clingman's  Mining. — This  enterprising  gen- 
tleman mined  on  Beech  Creek  in  Watauga  County  in  1871,  and  a 
branch  in  that  locality  still  bears  his  name.  (Deed  Book  3,  p.  595.) 

Oil  and  Gas  Mining. — About  1901  it  was  thought  that  oil 
had  been  seen  on  a  pool  of  water  near  N.  L.  Mast's  store  on 
Cove  Creek,  and  the  Carolina  Valley  Oil  and  Gas  Company 
sank  a  well  there,  but  abandoned  it.  The  flat  formation  of  the 
rock  strata  on  Cove  Creek  and  about  Ward's  store  on  Watauga 
River  seems  to  indicate  petroleum.  There  were  options  taken 
by  the  Carolina  Valley  Oil  and  Gas  Company  on  lands  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sutherland.  J.  A.  Zins  and  Joseph  Bock,  of  Minne- 
sota, worked  a  copper  mine  on  Elk  Knob  in  1899,  but  they  fell 
out  among  themselves  and  quit  work. 

The  Elk  Knob  Copper  Mine. — On  the  226.  of  August,  1900, 
John  Castle  agreed  to  convey  to  the  Zinns-Bach  Mining  &  Lum- 
ber Co.  100  acres  on  Elk  Knob,  and  mining  was  soon  begun  there 
for  copper.  The  scheme  was  soon  abandoned,  however.  (Book 
W,  p.  495-) 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Roads  and  Railroads. 

First  Roads. — From  John  Crouch's  "Historical  Sketches  of 
Wilkes"  (1902)  we  learn  that  Hamilton  Holton  (or  Helton?) 
obtained  a  charter  for  a  turnpike  from  Holman's  Ford  to  New 
River  in  Ashe.  This  road  passed  through  Deep  Gap,  Old  Fields 
and  on  to  Jefferson  and  Virginia  and  south  to  Three  Forks, 
Brushy  Fork,  Cove  Creek,  and  west  to  Meat  Camp,  crossing  the 
New  River  at  The  Bend,  near  what  is  now  called  the  Salmond's 
place,  but  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Fergusons  of  Wilkes. 
From  there  it  went  to  the  top  of  the  ridge  between  the  river  as 
it  runs  in  two  directions,  thence  west,  passing  Moretz  Mill,  and 
on  up  Meat  Camp  to  the  gap  between  Rich  and  Snake  moun- 
tains to  Trade  in  Tennessee.  Later  came  a  road  from  Jefferson 
to  Boone,  via  Elk  Cross  Roads,  and  from  Sugar  Grove  up 
Beaver  Dams  over  Baker's  Gap  to  Tennessee.  The  road  up 
Cove  Creek  probably  stopped  for  a  long  time  at  Zionville,  and 
some  say  that  there  was  only  a  trail  from  there  to  Shoun's  Cross 
Roads  for  years. 

The  First  Roads  Across  the  Blue  Ridge. — According  to 
"The  Archibald  D.  Murphey  Papers,"  published  by  the  State 
Historical  Association,  1915  (Vol.  II,  p.  185),  Wilkesborough 
may  be  taken  as  the  point  on  the  Yadkin  from  which  they 
(roads)  diverge  in  different  directions  across  the  mountains. 
One  runs  to  the  north  into  the  counties  of  Grayson  and  Wythe 
in  Virginia,  passing  the  Blue  Ridge  at  Elk  Spur  Gap.  Two 
roads  run  to  the  west,  one  crossing  the  Ridge  at  Reddy's  River 
Gap,  passes  by  Ashe  court  house  and,  forking,  it  extends  to  the 
northwest  into  the  counties  of  Russell  and  Washington  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  to  the  west  of  Jonesborough  in  East  Tennessee.  The 
other,  called  Horton's  Turnpike,  passes  the  Ridge  at  the  Deep 
Gap,  and  runs  through  the  southwestern  parts  of  Ashe  County, 
on  to  Jonesborough.     Another  road  leads  from  Wilkesborough 

268 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  269 

to  the  southwest,  passes  Morganton  and  crosses  the  Ridge  at 
Swannanoa  Gap.  The  mountain  can  be  easily  passed  at  each  of 
these  gaps,  and,  if  the  roads  were  good,  the  inconvenience  of 
crossing  the  mountain  would  be  disregarded.  The  roads  have 
been  badly  laid  out ;  they  are  badly  made,  and  the  population  in 
many  parts  is  too  weak  to  keep  the  roads  in  even  tolerable  re- 
pair.   All  these  roads  should  be  made  at  the  public's  expense. 

Caldwell  and  Watauga  Turnpike. — The  General  Assembly 
of  1846  and  1847  (Ch.  CV)  passed  an  act  to  incorporate  the 
Caldwell  and  Ashe  Turnpike  Company,  the  State  to  provide 
$8,000.00  when  $5,000.00  had  been  subscribed,  which  was  altered 
in  1850-51  so  that  the  name  should  be  the  Caldwell  and  Watauga 
Turnpike  Company,  while  the  capital  stock  was  increased  from 
$10,000.00  to  $12,500.00,  whatever  amount  of  the  increase  that 
might  not  be  subscribed  within  six  months  to  be  taken  by  the 
State.  The  president  and  directors  were  authorized  to  change 
the  route  on  the  Blue  Ridge  where  it  exceeded  one  foot  in 
twenty  so  as  to  reduce  it  to  that  standard,  and  otherwise  improve 
the  road,  while  all  hands  within  two  miles  who  were  then  re- 
quired to  work  on  roads  were  required  to  work  on  this  road,  but 
should  not  be  required  to  work  any  other  roads  or  to  pay  toll  on 
this.  This  act  was  ratified  January  21,  1851  (Ch.  CLXIV,  p. 
463).  By  chapter  131,  Laws  of  1881,  the  Turnipke  Company 
was  authorized  to  surrender  to  Watauga  County  "so  much  of 
said  turnpike  as  lies  west  of  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  at  the 
Yadkin  Springs,"  etc.  Chapter  445,  Laws  of  1893,  authorized 
the  State  to  sell  its  interest  in  this  road  and  apply  the  proceeds  to 
the  construction  of  the  Boone  and  Blowing  Rock  Turnpike.  The 
charter  was  repealed  in  191 1,  but  in  1913  a  new  charter  was 
granted,  the  people  living  along  the  road  not  being  able  to  keep 
it  in  condition. 

The  old  road  passed  along  the  mountain  side  above  the  former 
residence  of  Smith  Coffey  at  the  Old  Bridge  place,  one  mile 
below  Shull's  Mills,  while  the  turnpike  crossed  the  Wa- 
tauga River  on  the  old  bridge  and  followed  the  Woody 
bottoms  to  Shull's  Mills  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  pass- 
ing west  of  Phillip  Shull's  old  house,  which  was  of  logs,  and 


270  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

faced  west.  Joseph  Shull  changed  the  road  so  that  it  crossed  the 
river  at  the  ford  near  Robbins'  store  and  east  of  the  house,  now 
a  frame  structure  which  faces  east.  Old  Albany,  nine-passenger 
stage  coaches,  swinging  on  straps,  passed  over  this  road  from 
1855  to  186 1,  going  from  Lincolnton,  via  Lenoir,  Blowing  Rock, 
Shull's  Mills,  Valle  Crucis,  Sugar  Grove,  Zionville,  Shoun's 
Cross  Roads,  Taylorsville — now  Mountain  City — to  Abingdon, 
Va.,  and  they  were  operated  by  a  man  of  the  name  of  Dunn,  of 
Abingdon.  It  was  a  daily  line  each  way,  with  stands  at  John 
Alast's  at  Sugar  Grove  and  at  Joseph  Shull's,  where  J.  M.  Shull 
now  lives. 

This  road  undoubtedly  served  to  open  up  and  encourage  the 
settlement  of  Watauga  County,  and  was  an  excellent  one  for 
that  day.  But  Blowing  Rock,  Banner's  Elk,  Linville  City,  Boone 
and  Valle  Crucis  were  growing  rapidly,  and  in  1893  an  act  was 
passed  authorizing  the  State  to  sell  its  interest  in  the  Caldwell 
and  Watauga  Turnpike  Company  and  apply  the  proceeds  to  the 
construction  of  the  Boone  and  Blowing  Rock  Turnpike  Com- 
pany, in  the  building  of  which  the  late  Thomas  J.  Coffey  was 
very  active.  This  new  road  diverted  much  travel  from  the  old 
turnpike.  The  turnpike  company  from  Lenoir  to  Blowing  Rock 
had  already  absorbed  much  of  the  original  Caldwell  and  Wa- 
tauga turnpike,  leaving  only  the  stretch  between  Blowing  Rock 
and  the  Tennessee  line  belonging  to  the  company.  By  chapter 
17,  Laws  191 1,  it  was  authorized  to  sell  or  lease  any  of  its  road 
bed  or  other  property  to  any  other  turnpike  company,  and  if 
such  a  sale  should  be  made  it  might  wind  up  its  affairs.  Section  2 
of  this  act,  however,  authorized  the  company  to  turn  over  the 
road  from  Shull's  Mills  to  Blowing  Rock  to  the  county  of 
Watauga,  which  was  done,  and  the  county  required  to  keep  it 
up  as  a  public  road.  But  there  were  too  few  people  living  near 
it  to  keep  it  in  good  condition,  and,  accordingly,  some  of  the 
citizens  living  near  secured  a  charter  for  a  turnpike  company 
from  the  Secretary  of  State,  known  as  the  Valle  Crucis  and 
Blowing  Rock  Turnpike  Company,  to  run  between  those  points. 
Its  capital  stock  is  $3,000.00,  and  its  charter  was  granted  June  4, 
1914. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  271 

Yonahlossee  Turnpike  Company. — About  the  year  1890  S. 
T.  Kelsey,  formerly  of  Kansas,  but  later  of  Highlands,  Macon 
County,  N.  C,  went  to  Watauga  County,  and  a  turnpike  company 
was  chartered  to  build  and  maintain  a  road  from  Linville  City 
to  Blowing  Rock,  passing  clear  around  the  eastern  base  of  the 
Grandfather  Mountain  and  running  along  the  crest  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  much  of  the  distance  being  north  and  east  of  that  pictur- 
esque and  ancient  mass  of  stone  and  earth.  The  distance  is 
eighteen  miles  and  it  cost  less  than  $18,000.00.  It  is  decidedly 
the  best  and  most  level  road  in  the  mountains. 

Elk  Park  and  Banner's  Elk. — A  road  was  constructed  be- 
tween these  places  about  1895  and  serves  the  country  through 
which  it  passes  admirably. 

Early  Road  Legislation.' — In  1850-51  Charles  McDowell  and 
Hugh  Taylor,  of  Burke,  and  John  Franklin,  of  Watauga,  were 
appointed  commissioners  to  lay  off  a  public  road  from  Charles 
McDowell's  in  Burke  via  Upper  Creek,  Jonas  Ridge,  Old  Fields 
of  Toe  River  to  Cranberry  Forge  in  the  county  of  Watauga. 
(Ch.  CLXXI,  p.  473.)  In  1852  Alfred  Miller,  Jonathan  Hor- 
ton,  James  Ragen,  M.  T.  Coxe  and  Reuben  Mast  were  appointed 
commissioners  to  view,  lay  off,  alter  or  amend  so  much  of  a 
public  road  from  Holman's  Ford  by  way  of  Deep  Gap  at  Solo- 
mon Green's  and  the  Rich  Mountain,  near  Welch's  store,  to  the 
Tennessee  line  as  lay  within  the  limits  of  Watauga  County. 
(Ch.  CLIII,  p.  579.)  In  1854-55  (Ch.  214,  p.  216)  Reuben 
Mast,  M.  F.  Cox,  James  Ragan,  Alfred  Miller  and  John  Moretz 
were  appointed  commissioners  to  survey  and  improve  the  public 
road  from  the  Wilkes  County  line  by  way  of  Meat  Camp  Creek 
to  the  Tennessee  line,  at  or  near  Welch's  store.  At  the  same 
session  (Ch.  219,  p.  222)  Michael  Snider,  Jourdan  C.  Hardin, 
for  Watauga,  and  three  men  from  Yancey,  were  appointed  com- 
missioners to  lay  off  a  public  road  from  the  Tennessee  line  at 
Wm.  D.  Hose's,  via  Cranberry  and  Arthur  Erwin's  to  the 
McDowell  County  line,  near  Charles  McKinney's,  so  as  to  inter- 
sect the  public  road  leading  from  Burnsville  to  Morganton.    At 

*  Just  prior  to  the  formation  of  Watauga  County  (Cli.  XCVIII,  Laws  of 
1846-'47)  a  public  road  was  authorized  from  Councill's  store  in  Ashe  (now 
Boone)  to  Bedford  Wiseman's  in  Yancey  County,  at  the  mouth  of  Three  Mile  Creek. 


272  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  same  session  (Ch.  224,  p.  224)  it  was  provided  that  all  public 
roads  to  be  built  in  Watauga  after  the  date  of  the  ratification 
of  the  act  shall  not  be  required  to  be  more  than  twelve  feet  wide 
where  side-cutting  is  necessary  and  used,  and  where  blasting  is 
necessary  and  used  such  roads  shall  not  be  required  to  be  more 
than  eight  feet  wide.  The  county  and  superior  courts  were  given 
concurrent  jurisdiction  of  all  indictments  against  overseers  of 
Watauga  County  roads.  By  the  laws  of  1876-77  (p.  175),  John 
R.  Hodges,  Daniel  Wheeler  and  John  Elrod  were  authorized  to 
locate  the  road  authorized  by  the  act  of  1870  (Ch.  254),  and  by 
the  same  laws  (Ch,  CLXXXIX,  p.  365)  the  road  from  Phineas 
Ilorton's  store  in  Wilkes  was  altered  by  changing  the  Stony 
Fork  road  so  as  to  run  to  John  Key's,  and  then  up  Stony  Fork 
at  Larkin  Bishop's  mill,  and  thence  to  Deep  Gap.  By  the  same 
laws  (Ch.  LII,  p.  673)  the  citizens  of  Watauga  and  Caldwell 
counties  were  allowed  to  pass  free  all  toll  gates  of  Catawba  and 
Watauga  Turnpike  Company.  By  the  laws  of  1870-71  (Ch. 
254,  p.  409)  a  public  road  was  authorized  from  Phineas  and 
A.  H.  Plorton's  store  in  Wilkes  County  to  Boone,  running  up 
Elk  Creek  and  crossing  the  Blue  Ridge  by  the  most  practicable 
route.  As  seen  above,  this  road  was  not  built  till  after  the  laws 
of  1876-77  had  been  passed.  By  chapter  68,  laws  of  1874-75 
(p.  59),  a  road  was  authorized  to  be  constructed  from  Boone  to 
the  Caldwell  and  Watauga  Turnpike  at  a  point  on  the  Blue  Ridge 
between  Wm.  Morris'  and  L.  Henly's,  and  by  the  laws  of  the 
same  year  (Ch.  109,  p.  601)  a  road  was  authorized  from  a  point 
on  the  Caldwell  and  Watauga  Turnpike,  where  the  old  Mor- 
ganton  road  intersects  the  same  in  Watauga  County,  and  thence 
via  Wm,  Welch's  and  Elisha  Lewis'  to  M.  C.  Coffey's,  thence 
with  a  dividing  ridge  via  Thomas  Right's  and  A.  J.  McClean's, 
so  as  to  intersect  the  Morganton  road  at  the  Globe  Church  in 
Caldwell  County. 

The  Earliest  Stopping  Places. — The  first  and  only  taverns 
or  inns  or  public  houses,  as  they  were  variously  called,  were 
Solomon  Greene's,  which  was  in  Deep  Gap,  to  the  right  of  the 
old  State  road  running  from  Wilkesboro  through  that  gap  via 
what  is  now  Boone,  Hodges'  Gap,  Sugar  Grove,  through  George's 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  273 

Gap  and  Baker's  Gap  to  Roan's  Creek  in  Tennessee.  Squire 
Wm.  P.  Welch  lives  there  now.  Col.  Jonathan  Horton  kept  the 
next  place,  which  was  on  New  River,  one  mile  below  Three 
Forks  Church,  where  Rudy  Vannoy  now  lives.  There  were  no 
other  stopping  places  from  there  to  Benjamin  Webb's,  where 
Rev.  William  Farthing  afterwards  lived  and  died.  It  was  on 
Beaver  Dams.  These  were  then  the  places  of  "entertainment," 
though  private  houses  then  "took  in"  travelers  as  they  do  now. 
While  Webb  was  keeping  this  house,  it  is  said  that  James  Ward 
went  there  "a-courtin'."  Webb  arose  early  and  began  mowing 
grass  before  breakfast,  and  came  in  to  that  meal  wet  and  hungry. 
Ward  was  just  getting  out  of  his  bed,  and,  "stretching,"  ex- 
claimed, "I  feel  like  I  could  stretch  a  mile."  "I  wish  you  would," 
cried  Webb,  "and  I  wish  you  would  stretch  it  towards  your  own 
home,  too." 

The  First  Paper  Railroads. — In  January,  1851,  the  legisla- 
ture appropriated  twelve  thousand  dollars  to  be  used  in  the  sur- 
vey of  a  route  for  a  railroad  from  Salisbury  to  the  Tennessee 
line  "at  or  near  the  place  where  the  French  Broad  River  passes 
into  the  State  of  Tennessee."  This  may  be  said  to  have  been 
the  first  of  the  almost  numberless  steps  to  get  a  railroad  across 
the  Blue  Ridge.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  it  was  not  then 
contemplated  to  build  a  road  through  any  part  of  Watauga 
County,  which  had  just  been  formed.  But  at  the  next  session 
of  the  legislature,  in  1852  (Ch.  CXXXVI),  the  North  Carolina 
and  Western  Railroad  Company  was  incorporated,  and  Jordan 
Councill,  Jonathan  Horton,  Reuben  Mast  and  John  Morris,  or 
any  three  of  them,  were  authorized  to  open  books  of  subscription 
to  the  capital  stock  in  the  town  of  Boone.  The  road  was  to 
commence  at  Salisbury  and  run  thence  by  the  most  practicable 
route  across  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  Tennessee  line.  Its  capital 
stock  was  to  be  three  million  dollars.  It  was  not  confined  to 
any  route,  and  Watauga  County  might  have  stood  a  chance  to 
profit  thereby  if  the  most  practicable  route  over  the  Blue  Ridge 
had  been  found  within  its  borders.  But  it  was  not,  the  Swan- 
nanoa  Gap  having  been  chosen.  At  the  same  session  another 
railroad  was   incorporated,  to   run  so  as  to   follow   down  the 


274  -^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Little  Tennessee  River  to  the  Tennessee  line.  This  was  called 
the  Blue  Ridge  Railroad.  Neither  road  came  as  far  as  the 
mountains  of  North  Carolina  till  after  the  Civil  War.  But  the 
door  of  hope  was  not  entirely  closed  to  Watauga,  for  in  Febru- 
ary, 1855  (Ch.  22y),  the  Atlantic,  Tennessee  and  Ohio  Railroad 
was  incorporated,  to  run  with  one  or  more  tracks  and  to  be 
operated  by  steam,  animal  or  other  power  between  Charlotte, 
N.  C,  and  some  point  on  the  East  Tennessee  and  Virginia  Rail- 
road, at  or  near  Jonesboro,  in  Washington  County,  Tenn.,  and 
form  such  connection  by  way  of  Moccasin  Gap  of  Clinch  Moun- 
tain in  the  State  of  Virginia,  by  the  most  practicable  line  to  the 
head  waters  of  Big  Sandy  River,  thence  the  most  eligible  route 
to  the  Ohio  River.  Commissioners  were  appointed  to  open  books 
of  subscription  on  the  first  Monday  of  July,  1854,  and  be  kept 
open  for  twenty  days,  Sundays  excepted,  between  10  a.  m.  and 
4  p.  m.  at  Boone  and  many  other  places,  including  points  in 
Tennessee  and  Virginia.  This  road  must  have  crossed  the  Blue 
Ridge  near  the  Coffey  Gap  and  followed  the  Watauga  River  to 
Jonesboro.  It  has  not  been  built  yet,  though  nature  had  graded 
a  road-bed  for  it  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  The  track 
was  completed  from  Charlotte  to  Statesville  before  the  Civil 
War,  but  the  iron  and  cross  ties  were  removed  and  laid  down 
upon  a  grade  constructed  by  the  government  of  the  Confederate 
States  from  Greensboro  to  Danville,  Va.,  early  in  the  Civil  War. 
The  track  was  relaid  between  Charlotte  and  Statesville  soon 
after  the  close  of  hostilities,  but  it  has  never  passed  through 
the  Coffey  Gap  or  down  the  Watauga  River,  which  still  opens 
inviting  arms  to  its  construction.  By  chapter  XL  (Laws  1871-72) 
the  Charlotte  and  Taylorsville  Railroad  Company  was  author- 
ized to  build  a  road  from  Troutman's  depot  on  the  A.  T.  &  O. 
R.  R.,  in  Iredell  County,  to  Taylorsville,  and  thence,  by  or  near 
Lenoir  and  Boone,  the  most  practicable  route,  to  some  point 
on  the  Tennessee  line.  This  stopped  at  Taylorsville,  however, 
and  is  there  yet.  Just  where  the  North  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Railroad  Company,  amended  by  chapter  XLVII  (Laws 
1871-72),  was  to  run  is  immaterial,  as  it  never  came  to  Watauga 
or  near  it  under  that  name.    At  the  same  session  the  upper  divi- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  275 

sion  of  the  Yadkin  Railroad  Company  was  incorporated  to  run 
from  Salisbury  to  Wilkesboro  and  thence  to  the  Tennessee  or 
Virginia  line,  but  it  too  stopped  before  reaching  God's  country. 
The  Carolina  Narrow  Guage  Railroad  Company  was  chartered 
to  run  from  the  South  Carolina  line  via  Dallas,  Lincolnton,  New- 
ton, Hickory  Tavern  to  the  town  of  Lenoir,  but  no  further.  It 
has  observed  its  original  charter  and  is  at  Lenoir  still — very 
still.  By  chapter  XXV,  Laws  1872-73,  the  Carolina  Narrow 
Gauge  (name  spelt  right  this  time  without  any  legislative  au- 
thority whatever!)  was  authorized  to  consolidate  with  the  Ches- 
ter and  Lenoir  Narrow  Gauge  Railroad  Company  if  stockholders 
of  both  companies  were  willing.  They  were,  but  Lenoir  is  still 
the  head  of  the  railroad.  The  State  found  good  employment  for 
its  convicts  by  making  them  build  railroads,  and  this  policy  was 
continued  with  general  approval  till  recently,  when  certain  states- 
men in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  having  secured  all  such  aid 
as  was  required  for  their  immediate  needs,  tried  to  discontinue 
the  custom  absolutely,  but  failed.  It  was  in  the  hope  of  such 
aid  that  some  of  the  enterprising  citizens  incorporated  the  Wa- 
tauga Railway  Company  (Ch.  411,  Pr.  Laws,  1905),  which,  by 
chapter  408,  Laws  of  1909,  was  authorized  to  be  transferred  to 
W.  J.  Grandin  and  his  associates  upon  certain  conditions;  but 
two  years  having  elapsed  and  those  conditions  not  having  been 
complied  with,  the  legislature  (Ch.  316,  Laws  191 1)  gave 
Grandin  and  associates  twenty  months  longer,  after  which  time, 
if  they  had  not  commenced  work,  etc.,  the  powers  and  property 
so  assigned  were  to  revert  to  the  original  incorporators.  By 
chapter  11,  Pr.  Laws  of  1913,  the  Watauga  Railway  Company 
was  authorized  to  become  part  of  the  Watauga  and  Yadkin 
River  Railroad  Company.  In  1912  the  county  of  Watauga  voted 
$100,000.00  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  this  road,  upon  certain 
conditions,  which  were  never  fulfilled.  At  the  session  of  the 
legislature  of  191 5  it  was  determined  to  continue  the  convicts  on 
this  railroad  construction.  The  East  Tennessee  and  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad  was  finished  to  Cranberry  in  1882, 
coming  from  Johnson  City  via  Elizabethton,  Tenn.  The  Linville 
Railroad  Company  extended  this  line  to  Pinola  or  Saginaw  in 


276  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

1900,  but  it  is  now  under  the  management  of  the  E.  T.  &  W.  N. 
C.  R.  R.  This  road  was  for  several  years  the  nearest  to  Wa- 
tauga County,  Pinola  being  only  twenty-four  miles  from  Boone, 
but  in  May,  191 5,  the  Virginia-Carolina  Railway  from  Abing- 
don, Va.,  was  completed  to  Todd,  now  called  Elkland,  and  is  in 
operation.     This  is  about  eleven  miles  from  Boone. 

First  Railroad  Surveys. — Major  William  Cain,  a  distin- 
guished member  of  the  faculty  of  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, has  furnished  many  valuable  facts  as  to  the  first  surveys 
for  railways  made  through  Watauga  County.  It  seems  that  in 
1859  a  line  was  run  from  about  Patterson,  in  Caldwell  County, 
known  as  Kuper's  line,  which  required  the  tunneling  of  the 
Blowing  Rock  Ridge  and  Watauga  Gap,  thence  along  the  north 
side  of  the  Grandfather  to  the  head  of  Watauga  River,  and 
down  that  stream  to  Elizabethton,  Tenn.  This  line  would  be 
expensive  to  construct,  but  it  would  eHminate,  by  the  use  of  deep 
tunnels,  a  great  deal  of  the  elevation  that  has  to  be  overcome 
on  the  line  through  Cook's  Gap.  Nothing  was  done,  however, 
till  the  winter  of  1881,  when  General  Imboden  obtained  a  char- 
ter from  the  North  Carolina  legislature  for  the  South  Atlantic 
and  Ohio  Railway  Construction  and  Operating  Company.  (Ch. 
41,  Laws  1881,  p.  87.)  This  charter  recited  that  representations 
had  been  made  that  the  Tinsalia  Coal  and  Iron  Company  of  Vir- 
ginia were  the  owners  of  valuable  coal  mines  in  Virginia  and 
were  building  a  narrow  gauge  railroad  from  their  mine  in  Big 
vStone  Gap  to  Bristol,  Tenn.-Va.,  and  had  also  obtained  a  charter 
from  Tennessee  to  extend  their  line  to  some  convenient  point  on 
the  North  Carolina  State  line  so  as  to  pass  through  Watauga 
and  Mitchell  counties.  Upon  these  and  other  representations 
the  above  charter  was  granted  for  a  narrow  gauge  railway,  and 
C.  L.  Dwight,  a  civil  engineer  of  South  Carolina,  was  employed 
to  make  the  survey.  As  he  was  engaged  at  that  time  on  another 
survey,  the  main  task  of  locating  the  road  fell  on  Major  Wm. 
Cain,  and  he  ran  the  line  so  as  to  come  up  Elk  Creek  through 
Cook's  Gap,  thence  passing  two  or  three  miles  from  Boone 
through  a  gap  to  the  Watauga  watershed,  thence  north,  grading 
down  along  the  sides  of  Rich  Mountain  with  much  curving. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  277 

until  finally  the  line  took  a  westerly  direction  and  reached  the 
level  of  the  Watauga  River  some  few  miles  before  reaching  the 
Tennessee  line.  There  were  about  2,000  feet  to  be  overcome 
from  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  with  seventeen  miles  development 
to  make  the  rise  to  Cook's  Gap,  but  there  were  no  tunnels. 
Major  Cain  was  a  pioneer  in  putting  the  heavier  grades  on  the 
tangents  and  the  lighter  on  the  curves — a  practice  then  unheard 
of,  but  now  universal.  To  reach  the  valley  of  the  Elk  from  his 
initial  point  near  Patterson,  he  had  to  wind  around  many  little 
peaks  of  the  Bull  Ruffin  Ridge  at  one  point  and  curve  around 
the  heads  of  several  valleys  in  order  to  reach  Elk  Creek,  where 
for  a  few  miles  the  fall  of  the  creek  was  greater  than  his  grade, 
but  he  eventually  caught  up  with  it  and  reached  the  valley  with 
his  grade  line  successfully.  The  average  grade  was  approxi- 
mately 150  feet  to  the  mile.  From  Cook's  Gap  the  fall  to  the 
Watauga  is  not  so  great,  its  elevation  being  3,349,  just  seventeen 
feet  more  than  that  of  Boone,  and  the  Watauga  River  at  Shull's 
Mills  2,917,  and  at  Valle  Crucis  2,726,  but  the  slopes  are 
smoother  than  the  line  east  of  Cook's  Gap.  He  began  this  line 
on  the  2ist  of  March,  1881,  and  when  near  the  Tennessee  line 
was  called  to  another  road,  June  18,  1881,  Mr.  Dwight  then 
taking  charge.  But  the  chief  promoter  fell  out  with  the  presi- 
dent of  the  road,  who  had  the  financial  backing,  and  nothing  was 
done  after  the  survey  was  finished. 

A  Great  Inter-Montane  Road. — There  was  a  road,  to  run 
from  Sparta  to  Asheville,  planned  and  partially  constructed 
somewhere  about  1868,  Coffey  Brothers,  of  Boone,  having  a 
contract  for  the  construction  of  two  miles,  running  from  the 
Musterfield,  through  the  town  to  the  branch  above  the  Blackburn 
hotel,  and  thence  through  the  Bryan  and  Gragg  farms  to  Poplar 
Grove  Church,  where  it  was  to  follow  down  Lance's  Creek  to 
Shull's  Mills.  Robert  Shearer  had  the  mile  running  from  the 
Musterfield  towards  the  Three  Forks  Church.  It  was  during 
this  period  that  the  road  was  changed  just  east  of  the  John 
Hardin  home  to  its  present  location  and  beyond  the  Musterfield 
so  as  to  run  north  of  its  old  location.  The  grade  from  Todd  was 
also  made  at  this  time,  the  old  road  going  directly  up  a  very 


278  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

steep  hill.  But  the  new  road  from  the  high  hill  beyond  the 
Perkins  home  and  between  it  and  Sands  was  surveyed  by  T.  L. 
Critcher  four  years  ago  and  built  by  the  county.  One  of  these 
days,  believer,  a  railroad  will  run  from  Sparta  to  Jefferson  and 
from  there  to  Boone,  or  near  it,  and  thence  over  the  Linville 
Gap  and  down  Linville  River  to  near  the  falls,  thence  to  the 
Toe,  crossing  that  stream  to  Cane  River,  Weaverville  and  Ashe- 
ville.  Then  the  mountain  people  can  go  from  north  to  south 
and  from  south  to  north  without  having  to  zig-zag  across  the 
mountains  from  east  to  west  and  then  back  again,  as  at  present, 
without  getting  to  their  destination  even  then.  Such  a  railroad 
would  tap  every  transmontane  railroad  and  wagon  road,  would 
get  all  the  lumber,  grain,  fruit,  minerals,  stock  and  passengers 
that  now  have  to  go  miles  and  miles  out  of  the  way  to  get  a  few 
miles  north  or  south.  Besides,  the  public  could  then  learn  that 
all  the  scenery,  climate  and  pure  water  of  the  mountains  of 
Western  North  Carolina  are  not  confined  between  Old  Fort  and 
Murphy.  Then  the  wonderland  of  Madison,  Yancey,  Mitchell, 
Avery,  Watauga,  Ashe  and  Alleghany  would  be  revealed  in  its 
unsurpassed  loveliness. 


SKETCHES  OF  PROMINENT  FAMILIES 

{Alphabetically  arranged;  not  indexed.) 

The  Adams  Family. — Alfred  Adams  was  born  in  1811,  July 
loth.  His  wife  was  Elizabeth  Flannery,  born  in  Lee  County, 
Virginia,  November  28,  181 5,  These  were  married  on  Cove 
Creek  December  29,  1839.  Their  children  were  Sarah,  who 
married  Carroll  Wilson,  who  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War,  and, 
after  his  death,  she  married  Jacob  S.  Mast;  George  F.,  born 
December  8,  1842,  and  was  killed  in  Civil  War;  Tarleton  P. 
Adams  was  born  March  14,  1846,  and  married,  first,  Rebecca 
Adams,  June  7,  1877,  and,  second,  Mollie  Tugman,  December  15, 
1910;  Leah  E.,  who  married  Isaac  Dougherty  about  1876,  and 
Abner,  who  married  Elizabeth  Combs  about  1875.  The  father 
of  Alfred  Adams  was  John,  who  was  born  in  France  of  English 
ancestry  and  came  with  Lafayette's  soldiers  as  a  drummer  boy 
of  sixteen  years.  He  stayed  till  the  Revolutionary  War  was 
ended,  but  when  Lafayette's  soldiers  were  about  to  return,  John 
hid  himself  in  a  flour  barrel  at  Philadelphia  and  escaped.  There 
he  joined  a  whaling  ship  and  went  with  it  two  years,  after  which 
he  apprenticed  himself  to  a  cabinet  maker  for  seven  years  in 
Philadelphia.  It  becoming  rumored  that  the  French  were  about 
to  search  the  city  for  deserters,  John  set  out  for  North  Carolina 
and  reached  the  head  of  the  Yadkin,  where  he  met  and  married 
Easter    Hawkins.      Their    children   were   Frank,    who   married 

;    Tarleton,   who  married  a  Harman ; 

Squire,  who  married  a  Greene;  Allen,  who  married  a  Greene; 
Alfred,  who  married  EHzabeth  Flannery;  George,  who  died  at 
eighteen ;  Patsy,  who  married  a  Williams ;  Rachel,  who  married 
Jehiel  Smith,  and  Elizabeth,  who  married  Enoch  Greene. 

Tarleton  P.  Adams  was  elected  a  county  commissioner  in 
1878,  and  was  appointed  on  Board  of  Education  in  1882,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  four  years,  from  1896  to  1900,  has  been 
a  member  ever  since  and  will  be  six  years  longer — by  far  the 
longest  service  in  the  State. 

279 


28o  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Baird  Family. — Ezekiel  Baird  was  the  father  of  Bedent  and 
William  Baird,  and  came  to  North  Carolina  from  New  Jersey. 
William  went  West,  where  he  died.  Bedent  married  Mary,  a 
daughter  of  Cutliff  Harman,  and  lived  one  mile  down  the  Wa- 
tauga River  from  Valle  Crucis  on  its  left  bank,  where  Walter 
Baird  now  lives,  though  Bedent's  old  house  has  been  replaced  by 
the  present  large  frame  dwelling.  Bedent's  sons  were  Alexan- 
der, who  married  Nancy  Vanderpool,  and  lived  on  the  waters  of 
Brushy  Fork ;  Franklin,  who  married  Catharine  Moody,  daughter 
of  Edward,  who  lived  at  what  is  now  Foscoe.  Franklin  lived 
one  mile  down  the  Watauga,  where  James  Church  now  lives, 
and  just  above  Walter's ;  Palmer,  who  married,  first,  Elizabeth 
McBride,  and  lived  on  Beech  Mountain,  three  miles  from  Be- 
dent's; Blodgett,  who  moved  to  Tennessee  and  married  a  lady 
near  Nashville.  He  was  absent  forty  years  before  he  was  heard 
of  at  Valle  Crucis.  The  next  was  Euclid,  named  for  the  geome- 
trician, and  he  married  Louisa  Councill,  daughter  of  Jordan 
Councill  the  first,  and  lived  where  ex- Sheriff  W.  B.  Baird  now 
lives. 

Franklin's  children  were:  Jackson,  who  married  Tempe 
Shull;  WilHam,  who  married  Sarah  McNab;  Susan,  who  mar- 
ried James  Lowrance;  David  F.,  who  married  Elizabeth  Wag- 
ner; Thomas  Carroll,  who  went  to  Texas,  where  he  died 
unmarried  about  1861. 

Alexander's  children  were :  Bedent,  who  went  West  and  mar- 
ried Susan  Jane  Merchant;  Abram,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Hartley;  Warren,  who  married  Rebecca  Hartley;  Ezekiel,  who 
married  Sarah  Wilson;  Jonathan,  who  died  in  the  Civil  War; 
Phoebe,  who  never  married;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Hiram 
Wilson. 

Palmer's  children  were:  John,  who  married  Miss  Shupe; 
Andrew,  who  died  in  the  Civil  War,  unmarried ;  Ann,  who  mar- 
ried Wm.  Grimsley;    Caroline,  who  married ; 

Eliza,  who  never  married. 

Blodgett's  children  are  not  known  to  his  Watauga  relatives. 

Euclid's  children  were:  Benjamin,  who  married  Celia  Gragg; 
John,  who  married  Emeline  Shell ;  Hiram,  who  died  in  the  Civil 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  281 

War ;  Thomas,  who  went  West  and  died  unmarried ;  Sarah,  who 
married  John  Hackney;  Charlotte,  who  married  Eli  Brown; 
Mary,  who  married  Hiram  Gragg. 

Rittenhouse's  children  were:  William  B.,  who  married  Eliza 
Gragg. 

David  F.'s  children  are:  Victoria,  who  married  T.  H.  Taylor; 
Allie,  who  married  J.  M.  Shull;  Nora,  who  married  D.  C.  Mast; 
Susan,  who  married  Jack  B.  Horton;  Emma,  who  married  W. 
W.  Mast;  Lula,  who  married  J.  C.  Moore;  Thomas  C.,  who 
married  Emma  Mast. 

Banner  Family. — From  Murphey's  Papers  (Vol.  H,  p.  381) 
we  learn  that  Joseph  Banner  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1749 
and  moved  to  Stokes  County,  North  Carolina,  in  1751.  Stokes 
was  then  Anson  County,  and  it  was  there  that  Joseph's  father 
settled.  His  home  was  on  Town  Fork,  near  the  present  village 
of  Germantown,  N.  C.  One  of  the  Banners  entered  land  in 
Ashe  soon  after  its  formation.  Banner  is  a  Welsh  name  and 
used  to  be  written  Bannerman.  It  seems,  however,  that  Henry 
Banner  was  the  first  of  the  name  to  come  to  America,  arriving 
between  1740  and  1750,  and  married  a  Miss  Martin  from  Eng- 
land. They  settled  on  Buffalo  Creek,  then  Rowan,  now  Stokes 
County.  He  bought  land  from  Lord  Granville  in  1752.  There 
were  three  sons  of  this  union:  Ephriam,  Joseph  and  Benjamin. 
Ephriam  was  the  father  of  Joshua,  and  Joshua  of  Lewis,  and 
Lewis  of  Edward  J.  Banner.  Lewis  Banner's  brothers  were 
Martin,  who  married   Mary  Ogburn;    Anthony,   who  married 

;    John,   who  married   a   Miss   Shiposh; 

Edward,  Mathew  and  Joshua,  who  married,  but  the  surnames  of 
their  wives  have  been  forgotten.  All  these  came  to  Banner's  Elk 
about  three  years  before  the  Civil  War,  except  Martin,  who 
came  in  1849.  Martin  died  at  Montezuma,  Anthony  and  John 
at  Banner's  Elk,  Edward  at  Elk  Park,  Mathew  in  Texas  in  1914, 
and  Joshua  in  Surry  County.  Martin  Banner's  children  were: 
Virginia,  born  in  1832;  Napoleon,  in  1834;  William,  in  1836; 
Oliver,  in  1838;  Columbia,  in  1840;  Newton,  October  8,  1842; 
Luther,  in  1844 ;  Martin,  in  1846 ;  Mary,  in  1848,  and  Missouri, 
in  1850.    Newton  Banner  married  Sophronia  Mast  in  1866. 


282  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Bingham  Family. — George  M.  Bingham  was  born  July  20, 
1805,  on  Reddy's  River,  Wilkes  County,  and  married  Mary 
Ann  Davis,  who  was  born  in  1813,  on  waters  of  Cove  Creek. 
He  died  January  21,  1880.  They  were  married  in  1833  or 
1834.  Their  children  were:  William  G.,  born  in  1835,  and  who 
married  Roxanna  Presnell;  Louisa,  who  married  Marshall 
Miller  in  1856,  lived  on  Cove  Creek  till  1892  or  1893,  when  she 
moved  to  Idaho,  her  husband  having  died  during  the  Civil  War. 
She  died  in  Idaho  in  1900.  Harvey  was  the  next  child,  and  was 
born  February  13,  1839;  died  March  17,  1895.  He  married 
Nancy  Ann  Miller  in  1861  and  went  to  the  war  in  Young  Farth- 
ing's company,  37th  North  Carolina  regiment,  but  was  dis- 
charged in  the  latter  part  of  1862  because  of  bad  health,  having 
been  slightly  wounded  twice.  He  became  major  of  the  battalion 
at  Camp  Mast  of  the  Home  Guard.  After  the  war  he  went  to 
Haywood  County  and  taught  school  at  what  is  now  Canton,  but 
was  then  Ford  of  Pigeon  River.  Then  he  went  to  school  at 
Sand  Hill,  Buncombe  County,  to  a  Presbyterian  minister  named 
Hood.  Then  he  came  back  to  Watauga  County  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1869,  and  practiced  here  till  1881,  when 
he  moved  to  Statesville,  where  he  taught  a  school  of  law  and 
engaged  actively  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  The  next 
child  was  Harrison  Bingham,  who  died  in  infancy;  then  came 
Violet  Emeline,  who  died  when  barely  grown ;  then  came  Elliott, 
who  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War  on  Beech  Mountain ;  Marshall, 
who  died  at  thirty-four,  unmarried ;  Isidor,  who  died  when  two 
years  old,  and  Carohna,  who  married  E.  L.  Presnell.  George 
M.  Bingham's  father  was  William,  and  his  wife  was  Elizabeth 
McNeil.  William  was  born  in  Virginia  and  came  to  Reddy's 
River  when  a  young  man.  Their  children  were :  William,  who 
married;  Sarah,  who  married,  first,  Thomas  Proffitt,  and,  sec- 
ond, Wm.  Case;  Nancy,  who  married  Joseph  Miller;  Joel,  who 
married  a  Miss  Miller  in  Georgia,  and  Jemima,  who  died  unmar- 
ried when  about  grown.  It  is  a  family  tradition  that  Benjamin 
Bingham,  brother  of  WilHam,  who  came  from  Virginia  to 
Reddy's  River,  fired  the  last  cannon  at  Yorktown.  Hon.  Thomas 
Bingham  thinks   that   Benjamin  was   the   ancestor  of   Robert, 


MAJOR  HARVEY  BINGHAM 

Soldier  and  lawyer. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  283 

Steven  and  Duval  Bingham,  and  that  Steven  was  a  Methodist 
preacher  and  first  cousin  of  George  M.  Bingham.  This  Benja- 
min was  a  giant  in  his  day,  and  it  is  related  of  him  that  a  noted 
fighter,  wishing  to  test  his  strength  as  a  wrestler,  came  to  Reddy's 
River  and  lay  in  the  shade  of  some  trees  and  watched  Benjamin 
lead  the  reapers  in  the  wheat  harvest  till  sundown,  when  he  made 
his  business  known.  It  was  then  that  Benjamin,  without  resting 
or  eating,  girded  his  loins  and  threw  his  opponent  as  often  as  he 
wished  to  try  conclusions  with  him. 

Thomas  Bingham  was  born  February  3,  1845,  and  he  mar- 
ried, first,  Sarah  Ann  Farmer,  February  17,  1870,  and,  second, 
Laura  E.  Combs,  July  4,  1885.  There  were  two  children  by  the 
first  marriage,  one  of  whom  died  unmarried,  and  the  other, 
Etta,  married  Ed.  Madron.  There  were  fourteen  children  by 
the  second  marriage.  Thomas  Bingham  was  early  elected  as- 
sistant township  clerk,  and  then  to  the  county  board  of  educa- 
tion; he  was  then  appointed  a  member  of  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  in  1895,  to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of  Critt 
Horton,  and  was  then  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1880,  1886, 
1896,  and  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1902  and  in  1906.  He 
was  stricken  with  paralysis  October  7,  1910.  He  was  also  editor 
of  the  Watauga  Enterprise  from  February  till  November,  1888. 

John  H.  Bingham,  Esq. — This  distinguished  attorney  was 
born  in  1867,  and  was  a  son  of  William  G.  Bingham.  He  mar- 
ried Alice  Smith  about  1890,  and  was  elected  Superior  Court 
clerk  in  1898.  Filmore  and  Richard  Bingham  are  physicians, 
and  are  brothers  of  John  H.  Bingham. 

Major  Harvey  Bingham. — In  the  winter  of  1864-65,  the 
Home  Guard  battalion  of  Watauga  was  camped  on  Cove  Creek 
near  what  is  now  Sugar  Grove,  the  name  of  their  camp  having 
been  Camp  Mast.  Harvey  Bingham  was  the  major,  and  Geo. 
McGuire,  who  had  been  absent  from  the  county  for  a  long  while 
before  his  return  and  election,  was  captain  of  Company  A. 
Jordan  Cook  was  captain  of  Company  B,  of  which  Col.  W.  L, 
Bryan,  of  Boone,  was  first  lieutenant.  Major  Bingham  and  his 
adjutant,  J.  P.  Mathewson,  left  camp  to  go  to  Ashe  to  confer 
with   Captain   McMillan,  who  commanded  a  cavalry  company 


284  -4  History  of  Watauga  County 

there,  about  co-operating  with  his  battalion  in  a  raid  he  then 
contemplated.  During  his  absence  Company  B,  under  command 
of  Lieutenant  Bryan,  was  camped  at  Boone,  and  Captain  Mc- 
Guire  sent  him  word  about  dark  that  he  expected  an  attack  on 
Camp  Mast  that  night.  Lieutenant  Bryan,  however,  did  not 
start  for  that  place  till  the  following  morning,  and  when  he  got 
near  it,  discovered  the  cabins  in  smoking  ruins  and  all  of  Com- 
pany A  absent.  McGuire  had  surrendered  them  to  Colonel 
Champion,  of  the  Federal  army,  the  night  before.  They  were 
taken  to  Camp  Chace  and  kept  till  the  close  of  the  war.  It  is 
said,  however,  that  McGuire  was  not  treated  as  a  prisoner,  but 
was  allowed  a  horse  and  rode  away  with  the  officers  to  whom  he 
had  surrendered  his  men.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  Mc- 
Guire had  betrayed  his  men  to  the  enemy,  and  he  certainly  had 
surrendered  them  under  the  protest  of  many  of  his  subordinate 
officers;  one  of  whom,  Paul  Farthing,  told  him  that  if  the 
company  was  surrendered  Farthing's  Hfe  would  be  surrendered, 
meaning  that  he  would  not  survive  captivity.  He  and  a  nephew 
who  was  surrendered  with  him  shortly  afterwards  died  in  Camp 
Chace.  After  the  war  Major  Bingham  was  a  candidate  for  the 
Statd  Senate  before  a  Democratic  convention  held  at  Lenoir,  and 
the  late  W.  B.  Farthing  stated  that  Bingham  was  suspected  of 
complicity  with  McGuire  in  the  surrender  of  the  troops  at  Camp 
Mast,  and  that  if  he  was  nominated  the  people  of  Watauga 
would  not  support  him.  This  led  to  his  defeat  and  there  was 
talk  of  a  duel  between  these  two,  but  both  decided  it  was  best 
to  leave  the  issue  to  the  future  rather  than  to  two  leaden  bullets, 
and  the  matter  was  dropped.  But  feeling  still  ran  high  against 
Major  Bingham,  and  he  and  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  John  B. 
Miller,  of  Wilkes,  left  Watauga  together  and  rode  on  horseback 
to  one  of  the  western  counties,  where  they  taught  school  till  a 
better  feeling  pervaded  their  home  county,  when  they  returned. 
He  studied  law  and  practiced  in  Statesville,  to  which  place  he 
soon  removed.  He  died  there,  a  respected  citizen  and  able  law- 
yer, and  time  has  fully  vindicated  his  memory  of  the  unjust  sus- 
picion that  once  drove  him  from  his  home,  and  no  one  now  doubts 
his  entire  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  285 

Blackburn  Family. — The  first  of  the  name  to  come  to  this 
section,  according  to  Mr.  Clyde  C.  Miller,  of  Sands,  N.  C, 
a  member  of  the  Blackburn  family,  was  Benjamin,  a  soldier  of 
the  Revolution,  who  settled  on  the  South  Fork  of  New  River 
at  what  is  now  called  the  Cal  Tucker  place,  near  the  new  town 
of  Riverside.  He  and  another  Revolutionary  soldier  named 
Jones  are  buried  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  in  the  same 
graveyard.  Benjamin  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  Sarah, 
who  married  Levi  Morphew  or  Murphey.  Their  children  were 
Edmund,  Levi  and  John.  Edmund  had  a  daughter  who  married 
Joseph  Williams,  and  two  sons,  one  named  Benjamin  and  the 
other  Levi,  the  latter  of  whom  married  a  Greer,  from  whom 
there  were  Noah,  William,  Isaac,  Edmund,  John  and  Hampton; 
his  daughters  were  Rebecca,  Hannah,  Nancy,  EHzabeth  and 
Sarah.  Rebecca  married  Jonathan  Miller;  Hannah  married 
John  Campbell ;  Nancy  married  John  Gentry  and  moved  to  Ten- 
nessee; Elizabeth  married  William  Miller,  and  Sarah,  W.  S. 
Davis.  Noah  Blackburn  lived  and  died  in  Carter  County,  Tenn. 
Among  his  children  were  Dr.  Larkin  Blackburn  and  Milly  Black- 
burn. William  married  a  Ray  and  lived  in  Bald  Mountain  town- 
ship. He  had  a  large  family,  principally  of  girls,  several  of 
whom  died  in  childhood,  Margaret  living  to  womanhood  and 
marrying  Asa  Clawson,  and  Martha,  who  married  Julius 
Graham,  and  Elizabeth,  who  married  Dr.  Graham.  Isaac  Black- 
burn married  Martha  Tatum  and  moved  to  Missouri.  He  was 
killed  in  the  Civil  War,  leaving  three  sons,  all  of  whom  now  live 
in  Missouri.  Edmund  lived  and  died  on  Meat  Camp,  where  he 
reared  a  large  family,  many  of  whom  are  still  living.  His  chil- 
dren were:  Martha,  Mary,  Alexander,  Smith,  Wiley,  Manley 
B.,  Martitia,  Eugene  Spencer  and  Thomas.  Martha  married 
Wm.  Blackburn  and  lives  at  Virgil ;  Mary  married  T.  B.  Miller 
and  lives  on  Meat  Camp;  Alexander,  who  married  Rhoda 
Howell  and  lives  at  Elkland.  Smith  died  when  young.  Wiley 
married  twice,  first,  Mary  Norris,  and  then  Nora  Houck,  and 
lives  on  Meat  Camp,  near  the  old  home  place.  Manley  B.  mar- 
ried Martha  Norris  and  lives  at  Boone.  He  has  been  postmaster, 
register  of  deeds  and  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  succeeding  his 


286  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

brother,  Eugene,  who  died  unmarried  while  serving  as  register 
of  deeds.  Martitia  married  Jonathan  Greene  and  moved  to 
Missouri,  where  she  now  Hves.  E.  Spencer  became  a  lawyer  and 
located  at  Jefferson,  and  was  elected  to  the  legislature  from 
Ashe,  becoming  speaker  of  that  body.  A  few  years  later  he 
was  appointed  assistant  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the 
Western  District  of  North  Carolina.  Then  he  moved  to  Wilkes- 
boro,  and  while  residing  there  was  elected  twice  to  represent 
the  Eighth  District  in  Congress.  Afterwards  he  moved  to  Okla- 
homa and  then  to  Elizabethton,  where  he  died  in  191 2,  Thomas 
studied  medicine,  located  at  Boone  and  afterwards  became 
assistant  surgeon  in  the  United  States  navy.  He  is  now  prac- 
ticing medicine  at  Hickory,  N.  C.  John  married  a  Case,  and 
had  three  children,  Silas,  Levi  and  Mary.  Silas  is  married  and 
lives  in  Tennessee.  Levi  is  married  and  lives  at  his  father's 
place  in  Ashe.  Mary  married  Mack  Edwards  and  lives  at 
Wilkesboro.  Hampton  married  a  Snyder,  dying  at  Todd  and 
leaving  two  boys  and  five  girls :  The  boys,  Roby  and  George, 
are  married  and  live  at  Todd.  Roby  studied  medicine  and  is 
now  a  practicing  physician.  Victoria  married  Shadrach  Graham ; 
Florence  married  B.  Bledsoe ;  Callie  married  Caleb  Green ;  Rosa 
died  unmarried ;  Sophronia  married  K.  Edwards  and  lives  in 
Ashe. 

Edmund  Spencer  Blackburn,  born  in  Watauga  County,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1868;  attended  common  schools  and  academies,  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  May,  1890;  was  reading  clerk  of  North 
Carolina  Senate  1894-1895 ;  representative  in  State  Legislature 
1896-1897;  was  elected  speaker  pro  tern  of  this  Legislature; 
appointed  assistant  United  States  Attorney  for  western  district 
in  1898,  and  assisted  in  the  prosecution  of  Breese  and  Dickerson 
in  the  First  National  Bank  case;  elected  as  Republican  to  57th 
Congress  (March  4,  1901-March  3,  1903)  ;  re-elected  March  4, 
1905,  and  died  at  Elizabethton,  Tenn.,  March  10,  1912.  Inter- 
ment at  Boone,  N.  C.  Edmund  Blackburn  was  the  first  of  his 
family  to  settle  in  Watauga,  then  Ashe  County,  and  married  a 
relative  of  Levi  Morphew,  who  died  in  19 14  on  the  New  River, 
well  up  in  the  nineties.     Edmund's  children  were  Levi,  Sallie 


HON.  E.  SPENCER  BLACKBURN,  M.  C. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  287 

and  Edmund,  Levi  having  been  the  grandfather  of  E.  Spencer 
and  M,  B.  Blackburn,  of  Boone.  Levi  Morphew  is  a  son  of 
SalHe  Blackburn.  Among  the  first  Methodist  Churches  in  Wa- 
tauga was  the  one  built  by  the  Blackburn  family  on  Riddle's 
Fork  of  Meat  Camp  Creek,  called  Hopewell,  the  Methodists 
having  worshipped  in  Levi  Blackburn's  house  prior  to  that  time. 
Henson's  Chapel  on  Cove  Creek  was  probably  the  first  Method- 
ist Church  in  Watauga.  The  first  church  built  in  Boone  was 
built  about  1880.  About  1904  Mr.  Blackburn  married  Miss 
Louise  Parker,  daughter  of  Myron  T.  Parker,  of  Washington, 
D.  C,  from  which  union  two  girls  were  born. 

Blair  Family. — James  Blair  came  from  England  and  went  to 
the  Jamestown  Settlement  of  Virginia  at  some  period  of  its 
existence,  but  exactly  when  tradition  does  not  state.  His  wife 
was  a  Colvert,  she  and  her  and  his  family  having  accompanied 
him  over,  one  of  their  sons  having  been  named  Colvert.  This 
son  after  awhile  returned  to  England  and  married  a  Miss 
Morgan  and  returned  with  her  to  Virginia.  Some  of  their  de- 
scendants came  to  this  State  and  settled  in  Randolph  County, 
John  Blair,  Sr.,  having  been  born  there  July  6,  1764,  where  he 
married  a  Miss  Hill.  Their  children  were  James,  who  married 
a  Barnes ;  William,  whose  wife's  name  has  been  lost ;  Thomas, 
who  married  Susannah  Edmisten ;  Colvert,  who  married  a 
Barnes ;  Henry,  who  married  Mary  Steele,  June  28,  1832.  Of 
these,  Henry  Blair  was  born  April  22,  1806,  and  Mary  Steele 
February  10,  1806 ;  John  Culbison,  born  April  9,  1833 ;  Nancy 
Rebecca,  born  August  26,  1835;  Elijah  S.,  born  June  14,  1838; 
Wm.  Morgan,  born  December  27,  1840 ;  James  Thompson,  born 
October  16,  1843;  George  Henry,  born  March  25,  1847.  Of 
these,  James  Culbison  married  Susan  C.  Powell,  June  21,  1871 ; 
Nancy  Rebecca  married  Wm.  Horton,  October  16,  i860;  Elijah 
S.  married  Corrinna  Finley,  May  17,  1870;  Wm.  M.,  killed  in 
Civil  War,  having  been  wounded  March  31,  1865,  and  died 
April  19,  1865,  near  Petersburg,  Va. ;  James  Thompson  was 
accidentally  killed  September  25,  1850;  George  Henry  married, 
first,  Mary  E.  Councill,  January  2,  1872,  and  then  Mary  A. 
Rousseau,  September  27,  1882. 


288  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Thomas  Blair  was  also  a  son  of  John  Blair,  Sr.,  and  his  chil- 
dren were:  John  C,  who  married  Julia  A.  Conley  first  and 
then  Lidia  Ann  Yelton.  Their  children  were  Wm.  T.,  who  mar- 
ried Mary  E.  Boyd,  April  15,  1866;  James  B.,  who  married 
Emeline  Curtis;  Mary  S.,  who  married  Wm.  Glenn;  Julia 
Caroline,  who  married  L,  R.  Jones.  By  John  C.  Blair's  second 
marriage  there  were :  Sarah  Jane,  who  married  Richard  Taylor ; 
Alice  M.  A.,  who  married  Valentine  Reese ;  Lou  Ellen  Rebecca, 
who  married  Mathew  Hammons;  Margaret  I.,  who  married 
John  Hammons;  Margaret,  daughter  of  Thomas,  married  Reed 
Moore,  of  the  Globe. 

John  was  another  son  of  John,  Sr.,  and  married  Abigail 
McCreary  and  lived  on  Little  River. 

Morgan  was  another  son  of  John,  Sr.,  and  married  Eliza- 
beth McLeod,  and  lived  on  Little  River.  EUjah  was  still  an- 
other son,  but  died  unmarried;  also  WilHam,  who  married  and 
moved  to  Virginia,  where  he  died. 

Colbert's  children  were:  James  B.,  who  married  Harriet 
Coffey;  John,  who  married  in  Buncombe;  Nancy,  who  married 
Martin  Dougherty ;  Louisa,  who  married  Robert  Greer ;  Sarah, 
who  married  a  Harman;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Joseph  Green, 
and  Polly,  not  married. 

The  daughters  of  John  Blair,  Sr.,  were:  Frances,  who  mar- 
ried and  moved  to  Virginia;  Elizabeth,  who  also  married,  and 
another  who  married  Martin  Cox  in  Caldwell  County. 

Brown  Family. — James  Brown  came  from  Holland  to  Wilkes 
County  and  settled  near  Holman's  Ford  of  the  Yadkin — the 
Dutch  equivalent  of  Brown  sounding  very  much  as  the  English 
word  is  pronounced.  He  had  ten  sons,  of  whom  is  still  remem- 
bered Joseph,  who  settled  just  below  Three  Forks  Church.  He 
married  a  Miss  Hagler,  of  the  "Big  Waters  of  Pee  Dee,"  in 
South  Carolina.  Their  children  were:  Thomas,  Elizabeth, 
Jesse,  Sallie,  Nancy  and  James.  Thomas  married  Susan  Greene, 
a  daughter  of  John  "Flatty;"  Joseph  married  Nancy  Farthing, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Wm.  Farthing;  Elizabeth  died  unmarried; 
Jesse  married  a  Miss  Webb,  of  Judge  James  L.  Webb's  family; 
SalHe  married  Reuben  P.  Farthing ;  Nancy  married  Daniel  Brad- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  289 

ley;  James  married  Harriet  Farthing,  daughter  of  Rev.  Wm. 
Farthing.  James'  sons  were  Eli,  James,  Frank,  Thomas,  Hub- 
bard, Jesse  and  Ben.  Eli  and  Ben  settled  in  Ashe.  Eli  had  one 
son,  Jesse,  who  lived  on  Brushy  Fork,  and  he  left  a  son  who  now 
lives  there.  Benjamin  left  a  son,  Asa  Brown,  who  lives  near 
Todd  or  Elkland,  and  a  daughter,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Church,  and 
lives  at  the  head  of  Watauga  River.  James  the  second  had  a 
son,  Eli,  who  settled  in  Ashe  and  married  a  Miss  Sands,  and  left 
Newton,  who  moved  to  Missouri  before  the  Civil  War;  Milton, 
who  died  on  Middle  Fork,  and  married  Hannah  Shearer,  daugh- 
ter of  Jack  and  granddaughter  of  Robert  Shearer  the  first. 
Caroline  never  married.  Nancy  married  Thomas  Brown ;  David 
went  to  Missouri  and  married  a  Miss  Brown  there.  Eli,  son  of 
James  the  second,  had  a  number  of  brothers,  of  whom  Thomas 
is  still  remembered.  He  went  to  Alabama;  William  went  to 
Georgia  and  another  brother,  whose  name  has  been  forgotten, 
went  to  Missouri.  James,  youngest  son  of  Joseph  Brown,  set- 
tled on  Roan  Creek,  Tenn.,  and  married  Harriet  Farthing.  Their 
children  were  Hamilton,  who  was  killed  by  a  tree  on  Roan  Creek 
when  fourteen  years  old;  Nancy,  who  is  still  living;  Captain 
Bartlett  Roby  Brown  married  Callie  Wagner,  daughter  of  "Gray 
Jake;"  Stephen  Justice  married  a  sister  of  B.  R.  Brown's  wife 
and  died  in  1913;  Mary,  wife  of  William  Shull,  both  now  dead, 
left  a  son,  James  A.,  who  lives  at  Neva;  Sallie,  who  died  when 
nine  or  ten  years  old;  Eva,  yet  living  at  Neva;  Martha,  who 
married  Norman  Wills  and  lives  at  Silver  Lake;  James  Julian, 
who  died  at  twenty-one,  and  Dudley,  who  married  a  Miss  Wil- 
liams and  lives  near  Knoxville. 

Thomas  Brown,  eldest  son  of  Joseph  and  grandson  of  James 
the  first,  was  county  surveyor  of  Watauga  County,  and  one 
morning  was  out  before  breakfast  making  up  his  field  notes  while 
sitting  under  a  tree  near  Henson's  Chapel  on  Cove  Creek,  with  a 
number  of  men  around  him.  There  was  no  wind,  but  suddenly 
hearing  bark  begin  to  fall,  the  others  ran.  But  he,  waiting  to 
gather  his  papers,  was  delayed  and  unfortunately  ran  in  the 
direction  in  which  the  tree  fell.  He  was  caught  by  its  branches 
and  killed.     It  was  an  immense  tree  and  prostrated  five  other 


290  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

trees  when  it  fell.  His  sons  were  Richard,  Joseph,  Bartlett, 
Daniel,  Alfred,  who  was  a  baby  when  his  father  was  killed; 
Mary,  who  married  Rufus  Holtsclaw,  and  Elizabeth,  who  mar- 
ried EHsha  Green,  all  now  dead.  James  Brown  the  first  entered 
640  acres  of  land  on  Meat  Camp  from  a  description  of  its 
boundaries  given  by  Daniel  Boone  and  his  companions  while 
James  still  lived  in  Wilkes  and  before  he  had  even  seen  the  place. 
Rev.  L.  W.  Farthing,  his  greatgrandson,  surveyed  the  land  by 
the  original  grant,  which  was  dated  in  1789  or  1790, 

John  and  Lewis  Bryan  or  Bryant. — This  name  used  to  be 
spelt  Bryant,  but  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  "t"  was 
superfluous,  it  was  dropped.  Morgan  Bryan  spelt  his  name  with 
a  "t,"  as  did  all  who  now  call  themselves  Bryan.  Battle  Bryan, 
as  he  was  baptized,  but  changed  his  name,  because  the  children 
called  him  a  battling  stick,  to  Bartlett,  was  the  son  of  Lewis 
Bryan  and  Elizabeth  White,  of  Iredell  County.  Lewis  was  the 
first  merchant  in  Jefferson,  about  1800,  but  he  had  a  clerk  whose 
name  was  Alerchison,  and  on  one  occasion,  when  Lewis  was  ab- 
sent, purchasing  goods,  this  clerk  sold  all  the  goods  he  could 
convert  into  money  at  a  small  price,  collected  all  the  debts  he 
could  at  a  large  discount,  and  disappeared.  When  Lewis  Bryan 
returned  he  remarked  to  his  wife,  after  looking  over  his  affairs, 
"Betsy,  I'm  busted."  He  returned  to  Iredell  with  his  wife,  and 
was  killed  there  by  a  tree  which  fell  on  him  at  a  "chopping 
frolic,"  Lewis  was  the  son  of  John  Bryan,  who  was  at  home  on 
a  furlough  when  the  notorious  Col.  David  Fanning,  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary period,  killed  him  in  cold  blood. 

From  "Murphey's  Papers"  (Vol.  2,  pp.  397,  398)  we  learn 
(P-  396)  that  Wm.  Lindley  was  one  of  Col.  David  Fanning's 
men,  but  took  no  part  in  Fanning's  cruelties,  being  beloved  by 
-his  neighbors.  Towards  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
when  the  Tories  began  to  think  the  Whigs  would  eventually  tri- 
umph, Lindley,  with  many  others  of  the  Tories,  "crossed  the 
Blue  Ridge  and  determined  to  remain  on  New  River  until  the 
fate  of  the  war  was  determined.  But  before  this  he  had  given 
offence  to  two  Tories,  Wm.  White  and  John  Magaherty,  and 
they  pursued  and  killed  him  on  his  way  over  the  mountains. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  291 

Fanning  hanged  White  and  Magaherty  for  this,  both  on  same 
Hmb  (p.  397).  In  trying  to  save  his  head  from  the  blow  of  a 
sword  in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  murderers  the  fingers  of  one 
of  Lindley's  hands  were  cut  off,  but  his  head  was  wounded 
notwithstanding.  White  gave  his  own  wife,  who  was  pregnant, 
an  account  of  all  this,  and  when  the  child  was  born  it  had  marks 
on  its  head  and  the  fingers  on  one  hand  were  declared  to  be 
precisely  such  as  White  had  described  (p.  397).  Toward  the 
close  of  the  war  Fanning  did  not  pretend  to  fight  openly,  but 
went  about  with  from  five  to  fifteen  men,  murdering,  burning 
and  wantonly  destroying  property  of  defenceless  people.  He 
killed  Andrew  Balfour  in  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  daughter 
and  burnt  the  house  of  Colonel  Collins."  From  that  place  they 
proceeded  to  John  Bryant's.  He  closed  his  doors;  they  called 
on  him  to  come  out  and  surrender  (p.  398).  He  refused.  They 
then  threatened  to  burn  his  house.  He  agreed  to  surrender  him- 
self if  they  would  treat  him  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  which  they 
promised  to  do.  Bryant  came  out,  and  they  instantly  shot  him 
down.  On  the  same  day  they  hanged  Daniel  Clifton,  of  Vir- 
ginia, to  the  same  limb  on  which  they  had  hanged  White  and 
Magaherty. 

Lewis  Bryan's  children  were  John  Gilson,  a  Baptist  preacher, 
who  married  the  daughter  of  James  Norris,  of  New  River,  and 
lived  on  Meat  Camp  where  Billy  Green  now  lives.  He  moved 
to  Alexander  County  and  afterwards  to  Georgia,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  ninety-eight.  The  four  girls  all  married  and  reared 
families.  Their  names  were  Sarah,  Ann,  Polly  and  Fanny.  An- 
other of  Lewis  Bryan's  sons  was  Battle,  who  married  Rebecca 
Miller,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  David  Miller,  and  reared  twelve 
children,  four  boys  and  eight  girls,  and,  strange  to  say,  there 
was  not  a  dose  of  doctor's  medicine  ever  given  one  of  the  family 
until  after  the  youngest  child  was  grown.  The  other  boys  in  the 
Civil  War,  who  escaped  without  a  wound,  were  W.  Lewis,  John 
and  Joseph. 

Battle  Bryan's  children  were  John,  who  married  Lydia  Ann 
Holder;  Henry  M.,  who  was  killed  at  Spotsylvania,  Va.,  hav- 
ing been  shot  in  the  center  of  the  forehead ;  William  Lewis,  who 


292  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

lives  in  Boone;  Joseph,  who  married  Sallie  Hodges,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Hodges ;  Polly,  who  married  Lawson  Woodring ;  Susan, 
who  married  Amos  Green;  Nancy,  who  married  David  Norris; 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Jehiel  Eggers;  Sallie,  who  married  a 
Raegan;  Jane,  who  married  John  White;  Carolina,  who  died 
young  and  unmarried,  and  Ann,  who  married  T.  J.  Brown.  He 
is  dead,  but  she  still  lives, 

William  Lewis  Bryan. — He  was  born  on  Meat  Camp  Novem- 
ber 19,  1837.  His  father  was  Battle  or  Bartlett  Bryan  and  his 
mother  Rebecca  Miller.  Battle  Bryan  was  a  son  of  Lewis 
Bryan,  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth  White,  and  was  born  in  what  is 
now  Alexander  County  in  1799,  dying  in  1894.  Rebecca  Miller 
was  the  daughter  of  Hon.  David  Miller,  and  was  born  in  1806 
and  died  in  1904.  Colonel  Bryan  moved  to  Boone  in  1857,  after 
having  attended  several  schools  on  Meat  Camp  and  spending  one 
summer  in  the  home  of  Paul  Hartzogg,  near  the  mouth  of 
Phoenix  Creek,  Ashe,  helping  Daniel  Moretz  build  an  overshot 
grist  mill  for  George  Bower.  While  in  Boone  Colonel  Bryan 
clerked  for  Jacob  Rintils,  and  made  shoes  for  Jack  Horton. 
Rintils  having  moved  to  Statesville  about  1858,  where  he  mar- 
ried Betty  Wallace,  a  sister  of  Isaac  and  David  Wallace,  Colonel 
Bryan  followed  him  there,  and  clerked  for  him  a  few  months, 
after  which  he  returned  to  Boone  and  carried  on  business  for 
Rintils  in  the  James  H.  Tatum  store  till  early  in  the  Civil  War. 
Rintils  having  withdrawn.  Colonel  Bryan  and  Moretz  Weisenfeld 
continued  the  business  at  the  same  stand  till  Weisenfeld  went 
into  the  Confederate  army,  when  Colonel  Bryan  moved  the  stock 
to  the  store  room  which  stood  where  the  J.  D.  Councill  house 
now  stands,  buying  everything  he  could  that  he  thought  the 
people  needed.  Stoneman's  men  did  not  molest  him  or  his  stock, 
but  robbers  who  followed  that  raid  stole  all  he  had.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Meat  Camp  and  tended  a  crop  on  shares  for  his  aunt, 
Mrs.  Polly  Lookabill.  He  married  Miss  Sarah  Hayes,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Ransom  Hayes,  on  the  12th  of  December,  1865,  and  went 
with  her  to  his  Meat  Camp  home,  where  they  resided  till  the 
death  of  her  father  in  1868.  Then  they  returned  to  Boone  and 
farmed  till  March,  1870,  when  he  opened  up  a  mercantile  busi- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  293 

ness  in  the  old  Councill  store  for  M.  V.  Moore,  buying  Moore 
out  in  1873.  He  continued  in  this  business  till  his  store  and 
dwelling  and  stock  were  burned  July  4,  1895.  Since  then  he  has 
farmed.  He  was  for  years  United  States  commissioner  and 
mayor  of  Boone.    He  has  done  much  to  preserve  local  history. 

Cable  Family. — Kasper  Cable  came  from  Germany  in  the 
British  army  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  but  deserted  at  the 
first  opportunity  and  went  to  Dry  Run,  in  what  is  now  Johnson 
County,  Tenn.,  where  he  married  a  Miss  Baker.  Their  children 
were  Jacob,  Benjamin,  Joseph,  Kasper,  Daniel,  Conrad  and  sev- 
eral daughters.  Of  these  children,  Conrad  had  the  following 
sons  and  daughters :  Kasper,  who  married  Lucinda  Hamby ; 
John,  who  married  Edith  Blevens ;  Andrew,  who  married  a  Miss 
Bradley;  Claiborne,  who  married  Lotta  Dugger;  Edna,  who 
married  William  Staunton ;  Polly,  who  never  married ;  Sarah, 
who  married  Morgan  Swift ;  Rhoda,  who  married  John  Dugger, 
and  another  daughter  who  married  Elias  Swift.  T.  A.  Cable  is 
a  son  of  Claiborne,  and  was  born  June  22,  1846.  He  married 
Ermine  B.  Farthing,  November  17,  1870. 

The  Coffey  Family. — Thomas  Coffey  was  a  son  of  John 
Coffey,  and  his  wife  Jane  Graves,  of  the  Church  of  England. 
His  grandfather  came  from  Ireland  to  America,  where  he  died, 
leaving  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  as  follows:  John,  Eliza- 
beth, Patsy,  Anister  and  Edward.  John  married  Jane  Graves, 
whose  parents  came  from  England.  They  had  six  sons  and  two 
daughters,  as  follows:  James,  who  married  Elizabeth  Cleve- 
land ;  John,  who  married  Dorcas  Carter ;  Edward,  who  married 
Nancy  Shenalt;  Thomas,  who  married,  first,  Eliza  Smith,  and, 
second,  Sally  Fields;  Reuben,  who  married  Sallie  Scott;  Ben- 
jamin, who  married  Polly  Hayes ;  William,  who  married  Eliza- 
beth Ashburn;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Thomas  Fields,  and 
Winifred,  who  married  Nicholas  Morrison. 

The  children  of  Thomas  Coffey  and  his  first  wife,  Eliza  Smith, 
were  Betsy,  who  married  David  Allen ;  John,  who  married  Han- 
nah Wilson;   Thomas,  who  married Coffey;   James, 

who  married  Delia  Ferguson ;  Polly,  who  married  William 
Coffey ;   Smith,  who  married  Hannah  Boone. 


294  -^  History  of  Watauga  County 

The  children  of  Thomas  Coffey  and  his  wife,  SalHe  Fields, 
were :  Martha,  who  married  James  Dowell ;  William,  who  mar- 
ried Annie  Boone,  niece  of  Daniel  Boone;  Reuben,  who  married 
Polly  Dowell;  Elijah,  who  married  Polly  Hull;  Sally,  who 
married  Samuel  Stewart;  Jesse,  who  died  unmarried;  Lewis, 
who  married  Harriet  Powell;  Larkin,  who  married  Catharine 
Wilson,  and  McCaleb,  who  married  Ehzabeth  Collett. 

McCaleb  Coffey  was  born  August  22,  1803,  and  married  Eliza- 
beth Collett,  February  5,  1828.  He  died  February  17,  1881. 
His  wife  was  born  March  8,  1809,  and  died  July  6,  1887.  Their 
children  were  Thomas  Jefferson  Coffey,  who  married  MoUie 
Greer;  Charles  L.,  who  married  Emily  Coffey;  Sarah  A.,  who 
married  John  Steele;  an  infant  who  died  unnamed;  John  E., 
drowned  when  a  child;  Mary  L.,  who  married  George  Nelson; 
Margaret,  who  died  unmarried;  W.  Columbus,  who  married, 
first,  Carrie  Curtis,  and,  second,  Mrs.  Ada  Penn;  Martha  E., 
unmarried;  Henry  C,  who  married  Sophronia  Coffey;  Carrie, 
who  married  David  J.  Farthing;  James  E.,  who  died  of  diph- 
theria at  Petersburg,  Va.,  in  1864;  Rachel  M.,  who  married 
Thomas  Coffey;  Jennie,  unmarried;  Laura,  died  when  four 
years  old;   Buddie,  who  died  when  two  years  old. 

Smith  Coffey,  son  of  Thomas  Coffey  and  Elizabeth  Smith, 
his  first  wife,  married  Hannah  Boone,  a  niece  of  Daniel  Boone 
and  a  sister  of  Anna  Boone.    Their  children  were :    Squire,  who 

married  Ella ;   Morgan,  who  married ; 

Athen,   who  married  ;    Sallie,   who   married 

Wm.  Puett;  Leland,  who  married  Myra  Day;  Isaac,  who  mar- 
ried Sallie  Estes;  MilHe,  who  married,  first,  Wiley  Stanley  and 
then  John  Tritt. 

Abram  Collett  came  from  Scotland  and  married  Margaret 
Wakefield,  by  whom  he  had  three  children :  Betsy,  who  married 
Thomas  Church ;  Rachel,  who  married  a  Mr.  Ingmon ;  Charles, 
who  married  Amelia  Parks,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children : 
Margaret,  Rachel,  Abram,  Thomas,  John,  Mary,  James,  Eliza- 
beth, Francis  and  McCoy.  Of  these,  Rachel  married  William 
Wakefield;  Abram  married  Mary  Stewart;  John  married  Mar- 
garet Murphy,  who  died,  and  he  then  married  Eliza  Jane  Cald- 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  295 

well ;  James,  who  married  Jane  Stewart ;  Elizabeth,  who 
married  McCaleb  Coffey,  and  Frances,  who  married  Alfonso 
McGimpsey. 

William  Columbus  Coffey. — He  was  born  near  Patterson  in 
Caldwell  County  April  3,  1839 ;  went  to  Butler,  Tenn.,  in  April, 
1859,  where  he  arrived  with  only  three  cents  in  his  pocket.  He 
went  into  business  there,  on  the  left  bank  of  Roan  Creek  and  a 
little  above  the  present  residence  of  D.  J.  Farthing,  where  the 
store  washed  away  in  September,  1861.  He  waded  waist-deep 
in  water  trying  to  save  the  stock.  In  April,  1862,  he  went  into 
the  26th  North  Carolina  regiment,  where  he  remained  till  1863, 
when  he  got  a  transfer  to  the  58th  North  Carolina,  Col.  J.  B. 
Palmer,  in  which  he  was  elected  third  lieutenant  in  April,  1864, 
in  which  capacity  he  served  till  the  58th  and  60th  regiments  were 
consolidated,  when  he  became  second  lieutenant.  He  surrendered 
at  Greensboro  with  Johnson's  army  in  April,  1865.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1865,  he  came  with  his  brother,  Thomas  Jefferson  Coffey, 
to  Boone  and  opened  a  store  in  the  J.  W.  Councill  store.  In 
June,  1866,  he  left  Boone  and  opened  a  branch  store  of  Thos. 
J.  Coffey  &  Bro.  at  what  is  now  Zionville,  near  the  head  of  Cove 
Creek,  where  he  carried  on  business  in  a  store  room  which  is 
now  gone,  but  which  stood  on  Reuben  Farthing's  land.  He  re- 
turned to  Boone  and  assisted  his  brother  to  build  the  Coffey 
hotel  and  store  in  1869,  and  moved  into  that  hotel  before  it  was 
completed,  which  was  not  till  1870.  He  married  Carrie  L. 
Curtis,  daughter  of  Hezekiah  Curtis,  of  Wilkesboro,  in  1866. 
Their  children  were  Edgar  S.,  who  married  Anna  Parks ;  Thomas 
Finley,  who  married,  first,  Jennie  Councill,  and,  second,  Blanche 
Wells,  of  Manning,  S.  C.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  W. 
C.  Coffey  married  Mrs.  Ada  Penn  in  July,  1908. 

Thomas  Jefferson  Coffey  was  born  near  Patterson,  Caldwell 
County,  in  December,  1828,  and  died  in  June,  1901.  He  taught 
school  at  Valle  Crucis  before  the  Civil  War,  but  soon  went  into 
business  at  what  is  now  Butler,  Tenn.  He  joined  the  Confed- 
erate army,  finally  becoming  captain  of  Company  E,  58th  North 
Carolina  infantry.  He  married  Mollie  Greer  about  1866.  She 
is  still  living  in  Statesville.    Their  children  were  Elizabeth,  who 


296  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

married  Judge  W.  B.  Councill;  Margaret,  who  married  Stacy 
Rambo,  of  Mountain  City,  Tenn.,  and  Stewart,  who  married, 
first,  a  Miss  Sanborn,  and  then  a  Mrs.  Roby,  and  lives  at  States- 
ville.  Before  his  death  he  and  brother,  W.  C,  entered  into  an 
agreement  that  whichever  survived  the  other  should  carry  on 
the  firm  business  as  long  as  he  thought  fit,  and  then  divide  the 
property.  Upon  the  death  of  Thos.  J.,  in  1901,  W.  C.  carried  on 
the  business  as  before  for  about  two  years  and  until  T.  J.'s 
youngest  child  became  twenty-one  years  old.  He  then  divided 
the  property  into  two  lots.  Lot  No.  i  contained  the  stock  of 
merchandise  on  hand,  the  debts  due  the  firm,  cash  on  hand  and 
part  of  the  land.  In  lot  No.  2  were  the  greater  part  of  the  land 
and  the  live  stock  principally.  T.  J.  Coffey's  heirs  were  given 
choice  of  the  two  lots,  and  chose  lot  No.  i.  Thomas  J.  Coffey 
had  most  to  do  with  the  building  of  the  turnpike  from  Blowing 
Rock  to  Boone.  He  got  the  charter  through  the  legislature  and 
took  the  contract  to  build  the  road,  which  contract  was  given  to 
himself  and  brother,  W.  C.  Coffey.  The  survey  was  made  by 
S.  T.  Kelsey,  the  overseeing  was  done  by  Alexander  McRae,  the 
work  was  commenced  in  August,  1893,  and  the  road  was  fin- 
ished in  October,  1894. 

Cottrell  Family.— Wm.  Cottrell,  Sr.,  settled  in  Caldwell 
County,  and  was  the  father  of  several  children,  among  whom 
was  William,  Jr.,  who  married  Lucy  Day.  Their  children  were : 
John,  who  married  a  Triplett,  and  moved  to  Mississippi,  where 
both  died,  leaving  children,  two  of  whom  live  in  that  State  and 
one  in  Texas.  Thomas  and  William  and  several  girls  were  other 
children  of  William,  Jr.,  and  Lucy  Day.  One  of  these  girls 
married  a  Minton  and  settled  near  Wilkesboro,  another  married 
Wm.  Brown  and  moved  to  Georgia,  while  a  third  married  a 
Coffey  and  settled  on  Mulberry,  where  they  died  several  years 
ago,  leaving  several  children  in  Caldwell  County.  William  Cot- 
trell married  Susan  Shearer,  settled  in  Caldwell,  where  they 
died.  James,  a  brother  of  William  and  Thomas,  married  a  Blair 
and  settled  in  Caldwell.  Thomas  Cottrell  married  Louisa 
Shearer  and  settled  in  Watauga.  To  them  were  born  ten  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  dead  but  four.     These  are:     Louisa  and 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  297 

Julia,  who  live  in  Caldwell ;  Susan,  who  lives  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
L.  N.  Perkins  near  Boone,  and  C.  J.  Cottrell,  who  married 
Melissa  Norris.  This  gentleman  is  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  is 
connected  with  the  Appalachian  Training  School.  He  lost  an 
eye  at  Resacka  in  1864.  He  is  a  most  worthy  and  highly  re- 
spected citizen. 

Councill  Family, — The  following  facts  have  been  taken  hap- 
hazard from  the  family  Bible  in  possession  of  Mrs.  J.  S.  Wil- 
liams. They  will  be  valuable  to  all  who  trace  their  ancestry 
from  this  family,  the  first  of  whom  was  Jordan,  making  three 
Jordans  in  succession  before  1850.  Jordan  Councill,  who  lived 
at  the  Buck  Horn  Tree  place,  just  east  of  the  town  of  Boone, 
where  Jesse  Robbins  now  lives,  was  born  in  1769,  having  been 
the  son  of  Jordan  Councill.  He  married  Sallie  Howard  about 
1797,  and  died  December  10,  1839.  His  son,  Jordan  Councill, 
was  born  September  22,  1799.  Sarah  Councill  was  born  Sep- 
tember 23,  1802. 

The  children  of  Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  who  married  Sallie 
Bowers,  September  3,  1823,  were:  John  C,  born  August  i, 
1824;  James  W.,  born  December  29,  1826;  William  Bowers, 
born  February  23,  1829;  Elizabeth,  born  September  29,  1831 ; 
Sarah  Louise,  born  December  7,  1841 ;  Martha  Adelaide,  born 
December  8,  1845  '>   George  R.,  born  October  12,  1849. 

Daughters  of  Jordan  Councill,  Sr.,  and  his  wife,  SaUie 
Howard:  i.  SalHe,  who  married  Alfred  Martin,  of  Yadkin 
County ;  2.  Lottie,  who  married  John  Hardin,  Sr. ;  3.  Eliza- 
beth, who  married  Willis  McGhee;  4.  Nancy,  who  married  Col. 
Euclid  Baird;  Eliza,  who  married,  first,  George  Phillips,  the 
father  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Phillips,  and,  second,  Rittenhouse  Baird,  the 
father  of  ex-Sherifif  William  B.  Baird,  who  lived  below  Valle 
Crucis  on  the  old  homestead.  George  Phillips  was  the  sheriflf  of 
Ashe  County,  and  on  his  return  from  Raleigh,  where  he  had 
gone  to  settle  the  taxes  collected  by  him,  was  drowned  in  the 
Shallow  Ford  of  the  Yadkin.  This  was  long  before  the  Civil 
War  and  soon  after  the  birth  of  his  son,  Dr.  J.  B.  Phillips. 

The  children  of  Dr.  W.  B.  Councill,  who  married  Alice  M. 
Bostwick,  June  7,  1854,  were:    Jefferson  Bostwick,  born  Octo- 


298  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

ber  3,  1855;  William  Bower,  born  August  11,  1857;  Margaret, 
born  February  10,  1861 ;  I.  Lenoir,  born  March  25,  1864;  Emma 
A.,  born  June  19,  1866;    Mary  Virginia,  born  January  12,  1862. 

The  children  of  J.  W.  Councill,  who  married  M,  V.  Cocke 
November  29,  1854,  were:  Mary  Alice,  born  October  17,  1856; 
G.  W.,  born  December  31,  1859;  J.  D.,  born  August  21,  1861 ; 
R.  Lenoir,  born  April  19,  1864;  Sallie  M.,  born  September  16, 
1866;  Bettie  Folk,  born  August  17,  1870;  John  Hardin,  born 
February  25,  1874;   Walter  Armfield,  born  May  14,  1878. 

George  R.  Councill  ("Toad")  married  Anna  M.  Carter  June 
28,  1881 ;  S.  W.  Boyden  married  Margaret  F.  Councill  Febru- 
ary 14,  1882;  John  S.  Williams  married  Elizabeth  F.  Councill 
January  9,  1889;  Dr.  L.  C.  Reeves  married  Sallie  M.  Councill 
April  16,  1890;  Richard  L.  Councill  married  Cora  Bryan  Octo- 
ber — ,  1889;  Geo.  N.  Folk  married  Elizabeth  A.  Councill 
October  16,  1853;  J.  W.  Councill  died  November  19,  1884; 
Jordan  Councill,  Jr.,  died  July  24,  1875 ;  Sarah  L.  Councill  died 
November  26,  1844;  Martha  A.  died  November  3,  1856;  Sallie 
B.  died  April  23,  1877;  George  R.  died  July  9,  1891 ;  Mary  V. 
died  November  26,  1894. 

Jordan  Councill  the  First. — He  married  Sallie  Howard, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Howard,  and  lived  on  the  right  hand 
side  of  the  old  road  which  led  from  Councill's  store  to  Jeffer- 
son, at  what  is  now  called  the  Buck  Horn  Tree  place  and  where 
Jesse  Robbins  in  1914  erected  two  houses.  There  is  a  fine  spring 
near  by.  Councill's  house  was  of  logs.  He  was  a  farmer  and 
a  man  of  means.  His  children  were :  i.  Jesse,  who  married  Sallie 
Dixon,  of  Ashe,  and  lived  where  Jerry  Ray  now  lives,  nearly 
two  miles  east  of  Boone  and  off  the  road  to  Three  Forks.  2.  Jor- 
dan, who  married  Sallie  Bower,  sister  of  George  Bower,  and 
lived  at  the  old  Councill  home,  opposite  Richard  M.  Greene's 
home  in  Boone.  He  was  the  Father  of  Boone,  and  Ransom 
Hayes,  who  gave  as  much  land  as  he,  was  the  Step-father  of 
Boone.  3.  Benjamin,  who  married,  first,  Lizzie  Mast,  daughter 
of  Joel  Mast,  and  lived  at  Vilas,  and,  second,  Tempe  Shull,  sister 
of  Joseph  Shull,  Sr.,  and  of  Phillip  Shull.  There  were  four 
children  by  the  first  and  four  by  the  last  marriage. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  299 

Jordan    Councill's    Grandchildren. — Jesse's    children    were: 

1.  Sallie,  who  married  Jesse  Ray  and  lived  on  Old  Fields  Creek; 

2.  Nancy,  who  married  Thomas  Green  and  lived  at  the  mouth  of 
Meat  Camp;  3.  Elizabeth,  who  married  Albert  P.  Wilson  and 
lived  on  Cove  Creek  after  the  Civil  War,  when  he  sold  the  place 
to  Hiram  McBride,  of  Tennessee,  and  came  to  Boone,  where  his 
wife  died.     He  now  lives  near  Three   Forks   Baptist  Church. 

4.  Louisa,  who  married  D.  B.  Ferguson,  of  Meat  Camp,  and  died 
when  he  was  in  the  Civil  War.     Ferguson  still  lives  in  Catawba. 

5.  John,  who  died  unmarried  while  in  the  Confederate  army,  as 
did  also  Jordan.  Jordan  Councill's  children  were  James  W.,  who 
married  Mollie  Cocke,  of  Sumter,  S.  C.  These  were  the  parents 
of  J.  D.  Councill,  of  Boone.  Dr.  William  B.  Councill,  who  mar- 
ried Miss  Alice  M.  Bostwick,  of  Sumter,  S.  C. ;  George  R.  C. 
Councill,  who  married  a  Miss  Carter,  of  Yadkin  Valley;  Eliza- 
beth A.,  who  married  Col.  George  N.  Folk  at  Easter  Chapel  on 
upper  Watauga  River,  Rev,  Henry  H.  Prout  officiating.  Benja- 
min Councill's  children  were,  by  his  first  marriage :  Jacob  M., 
who  married  Sallie  Lewis,  daughter  of  Jacob,  who  lived  at  the 
head  of  Hog  Elk  and  was  killed  by  Stoneman's  men,  March  28, 
1865,  aged  thirty-five  years.  Their  children  were:  Mary,  who 
married  George  W.  Blair;  Benjamin  J.,  who  married  Blanche 
Hagaman,  and  Mattie,  who  married  John  Hardin,  of  Boone; 
Joseph  C,  who  married  in  Texas,  where  he  died ;  Sallie,  who 
married  Eben  Smith,  son  of  Jehiel;  Elizabeth,  who  married 
Holland  Hodges,  both  of  whom  are  living  at  Hodges  Gap,  two 
miles  west  of  Boone.  By  his  second  marriage  Benjamin  Coun- 
cill had  Jordan,  who  married  Polly  Horton;  Benjamin,  who 
married,  first,  a  Miss  Adams,  and,  second,  a  Miss  Bradley; 
Jam.es,  who  married  Sallie  Horton,  and  Polly,  who  married 
James  W.  Horton,  of  Cove  Creek, 

James  W.  Councill's  children  were:  i.  Alice,  who  married 
Samuel  Lenoir  and  still  lives  in  Sumter,  S.  C,  though  her  hus- 
band is  now  dead;  2.  George  W.  (Bud),  who  died  unmarried 
in  Sumter,  S.  C. ;  3.  J.  Dudley,  who  married  Emma,  daughter 
of  Joshua  Winkler,  and  lives  in  Boone;  4.  Richard  L.,  who 
married  Cora  Bryan  and  died  in  Boone  in  October,  1895 ;    5. 


300  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Sallie,  who  married  Dr.  L.  C.  Reeves,  who  died  at  Blowing 
Rock  about  T899.  She  still  lives  there  with  two  children.  6. 
Elizabeth,  who  married  John  S.  Williams  and  lives  near  Three 
Forks  Baptist  Church;  7.  John  H.,  who  died  unmarried; 
8.  Walter,  who  died  before  reaching  manhood.  Dr.  Wm.  Bowers 
Councill's  children  were:  i.  Jefferson  B.,  a  physician,  who  lives 
in  Salisbury;  2.  Judge  W.  B.,  who  married  Elizabeth  Coffey, 
daughter  of  T.  J.  Coffey  and  wife;  3.  Margaret,  who  married 
Stephen  Boyden,  of  Salisbury.  She  is  dead,  leaving  four  chil- 
dren. 4.  Emma,  who  married  James,  the  son  of  Henry  Taylor, 
of  Valle  Crucis.  He  is  dead,  but  she  still  lives  at  Hickory  and 
Blowing  Rock.  5.  Isaac  Lenoir,  who  is  unmarried  and  lives  at 
Waynesville ;  6.  Jennie,  who  was  the  first  wife  of  Finley  Coffey, 
cf  Manning,  S.  C. 

Jesse  Councill's  daughters  were:  Sarah,  who  married  Jesse 
Ray;  Nancy,  who  married  Thomas  Greene;  Elizabeth,  who 
married  Albert  P.  Wilson;  Louisa,  who  married  Burnett  D. 
Ferguson.  His  two  sons  never  married.  They  were  John  and 
Jordan,  and  both  died  in  the  Confederate  army.  Benjamin 
Councill's  first  wife  was  a  Miss  Mast.  Their  children  were: 
Jacob,  who  married  Sarah  Lewis,  of  Hog  Elk;  Joseph,  who 
married  a  lady  in  Texas ;  Sarah,  who  married  Eben  Smith  and 
moved  to  Texas,  where  both  died ;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Hol- 
land Hodges  and  are  still  living  a  few  miles  west  of  Boone. 
Benjamin  Councill's  second  marriage  was  to  Tempe  Shull,  an 
aunt  of  Joseph  Shull.  Their  children  were:  Jordan,  who  mar- 
ried Polly  Horton  and  died  in  Lee's  army  in  Virginia;  Benja- 
min, who  married  a  Miss  Bradley,  daughter  of  Daniel  Bradley, 
of  Brushy  Fork,  where  he  died,  and  James  P.,  who  married 
Sarah  Horton,  daughter  of  Jack  Horton,  and  lived  at  Vilas; 
sold  out  to  Finley  Holsclaw  and  moved  to  Limestone,  Tenn.,  and 
Polly,  only  daughter,  who  married  James  W.  Horton  and  lived 
at  the  old  homestead  on  Cove  Creek. 

Jordan  Councill,  Jr. — Was  born  at  the  Buck  Horn  Tree 
place,  Boone,  and  married  Sallie  Bower,  a  sister  of  George 
Bower,  of  Ashe  County.  His  son,  James  W.,  married  Mary 
Cocke,  of  Sumter,  S.  C. ;  another  son,  Dr.  William  Bower 
Councill,  married  Alice  Bostwick,  of   Sumter,   S.  C. ;    George 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  301 

Russeau  married  Annie  Carter,  of  Caldwell  County;  Elizabeth, 
who  married  George  N.  Folk,  noted  lawyer,  who  lived  at  Boone 
where  Dr.  J.  W.  Jones  now  resides,  but  moved  to  Asheville 
shortly  before  the  Civil  War,  where  he  entered  into  a  copart- 
nership with  one  of  the  Woodfins,  but  returned  to  Boone  and 
made  up  a  company  of  cavalry,  which  was  a  part  of  the  First 
North  Carolina  Cavalry.  When  he  was  in  Boone  he  made  a 
speech  to  his  men  from  the  front  of  the  store  which  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  present  residence  of  W.  L.  Bryan,  and  where  Wal- 
lace, Elias  and  Rintils  were  merchandising.  J.  W.  Councill  was 
the  first  lieutenant;  J.  B.  Todd,  second  lieutenant,  and  J.  C. 
Blair  was  third  lieutenant.  J.  W.  Todd,  afterwards  the  distin- 
guished attorney  of  Jefferson,  was  the  first  sergeant. 

Critcher  Family. — Nathaniel  R.  Critcher  was  born  in  Gran- 
ville County,  North  Carolina,  September  6,  1803,  and  married 
Cynthia  A.  Clarke,  who  was  born  in  Orange  County,  North 
Carolina,  August  9,  1804.  They,  with  her  mother  and  David 
and  Daniel  Clarke  and  Elisha  Holder,  moved  to  what  is  now 
Watauga  in  1840,  Nathaniel  settling  where  Abe  J.  Edmisten  now 
lives,  Holder  on  Howard's  Creek  and  the  Clark  brothers  at  the 
mouth  of  Roan  Creek,  now  Butler,  Tenn.  Nathaniel's  children 
were:  Guilford  A.,  Sarah  J.,  William  J.,  Nancy  C,  John  C, 
Thomas  A.,  all  of  whom  are  dead  except  Sarah  J.  Hodges,  John 
C.  having  been  killed  near  Richmond,  Va.,  in  the  Civil  War. 
Guilford  A.  was  born  in  Orange  County,  North  Carolina,  April 
28,  1828,  and  married  Frances  R.  Satterwhite,  daughter  of 
Nathan  and  Lucy,  of  Granville  County,  North  Carolina,  Decem- 
ber 29,  1852.  In  1858  they  settled  where  Charles  L.  Cook  now 
lives,  and  where  they  both  died.  Thomas  L.  Critcher,  the  oldest 
living  son  of  Guilford  A.,  was  born  October  20,  1857.  He  mar- 
ried Nannie  J.  Wilson,  daughter  of  Isaac,  and  she  died  Decem- 
ber 20,  1910.  He  is  a  merchant,  justice  of  the  peace  and  civil 
engineer.  He  owns  part  of  640  acres  granted  to  WilHam  Miller 
in  May,  1887,  and  deeded  to  Nathan  Horton  May  20,  1898,  the 
deed  having  been  witnessed  by  Shadrach  Brown  and  Hodges 
Councill.  It  is  in  Cook's  Gap  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in  which 
Thomas,  Bethuel  and  Jonathan  Buck,  William  Miller,  Nathan 
Horton,  Robert  Greene,  the  Coffeys,  Hayes  and  Shearers  have 


302  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

been  settlers,  or  through  which  they  have  passed  on  their  way- 
further  West,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  famous  Daniel 
Boone.  James  and  Alfred  Brown,  Henry  Blair,  Nathan  Satter- 
white,  Samuel  Brown,  Adam  Cook,  have  at  various  times  owned 
an  interest  in  this  land,  which  could  not  be  bought  now  for 
$10,000.00.  It  is  through  this  gap  that  the  Grandon  Railroad 
is  to  pass  on  its  way  to  Boone. 

Davis  Family. — James  Davis  was  first  of  this  family,  and  he 
was  born  in  England  and  emigrated  to  America.  His  son,  James, 
married  Nancy  Fullbright.  He  was  born  and  reared  in  Lincoln 
County,  till  Catawba  was  established,  five  miles  northeast  of 
Newton.  James  the  second  moved  close  to  Miller's  farm  on 
Meat  Camp  in  1844  when  William  S.  Davis  was  thirteen  years 
of  age.  W.  S.  married  Sarah  Blackburn  November  30,  1854. 
The  object  James  had  in  coming  was  to  run  the  linseed  oil  mills 
for  John  Moretz.  James  Davis  had  four  sons,  Isaac  and  David, 
both  of  whom  died  young;  Smith,  who  moved  to  Texas,  and 
James,  father  of  WilHam  S. 

H.  A.  Davis  was  born  in  Catawba  County  July  17,  1840, 
but  in  December,  1845,  moved  to  Watauga  County  with  his 
parents,  James  Davis  and  his  wife,  who  was  born  Nancy  Full- 
bright,  their  parents  having  come  to  North  Carolina  from  Penn- 
sylvania. H.  A.  Davis  was  married  January  23,  1868,  to  Mary 
A.  Hodges,  daughter  of  Wm.  R.  Hodges  and  Nancy  Triplett 
Hodges,  who  were  born  in  Watauga  and  Wilkes  counties,  re- 
spectively. May  17,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  D, 
ist  North  Carolina  cavalry,  and  was  captured  by  the  i6th  Penn- 
sylvania cavalry  June  9,  1863;  exchanged  June  30,  1863;  was 
wounded  September  22,  1863,  near  Jackshop,  Va,  His  wife, 
Mary  A.,  born  January  i,  1850,  died  December  5,  1875.  James 
Davis,  father  of  H.  A.,  died  August  30,  1859.  Nancy  Fullbright 
Davis,  mother  of  H.  A.,  died  March  5,  1895.  James  Davis' 
parents  were  James  Davis  and  Delphia  Mahaffa.  Nancy  Full- 
bright  Davis'  parents  were  Wm.  Fullbright  and  Nancy  Plonk. 
Nancy  Triplett  Hodges  died  in  May,  1912.  Wm.  R.  Hodges' 
parents  were  Jesse  Hodges,  who  was  murdered  in  1864  by 
Thomas  Roberts,  of  Johnson  County,  Tennessee;  Polly  Claw- 
son,  died  in  1863. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  303 

Dugger  Family. — In  1793  or  1794  Benjamin  Dugger  came 
to  Watauga  County  from  Yadkin  Elk,  where  a  creek  and  moun- 
tain still  bear  his  name.  He  entered  land  on  Brushy  Fork,  near 
the  present  Holtsclaw  settlement.  His  children  were  Selah, 
who  married  Laus  Goodin;  Daniel  Dugger;  Cora  Ann,  who 
married  Samuel  Burns;  Susannah,  who  married  John  Whit- 
tington;  Mary,  who  married  John  Calihan;  David  and  William 
Dugger.  David  Dugger  bought  out  the  other  heirs.  The  deed 
is  dated  November  i,  1815,  and  calls  for  two  tracts  on  Brushy 
Fork.  There  were  three  Dugger  brothers  who  came  from  Scot- 
land to  Yadkin  Elk,  having  settled  for  a  time  near  Petersburg, 
Va.,  Benjamin,  Daniel  and  Julius.  Ben  stopped  on  Brushy 
Fork,  Daniel  went  to  Kentucky  and  Julius  settled  in  what  was 
then  Carter  County,  Tennessee,  near  Fish  Spring,  where  some  of 
his  descendants  still  live.  It  was  from  the  Julius  Dugger  family 
that  the  Dugger  forge  and  the  beginnings  of  Cranberry  forge 
started.  David  married  Margaret  Ernest  and  their  children  are : 
Henry,  who  married  a  Green;  Polly,  who  married  David 
Howell ;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Jehiel  Smith,  and  William,  who 
married  Unice  Munday.  William's  children  were:  Henry,  who 
never  married ;  Franklin,  who  married  Martha  Presnell ;  David, 
who  married  Mary  Munday;  Elizabeth,  who  never  married; 
John,  killed  in  Civil  War;  William  Eben.,  married  Nannie  Wil- 
kerson ;   Margaret  and  Mary  Jane,  not  married. 

The  Eggers  Family. — Landrine  Eggers  came  from  London 
to  the  eastern  part  of  this  State  first  and  then  to  Ashe  County. 
He  was  born  in  1747  and  died  March  17,  1833.  He  was  mar- 
ried, first,  to  a  lady  whose  name  has  been  forgotten,  and,  second, 
to  Joanna  Green,  whose  family  lived  near  Three  Forks  Church 
and  were  members  of  that  body.  Children  of  first  marriage  have 
been  forgotten,  but  those  of  the  second  are :  Hugh,  the  date  of 
whose  birth  and  the  name  of  whose  wife  are  not  now  known, 
and  one  daughter,  Lydia,  who  was  born  December  14,  1791,  and 
married  James  Swift,  who  died  January  8,  1858,  leaving  the 
following  children:  Franklin,  born  August  ii,  1816;  Elias, 
born  February  5,  1818;  Morgan,  born  October  23,  1819;  James, 
born  December  3,  1821 ;  Martha,  born  January  i,  1824;  Mar- 
garet, born  August  26,  1826;    Elizabeth,  born  June  20,  1828; 


304  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Wilburn,  born  October  7,  1831 ;  Mary,  born  March  16,  1833; 
Rebecca,  born  April  15,  1835.  Hugh's  children  were:  Lan- 
drine,  born  September  10,  1805;  Malinda,  born  February  11, 
1802;  Washington,  born  August  21,  1808;  Nancy,  born  April 
15,  1836;  Jehiel  S.,  born  October  20,  1834;  Martha  C,  born 
September  2y,  1837,  and  the  following,  the  dates  of  whose  births 
are  unknown:  Cleveland,  Abner  and  Joel.  Landrine  the  second 
married  Ellen  McBride,  daughter  of  Wm.,  of  Rowan  County, 
born  August  5,  1800;  died  December  5,  1872.  The  children  of 
Landrine  the  second  were:  Brazilla,  born  June  10,  1825,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Isaacs;  Ransom,  born  January  5,  1827,  married 
Rachel  Isaacs;  Hugh  and  Sarah,  twins,  born  December  26, 
1828,  of  whom  Hugh  married  Alva  Kilby,  and  Sarah,  John 
Isaacs;  Landrine  the  third,  born  November  18,  1830;  Anna, 
born  July  21,  1832,  married  Franklin  Reese;  Richard,  born 
February  i,  1834,  married  Elizabeth  Reese;  John,  born  De- 
cember 2,  1835,  married  Martha  Stout;  Ellen,  born  January  16, 
1839,  married  Maston  Davis.  Landrine  the  third  married  Sep- 
tember 7,  1854,  first,  Sarah  Ward,  daughter  of  James  Ward,  of 
Watauga  River,  who  was  born  November  26,  1834,  died  July 
6,  1867.  The  children  of  the  first  marriage  were:  Sarah  Ellen, 
born  May  17,  1862,  married  Solomon  Grogan.  Landrine  the 
third's  second  wife  was  Mary  Potter.  They  were  married  March 
8,  1868,  she  having  been  born  March  15,  1831.  Their  children 
were:  John  L.,  born  July  21,  1870,  married,  first,  Alice  Greer; 
second,  Daisy  Adams,  and,  third,  the  widow  Woodring;  Omer 
C,  born  August  14,  1873,  died  of  diphtheria  November,  1887; 
Luther  D.,  born  December  26,  1876,  married  Emma  Jones, 
daughter  of  Rev.  E.  F.  Jones,  and  lives  at  Post  Falls,  Idaho; 
Barton  R.,  born  August  17,  1878,  died  of  diphtheria  November, 
1887;  Carroll  and  Jehiel,  twins,  born  May  30,  1881,  died  Novem- 
ber 9,  1887,  and  were  buried  in  same  grave. 

Edmisten  Family. — Wm.  Wallace  Dixon  Edmisten  was  born 
on  Mulberry  Creek,  Caldwell  County,  August  29,  1850.  He 
was  the  son  of  James  Edmisten  and  Mary  Shull,  a  daughter  of 
Phillip  Shull,  and  they  were  married  September  25,  1848.  Their 
children  were  W.  W.  D.  and  Nancy  Carolina,  the  latter  of  whom 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  305' 

married  Frank  Read.  James  Edmisten's  father  was  William 
and  his  wife  was  Nancy  Garner.     WilHam's  father  was  also 

named  William,  and  his  wife  was  the  widow  of  

Blair,  born  Sudderth,  a  sister  of  Abraham  Sudderth.  Her  hus- 
band,    Blair,  was  killed  at  King's  Mountain  while 

fighting  on  the  side  of  the  British,  and  Wilham  Edmisten  mar- 
ried her  after  the  Revolution.  She  was  then  a  young  widow, 
but  William  had  fought  at  King's  Mountain,  too,  where  two  of 
his  brothers,  who  were  said  to  have  been  officers,  were  killed, 
but  he  and  they  had  fought  on  the  American  side.  These 
brothers  were  from  Virginia. 

Elrod  Family. — The  first  of  this  family  came  from  France 
to  Pennsylvania  and  thence  to  Davie  County,  North  Carolina. 
From  this  State  they  have  spread  out  to  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Ken- 
tucky, Virginia  and  South  Dakota,  Henry  C.  Elrod  having  been 
governor  of  the  latter  State  a  few  years  since.  Conrad  Elrod 
was  the  father  of  William,  and  died  near  the  present  Reformed 
Church,  on  the  Blue  Ridge.  He  was  buried  in  a  hollowed  out 
chestnut  log.  William  married  Elizabeth  Lowrance,  and  their 
children  were:  Chaney,  who  married  Robert  Greene,  father  of 
Judge  L.  L.  Greene ;  Malinda,  who  married  Asa  Triplett ;  Henry, 
who  married  Sarah  Brookshire ;  Alexander,  who  married  Polly 
Shearer;  Mary,  who  married  Thomas  Cook;  Ann,  who  mar- 
ried Lot  Greene;  Hardin,  who  married  Temperance  Bradshaw; 
Rachel,  who  never  married,  and  John,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Brookshire.  Henry  Elrod  moved  to  the  Watts  Farthing  place 
when  two  years  old,  traveling  over  a  trail,  and  having  the  house- 
hold articles  carried  on  pack  horses  for  want  of  a  road.  He  had 
two  children,  William  and  Louisa.  William  married  Chaney 
Brookshire  and  Louisa  married  T.  M.  Cannon.  William  remem- 
bers that  when  he  was  eight  years  old,  on  September  27,  1856, 
there  was  a  snow  storm  in  Watauga  County.  He  also  remembers 
when  a  wagon  was  a  rare  sight  in  this  section.  He  remembers 
when  the  buckhorn  which  had  been  nailed  on  the  old  oak  tree 
on  the  old  Jordan  Council  place  showed  through  the  bark,  and 
when  it  was  entirely  covered  by  the  bark.  He  saw  this  when  he 
came  to  the  old  Musters  before  the  Civil  War.     Top  buggies 


3o6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

were  even  rarer  than  wagons,  and  James  W.  Councill  had  what 
was  probably  the  first  in  the  county  in  the  fifties.  Henry  Elrod 
was  conscripted  after  he  had  moved  in  1857  to  the  Flat  Top 
Mountain,  and  taken  to  Camp  Vance,  after  which  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Camp  Mast,  where  he  was  captured.  He  died  in  1885. 
Alex  Elrod  was  captured  by  Stoneman,  but,  pretending  to  have 
rheumatism,  was  allowed  to  escape. 

Farthing  Family. — Dudley  Farthing  was  born  in  Virginia, 
April  6,  1749.  He  was  the  son  of  William  Farthing  and  his 
wife,  Mary.  Dudley  Farthing  died  in  Wake  County  February 
22,  1826.  His  wife  was  Annie,  daughter  of  Wm.  Watkins  and 
Phoebe,  his  wife.  She  was  born  July  4,  1747,  in  Virginia,  and 
died  February  13,  1812,  in  Wake  County.  Their  children  were: 
Phoebe,  born  November  15,  1778,  and  she  married  John  Link, 
February  3,  1803 ;  Mary,  born  July  3,  1780,  and  died  March  22, 
1826;  William,  born  August  25,  1782,  married  Polly  W.  Hally- 
burton,  February  9,  1804;  John,  born  September  26,  1784,  mar- 
ried Lucy  Goss,  first,  who  died  April  9,  1827,  and  then  Polly 
Amos;   he  died  February  29,  1868;   Reuben,  born  September  i, 

1787,  married ;   died  August  14,  1834;  EHza, 

born  February  22,  1790,  and  died  August  3,  1790.  The  children 
of  the  Rev.  William  W.  Farthing  were :  Dudley,  born  Novem- 
ber 29,  1804,  married  Nancy  Mast  in  1831;  he  died  July  8, 
1895,  and  she  September  22,  1882;  Patsy,  born  December  4, 
1805,  married  Thomas  Shearer,  an  uncle  of  Robert  Shearer; 
they  moved  to  Kansas  between  1850  and  1855 ;  Nancy  was  born 
February  21,  1807,  married  Joseph  Brown  and  went  to  Mis- 
souri; Reuben  P.,  born  June  28,  1808,  married  Sallie  Brown, 
and  died  December  20,  1889;  John  Atkins,  born  July  21,  1809, 
married,  first,  Melissa  Curtis,  and,  second,  Keziah  Farthing; 
William  Brown,  born  December  20,  1810,  and  married  Annie 
Kindle;  Edward  F.,  born  April  30,  1812,  and  died  May  3,  1812; 
Thomas,  born  May  9,  1813,  married  Ermine  Hallyburton;  Annie 
Watkins,  born  September  5,  1814,  married  Wm.  Young  Farth- 
ing, father  of  W.  S.  Farthing;  Harriet,  born  March  22,  1816, 
married  James  Brown,  and  died  May  16,  1897;  Mary  Hervey, 
born  February  21,  1818,  married  Hiram  McBride,  died  May  26, 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  307 

1869;  Abner  Clopton,  born  October  6,  1819,  and  married  Mary 
Narcissus  Farthing;  Paul,  born  April  17,  1821,  married  Rachel 
Farthing;  he  died  in  a  Federal  prison  at  Camp  Chase  in  1865; 
Stephen,  born  January  3,  1823,  married  Margaret  Adams,  and 
died  January  25,  1882.  Dudley  Farthing's  wife  was  Nancy, 
daughter  of  John  Mast  and  Susan  Harman,  and  she  was  born 
May  18,  1809.  Their  children  were:  Wilham  Judson,  born 
February  6,  1832,  and  went  to  Texas  in  1859,  where  he  died 
unmarried  September  10,  1865 ;  Susan,  born  July  12,  1833,  and 
is  yet  alive;  James  Martin,  born  July  25,  1835,  and  was  killed 
December  13,  1862,  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  Va. ;  Mary 
White,  born  January  9,  1837,  married  Newton  Moore  in  i860 
and  died  May  11,  1914,  in  Virginia;  Thomas  Jefferson,  born 
August,  13,  1838,  never  married,  died  of  pneumonia  at  Lynch- 
burg May  21,  1862;  John  Young,  born  May  17,  1840,  married 
Polly  Farthing;  Henry  Harrison,  born  October  7,  1841,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Catharine  Baker  November  29,  1872;  Martha  B., 
born  August  24,  1843,  died  in  infancy;  Joseph,  born  August  9, 
1844,  died  in  infancy;  Lewis  Williams,  born  November  6,  1845, 
married  Nancy  McBride,  daughter  of  Hiram;  Sarah  Carolina, 
born  January  31,  1849,  married  Warren  Greene,  first,  and  then 
Anderson  Cable;  Wiley  Hill,  born  March  23,  1850,  married 
Rachel  Louisa  Farthing,  sister  of  W.  S.  Farthing,  and  lives  near 
Blountville,  Tenn. ;  Nancy  Emeline,  born  January  6,  1852,  and 
never  married.  John  Farthing  was  a  brother  of  Rev.  William 
Watkins  Farthing  and  a  son  of  Dudley  the  first.  He  was  born 
in  Durham,  then  in  Orange  County,  July  29,  1812,  and  in  the 
fall  of  1826  came  with  his  brother,  W.  W.,  to  Beaver  Dams,  but 
he  lost  his  wife  there  and  also  his  brother,  W.  W.  John's  first 
wife  was  Miss  Lucy  Goss,  and  he  returned  to  Durham  and 
married  Polly  Amos  and  came  back  to  Watauga  in  1831  and 
settled  where  Zionville  now  is,  where  he  owned  most  of  the  land. 
The  children  by  his  first  wife  were :  William  Young,  who  mar- 
ried Ann  W.  Farthing;  Dudley,  who  married  Sarah  Wilson; 
Sherman,  who  was  killed  by  a  tree  near  Zionville  just  before 
1840,  thus  preventing  his  expected  marriage;  Nancy,  who  mar- 
ried Wm.  Ferrall;    Rachel  W.,  who  married  Paul  Farthing,  a 


3o8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

son  of  Wm.  F.  Farthing;  Mary  Narcissus,  who  married  Abner 
C.  Farthing,  a  son  of  Wm.  W.  Farthing;  Keziah,  who  married 
John  A.  Farthing,  who  Hved  where  W.  S.  Farthing  now  lives; 
Lucy  White,  who  never  married;  Anne,  who  married  Caswell 
King  in  Wake  County,  was  an  infant  when  her  mother  died  in 
Watauga,  and  was  taken  back  by  her  father,  John  Farthing,  and 
reared  by  Keziah  Cozart  in  Wake  County.  In  her  old  age  she 
came  again  to  Watauga,  where  she  died. 

The  children  by  the  second  marriage  were:  Reuben,  who 
married  Ellen  Wilson,  first,  and  then  a  Miss  Harman;  Elijah, 
who  married  Amanda  Oliver;  John,  who  died  when  nineteen 
years  of  age;   Sallie,  who  married  John  Adams. 

John  Farthing's  father  was  Dudley  Farthing,  who  died  in 
Wake,  his  wife  having  been  Annie  Watkins,  whom  he  married 
February  2,  1778.  The  first  Dudley  Farthing  had,  beside  Wil- 
liam Watkins  and  John,  the  following  children:  Reuben,  who 
married  a  Miss  Hargus,  his  descendants  still  living  in  and  near 
Durham. 

The  Farthings  came  originally  from  Wales  to  Pittsylvania 
County,  Virginia,  from  which  they  went  to  Person  County, 
North  Carolina,  where  Annie  Watkins  was  reared.  The  Rev. 
William  Watkins  Farthing  was  a  minister  and  traveled  some 
for  the  old  Missionary  Society  of  North  Carolina,  which  ante- 
dated the  Baptist  State  Convention,  and  he  was  traveling  and 
preaching  when  he  first  got  acquainted  with  Watauga  County. 
His  sons,  Reuben,  John  A.,  Abner  C.  and  Stephen  J.,  were 
ministers,  the  two  youngest  having  been  ordained  under  author- 
ity of  Bethel  and  the  two  elder  under  that  of  Cove  Creek 
churches.  Rev.  J.  Harrison  Farthing,  son  of  Abner  C,  is  a 
minister,  as  are  also  Calvin  S.,  son  of  Thomas;  Robert  Milton, 
a  son  of  Calvin  S.,  and  he  preaches  in  Tennessee,  and  Rev.  L. 
Whitfield  also  preaches. 

Dudley  Farthing  was  a  son  of  Rev.  W.  W.  Farthing;  mar- 
ried Nancy  Mast,  a  daughter  of  John  Mast,  who  lived  where 
Finley  Mast  now  lives.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Ashe 
County  court  prior  to  the  establishment  of  Watauga  County, 
having  been  appointed  in  1832  to  fill  out  the  term  of  Abram 


DUDLEY  FARTHING. 

Judge  of  the  Comt  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  309 

Vanderpool,  and  from  that  time  till  the  Constitution  was  changed 
in  1868  he  was  chairman  of  the  Watauga  Court  of  Pleas  and 
Quarter  Sessions.  He  presided  with  great  dignity  and  adminis- 
tered his  office  with  sound  judgment  and  ability.  No  superior 
court  judge  who  ever  came  to  Watauga  County  presided  over  his 
court  with  more  justness,  impartiality  or  legal  learning  than 
Dudley  Farthing.  He  was  elected  county  commissioner  after 
1868  and  became  chairman  of  the  board.  According  to  the 
recollection  of  his  son,  Col.  Henry  H.  Farthing,  there  was  reason 
to  suspect  that  $1,000.00  of  the  county  funds  was  missing,  and 
Judge  Farthing  declared  that  at  the  next  meeting  that  matter 
would  be  investigated.  The  court  house  was  burned  before  that 
meeting  and  with  it  all  the  records  except  Deed  Book  F.  He 
was  born  November  4,  1804,  and  died  July  8,  1895.  He  was 
just  twenty-two  years  old  when  he  moved  with  his  father  to 
Watauga  County.  It  is  said  that  when  corn  was  scarce  he  would 
not  sell  it  for  money,  saying  that  a  man  with  money  could  get 
it  anywhere,  but  a  man  who  had  no  money  could  get  it  only 
where  he  was  known  and  his  needs  obvious.  He  lost  little  if 
anything  by  thus  crediting  his  neighbors  in  distress.  Dudley 
Farthing  lived  where  Mrs.  Susan  Farthing  lives  now,  in  a  frame 
house  built  about  1850,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  southwest  from 
Bethel  Church.  He  and  his  wife  are  buried  there,  Stephen 
Farthing  having  inherited  the  W.  W.  Farthing  home  place  and 
objected  to  additional  interments  in  graveyard  above  the  old 
home  place.  There  is  a  graveyard  which  W.  S.  Farthing  and 
others  have  used  for  burial  of  their  relatives  east  from  the  old 
Farthing  graveyard. 

Rev.  L.  Whitfield  Farthing  was  a  son  of  Reuben  Pickett 
and  grandson  of  W.  W.  Farthing.  R.  P.  Farthing  married 
Sarah  Brown,  a  sister  of  Thomas  Brown,  below  Three  Forks 
in  1831.  Their  children  were:  Thomas  Brown,  who  was  born 
in  1833  and  married  Celia  Greene;  William  Watkins,  who  was 
killed  at  Brandy  Station,  Va.,  in  the  Civil  War;  James  Hervey, 
who  was  born  about  1836  and  married  Lucretia  Farthing,  but 
moved  West,  where  they  died;  L.  W.,  who  was  born  April  18, 
1838,  and  married  Nancy  Farthing  in  October,   1866;    Joseph 


310  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Elmore,  who  was  born  April  i8,  1840,  and  married  Mary  Har- 
man;  Mary,  born  in  1842,  but  never  married;  Jesse,  born  in 
1844,  but  died  when  twenty  or  twenty-one  years  of  age;  John 
Watts,  who  was  born  February  15,  1848,  and  married  Adeline 
Rivers  in  1876. 

Rev.  Reuben  P.  Farthing  was  the  son  of  Rev.  William  Wat- 
kins  Farthing  and  his  wife,  Phoebe.  He  was  born  June  28, 
1808;  married  Sallie  Brown,  and  died  December  20,  1889.  He 
was  early  admitted  to  the  ministry  of  the  Baptist  Church  and 
preached  for  nearly  all  his  adult  years,  literally  "without  money 
and  without  price."  He  was  one  of  the  foremost  educators  of 
his  day,  and  did  much  for  the  advancement  of  the  religious  and 
educational  status  of  the  people  of  Watauga  County.  He  an- 
swered every  call  from  all  who  needed  his  aid  and  assistance. 
His  life  was  one  of  devotion  to  duty.  When  he  died  the  late 
Major  Harvey  Bingham  paid  a  tribute  to  his  worth  and  excel- 
lence of  which  any  man  might  well  have  been  proud.  This  was 
published  in  one  of  our  newspapers  and  is  preserved  by  the 
family  as  a  sacred  memorial  of  a  great  and  good  man,  for  in  it 
was  said  that,  while  not  a  college  graduate,  Reuben  Farthing 
was  nevertheless  a  highly  educated  and  very  learned  man,  hav- 
ing unaided  and  alone  dug  out  from  the  classics  and  from  scien- 
tific books  a  store  of  knowledge  that  was  not  only  abundant,  but 
practical.  A  distinguished  visitor  to  his  home  was  struck  by  his 
erudition,  and  was  surprised  to  learn  that  he  had  acquired  it  all 
by  dint  of  hard  work  and  unremitting  study. 

Franklin  Family. — Levi  Franklin  was  the  father  of  Lawson 
A.,  and  resided  at  what  is  now  Altamont  on  Linville  River  when 
that  was  a  part  of  Watauga  County.  His  sister  married  Leroy 
McCanless,  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Florence,  Colorado,  and  a 
brother  of  D.  Colvard  McCanless.  Rev.  William  Colvard 
Franklin,  of  Altamont,  bears  part  of  his  name,  and  is  now  about 
sixty  years  of  age. 

Gragg  Family. — William  Gragg  was  of  Irish  descent  and  set- 
tled, first,  in  West  Virginia,  from  which  he  came  with  his  wife, 
born  Elizabeth  Pulliam,  to  John's  River,  Caldwell  County,  soon 
after  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  which  he  had  been  a  soldier 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  311 

under  Washington,  having  fought  from  the  first  to  the  last 
battle  of  the  war.  Their  children  were:  John,  born  September 
7,  1781,  in  Virginia;  William,  Obediah,  Robert,  James,  Benja- 
min, Susan  and  Elizabeth.  Of  these,  John  married,  first,  Eliza- 
beth Majors,  and,  second,  Susannah  Barrier.  The  children  by 
the  first  marriage  were:  Tilmon,  John,  Tipton,  Major,  Elisha, 
Nelson  and  Hamilton.  Those  by  the  second  marriage  were 
Harvey,  Empsey,  Alexander  and  William  Waightstill.  There 
was  one  daughter  by  the  first  marriage,  Nicie,  and  six  by  the 
second,  Irene,  Elvira,  Margaret,  Eliza  and  twins,  Adeline  and 
Carolina. 

William  married  Celia  Boone,  a  grandniece  of  Daniel;  Obe- 
diah married  Elizabeth  Webb;  Robert  married  Rhoda  Hum- 
phrey; James  married  Nancy  Humphrey;  Benjamin  married 
Nancy  Dyer;  Susan  married  Isaac  Green;  Elizabeth  married 
Alfred  Pritchett. 

Tilmon  married,  first,  Hila  Layell,  and,  second,  Jane  McNeely ; 
John  married  a  Miss  Morris  in  Georgia;  Tipton  married  Rachel 
Greene;  Major  married  Celia  Wilson,  first,  and  Polly  Ollis, 
second;  Elisha  married  Selina  Piercey;  Nelson  married  Violet 
Greene;  Hamilton  married,  first,  a  Cobb,  then  a  House,  and, 
third,  Martha  Strickland,  and  Harvey  married  Melinda  Mc- 
Leard.  Empsey  married  Serena  Ford,  first,  and  then  Susan 
Barrier;  Alexander  married  Carolina  Munday;  William  W. 
married  Martha  McGhinnis,  first,  and,  second,  a  lady  in  the 
State  of  Washington. 

Nicie  married  James  Calloway;  Irene  married  Samuel  Bar- 
rier ;  Elvira  married  Wiley  Holtsclaw ;  Adeline  married  W.  W. 
Pressly;  Carolina  married  Madison  Gragg;  Margaret  married 
Archibald  Quails;   Eliza  died  young  and  unmarried. 

Greene  Family. — From  "The  Greene  Family  of  Watauga,"  by 
Rev.  G.  W.  Greene,  we  learn  that  the  first  Greene  to  come  to 
America  came  from  Wiltshire,  England,  to  Massachusetts  about 
1635.  His  name  was  John,  but  he  was  a  Quaker  and  soon  joined 
Roger  Williams  in  Rhode  Island,  and  from  him  in  the  fifth 
generation  sprang  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  of  the  Revolution. 
Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  one  branch  of  this  family  went 


312  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

to  New  York  State  and  settled  near  Brooklyn,  but  soon  passed 
on  to  New  Jersey,  where  many  of  its  members  became  promi- 
nent. But  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  Jeremiah 
Greene  came  to  North  Carolina  with  the  Jersey  settlers  and 
bought  541  acres  of  land  on  the  waters  of  Pee  Dee,  near  Lin- 
wood.  This  was  about  1762.  Jeremiah's  son,  Isaac,  and  him- 
self remained  in  the  Jersey  settlement,  but  "Stephen  Greene,  who 
was  probably  a  younger  son  of  Jeremiah  Greene,  in  1784  settled 
in  the  Forks  of  the  Yadkin,  and  has  left  in  Davie  County  a  large 
and  honorable  progeny."  Soon  after  the  Revolution  three  sons 
and  two  daughters  of  Jeremiah  Greene  left  the  Jersey  Settle- 
ment and  moved  to  what  is  now  Watauga,  then  a  part  of  Wilkes. 
These  brothers  were  Richard,  Jeremiah  and  John,  all  then  mar- 
ried, as  were  their  sisters,  Joanna,  to  Landrine  Eggers,  and 
Sarah,  to  a  man  named  Wilson.  Richard,  the  eldest,  settled  at 
Blowing  Rock  and  was  accompanied  by  his  father-in-law,  an  old 
man  named  Sullivan.  He  brought  a  tombstone  with  him  and 
died  February  2y,  1794.  His  coffin  was  hewed  out  of  a  poplar 
tree  when  the  wood  was  frozen  hard.  The  stone  still  stands  in 
the  graveyard  of  the  German  Reformed  Church,  one  mile  from 
Blowing  Rock.    This  is  the  inscription : 

E.  E.  S  1794. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  S  is  upside  down.     But,  according  to 
Mr.  Greene's  sketch,  the  inscription  is: 

F  27 

1794. 
If  he  is  right,  then  F  probably  stands  for  February  and  27  for 
the  day  of  that  month  on  which  he  died. 

The  brothers,  Jeremiah  and  John,  settled  in  the  middle  or  the 
eastern  part  of  the  county,  while  the  sisters,  Mr.  Greene  thinks, 
probably  lived  nearer  the  borders  of  Tennessee,  which  is  true 
of  the  one  who  married  Landrine  Eggers,  at  least,  and  possibly 
of  the  other  also,  according  to  the  Wilson  she  married.  Richard 
Greene's  children  were  eight  in  number,  the  first  five  of  whom 
had  twelve  each,  two  others  had  ten  each,  while  one  had  to  be 
contented  with  seven.  Jeremiah  Greene,  whose  wife  was  Polly 
Wiseman,   an   aunt  of   J.   W.   Wiseman,   of    Farmington,   had 


HON.  L.  L.  GREENE. 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  313 

eleven  children,  his  oldest  son,  Isaac,  living  to  be  seventy-nine 
years  old.  At  his  death  he  counted  eleven  children,  102  grand- 
children and  100  great-grandchildren.  Isaac's  son,  Solomon, 
lived  to  be  quite  old,  eighty-five,  and  had  twenty-one  children, 
160  grandchildren  and  160  great-grandchildren,  and  two  or  three 
of  the  fifth  generation.  This  was  in  1886,  and  he  lived  two  or 
three  years  longer.  His  eldest  sister,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Norris, 
was  then  ninety-two  years  old.  John  "Moccasin"  Greene  with 
part  of  his  family  moved  to  Mitchell,  then  a  part  of  Burke,  while 
his  brother  moved  to  Rutherford.  John  "Moccasin"  died  in 
Madison  County  in  1852  when  more  than  ninety  years  old.  The 
most  noted  member  of  the  family  was  Judge  L.  L.  Greene,  of  the 
Superior  Court,  of  whom  a  sketch  is  given  below. 

Judge  Leonidas  L.  Greene. — He  was  born  in  Watauga 
County,  at  Blowing  Rock,  on  the  nth  day  of  November,  1845, 
and  was  elected  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1896  and  served 
till  his  death  in  1898.  He  was  a  son  of  Robert  Greene  and  his 
wife,  Chaney  Elrod.  He  was  a  consummate  politician  and  man- 
aged party  affairs  adroitly.  On  March  i,  1876,  he  married 
Martha  Horton,  a  daughter  of  Col.  Jack  Horton,  who  survives 
him.  Judge  Greene's  portrait  hangs  over  the  judge's  desk  in 
the  county  court  house  in  Boone.  He  left  two  children,  Albina, 
who  married  Frank  Mandefield,  of  Duluth,  and  Wilhelmetta, 
unmarried.  Judge  Greene  was  also  United  States  commissioner. 
He  Avas  considered  a  good  lawyer  and  enjoyed  a  large  practice. 
He  was  a  good  neighbor  and  well  liked. 

Greer  Family. — Benjamin  Greer  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lution. His  Avife  was  a  Miss  Wilcox,  and  their  children  were: 
John,  who  married  Nancy  Owen ;  WilHam,  who  married  Hannah 
Cartright  and  died  when  103  years  of  age;  Jesse,  who  married 
Mary  Morris ;  Thomas,  who  married  a  Ketron ;  James,  who 
married  a  Hampton;  David,  who  married  Nancy  Hodges; 
Samuel,  who  married  Sallie  Church ;  Joshua,  who  married  Jennie 
Church ;  Rachel,  who  married  Robert  Judd  and  moved  to  Ken- 
tucky; Ann,  who  married  Thomas  Holman  and  went  West. 

Benjamin  Greer  married  a  second  time,  after  the  death  of  his 
first  wife,  Mrs.  Sallie  Atkinson  Jones,  widow  of  Thomas  Jones, 


314  -4  History  of  Watauga  County 

who  died  from  a  wound  received  in  the  Revolution.  She  reared 
children  by  both  husbands.  They  moved  to  Green  River,  Ky., 
where  he  died  in  1810.  Samuel  Greer  has  three  children  living 
here :  Elizabeth  Hendrix,  now  ninety-four  years  of  age ;  Finley 
Greer,  ninety-two  years  of  age ;  Riley  Greer,  ninety  years  old. 

Mary  Ray  Greer  was  born  September  22,  1813,  and  died 
March  26,  1906,  at  the  Critcher  hotel.  Her  grave  is  in  the  ceme- 
tery at  Boone.  She  was  the  daughter  of  William  Ray,  of  Elk 
Creek,  above  Todd,  and  the  wife  of  Thomas  Greer.  Her 
daughter,  Jennie,  married  J.  L.  Phillips,  while  Evelyn  became 
the  wife  of  George  Grubb;  Martha  the  wife  of  JuHus  Elliott, 
of  Rowan,  and  Millie  the  wife  of  Thos.  J.  Coffey.  Her  son, 
Larkin,  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War,  The  latter  was  about  to 
marry  Sarah  Ferguson,  of  Meat  Camp,  when  he  was  at  home 
once  during  the  Civil  War  on  furlough,  and  was  on  the  way  to 
the  magistrate's  to  be  married  when  they  were  met  by  her  sister, 
Martha  Ann,  who  faced  them  about  and  prevented  the  marriage. 
Sarah  afterwards  married  Zachariah  Moretz.  Martha  Ann 
never  married. 

The  Grider  Family. — John  Grider  married  Agnes  Flowers  in 
1844  and  their  children  were:  Adolphus,  killed  in  Civil  War; 
Mary,  born  in  1848  and  married  George  P.  Sherrill;  Sarah,  who 
married  Duke  Glenn,  and  Martha,  who  married  Monroe  Harman. 
John's  father  was  John,  who  married  Nancy  Gibbs,  of  Alexan- 
der County,  and  their  children  were:  William,  who  married 
Amanda  Rector  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife ;  Cameline,  who 
married;  Rufus,  who  married  Betsy  White;  Wiley,  who  mar- 
ried Malinda ;   Sally,  who  did  not  marry,  and  Betsy, 

who  did  not  marry;  Pinckney,  who  married  Becky  Pool.  All 
these  lived  in  Alexander  County,  near  Taylorsville. 

Grubb  Family. — The  first  of  this  family  were  a  Grubb  and 
his  wife  who  started  from  Germany  with  their  children,  but  the 
parents  died  at  sea.  Their  sons,  George  and  John,  married  two 
sisters  of  the  name  of  Leonard  and  went  to  Indiana,  while 
Henry,  another  son,  married  a  Miss  Michael,  first,  and  then  a 
Miss  McBride;  Jacob  married  Susannah  Hedrick;  Conrad  and 
David  were  twins,   David   marrying   a   Young   and   Conrad   a 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  315 

Hedrick;  Frederick  married  a  Gordon;  Daniel  married  a 
Thistle,  first,  and  then  a  Miss  Grubb,  and  Jacob,  whose  son, 
John,  married  Martha,  a  daughter  of  John  Morphew. 

Hagaman  Family. — Thomas  Hagaman  married  Sarah  Reese, 
and  their  children  were :  John,  who  married  Mary  Shoun ; 
Hamilton,  who  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War;  M.  Granville,  who 
married  Mary  Winkler,  a  daughter  of  Joshua;  Thomas,  who 
married  a  Miss  Blackwelder ;  Joseph,  who  married  a  Crawford ; 
Louisa,  who  married  Captain  A.  J.  Critcher;  James  Roby,  who 
married  a  Crocker  of  Lincolnton,  and  Epsey,  who  married 
Jerome  Moretz.  Joseph  Hagaman  was  a  brother  of  Thomas, 
but  never  married.  Thomas  was  born,  according  to  his  tomb- 
stone on  Brushy  Fork,  in  1810,  and  died  about  1876.  Isaac 
Hagaman  married  Joanna  Reese,  and  his  son,  Hugh,  married 
Elizabeth  Wilson,  daughter  of  Alexander.  Their  children  were: 
Smith,  who  married  Blanche  Sherrill;  Millard,  who  married 
Grace  Isaacs ;  Emmett,  who  married  Florence  Cook ;  America, 
who  married  Wm.  Smith;  Ennis,  who  married  Roy  Dotson; 
Alice,  who  married  EUis  Moody,  and  Nancy,  not  married.  Isaac 
Hagaman  was  the  father  of  Theron,  who  married,  first,  a  Greene, 
a  sister  of  Jeremy  on  Cove  Creek,  and,  second,  Mary  Dougherty, 
daughter  of  Elijah  and  sister  of  D.  B.  Dougherty.  The  children 
by  the  first  marriage  were:  Rev.  Jacob  G.,  who  married  Helen 
Hayes;  Brazilla  C,  who  married  Dilly  Scott,  and  W.  Jasper, 
who  married  Amanda  Wilson,  daughter  of  Alexander.  Chil- 
dren of  the  second  marriage  were:  Raleigh,  who  died  at  about 
twenty  years  of  age,  was  unmarried ;  Isaac  Hagaman,  Jr.,  mar- 
ried Hilah  Dougherty  and  moved  away  long  ago,  their  three 
children,  Annie,  John  and  Carey,  living  near  Asheville  for  awhile 
and  then  moving  to  South  Carolina.  Jacob  Hagaman,  son  of 
Theron,  had  the  following  children :  George,  who  married  Mar- 
garet Sherrill,  and  Cora,  who  married  Lee  Quails  and  lives  in 
Tennessee.  John  Hagaman,  son  of  Isaac,  had  the  following 
children:      Alexander,    who   married    Anna   Farthing;    Daniel, 

who  married  Mary  Harmon  ;  Hugh,  who  married ; 

Thomas,  who  married ;   Francis,  who  married  a 

Gambill;   also  two  daughters,  names  not  recalled  by  informant. 


3i6  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Hardin  Family. — Henry  Hardin  came  from  England  and  set- 
tled in  Pennsylvania.  His  soijs  were:  Wilburn,  John  and 
Richard.    His  daughter  was  named  Catharine. 

Wilburn  married  and  lived  on  Beaver  Creek,  Ashe  County. 
His  children  were:  John,  who  married  a  Ray;  Joseph,  who 
married  ;  Martin,  who  married  a  Haw- 
thorne ;  Marcus,  who  married ;  William, 

who  married  ,  and  Catharine,  who  mar- 
ried a  Burkett,  who  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War. 

John,  who  lived  at  the  old  Hardin  place  east  of  Boone,  mar- 
ried Charlotte,  sister  of  the  first  Jordan  Councill.  On  a  tomb- 
stone in  the  Boone  cemetery  is  found:  "Charlotte  Hardin,  born 
April  i6,  1795,  died  November  i,  1843."  Their  children  were: 
Henry  W.,  born  December  29,  1821,  died  January  11,  1904; 
his  wife  was  Nancy  Lucinda  Horton,  born  May  2y,  1824,  died 
March  8,  1909;  Sarah,  who  married  George  Snider;  Martha, 
who  married  John  Snider ;  EHzabeth,  who  married  John  Powell, 
and  Jordan  C,  who  married  Julia  Williams. 

Richard  married  a  Ray(?)  and  settled  on  Beaver  Creek  in 
Ashe  County.  Their  children  were:  Hence,  who  married  an 
Oliver;  Frank,  who  married  Rhoda  Howell;  George,  who  mar- 
ried a  Ray;  Catharine,  who  married  a  Graybeal;  John,  who 
married  a  Goodman,  and  Ida,  who  married  a  Reeves. 

Catharine,  who  married  Thomas  Sudderth,  settled  in  Cald- 
well County.    Their  children  were :    Wilburn,  Tolliver  and  John. 

Henry  C.  Hardin's  children  were:  James  H.,  born  October 
19,  1847,  married  Emma  Sutherland;  John  F.,  born  February  i, 
1850,  married  Martha  H.  Councill ;  William  H.,  born  February 
13,  1852,  married  Sarah  Wilkler;  Jordan  C,  born  May  17,  1854, 
married  Nannie  Kitzmiller;  H.  Joseph,  born  October  24,  1857, 
married  Alice  McRary;  L.  Cornelia,  born  April  19,  1859,  mar- 
ried, first,  Wm.  Church,  and  then  John  Snider;  Ida  B.,  who  was 
born  October  13,  1862,  and  married  Wm.  Spainhour. 

Harman  Family. — In  1791  Cutlifif  Harman  came  from  Ran- 
dolph County  and  bought  522  acres  of  land  on  Cove  Creek  from 
James  Gwyn,  to  whom  it  had  been  granted  August  6,  1791,  ac- 
cording to  Maiden  C.  Harman  in  Watauga  Democrat  of  April, 
1891. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  317 

Cutliff  married  Susan  Fouts,  and  was  about  ninety  years  of 
age  when  he  died  in  1838,  his  wife  having  died  several  years 
before,  and  he  having  married  Ehzabeth  Parker,  a  widow.  He 
had  ten  children  by  his  first  marriage;  none  by  his  second. 
Among  his  children  were:  Mary,  who  married  Bedent  Baird; 
Andrew,  who  married  Sabra  Hix;  Eli,  who  married  the  widow 
Rhoda  Dyer  (born  Dugger)  ;  Mathias,  who  married  and  moved 
to  Indiana;  Catherine,  who  married  Benjamin  Ward,  and  went 
west;  Rebecca,  who  married  Frank  Adams  and  moved  to  In- 
diana; Rachel,  who  married  Holden  Davis;  Sarah,  who  mar- 
ried John  Mast;  Nancy,  who  married  Thomas  Curtis;  Rev. 
D.  C.  Harman  was  a  son  of  Eli  Harman  and  was  born  April  17, 
1826,  and  died  December  23,  1904. 

Hartley  Family. — Waightstill  Hartley  came  to  America  from 
Shropshire,  England,  in  1740,  and  settled  near  Frederick,  Md. 
His  children  were:  John,  who  married  Elizabeth  Becket; 
Mahala,  who  married  John  Dinwiddie,  and  Nancy,  who  married 
David  Tucker.  It  is  said  that  Elizabeth  nursed  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son. John  Hartley  had  seven  children :  Nancy,  who  married 
George  Tucker;  Elizabeth,  who  married  General  Wilson;  Ava, 
who  did  not  marry ;  Finley,  who  married  Sarah  Brooks ;  George, 
who  married  Elizabeth  Davis;  James,  who  married  Anna  Mc- 
Crary;  Reuben,  who  married  Jane  FuUenwider.  John  Hartley 
was  a  weaver  and  died  in  Virginia,  after  which  his  family  came 
to  North  Carolina  in  1783,  finally  settling  in  Rowan,  while 
others  of  the  connection  settled  in  Caldwell  and  Burke.  George 
had  six  children :  Clinton,  Larkin,  George,  Alfred,  Waightstill 
and  Mahala.  George  Hartley,  Sr.,  was  a  saddle  and  harness 
maker.  He  died  in  1834,  aged  seventy-two.  Clinton  never  mar- 
ried. He  was  a  colonel  of  the  militia  and  sheriff  of  Burke  and 
one  of  the  commissioners  who  located  Lenoir.  He  was  a  Whig, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-five.  Larkin  never  married.  He 
was  a  blacksmith  and  a  great  hunter,  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
three.  George  married  Catharine  Fincannon,  and  they  had  five 
children:  Rufus,  Jason,  John,  Polly  and  Mahala.  Rufus  mar- 
ried Piety  Kirby,  and  they  had  four  children:  Jason  married 
Sarah  Ann,  daughter  of  Waightstill  Hartley ;   Polly,  daughter  of 


3i8  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

John  W.  Hartley,  married  W.  W.  Sherrill,  and  her  son,  George 
P.  Sherrill,  now  Hves  on  Beaver  Dams,  Watauga  County. 

Hayes  Family. — Ransom  Hayes  died  in  March,  1868,  aged 
about  sixty-three  years.  He  married  Sallie  Greene,  daughter  of 
Joseph.  Joseph  Green  had  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert Shearer,  Sr.  Ransom  Hayes'  children  were:  i.  Joseph,  who 
died  in  191 1,  aged  about  seventy-five,  on  Brushy  Fork.  He 
married  Eliza,  daughter  of  Larkin  Hodges,  of  Poplar  Grove. 
His  son,  Joseph,  now  lives  there.  2.  EHzabeth,  who  married 
Thomas  Storie,  son  of  Joshua,  and  died  in  1875.  3.  Robert,  who 
married  Rebecca  Hately,  daughter  of  William,  who  lived  about 
Watauga  Falls  postofifice.  4.  John,  who  married  Eliza  Cook, 
daughter  of  Rev.  John  Cook,  of  Vergil.  John  died  in  the  army 
at  Richmond,  Va.  His  widow  is  still  living.  Their  one  son, 
John  Lee,  was  one  of  the  builders  of  Blowing  Rock.  5.  William, 
who  married  Benjamin  Brown's  daughter,  Clorinda,  and  lived 
near  Todd.  William  lived  near  Poplar  Grove,  but  went  first  to 
Tennessee  and  then  to  Oregon,  where  he  died  about  1900. 
6.  Thomas,  who  was  killed  in  the  second  battle  of  Manassas  in 
the  37th  North  Carolina  regiment.  He  never  married.  7.  Nancy, 
who  married  Harvey  Dougherty,  of  Johnson  County,  Tennes- 
see. He  was  a  brother  of  D.  B.  Dougherty.  Nancy  died  in 
Blount  County,  Tennessee,  in  May,  19 13.  8.  Sarah,  who  mar- 
ried W.  L.  Bryan  December  12,  1865.  They  moved  to  Meat 
Camp  in  1865  within  a  mile  of  Soda  Hill,  where  farming  was 
carried  on  till  the  fall  of  1868,  when  they  returned  to  Boone. 
9.  George,  who  married,  first,  Emily,  daughter  of  Riley  and 
Violet  Hodges,  and,  second,  Louisa  Bumgarner,  of  Howard's 
Creek.  They  live  near  Boone.  10.  Ransom,  who  was  born  in 
1846  and  married  a  lady  in  Texas.  He  died  in  1910,  his  wife 
having  died  several  years  before.  They  had  two  daughters,  one 
of  whom  died  young  and  without  having  married,  and  the  other, 
Nannie,  now  Mrs.  Yeagel,  lives  in  Dallas,  Texas.  11.  Richard, 
born  about  May,  1849,  and  married  Delphia  Hayes,  a  distant 
cousin,  of  Caldwell  County.  After  having  lived  in  Mitchell 
County,  they  returned  to  Caldwell  and  now  reside  in  the  Globe. 

Hodges  Family. — Thomas  Hodges  came  from  Virginia  and 
settled  at  Hodges  Gap,  two  miles  west  of  Boone,  during  the 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  319 

Revolutionary  War.  He  was  a  Tory.  His  family  came  with 
him.  His  son,  Gilbert,  married  Robert  Shearer's  daughter. 
Robert  died  about  1845. 

Gilbert  Hodges  lived  where  I.  W.  Gross  now  lives,  about  one- 
half  mile  east  of  Hodges  Gap.  His  children  were:  i.  Thomas, 
who  married  Mary  Ingraham.  2.  Robert,  who  died  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1914  near  Hodges  Gap,  at  the  home  of  George  Teague, 
who  had  married  his  niece.  His  wife  was  Peggy  Ingraham. 
3.  Holland,  who  was  born  July  18,  1827,  and  still  lives  near 
the  place  of  his  birth.  In  1856  he  helped  Jordan  McGhee  kill 
432  rattlesnakes  on  Rich  Mountain.  4.  Riley,  who  is  still  alive 
and  lives  on  the  waters  of  Laurel  Fork.  He  married  Violet 
Moody,  of  Watauga.  5.  Elizabeth,  who  married  Edward  Claw- 
son,  her  cousin.  6.  Louisa,  who  married  John  Greene.  He  was 
killed  in  the  Civil  War.  She  afterwards  married  John  Dough- 
erty, who  still  lives,  having  married  Martha  Cook  after  the  death 
of  his  first  wife.  7.  Larkin,  who  married  Miss  Eliza  Gragg, 
a  daughter  of  John  Gragg,  who  lived  where  David  F.  Baird  now 
lives  at  Valle  Crucis.  Larkin  Hodges  lives  in  Buncombe 
County. 

William  Hodges  lived  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  the  cabin  in 
which  Jacob  M.  Councill  was  killed  by  Stoneman's  men  in 
March,  1865.  That  cabin  is  still  called  the  Mark  Hodges  house, 
as  William's  son,  Mark,  built  it.  It  is  almost  due  north  from 
Benjamin  Councill's  present  residence.  WilHam  was  a  brother 
of  Gilbert  Hodges,  and  married  a  Miss  Mullins,  sister  of  Jesse 
Mullins,  who  was  a  great  hunter  and  lived  on  the  South  Fork 
of  New  River  three  miles  from  Boone.  His  children  were: 
I.  Larkin,  a  preacher,  who  married  Miss  Polly  Moody.  2. 
Adam,  who  married  twice.  He  lived  and  died  in  Knox  County, 
Tennessee.  3.  William,  who  married  Miss  Morris,  of  New 
River,  and  lived  near  Todd.  4.  John  or  Jack,  who  married 
Fanny  Morris,  sister  of  William's  wife,  and  lived  near  Boone. 

5.  Burton,  who  married  Miss  Northern  and  lives  in  Tennessee. 

6.  Jesse,  who  married  and  lives  in  Knox  County,  Tennessee. 

7.  Demarcus,  who  married  a  Miss  Calloway,  daughter  of  Isom 
Calloway,  who  lived  on  Elk  above  Todd.    8.  A  daughter,  who 


320  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

married  Solomon  Green.  9.  Sallie,  who  married  Rev.  John 
Cook,  son  of  Michael,  Sr.  10.  Delphia,  who  married  Adam 
Cook,  brother  of  John. 

Jesse  Hodges  was  a  brother  of  William  and  Gilbert,  and 
married  Polly  Clawson.  He  lived  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of 
Soda  Hill,  at  the  head  of  Little  Grassy  Creek.  His  children 
were:  Frank,  who  married  Nancy  Ingraham;  William,  who 
married  Nancy  Triplett;  Elbert,  who  married  Katie  Davis; 
Larkin,  who  died  young  and  unmarried;  Jack,  who  was  killed 
by  bushwhackers  during  the  Civil  War;  Thomas,  who  died  in 
the  Confederate  army  unmarried;  Patsy,  who  married  Jesse 
Stanberry;  Cynthia,  who  married  Edmund  Blackburn;  EUza- 
beth,  who  married  Jacob  Jones,  first,  and  then  Captain  William 
Miller,  son  of  Hon.  David  Miller,  and  moved  to  Middle  Ten- 
nessee, where  they  died.  Jones,  her  first  husband,  was  lost  in 
the  Confederate  army;  Nancy,  who  married  Thomas  Griever, 
of  Johnson  County,  Tennessee. 

Jesse  Hodges  sold  his  farm  to  David  Lookabill  about  1858 
and  moved  to  Johnson  County,  Tennessee,  where  he  and  his  son, 
Jack  or  John,  were  killed  by  renegades  in  the  Civil  War. 

Holtzclaw  Family/ — ^James  T.  Holtzclaw  came  from  Ger- 
many and  settled  first  in  Virginia,  near  what  is  now  Gordons- 
ville,  about  1735  or  1740,  where  John  Holtzclaw  was  born,  and 
his  brothers,  Henry,  WiUiam,  Joseph  and  Benjamin.  John 
Holtzclaw  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War  under  a  Captain 
Lewis,  after  which  he  settled  on  Watauga  River,  near  Valle 
Crucis,  where  he  married  Catharine  Hicks  (sometimes  spelt 
Hix).  Their  children  were:  John  Hicks,  Henry,  Benjamin, 
Marcus  and  William,  Agnes  and  Nancy.  Of  these,  John  mar- 
ried Lurana  Dugger  and  lived  on  Banner's  Elk;  John  Hicks 
married  Sallie  Hartley  and  lived  near  Watauga  River;  Henry 
moved  to  Albany  on  the  Ohio  River  below  Louisville,  Ky. ; 
Joseph  moved  to  Alabama  and  settled  near  what  is  now  Bir- 
mingham; Benjamin  married  Nancy  Hately  and  settled  on 
waters  of  Watauga  River;  Marcus  married  Lena  Green  and 
settled  on  Brushy  Fork  four  miles  west  of  Boone;    William 

*  This  was  the  original  spelling,  but  it  came  to  be  spelt  Holtsclaw. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  321 

married  a  Miss  Smith  and  lived  near  Cranberry  Forge;  Agnes 
married  William  Dugger  and  lived  in  Johnson  County,  Tennes- 
see; Nancy  married  James  Morgan  and  lived  in  Ashe  till  the 
death  of  her  husband,  when  she  moved  to  Tennessee.  To  John 
Holtzclaw  and  Lurana  was  born  one  son,  Rufus,  and  to  Benja- 
min Holtzclaw  and  Nancy  were  born  Wiley,  Rufus,  William  and 
Sally.  To  Marcus  and  Laura  were  born  Pemberton,  Crawford 
and  Wesley,  Catharine,  Agnes  and  Lena,  and  by  Marcus'  third 
wife,  whose  name  was  Elizabeth  Munday,  were  born  Thomas 
C,  Lafayette,  Eliza,  Mary,  Laura  and  Nancy.  Pemberton  mar- 
ried Catharine  Pharr  and  lived  in  Haywood  County,  North 
Carolina;  John  Wesley  married  Martha  Williams  and  made  his 
home  mostly  in  Watauga  County;  Thomas  C.  married  Carrie 
Munday,  first,  and,  second,  a  Miss  Cairns,  and  lives  in  Transyl- 
vania, N.  C. 

Horton  Family. — Nathan  Horton  settled  in  Rowan,  near  the 
Jersey  Settlement,  but  afterwards  moved  to  a  farm  near  Hol- 
man's  Ford  in  Wilkes  County.  Then  he  came  to  Cook's  Gap 
in  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  very  gap  through  which  Daniel  Boone, 
in  May,  1769,  had  passed  on  his  first  trip  to  Kentucky.  With 
Horton  came  also  his  own  wife  and  WilHam  Miller  and  wife, 
Mary,  and  their  son,  David  Miller,  and  Ebenezer  Fairchild  and 
family.  Horton  went  into  a  hunter's  camp  at  Cook's  Gap, 
Miller  into  another  hunter's  camp  at  Buck's  Gap,  while  Fair- 
child  went  on  to  what  is  now  called  Howard's  Creek.  All  these 
became  members  of  Three  Forks  Baptist  Church,  which  had 
been  organized  in  November,  1790.  There  is  a  tradition  in  the 
Horton  family  to  the  effect  that  the  camp  into  which  Nathan 
went  belonged  to  Richard  Green,  and  that  on  one  occasion,  when 
the  fire  went  out  and  Mrs.  Horton  went  to  a  neighbor's  several 
miles  distant  to  get  some  hve  coals,  she  found  this  Green  in  pos- 
session of  this  camp,  which  was  their  first  acquaintance  with 
each  other.  But  there  are  among  the  Fairchild  papers  receipts 
from  Jonathan  Tompkins,'  tax  collector  for  1780,  showing  that 
he  collected  taxes  in  this  settlement  at  that  early  date.  There 
is  also  a  knob  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  near  Deep  Gap,  which  bears  his 


Wm.  Temple  Coles  collected  taxes  from  B.  Fairchild  in  1769. 


322  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

name.  There  is  also  a  tradition  that  the  Greens  were  members 
of  the  Jersey  Settlement,  and  that  James  Jackson,  William 
Miller,  the  three  Bucks,  Tompkins  and  Horton  himself  were 
members  of  the  Jersey  Settlement.  They  were  all  members  of 
the  Three  Forks  Church  between  1790  and  1800,  and  the  proba- 
bility seems  that  Richard  Green  told  Horton  where  his  camp  was 
and  invited  him  to  take  possession  of  it  and  that  Buck  extended 
the  same  invitation  to  Miller  with  regard  to  his  own  camp  near 
by.  Nathan  Horton  lost  his  little  daughter,  Hannah,  at  Hagers- 
town,  Md.,  on  his  way  from  New  Jersey,  she  having  sickened 
and  died  there.  William  Horton  was  an  infant  in  arms  when  the 
family  arrived  at  Cook's  Gap,  and  he  became  the  grandfather  of 
Hon.  Horton  Bower,  afterwards  member  of  Congress,  WiUiam 
having  married  Millie  Dula  and  settled  at  Elkville,  Wilkes 
County.  James,  another  of  Nathan's  sons,  married  a  daughter 
of  James  Webb  and  settled  where  Noah  Brooksher  now  lives  on 
South  Fork  of  New  River,  half  a  mile  below  Three  Forks 
Church.  David  Eagles,  named  for  his  mother,  who  was  born 
Elizabeth  Eagles,  married  Sallie  Dula  and  settled  one  mile  above 
Elkville.  Phineas,  another  son,  married  Rebecca  Councill, 
daughter  of  the  first  Jordan  Councill,  and  settled  on  the  land  now 
occupied  by  J.  C.  Horton,  his  house  having  stood  in  the  bottom 
in  front  of  J.  C.  Horton's  present  home,  though  Phineas  after- 
wards built  a  log  house  on  the  ridge,  just  above  the  present 
J.  C.  Horton  home.  Sarah  and  John,  two  of  Nathan's  children, 
died  when  children,  while  Jonathan,  another  of  Nathan's  sons, 
married  Malinda  Hartzog  and  settled  where  R.  F.  Vannoy  now 
lives.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Nathan,  married  Zephaniah  Hor- 
ton, of  Yancey  County. 

William  Horton,  of  Elkville,  had  eleven  children. 

James  Horton's  children  were:  Colonel  Jack,  who  married, 
first,  Rebecca  Mast,  and  then  Mary  Swift;  Lucinda,  who  mar- 
ried Henry  W.  Hardin  and  lived  where  Joseph  Hardin  now 
lives ;  Elvira,  who  married  Mathias  Bledsoe  near  Todd ;  Eveline, 
who  married  Hamilton  Ray,  of  Roan  Mountain  Station,  Tenn. ; 
William,  who  married  a  Shull  and  lived  on  Cove  Creek,  after- 
wards removing  to  Roan  Creek,  Tenn. ;  Polly,  who  married 
Thomas  Ray,  of  Three  Tops,  Ashe  County. 


Photo,  by  Vest. 


COLONEL  JONATHAN  HORTON. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  323 

The  children  of  David  Eagles  Horton  were:  Thomas,  who 
married  Clara  Perkins  and  lived  in  Burke;  David,  who  married 
Jane  Young,  of  Yancey,  and  now  lives  on  the  Yadkin  one  mile 
from  Elkville;  AdeHne,  who  married  C.  P.  Jones  and  lives  on 
the  Yadkin  above  Elkville;  Larkin  L.,  who  married  Louisa 
Isbell  and  lived  on  King's  Creek;  John  and  Jane  died  unmar- 
ried; James,  who  married  Rosa  Lynch,  of  Yadkin  County; 
Louisa,  who  married  James  M.  Isbell,  of  King's  Creek. 

Phineas'  children  were:  William,  who  married  Rebecca  Blair 
and  settled  at  the  J.  C.  Horton  place;  Nathan,  who  married 
Juliette  Gentry,  of  Jefferson,  and  settled  on  the  opposite  side  of 
New  River  from  the  J.  C.  Horton  place;  Jonathan  and  James 
died  in  the  Civil  War. 

Jonathan  Horton  had  no  children  and  died  in  Boone  Novem- 
ber 24,  1895.    His  widow,  Malinda,  died  April  17,  191 1. 

Elizabeth's  children  were:  Nathan,  James  and  David,  and 
lived  near  Burnsville,  Yancey  County. 

The  children  of  William,  son  of  Phineas  Horton,  were :  James 
Crittenden,  who  married  Mary  Elrod,  of  New  River;  Jonathan 
Blair,  who  married  Miss  Smith,  of  Elkin;  Julia,  who  died  un- 
married; Wm.  Phineas,  who  married  Emma  Wyn,  of  Warren 
County,  North  Carolina;  Emma,  who  married  Lewis  P.  Moore, 
of  High  Point ;  Addie  Elizabeth,  who  married  J.  S.  Winkler,  of 
Boone ;  Henry  Walter,  who  married  Susan  Usher,  of  Charlotte, 
and  lives  in  North  Wilkesboro ;  Sallie  Hill,  who  died  when  eight 
years  old. 

Col.  Jack  Horton's  children  were:  James  W.,  who  married 
a  Miss  Councill,  and  David,  who  married  a  Miss  Mast,  and 
Mattie,  who  married  Judge  L.  L.  Greene. 

Col.  Nathan  Horton  was  born  at  Chester,  N.  J.,  February  25, 
1757,  and  married  Elizabeth  Eagles  in  New  York  City  July  10, 
1783.  She  was  a  daughter  of  John  Eagles.  Nathan  and  wife 
removed  to  North  Carolina  about  1785.  Elizabeth  Eagles  was 
born  in  New  York  City  December  i,  1766,  and  Hannah,  their 
first  child,  was  born  at  Chester,  N.  J.,  October  15,  1784;  William, 
their  second  child,  was  born  on  New  River  August  15,  1786; 
James  was  born  there  February  28,   1789;    David  Eagles  was 


324  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

born  there  May  5,  1792,  as  was  Phineas  January  9,  1795 ;  Sarah 
was  born  September  19,  1794;  John  was  born  June  11,  1800; 
EHzabeth,  September  15,  1803;  Jonathan,  February  26,  1806. 
MaHnda,  Jonathan's  wife,  was  born  May  10,  1820.  Col,  Nathan 
Horton  died  on  New  River  July  22,  1824,  and  his  wife  died 
there  May  19,  1854.  Nathan  Horton  bought  in  Richmond,  Va., 
in  1803,  a  negro  boy  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  Vinie,  a  girl, 
eleven  years  old.  Vinie's  first  child  was  born  in  1806  when  Vinie 
was  only  fourteen  years  old.  This  child  was  named  Tempe. 
Among  J.  C.  Horton's  heirlooms  is  a  grandfather  clock  seven 
feet  high,  with  a  mahogany  case  and  a  face  showing  the  rising 
and  setting  of  the  moon,  a  hand  to  mark  all  the  seasons  and 
several  other  devices.  This  was  Nathan  Horton's  property, 
which  he  hauled  all  the  way  from  New  Jersey  to  North  Carolina 
on  his  journey  down.  There  is  still  in  the  family  a  shot  gun  or 
rifle  with  a  bore  capable  of  chambering  three  buck  shot,  on  top 
of  which  a  bullet  the  size  of  the  barrel  was  rammed  home  en- 
cased in  buckskin,  thus  making  a  load  that  was  apt  to  "git  'em, 
both  a-goin'  and  a-comin'."  It  has  a  flint-lock,  and  it  was  used 
by  Nathan  in  guarding  Major  Andre  when  the  latter  was  exe- 
cuted as  a  spy.  Col.  Nathan  Horton  was  buried  in  Three  Forks 
churchyard,  and  on  his  tombstone  is  carved  the  fact  that  he  was 
a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  several  times  in  the 
legislature,  and  built  the  wagon  road  through  Cook's  Gap  and 
on  the  Beaver  Dams,  called  Horton's  Turnpike. 

Horton  Family  Genealogy. — In  1876  the  Home  Circle  Pub- 
lishing Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  published  the  "Horton 
Genealogy,  or  Chronicles  of  the  Descendants  of  Barnibas  Hor- 
ton, of  Southold,  L.  I.,  1640."  It  was  compiled  by  George  F. 
Horton,  M.  D.  There  is  a  picture  of  the  old  Horton  homestead, 
erected  by  Barnibas  Horton,  Esq.,  in  1660,  and  was  still  standing 
at  Southold,  L.  I.,  in  June,  1873.  Barnabas  was  probably  the 
son  of  Joseph  Horton,  of  Leicestershire,  England,  and  was  born 
in  the  little  hamlet  of  Mouseley  of  that  shire.  He  came  over 
in  the  ship  "Swallow"  in  1633-38  anddanded  at  Hampton,  Mass., 
but  in  1640  he  and  his  wife  and  two  children  were  in  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  in  company  with  Rev.  John  Youngs,  Wm.  Welles, 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  325 

Feter  Hollock,  John  Tuthill,  Richard  Terry,  Thomas  Mapes, 
Mathias  Corwin,  Robert  Ackerly,  Jacob  Corey,  John  Conklin, 
Isaac  Arnold  and  John  Budd.  There,  on  the  21st  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1640,  they  formed  a  Congregational  Church  and  sailed  for 
the  east  end  of  Long  Island,  now  Southold.  They  had  all  been 
members  of  Puritan  churches  in  England.  These  were  the  first 
to  settle  the  east  end  of  Long  Island.  The  genealogy  of  the 
family  is  then  traced  down  to  1876  and  includes  the  North  Caro- 
lina family  whose  history  has  been  given  above. 

Ingram  Family. — David  Ingram  was  reared  in  New  England, 
from  which  section  he  came  to  North  Carolina  before  anyone 
now  living  remembers.  He  married  a  Miss  Frieze  from  near 
Winston-Salem.  His  son,  Jacob,  was  born  near  Jefferson  and 
married  Peggy,  daughter  of  John  Greene,  who  then  lived  half  a 
mile  from  Sand's  Postoffice,  Watauga  County.  John  Ingram, 
son  of  Jacob,  was  born  on  New  River  one  mile  from  Sands 
December  24,  1823.  John  Greene,  father  of  Jacob's  wife,  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Besides  John,  Jacob  had  a 
son,  Richard,  who  died  in  Texas  during  the  Civil  War  unmar- 
ried, and  Susan,  who  married  Daniel  Miller,  of  Ashe;  Eliza, 
who  married  Ben.  Greer;  Mary,  who  married  Thomas  Hodges; 
Hannah,  who  married  Isaac  Greer;  John,  who  married,  first, 
Martha  Ray,  of  Ashe,  and,  second,  Louisa  Gragg,  widow  of 
Edward  Hodges;  Nancy,  who  married  Franklin  Hodges,  and 
Peggy,  who  married  Robert  Hodges. 

Isaacs  Family. — Richard  Isaacs  was  the  first  of  this  family 
and  came  from  Ireland  about  1790,  and  his  wife  was  a  Miss 
Robbins,  of  Randolph  County,  from  which  place  he  moved  to 
settle  in  the  Cherokee  country,  but  when  he  got  to  Morganton 
he  heard  of  Watauga  River  and  especially  of  Cove  Creek,  when 
he  came  through  Linville  Gap  up  Elk  and  Beech  Mountain  to 
Hiram  Hix's  ford  of  Watauga,  from  which  place  he  struck  up 
Cove  Creek  to  the  Cove  Creek  Church,  where  Wm.  Williams' 
family  now  lives,  close  to  the  old  graveyard.  Their  children 
were:  James,  born  1791,  married  Rachel  Reese;  Richard,  born 
1793,  married  Lily  Swift;  Solomon,  born  1795,  April  ist,  and 
married  Lily  Giles,  first,  and,  after  her  death,  Sarah  Eggers,  a 


326  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

daughter  of  Hugh  Eggers;  Massy  and  Mary,  twins,  born  in 
1789,  of  whom  Massy  married  Samuel  Swift  and  Mary  a  man 
named  Massagee,  but  they  left  this  section  and  went  west  before 
Hugh  M,  Isaacs  was  born, 

Solomon  was  married  twice.  The  children  by  his  first  wife 
were:  Elijah,  who  married  Sally  Hartly;  Peggy,  who  married 
Milton  Davis ;  William,  who  married  a  Norris  in  Missouri. 
His  second  wife's  children  were:  Hugh  M.,  born  May  13,  1839, 
and  married,  first,  Nancy  Thompson,  and,  second,  Leona  Pres- 
nell;  Martha,  born  June  17,  1841,  and  married,  first,  John 
Wilson,  who  was  killed  at  Chickamauga,  and,  second,  Sherman 
Swift;  Solomon,  born  June  2,  1845,  and  Richard,  born  August 
15,  1847.  Hugh  M.  joined  Company  I,  58th  North  Carolina; 
William  Miller,  captain,  and  Fred.  Toby,  adjutant. 

Walter  W.  Lenoir. — He  was  born  in  Caldwell  County  about 
1823  and  died  at  Shull's  Mills,  Watauga  County,  July  26,  1890. 
He  graduated  with  high  honors  at  the  North  Carolina  Uni- 
versity, studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1845,  ^^^ 
married  Miss  Cornelia  Christian,  of  Staunton,  Va.,  in  1856,  but 
she  died  soon  afterward.  He  lost  a  leg  in  the  Civil  War  at  the 
battle  of  Ox  Hill,  September,  1862.  He  was  a  descendant  of 
Gen.  William  Lenoir,  a  lieutenant  in  Rutherford's  expedition 
against  the  Cherokees  in  1776;  was  a  captain  at  King's  Mountain 
battle;  was  first  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina;  was  president  of  the  Senate  in 
1790-94;  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  conventions  of 
1788-89;  was  chairman  of  the  county  court  of  Wilkes;  was 
major-general  of  militia.* 

Lewis  Family. — The  sons  of  Richard  Lewis  the  first  were: 
Jacob,  who  married  Hannah  Waters  and  lived  on  Yadkin  Elk. 
Their  children  were:  i.  Betsy,  who  married  Abraham  Younce; 
Allie,  who  married  Charles  Hayse;  Nancy,  who  married  Abra- 
ham Lewis ;  Sallie,  who  married  Jacob  Council.  2.  Daniel,  who 
married  Sallie  Allen,  their  children  being:  James,  who  went  to 
Texas  in  1840;  David,  grandfather  of  P.  C.  Younce.  By  his 
second  wife   (Betsy  Vanderpool)   Daniel  Lewis  had  Abraham, 


•»  Note  by   Dr.   K.   P.   Battle,   of   U.    N.    C,   pp.    40-41,   No.    6,    of   Sprunt   Hist. 
Monograph  series. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  327 

and  John,  who  went  to  Texas  in  1840;  Richard,  who  went  to 
Arkansas;  Jonathan,  who  went  to  California  in  1849;  Daniel, 
who  married  Martha  Hendricks ;  Louisa,  who  married  A. 
Younce.  By  his  third  wife,  Louisa  Franklin,  Daniel  had  Andrew, 
who  married  Victoria  Reese;  Elizabeth,  who  went  to  Georgia; 
Emeline  and  Columbus,  who  also  went  to  Georgia.  3.  David 
Lewis  married  Polly  Hendricks,  and  their  children  were:  Sallie, 
who  married  Daniel  Brown;  Betsy,  who  married  Alfred  Sim- 
mons; Minerva,  who  married  Joseph  Bingham,  4,  Richard 
Lewis  married  Phoebe  Vanderpool,  and  their  children  were: 
Rebecca,  who  married  Thomas  Robbins;  Nancy,  who  did  not 
marry ;  Malinda,  who  married  a  Day,  and  William.  Margaret 
Lewis  was  buried  at  Cove  Creek  Church.  Daniel  Lewis  settled 
where  Jacob  Lewis  now  lives,  one  mile  from  Sherwood  on  the 
Vanderpool  Mill  Creek,  where  the  Vanderpools  lived  and  where 
Lewis  married  a  lady  of  that  house.  Lewis  is  said  to  have  come 
to  this  section  prior  to  1800.  Jonathan  Lewis,  son  of  Daniel,  left 
Zionville  for  California  in  1848,  settled  at  Fresno,  Cal.,  and  be- 
came rich. 

Romulus  Z.  Linney. — He  was  born  in  Rutherford  County 
December  26,  1841 ;  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of 
the  country,  at  York's  Collegiate  Institute,  and  at  Dr.  Millen's 
school  at  Taylorsville ;  he  served  as  a  private  in  the  Confederate 
army  until  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  where  he  was  severely 
wounded,  and  was  discharged.  He  then  joined  a  class  in  Dr. 
Millen's  school  at  Taylorsville,  of  which  Hon.  W.  H.  Bower 
was  a  member ;  studied  law  with  the  late  Judge  Armfield ;  was 
adm-itted  to  practice  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  1868 ;  was  elected 
to  the  State  Senate  in  1870,  1872,  1874,  and  again  in  1882 ;  was 
elected  to  the  54th,  55th  and  56th  Congresses  as  a  Republican, 
receiving  19,419  votes  against  18,006  for  Rufus  A.  Doughton, 
Democrat,  and  640  for  Wm.  M.  White,  Prohibitionist.  He  mar- 
ried Dorcas  Stephenson  in  Taylorsville.  In  1880  he  became 
interested  in  Watauga  so  much  that  he  bought  property  there, 
and  in  September,  1902,  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  he  called 
Tater  Hill  on  Rich  Mountain,  where  he  built  two  rock  houses. 
He  was  influential  in  getting  a  wagon  road  built  along  the  top  of 


328  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

the  Rich  Mountain  range  from  the  gap  above  Boone  to  a  gap 
just  north  of  Silverstone.  He  contributed  $500  to  the  Appa- 
lachian Training  School.  Above  the  front  door  of  the  chief 
building  of  this  college  is  written  in  marble  the  following  quota- 
tion from  one  of  his  speeches  delivered  July  4,  1903 :  "Learn- 
ing, the  Handmaid  of  Loyalty  and  Liberty.  A  Vote  Governs 
Better  than  a  Crown."  He  died  at  Taylorsville,  April  15,  1910. 
His  mother  was  a  sister  of  the  late  Judge  John  Baxter. 

Col.  Edward  F.  Lovill. — He  was  born  in  Surry  County  Feb- 
ruary 10,  184:2,  married  Miss  Josephine  Marion,  of  the  same 
county,  February  15,  1866,  and  moved  to  Boone  in  1874.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  February,  1885,  and  was  commis- 
sioner to  the  Chippewa  Indians  from  1893  to  1897.  He  was 
captain  of  Company  A  of  the  28th  North  Carolina  Infantry,  and 
on  the  second  day  of  Chancellorsville  commanded  that  regiment 
in  the  absence  of  Col.  Samuel  D.  Low.  Of  this  incident  Colonel 
Lowe  reported:  "While  absent.  General  Stuart  again  com- 
manded the  line  forward,  and  my  regiment  charged  through 
the  same  terrible  artillery  firing  the  third  time,  led  by  Captain 
(Edward  F.)  Lovill,  of  Company  A,  to  the  support  of  our  bat- 
teries which  I  had  just  got  into  position  on  the  hill  from  which 
those  of  the  enemy  had  been  driven."  Captain  Lovill  had  com- 
manded the  same  regiment  during  the  midnight  attack  of  the 
night  before.  Upon  the  death  of  Col.  Asbury  Speer  at  Reems 
Station  and  the  resignation  of  Major  Samuel  Stowe,  Captain 
Lovill  was  senior  officer  of  the  28th  till  the  surrender  at  Appo- 
mattox, and  commanded  the  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Jones' 
farm  near  Petersburg  in  the  fall  of  1864,  where  he  was  severely 
wounded.  He  returned  to  duty  in  March,  1865,  and  was  recom- 
mended for  promotion  to  the  colonelcy  of  his  regiment  at  the 
time  that  James  Lineberger  was  recommended  for  the  lieutenant- 
colonelcy  and  George  McCauley  for  the  majority,  but  the  end 
came  before  these  appointments  were  published.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  right  arm  at  Gettysburg.  At  Fredericksburg 
"Captain  Lovill,  of  Company  A,  the  right  company  of  the  regi- 
ment, stood  on  the  railroad  track  all  the  time,  waving  his  hat 
and  cheering  his  men,  and  neither  he  nor  Martin  (who  had  just 


COLONEL  ROMULUS  Z.  LINNEY,  M.  C 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  329 

shot  down  the  Federal  color  bearer)  was  struck."  Soon  after 
the  battle  of  Jericho  Ford,  in  September,  1864,  Natt  Nixon,  a 
seventeen-year-old  boy  of  Mitchell's  River,  Surry,  was  desper- 
ately wounded,  and  at  night  Captain  Lovill  and  Private  M.  H. 
Freeman,  a  cobbler  of  Dobson,  went  to  get  him,  as  he  had  been 
left  within  the  enemy's  lines.  They  called  him  and  he  answered, 
paying  the  Federals  were  between  him  and  them,  but  had  been 
to  him  and  given  him  water.  Freeman  put  down  his  gun  and 
accoutrements  and  shouting  in  a  loud  voice,  "Natt,  I'm  coming 
after  you.  I  am  coming  unarmed,  and  any  man  who  shoots  me 
is  a  damned  coward,"  started.  It  was  night,  but  no  one  fired 
at  him,  and  he  brought  his  stricken  comrade  back  to  Captain 
Lovill,  but  the  poor  boy  died  near  a  farm  house  to  which  he  had 
been  borne  before  daylight.  Colonel  Lovill  is  a  director  of  the 
Oxford  Orphanage,  having  been  appointed  by  Governor  Aycock. 
He  is  chairman  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Appalachian 
Training  School  and  a  lawyer  of  ability. 

McBride  Family. — ^John  McBride  came  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  and  settled  in  New  Jersey,  from  which  place  he  moved  to 
Rowan  County  with  the  New  Jersey  settlers.  He  married  Mary 
Baird  in  Rowan,  and  their  children  were:  Brazilla,  who  mar- 
ried Rachel  Wilson  in  Rowan ;  Timothy,  who  went  to  Missouri, 
where  he  remained,  and  William,  who  married  a  Miss  Swice- 
good  in  Rowan  and  died  there.  One  of  the  daughters  married 
Levi  Heath;  Ellen  married  Landrine  Eggers,  while  another 
daughter  married  David  Goss,  who  moved  to  Missouri.  Brazilla 
was  in  the  War  of  1812  and  named  his  first  son  for  Andrew 
Jackson. 

Brazilla's  children  were:  Andrew  Jackson,  who  married 
Polly  Green;  Hiram,  who  married  Mary  Farthing;  Silas,  who 
married  Emily  Green;  Brazilla  Carroll,  who  married  Catharine 
Brinkley,  of  West  Tennessee;  Sarah,  who  married  Harrison 
Johnson ;  Ann,  who  married  Squire  Green ;  Mary  Amanda,  who 
married  John  Combs ;   Emily,  who  married  Jonathan  Green. 

Brazilla's  second  wife  was  Elizabeth  Eggers,  and  their  chil- 
dren were:  Manly,  who  married  Martha  Norris;  John,  who 
married   Miss   Greer;    Rachel,   who   married   George  HilHard; 


330  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Ellen,  who  married  Bruce  Harman;  Louisa,  who  married  Jacob 
Younce;  Martha,  who  died  unmarried  at  the  age  of  sixteen; 
Nancy,  who  married  William  Church;  Elizabeth,  who  married 
Richard  McGuire. 

From  the  gravestones  in  the  Cove  Creek  graveyard  the  fol- 
lowing was  taken :  Rev.  Brazilla  McBride  was  born  September 
27,  1790,  and  died  December  10,  1858;  Hiram  McBride  was 
born  August  9,  1818,  died  July  30,  1880;  Mary,  wife  of  Hiram, 
born  February  21,  1818,  died  May  26,  1869;  Rachel,  wife  of 
Brazilla  McBride,  born  February  15,  1797,  died  August  18,  1839. 

From  the  A.  J.  McBride  graveyard  the  following  was  taken: 
Rev,  Andrew  J.  McBride  was  born  November  2y,  1822,  and  died 
November  12,  1891 ;  Silas  McBride  was  born  November  18, 
1827,  and  when  he  died  he  was  aged  seventy-two  years,  six 
months  and  twenty  days;  Elijah  Green  was  born  November  4, 
1800,  died  July  15,  1882.  His  wife  was  born  October  10,  1803, 
and  died  January  8,  1879. 

Willis  McGhee  came  to  this  county  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century  and  resided  with  Jordan  Councill,  bringing  with  him  a 
fine  stallion  and  a  negro  man  slave.  McGhee  married  Bettie, 
daughter  of  Jordan  Councill,  Sr.,  and  settled  in  Hodges  Gap  of 
the  Rich  Mountain.  Their  children  were :  Jordan  C,  James  H. 
and  Willis,  Jr.,  Eveline,  Carolina,  Louisa,  Elvira  and  Mary. 
Jordan  C.  married  Eliza  Todd,  a  daughter  of  James  Todd; 
James  H.  married  Vina  Vandyke;  Willis,  Jr.,  married  a  Miss 
Hall  of  Wilkes;  Eveline  married  Bart  Wood,  a  brick  mason; 
Carolina  married  Col.  J.  B.  Todd ;  Louisa  married,  first,  Nathan 
Hartley,  but  he  died  in  the  Civil  War,  and  then  she  married  J.  B. 
Clark,  She  still  lives;  Elvira  never  married;  Mary  married 
Thomas  Triplett.  Jordan  C.  was  a  brick  mason,  but  has  been 
in  a  hospital  on  account  of  poor  health  for  many  years. 

Mast  Family. — Joseph  Mast,  the  first  of  the  name  to  come  to 
Valle  Crucis,  Watauga  County,  was  bom  in  Randolph  County, 
North  CaroHna,  March  25,  1764,  and  on  the  30th  of  May,  1783, 
married  Eve  Bowers,  who  had  been  born  between  the  Saluda 
and  Broad  rivers.  South  CaroHna,  December  30,  1758,  Joseph 
was  a  son  of  John,  who  was  brother  of  the  Jacob  Mast  who 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  331 

became  bishop  of  the  Amish  Mennonite  Church  in  Conestoga, 
Pa.,  in  1788.  They  had  left  their  native  Switzerland  together 
and  sailed  from  Rotterdam  in  the  ship  "Brotherhood,"  which 
reached  Philadelphia  November  3,  1750.  John  Mast  was  born 
in  1740,  and  shortly  after  becoming  twenty  years  of  age  left  his 
brother,  Jacob,  who  had  married  and  was  living  near  the  site  of 
what  is  now  Elverson,  Pa.  John  wandered  on  foot  through 
many  lonely  forests,  but  finally  settled  in  Randolph  County, 
where  Joseph  was  born.  There  he  married  a  lady  whose  given 
name  was  Barbara.  From  Joseph  and  Eve  Mast  have  descended 
many  of  the  most  substantial  and  worthy  citizens  of  Western 
North  Carolina,  while  the  Mast  family  generally  are  people  of 
influence  and  standing  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Nebraska,  Iowa, 
Montana,  Oregon,  Florida,  Illinois,  Missouri,  California,  Kan- 
sas, and,  in  fact,  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union.  C.  Z.  Mast, 
of  Elverson,  Pa.,  in  191 1  published  a  volume  of  nearly  a  thou- 
sand pages,  all  of  which  are  devoted  to  an  excellent  record  of  all 
the  Masts  in  America.  John  A.  Mast  was  born  on  Brushy  Creek 
September  22,  1829.  He  married  Martha  Moore,  of  John's 
River,  December  5,  1850.  He  died  February  6,  1892.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  John  Mast,  and  maternal  grandfather, 
Cutliff  Harman,  were  among  the  pioneers  of  this  section  and 
were  Germans,  settling  on  Cove  Creek.  His  wife,  Martha  Mast, 
was  born  April  13,  1833.     She  died  February  15,  1905. 

Joseph  Harrison  Mast. — His  father  was  John  Mast  and  his 
mother,  Susan  Harman,  who  are  buried  at  the  Taylor  burying- 
ground  at  Valle  Crucis.  John  Mast's  father  was  Joseph,  and  he 
lived  where  Finley  Mast  now  lives,  while  Cutliff  Harman  lived 
where  David  Harman  now  lives.  Joseph  H.  Mast  was  born 
April  9,  1829,  and  married  Clarissa  P.  Moore  October  12,  1848. 
Her  father  was  Daniel  Moore,  of  the  Globe,  Caldwell  County. 
Their  children  were :  Sophronia,  wife  of  Newton  Banner,  born 
July  15,  1850;  Andrew  J.,  born  February  25,  1852;  Leona,  born 
December  2,  1853;  Martha  V.,  born  April  20,  1856;  John  H., 
born  October  10,  1858;  Allie  J.,  born  May  8,  1861 ;  Sarah  C, 
born  August  19,  1863;  Daniel  H.,  born  June  26,  1866;  Joseph 
C,  born  May  8,  1869.    He  settled  at  his  present  home  at  Sugar 


332  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Grove  in  1848,  and  built  the  dam  and  grist  mill  of  the  present 
Mast  mill  before  the  Civil  War,  bolting  the  ground  wheat  by  an 
old  reel  still  in  existence,  though  J.  C.  and  J.  H.  Mast,  his  sons, 
changed  that  old  mill  into  the  first  roller  mill  in  Watauga 
County  in  1897,  E.  F.  Bingham  building  the  second  half  a  mile 
above.  His  children  married  as  follows :  Andrew  Jackson  mar- 
ried Joana  King;  Leona  A.  married  Robert  Mast;  Martha  V. 
married  Thomas  Sullivan;  John  H.  married,  first,  Eleline, 
daughter  of  Hiram  McBride,  and,  second,  Nancy,  daughter  of 
Hiram  Wilson;  AHce  J.  married  Finley  Mast;  Sarah  C.  mar- 
ried John  Smith;  Daniel  H.  married  Ruia  Lowrance;  Joseph 
C.  married,  first,  Nora  Phillips,  and,  second,  Ada  Madron,  of 
Bristol,  Va.    Joseph  H.  Mast,  Sr.,  died  September  8,  191 5. 

The  brothers  and  a  sister  of  J.  H.  Mast,  Sr.,  were :  Noah,  who 
married  Elizabeth  Roland;  Leson,  who  married  Sally  Dugger; 
Eli,  who  married  Callie  Dugger;  Jack,  who  married  Martha 
Moore,  of  the  Globe,  and  Finley  P.,  who  married  Rhoda  Smith. 

Miller  Family. — According  to  Clyde  C.  Miller,  of  Sands,  N. 
C,  there  is  a  tradition  that,  several  years  before  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  three  young  men,  a  Horton,  a  Miller  and  Baird,  all 
married  sisters  named  Eldridge  and  moved  to  the  upper  Yadkin 
from  Pennsylvania.  They  probably  came  with  the  Jersey  set- 
tlers. Tradition  also  gives  this  Miller  the  name  of  William  and 
credits  him  with  having  fought  in  the  Revolution.  His  son, 
David,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  bounds  of  what  is 
now  Watauga  County,  near  Meat  Camp  Creek.  David  Miller 
and  Levi  Murphey  or  Morphew  were  constables  and  called  the 
first  court  in  Watauga  to  order.  David  had  twelve  children, 
seven  sons  and  five  daughters:  Wayne,  David,  John,  William, 
Joseph,  Ephriam  and  Jonathan;  Lydia,  who  married  a  Bing- 
ham ;  Rebecca,  who  married  Battle  Bryan ;  Polly,  who  married 
a  Lookabill ;  Elizabeth,  who  married  an  Allison,  and  Nancy,  who 
married  a  Lewis. 

Wayne's  sons  were:  William,  James,  Daniel,  Jonathan  and 
Alfred.  David,  a  brother  of  Wayne,  was  the  father  of  Cling- 
man,  who  has  been  for  years  in  the  State  of  Washington; 
George,  Mrs.  L.  D.  Cole  and  Mrs.  George  Moody  were  also 
children   of   Wayne.     Daniel   lived   and   died   on   Cove   Creek. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  333 

John  lived  on  Meat  Camp  and  was  the  father  of  three  boys  and 
four  girls :  Jonathan,  Calvin,  Thomas,  Myra,  Katharine,  Caro- 
lina and  Angeline,  all  the  boys  having  been  in  the  Confederate 
army.  Calvin  lived  at  Sutherland  and  died  in  the  summer  of 
1913 ;  J.  B.  Miller  lived  on  Meat  Camp  and  died  December  14, 
1914;  Myra  married  a  Greer  and  moved  to  Kentucky;  Caroline 
married  John  Norris  and  moved  to  Kentucky;  Katharine  mar- 
ried B.  F.  Burkett,  and  Angeline  married  C.  P.  Todd.  All  have 
been  dead  a  number  of  years. 

William  Miller,  captain  of  Company  I,  58th  North  Carolina, 
was  the  father  of  Ephriam,  Harrison,  Silas,  John,  Wayne,  David 
and  Levi. 

Joseph  married  Sally,  daughter  of  Edmund  Blackburn,  and 
had  two  sons,  Lorenzo  Dow,  who  lives  near  Zionville,  and  Frank, 
who  lives  on  Meat  Camp.  Ephriam  also  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Confederate  army,  and  had  two  sons,  Alexander  and  David,  the 
latter  living  in  Tennessee.  Jonathan  also  served  in  the  Civil 
War  and  is  the  only  one  of  these  brothers  still  living.  He  is  in 
good  health  and  lives  on  Howard's  Creek,  although  ninety-odd 
years  of  age.  He  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Levi  Blackburn, 
and  is  the  father  of  Edmund  and  Henry  and  of  Carolina,  who 
married  Ben  Tugman;  of  Neomi,  who  married  Marsh  Tugman, 
and  of  Martha,  who  married  Pat  Hodges,  all  of  whom  are  yet 
living. 

Moretz  Family. — John  Moretz  was  born  in  Randolph  County, 
North  Carolina,  about  1788.  His  first  wife  was  a  Miss  Moser, 
and  to  this  union  were  born  nine  children.  John's  second  wife 
was  Catharine  Hefner,  and  from  this  marriage  there  were  six- 
teen children,  eight  boys  and  eight  girls,  Alfred  Jacob  Moretz, 
of  Deep  Gap,  having  been  the  eighth  child.  The  first  John 
Moretz's  father  came  from  Pennsylvania,  and  he  and  his  wife 
were  full-blooded  Germans.  John  Moretz  and  his  second  wife 
and  family  came  from  Randolph  County  in  September,  1839,  and 
there  Alfred  Jacob  was  born  the  following  October.  John 
bought  land  and  the  original  mill  on  Meat  Camp  from  Samuel 
Cooper,  who  then  moved  to  Meadow  Creek.  John's  eldest  son 
first  moved  west,  but  returned  and  lived  at  Soda  Hill,  which  he 
bought  from  a  Norris.     He  died  September  12,  1868.     Alfred 


334  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

J.  married  Mary  Emeline  Lutz,  who  was  born  in  Burke  and 
reared  in  Caldwell.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Ambrose  L.  Lutz, 
who  had  moved  from  Lincoln  to  Burke  and  then  to  Caldwell, 
near  Rutherford  College.  With  John  Moretz  also  came  one  son 
and  two  daughters  by  his  first  marriage.  He  reared  three  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons  by  the  first  wife,  and  seven  girls  and  seven 
boys  by  the  second  lived  to  be  grown,  although  there  were  four 
of  his  daughters  who  died  of  diphtheria  during  the  Civil  War 
within  a  few  days  of  each  other.  Of  John's  children,  Christian, 
now  dead,  married  a  Miss  Stirwalt;  John,  Miss  Jane  Miller; 
William,  a  Miss  Condor;  Jonathan,  a  Miss  Norris;  Zachariah 
Taylor  married,  first,  a  Miss  Bowman  and  then  a  Miss  Fer- 
guson; Joseph  L.  married  a  Miss  Miller,  a  sister  of  John 
Moretz's  wife;  Sallie,  who  married  Jacob  Winebarger;  Caro- 
lina, who  married  A.  S.  Davis ;  Mary,  who  married  a  Miller,  the 
three  youngest  of  John's  daughters  having  died  young  and  before 
marrying.  Joseph  L,  Moretz  was  the  father  of  J.  M.  Moretz, 
of  Boone. 

Morphew  Family. — Joseph  Morphew  married  Mary  Burke,  a 
sister  of  the  Tory  colonel,  Benjamin  Burke,  who  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  the  Shallow  Ford.  Their  children  were:  Mary, 
who  married  Ephriam  Norris;  Naomi,  who  married  Ephriam 
Allison;  James,  who  married  and  one  of  whose  children,  Mary, 
married  Thomas  Robbins,  Sr.,  the  rest  of  the  children  going  to 
Butler  County,  Ohio,  before  the  Civil  War,  about  1820;  Silas 
married  Elizabeth  England  about  1775.  The  Morphews  were 
Quakers  and  Tories,  and  Silas  was  hanged,  but  a  woman  held 
him  up  by  the  legs  till  help  came  and  he  was  cut  down  and  his 
life  saved.  This  happened  in  Rowan,  probably.  The  children 
of  Silas  and  Elizabeth  were:  Uriah,  born  about  1780  and  mar- 
ried a  Fairchild;  Obediah,  born  about  1782  and  married  a  Berry; 
Silas,  who  married  Matilda  Cayton;  John  M.,  who  married 
Sarah  Blackburn  in  1813;  James,  who  never  married;  Aaron, 
who  married  Nancy  Sample ;  Rhoda,  who  married  Samuel  Todd ; 
Jennie,  who  married  George  Wells.  Peggy,  Kizzy  and  Sallie 
never  married.  All  left  this  country  long  ago,  except  John 
Morphew,  grandfather  of  Cyrus  A.  Grubb. 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  335 

The  Norris  Family. — John  Norris  came  to  North  Carolina 
from  Pennsylvania  before  the  Revolutionary  War  and  was  prob- 
ably a  loyalist.  His  son,  John,  was  born  in  Wilkes  County,  and 
his  wife  was  Nancy  Brown,  of  the  same  county.  They  moved  to 
Ashe,  now  Watauga,  and  settled  on  Meat  Camp  and  there  their 
son,  Ephriam,  was  born,  July  12,  1819.  This  son  was  killed 
March  28,  1865,  at  Boone  by  Stoneman's  men.  He  had  married 
Margaret  Greene  in  1842.  Captain  Elijah  J.  Norris  was  born 
at  the  same  place  as  Ephriam  September  4,  1843,  and  married 
Mary  E.  Norris,  whose  father  was  first  cousin  to  Ephriam,  his 
name  having  been  John.  Their  children  were:  Emma  B.,  born 
November  20,  1869,  and  married  W.  R.  Greene;  Jackson 
Ephriam,  who  was  born  April  25,  1877,  and  married,  first,  Zenna 
Brown  in  1904,  and,  second,  Maggy  Hardy  in  1913;  MoUie  A., 
born  March  30,  1887,  not  married.  Captain  E.  J.  Norris  joined 
Col.  J.  B.  Palmer's  regiment  at  Johnson  City,  Tenn.,  July  12, 
1862.  He  was  wounded  five  times,  the  last  time  desperately 
through  the  hips,  September  4,  1864.  He  was  in  Boone  when 
Stoneman  passed  through  in  March,  1865,  and  told  his  father 
to  run  when  he  became  sure  the  men  were  regular  troops  and 
not  Jim  Hartley's  crowd,  whom  the  Home  Guard  expected  to 
attack  them  that  day.  These  were  native  Union  men  who  claimed 
to  be  in  the  service  of  the  Union.  The  Home  Guard  had  met  that 
morning  in  Boone  and  elected  Jordan  Cook  captain  and  himself 
(E.  J.  Norris)  a  lieutenant,  to  keep  order  and  prevent  depre- 
dations by  marauders.  Stoneman  got  to  Boone  about  11  a.  m. 
and  burned  the  jail  that  night.  In  1910  E.  J.  Norris  was  elected 
commander  of  the  Nimrod  Triplett  Camp  U.  C.  V.  No.  1273. 

John  Norris,  a  son  of  William,  Sr.,  married  Rachel  Sands,  a 
sister  of  David,  and  reared  a  family  of  seven  children:  Sallie, 
who  never  married ;  Anna,  who  married  Joseph  Hayes ;  Lucinda, 
who  married  George  Brown;  Susan,  who  married  John  H. 
Brown ;  Mary,  who  married  E.  J.  Norris ;  Joel  S.,  who  married 
Sarah  Hopkins ;  William  D.,  who  married,  first,  Bartlett  Brown's 
daughter,  and,  second,  Miss  Parlier.  They  lived  three  miles 
east  of  Boone  on  the  Jefferson  road,  and  used  to  operate  a  card- 
ing machine  for  carding  wool  into  rolls.     Joel  Norris,  son  of 


336  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

William,  Sr.,  lived  near  Soda  Hill,  which  he  owned  and  is  fa- 
mous and  much  admired.  He  married  Polly  Griffa  and  reared 
three  children:  Granville,  Millard  and  Bittie.  Bittie  married 
Ed.  Gragg  and  moved  to  Oregon.  Joel  and  wife  are  both  dead, 
while  all  their  children  are  still  iving. 

William  Norris,  Sr. — He  lived  on  Brushy  Fork,  near  its 
mouth,  where  it  empties  into  Meat  Camp  Creek,  and  married, 
first,  a  Miss  Case  and  their  child  married  Isaac  Greer  and  moved 
to  Kentucky.  His  second  wife  was  Eunice  Shinn,  from  which 
union  were  five  boys,  Samuel,  Levi,  Joel,  Jonathan  and  David, 
and  three  girls,  Rebecca,  Anna  and  Myra,  all  of  whom  married 
and  reared  families.  Samuel  married  a  lady  near  Ducktown, 
Tenn. ;  Levi  married  Margaret  Morphew,  daughter  of  John ; 
Joel  married  a  lady  of  the  name  of  Griffith;  Jonathan  married 
Ailsey  Proffitt;  David  married  Matilda  Proffitt;  Rebecca  mar- 
ried Samuel  Trivette ;  Anna  married  Michael  Cook ;  Myra  mar- 
ried Jacob  Cook.  Of  the  last  marriage  about  eighteen  children 
were  reared,  the  eldest  daughter  marrying  John  Hartley.  He 
was  a  son  of  Eli  and  Delphia  Hartley,  and  was  born  on  the  8th 
day  of  February,  1835,  "The  Cold  Saturday." 

A.  W.  Penley,  who  lived  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  about  twelve  miles  from  Boone,  on  Joe's  Fork  of  Buf- 
falo Creek,  was  the  first  county  court  clerk  of  Watauga  County 
elected  by  the  people.  He  was  a  man  of  great  intelligence,  and 
a  magistrate  for  many  years.  He  was  also  postmaster  at  Penly 
Postoffice  several  years.  He  married,  first,  Rena  Triplett,  to 
which  union  were  born  two  boys,  Avery  and  Jasper,  and  one 
girl,  Mary  Ann.  His  second  marriage  was  to  Elizabeth  Trip- 
lett, to  whom  there  were  born  Adolphus,  Robey  and  Alice.  He 
was  a  clever  man,  went  through  the  Civil  War  and  returned 
without  a  wound.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  county  court 
for  several  years,  and  a  great  hunter. 

The  Perkins  Family. — L.  N.  Perkins,  who  lives  on  the  Jeffer- 
son Road,  two  miles  from  Boone,  is  a  worthy  representative  of 
this  distinguished  family.  Joseph  and  Timothy  Perkins  were  the 
first  of  the  name  in  these  mountains,  and  came  from  one  of  the 
New  England  States,  where  they  had  been  tax-gatherers  just 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  337 

prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  But 
being  loyahsts,  they  were  not  welcome  there  after  that  great 
struggle  began.  They  moved  to  Old  Fields  in  Ashe  County,  re- 
taining their  allegiance  to  the  British  crown  all  during  that 
struggle,  Timothy  losing  his  life  in  a  skirmish  in  Ashe.  He  left 
several  sons  and  one  daughter,  Lucy,  who  married  a  Young. 
Joseph  also  left  sons  and  daughters.  Granny  Skritch,  who  lived 
with  one  of  her  Perkins  relatives  on  Little  Wilson,  remained 
loyal  to  King  George  even  when  she  had  reached  a  great  age. 

Presnell  Family. — Solomon  Presnell  was  born  in  Chatham 
County  in  1810  and  came  to  Watauga  County  in  1827.  His  wife 
was  Mary  Mundy,  who  was  born  in  what  is  now  Alexander 
County  in  1813.  Their  children  were:  Melvin,  who  died  in  in- 
fancy ;  Carolina,  who  died  when  three  years  old ;  Wesley  Wayne, 
who  was  born  July  22,  1837,  on  Cove  Creek  road  at  the  Vander- 
pool  place.  He  married  Susan  Adeline  Gragg  March  17,  1861. 
The  next  child  was  Amanda,  who  married  Holden  Moody; 
Benjamin,  who  was  killed  at  Bentonville;  Squire  Adams,  who 
married,  first,  Catharine  Hartley,  and,  second,  Mattie  Fox; 
James  M.,  who  married  Rebecca  Greene;  Rufus  W.,  who  mar- 
ried Sallie  VanDyke ;  N.  Jerome,  who  married  Caroline  Hodges ; 
Mary  A.,  who  married  David  Fox.  Solomon's  father  was 
Nathan  Presnell,  and  his  wife  was  Mary  Whitehead.  He  came 
and  settled  near  Lenoir  in  1814.  She  was  probably  reared  in 
Union  or  Chatham  County.  Besides  Solomon,  their  children 
were:  William,  who  married  a  Miss  Watkins,  of  Alexander 
County;  Elijah,  who  married  and  had  several  children,  but  lived 
in  Alexander  County.  Mary  Whitehead  had  a  brother  who  went 
to  Tennessee  and  settled  on  Elk  Creek. 

Asa  Reese,  Pioneer. — Valentine  Reese  came  from  Germany 
to  America  about  1750  and  married  Christina  Harman,  settling 
at  the  old  Bowers  Place,  now  called  Trade,  Tenn.  Their  chil- 
dren were:  John,  born  in  1770  and  married  Sarah  Eggers, 
John  dying  at  age  seventy  and  his  wife  at  age  ninety-six.  They 
reared  ten  children:  Hiram,  born  in  1798,  married  Rhoda 
Smith  and  settled  in  Watauga.  They  had  six  children,  and  after 
Rhoda's  death  Hiram  married  Martha  McCall,  six  children  hav- 


338  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

ing  blessed  this  union.  A  divorce  followed,  and  two  years  later 
Hiram  married  his  third  wife,  Jane  Widby,  by  whom  he  had  one 
child,  a  daughter.  Hiram  died  July  9,  1872,  aged  seventy-four 
years.  Asa,  son  of  Hiram  and  Rhoda,  was  born  May  9,  1820, 
and  married  Catharine  Wagner  February  27,  1845,  settling  two 
miles  from  what  is  now  Mountain  City,  Tenn.  His  wife  joined 
the  Baptist  Church  in  February,  1872,  and  he  in  December, 
1876.  They  had  ten  children,  one  of  "whom,  a  girl,  dying  in 
childhood.  Asa  died  November  27,  1898,  and  was  buried  near 
his  home  and  daughter,  Rhoda.  Asa's  children  were  Jehiel, 
Asa,  John,  Nelson,  Cinderella,  Mahetebel.  After  the  death 
of  his  first  wife  Hiram  Reese  moved  his  family  to  what  was 
known  as  the  old  Jim  Reese  house,  below  Phillip  Greer's  on 
Cove  Creek,  in  1830.  In  1832,  during  a  cold  spell,  a  family 
named  Hutchinson,  with  their  team,  were  added  to  the  family 
of  fourteen  already  at  the  small  house,  where  they  remained  till 
warm  weather,  without  money  and  without  price.  During  this 
time  Asa  and  his  brother  had  to  sleep  on  the  open  porch,  with  a 
snow  coverlet  frequently  to  keep  them  warm.  In  copartnership 
with  Samuel  Reese,  of  Buncombe,  Hiram  Reese  lost  much  money 
wagoning  to  South  Carolina,  and  the  sheriff  sold  him  out  for 
debt  about  1834-35,  and  the  family  was  broken  up.  In  the  fall 
of  1838  Asa,  with  Alfred  Adams  (father  of  T.  P.  Adams)  and 
Sarah  Mast,  took  a  trip  to  Sequachy  Valley,  Tenn.,  near  Collins 
River,  Warren  County,  Asa's  father  having  consented  that  the 
boy  should  keep  all  he  earned  after  reaching  nineteen  years  of 
age.  In  the  fall  of  1840  Asa,  with  Hiram  McBride,  Riley  Wil- 
son, two  of  Asa's  uncles,  a  girl  named  Roland,  and  two  daugh- 
ters of  Jacob  Reese,  went  to  the  Piatt  Purchase,  Mo.,  300  miles 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  where  he  stopped  with  his  uncle, 
James  Webb,  crossing  the  Piatt  River  at  New  Market.  But 
McBride  got  home-sick  and  returned.  Asa  returned  to  this 
State  in  the  spring  of  1844  in  company  with  John  Ellington  and 
Reuben  Sutherland,  going  to  his  uncle,  Bennett  Smith's,  and  his 
cousins,  George  and  Polly  Hayes.  In  the  summer  of  1844  he 
worked  for  awhile  with  the  Fairchild  ladies  on  Howard's  Creek, 
where  he  flirted  with  a  girl  named  Winkler  whom  these  ladies 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  339 

had  hired  to  weave  for  them,  much  to  their  disgust.  But  Asa 
concluded  that  "old  maids  are  the  most  jealous,  superstitious, 
whining  old  things  that  belong  to  the  human  family."  He  de- 
cided not  to  enlist  for  the  Mexican  War,  visiting  his  father  in 
Russell  County,  Virginia,  and  finding  him  in  poverty,  but  he 
declared  he  loved  him  as  much  and  reverenced  him  more  than  if 
he  had  given  him  a  couple  of  thousands  of  dollars,  adding  that 
children  who  are  aided  by  their  parents  often  forget  them,  and 
sometimes  their  God,  as  well.  While  Asa  was  a  small  boy  he 
and  his  brother  attended  Sunday  School  in  a  small  old  log  house 
which  stood  at  the  mouth  of  a  hollow,  just  below  where  the 
widow,  Ann  Farthing,  used  to  live  on  Beaver  Dams.  This  must 
have  been  about  1828,  and  was  undoubtedly  the  first  Sunday 
School  of  which  there  is  any  record  known  to  this  writer.  Thus, 
to  the  many  other  good  deeds,  the  Farthings  have  the  glory  of 
having  instituted  Sunday  Schools,  now  universal,  then  unknown. 
The  house  in  which  Asa  was  born  stood  on  a  branch  of  Sharpe's 
Creek  and  was  built  of  logs,  with  puncheon  floor,  the  chimney  of 
which  was  built  of  stone  inside  and  of  wood  outside  to  the  top 
of  the  mantelpiece,  above  which  it  was  of  sticks  and  clay.  It 
was  covered  with  old-fashioned  clap-boards.  His  father  had  a 
smoke  house  for  his  meat,  though  many  hung  their  meat  in  the 
gables  of  their  homes,  thus  giving  all  kinds  of  meat  a  chance  to 
become  smoked  yellow,  includmg  hog,  beef,  bear,  venison,  coon, 
etc. 

Col.  J.  J.  T.  Reese,  eldest  son  of  Asa  Reese,  was  born  near 
Mountain  City  (then  Taylorsville),  Tenn.,  June  21,  1849,  where 
he  was  educated,  and  afterwards  taught  school  at  Butler  and 
elsewhere.  He  was  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Butler  in  co- 
partnership with  L.  L.  Maples,  afterwards  moving  to  his  farm 
on  Beaver  Dams,  N.  C,  where  he  remained  three  years.  He 
married  Margaret  N.  Wagner,  daughter  of  N.  T.  Wagner,  Esq., 
near  Shouns,  Tenn.,  April  19,  1880.  She  was  a  granddaughter 
of  David  Wagner,  who  came  from  Davie  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, partly  cutting  his  way  through  the  mountains  to  Roan 
Creek,  where  he  settled  and  became  owner  of  a  thousand  acres 
of  that  fertile  land.     After  his  marriage,  J.  J.  T.  Reese  moved 


340  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

permanently  to  his  Beaver  Dams  farm,  where  he  farmed  and 
dealt  in  live  stock  for  a  time,  afterwards  engaging  in  the  lumber 
and  timber  business.  He  has  refused  all  offices  except  that  of 
justice  of  the  peace,  preferring  a  quiet  life  to  politics.  Five 
children  bless  this  union,  the  entire  family  being  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church, 

Rivers  Family. — Dr.  James  Gray  Rivers  was  a  son  of  Samuel 
and  Rebecca  Rivers,  who  were  Virginians  by  birth.  Rebecca 
Rivers  was  born  Grey,  while  Samuel  Rivers  was  a  descendant  of 
one  of  three  brothers  who  came  to  America  from  England,  land- 
ing at  Edisto  Island,  S.  C.,  one  of  them  having  been  named 
Horace,  as  is  evidenced  by  his  name  engraved  on  a  heavy  silver 
ladle  now  in  the  possession  of  Rev.  Dr.  Murray  and  wife,  of 
Spencer,  N.  C.,  Mrs.  Murray  having  been  a  Rivers  before  her 
marriage.  Dr.  James  Grey  Rivers  married  Miss  Lucretia  Jane 
Rhea,  who  was  born  at  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  near  the  Ohio 
River.  Her  father  was  R.  P.  Rhea,  also  born  in  West  Virginia, 
and  a  graduate  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  Md.  He 
became  a  teacher  of  great  note,  and  had  the  honor  of  having 
taught  Gen.  T.  J.  (Stonewall)  Jackson,  as  will  be  seen  from 
any  authentic  life  of  that  great  Confederate  soldier.  He  was  a 
dull  student,  according  to  Mr.  Rhea.  Dr.  J.  G.  Rivers  refugeed 
from  Carter  County,  Tennessee,  to  Watauga  County,  North 
Carolina,  during  the  Civil  War,  serving  in  the  Home  Guard 
till  the  capture  of  Camp  Mast  in  February,  1865.  He  suffered 
many  hardships  and  lost  much  property,  living  as  he  did  on  the 
border  line  between  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina.  He  moved 
to  Boone  in  1865,  where  he  practiced  his  profession  of  medicine 
till  his  death  in  1878.  He  left  four  children,  all  of  whom  are 
living  except  one.  R.  C.  Rivers,  Miss  Nannie  Rivers  and  the 
wife  of  J.  W.  Farthing  survive. 

Sands  Family. — David  Sands  was  born  April  4,  1791,  and 
died  June  30,  1884.  His  father  was  Joseph  Sands,  who  was  born 
in  1743  and  died  October  15,  1821.  He  came  from  Scotland. 
The  Sands  family  lived  about  three  miles  east  of  Boone,  and 
a  postoffice  of  that  name  still  recalls  the  family  name.  David 
was  a  son  of  Joseph.  Of  David  Dr.  EHsha  Mitchell  has  this  to 
say  in  letters  to  his  wife,  published  by  the  University  of  North 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  341 

Carolina,  1905  (p.  56)  :  "Rode  from  Shearer's  down  to  David 
Sands,  Esq.,  a  bachelor  with  three  or  four  sisters,  and  his  mother 
with  him.  He  showed  me  some  ore  from  Tennessee  which  he 
supposed  to  be  antimony,  but  which  proved  to  be  micaceous  oxid,e 
of  iron.  Walked  with  him  to  see  a  white  substance  in  the  creek 
on  his  land.  It  was  the  porcelain  clay.  Sands  rode  down  with 
me  to  Esquire  Miller's.  We  passed  through  a  meadow,  beauti- 
ful like  those  of  Yankeeland."    This  was  David  Miller's. 

Shearer  Family. — Robert  Shearer  the  first  was  a  Scotchman 
and  came  to  Ashe  before  the  county  was  formed  from  Wilkes. 
He  settled  near  Three  Forks  Church,  to  the  left  of  the  road  and 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill  still  called  Shearer's  Hill.  Just  when  he 
was  born  or  the  maiden  name  of  his  wife  are  not  known  now. 
He  lived  to  a  great  age  and  his  grave  is  in  the  graveyard  of 
Three  Forks  Baptist  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  consistent 
member.  There  were  eight  children:  John  Shearer,  born 
August  9,  1792;  died  January  2,  1858.  He  married  Mary 
Greene,  April  27,  181 5.  She  was  born  August  15,  1797,  and 
died  August  30,  1868.  Louisa  Shearer,  born  May  7,  181 7, 
married  Thomas  Cottrell  and  died  January  31,  1896.  Susannah 
Shearer  was  born  December  10,  1818,  married  William  Cot- 
trell and  died  December  — ,  1896.  Robert  Shearer  was  born 
July  24,  1823 ;  married,  first,  Myra  Coffey,  November  26,  1854, 
and,  second,  Martha  Estes,  February  19,  i860.  He  died  Decem- 
ber 2,  1895.  His  widow  survives.  John  Shearer  was  born 
May  5,  1828;  died  January  11,  1908.  William  Shearer,  born 
June  28,  1830,  and  moved  to  the  West.  Sarah  Shearer,  born 
March  7,  1843,  ^^'^  moved  to  the  West.  Hannah  Shearer  was 
born  May  11,  1838;  married  Milton  Brown,  who  is  dead,  but 
she  survives  and  lives  on  New  River.  Mary  Shearer,  born 
May  15,  1843;  died  April  25,  1844.  The  daughters  of  the  first 
Robert  Shearer  were:  i.  Elizabeth,  who  married  Joseph 
Greene;  2.  Sallie,  who  married  Gilbert  Hodges;  3.  Polly,  who 
married  Richard  Greene ;  4.  Nancy,  who  married  Daniel  Greene, 
brother  of  Richard.  Robert  Shearer's  sons  were:  Jack,  who 
married  Mary  Greene,  sister  of  David  and  Richard ;  Thomas, 
who  married  Patsy  Farthing,  daughter  of  Rev.  William. 


342  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Children  of  Robert  Shearer,  the  Second. — Milton  Shearer 
was  born  September  4,  1855 ;  married  Mary  Ann  Estes,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1884,  and  lives  in  Lenoir,  Mary  Shearer  was  born 
October  31,  1861 ;  married  L.  N.  Perkins,  May  18,  1889,  and 
lives  at  the  old  Shearer  homestead,  near  Boone.  Myra  Shearer, 
born  November  8,  1863;  married  J.  G.  Pulliam,  July  24,  1888, 
and  lives  in  the  West. 

Sherrill  Family. — William  W.  Sherrill  was  born  January  23, 
1828,  in  Caldwell  County,  and  he  married  Mary  Hartley,  who 
was  born  August  14,  1830,  in  Caldwell  County.  William  W. 
died  January  11,  1903,  while  his  widow  still  survives.  They 
were  married  in  1849.  Their  children  were:  George  P.,  who 
was  born  December  9,  1850,  at  Deals  Mills,  Caldwell  County, 
and  married  Mary  Grider,  March  28,  1869.  Their  second  son 
was  David,  who  went  to  Texas,  where  he  died ;  Louisa  married 
Wade  Sherrill ;  Jason  married  Titia  Wilson ;  Vienna  married 
William  Edmisten ;  Zeb  Vance  married  Free  Love  Cole ;  George 
M.  married  Rebecca  Payne  and  went  first  to  Cherokee  and  then 
to  Kansas,  where  he  married  a  second  time ;  William,  who  mar- 
ried Mary  Hartley;  Thomas,  who  married,  first,  Polly  Wilson, 
and,  second,  a  Satterwhite,  and,  third,  a  Sherrill;  Sarah,  who 
married  William  Wilson;  Amanda,  who  married  Miles  Bow- 
man. Still  another  married  a  White  and  moved  to  Cherokee. 
The  father  of  David  was  William,  who  was  bom  in  1733  and 
died  in  1829.  He  had  at  least  two  children,  David  and  William. 
Tradition  says  these  were  English  people  who  came  first  to  New 
York  and  thence  to  North  Carolina,  settling  on  Catawba  River, 
at  Sherrill's  Ford,  below  Newton.  William  was  a  farmer  and 
wagonmaker  and  a  man  of  all  work. 

Shull  Family. — From  the  genealogy  of  Simon  Shull  and 
family,  taken  on  Watauga  River,  Ashe  County,  North  Carolina, 
January  30,  1814,  the  following  is  culled:  Simon  was  son  of 
Frederick  and  Charity,  born  in  Lincoln  County  October  24, 
1767.  Mary  Sheifler,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Mary  Ormatenfer 
Sheifl.er,  was  born  May  5,  1772,  in  Loudoun  County,  Virginia. 
Simon  Shull's  children  were  Elizabeth,  born  on  John's  River, 
March  6,  1791;  the  rest  were  born  on  Watauga  River;    Mary, 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  343 

born  March  19,  1793;  Sarah,  born  March  2,  1795;  Phillip, 
born  February  15,  1797;  John,  born  March  24,  1799;  Joseph, 
born  April  22,  1801 ;  Temperance,  born  October  16,  1804;  EHza- 
beth,  born  April  10,  1808.  Simon  Shull  married  Mary  Sheifler 
on  Upper  Creek  of  Catawba  River,  March  25,  1790,  Wm.  Pen- 
land  officiating.  Elizabeth  Shull  died  February  15,  1794,  two 
years  and  eleven  months  old;  Joseph  died  April  7,  1886;  Eliza- 
beth died  January  2,  1897;  Adeline  Taylor  died  April  15,  1894. 
Joseph  Shull  married  Lizzie  Mast  October  28,  1835 ;  W.  F. 
Shull  married  Mary  Brown  September  28,  1869;  Temperance 
Shull  married  W.  H.  Horton  March  24,  1861 ;  N.  S.  Shull  mar- 
ried Mary  Gilmore;    P.  P.  Shull  married  Cindy  Gragg  March 

26,  1866;  B.  C.  Shull  married  Ollie  Berry;  John  T.  Shull  mar- 
ried Chaney  Hayes  November  5,  1874;  J.  M.  Shull  married 
Sarah  Greene  January  12,  1882,  and  after  her  death  he  married 
Allie  Baird  August  30,  1888;  John  T.  Taylor  married  Addie 
Shull  March  28,  1878;  Mary  married  David  Mast;  Sarah  mar- 
ried James  Ward;  Phillip  married  Phoebe  Ward;  Joseph  mar- 
ried Lizzie  Mast ;  Temperance  married  Ben  Councill ;  Elizabeth 
married  Noah  Mast.  Joseph  Shull's  children  were :  William 
F,,  born  September  18,  1836;  Temperance  C,  born  August  7, 
1838;  Noah  S.,  born  April  15,  1840;  Phillip  P.,  born  July  20, 
1842;    Ben,  C,  born  October  23,  1845;    John  T.,  born  October 

27,  1853;  James  M.,  born  May  23,  1859;  Mary  Adeline,  born 
March  28,  1861. 

Phillip  ShuU's  Family. — Phillip  married  Phoebe  Ward  and 
their  children  were:  Elizabeth,  who  married  Wm.  Cannon; 
N.  Canada,  who  married  Elmyra  Green;  Matilda,  who  married 
Jesse  Gragg;  Thomas,  who  married  Polly  Spainhour;  Polly, 
who  married  James  Edmisten;  Rhoda,  who  died  unmarried; 
Sarah,  who  married  Phillip  Duvall ;  Temperance,  who  married 
A.  J.  Baird ;  WilHam,  who  married  Eugenia  Campbell ;  Carolina, 
who  married  Alexander  Ward ;  Simon,  who  married  Martha 
Baird;  Joseph  Carroll,  who  married  Eliza  I.  Mast;  Phoebe 
Sophina,  who  married  Peter  Dana. 

Smith  Family. — George  Smith  was  the  first  of  this  family  to 
come  to  these  mountains,  arriving  about  1780.    According  to  his 


344  -^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Bible,  he  died  April  30,  1838,  aged  ninety-one  years  and  fifty 
days.    Elizabeth,  his  wife,  died  March  8,  1842,  aged  ninety-two 

years  and days.    Their  children  were:     Abner,  died 

May  20,  1850,  aged  sixty-nine  years.  He  had  two  sons,  Bennett 
and  Jehiel;  Bennett  died  November  15,  1844,  aged  forty- two 
years,  eight  months  and  twenty-two  days;  Abner.  Mehetabel 
was  the  wife  of  Abner.  She  was  born  Fairchild  and  died  March 
3,  1855,  aged  eighty-four  years,  nine  months  and  sixteen  days; 
Bennett  Smith  married  Elizabeth  Moody  December  23,  1824. 
Bennett  Smith's  children  were:  Abner,  who  married  Chaney 
Green;  Polly,  who  married  George  Hayes.  Abner's  children 
were:  Bennett,  who  married  a  Kimes;  Polly,  who  married 
James  Rayfield;  Elijah,  who  married  Emma  Austin;  Elizabeth, 
not  married;  Sally,  who  married  Pink  Henson;  George,  who 
married,  first,  Emma  Price,  and,  second,  Mary  Bingham; 
Rebecca,  who  married  Julius  Isenhour.  The  daughters  of  the 
first  Abner  were:  Rhoda,  born  August  27,  1799;  Mary,  born 
February  27,  1802 ;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Jacob  Reese,  March 
17,  1825;  Susannah,  who  married  Jacob  Moody  April  28,  1831 ; 
Rebecca,  who  married  Jacob  Norris  March  2y,  1835;  Mary, 
who  married  Wm.  Roland  June  6,  1835.  Jehiel  was  born  Sep- 
tember 16,  1806,  and  died  January  10,  1885.  He  was  twice 
married,  his  first  wife  having  been  Rachel  Adams  and  his  second 
wife  Elizabeth  Dugger,  whom  he  married  September  15,  1835. 

Jehiel's  children  were:  Ebenezer,  born  March  3,  1828;  Ben- 
nett, born  January  29,  1835,  and  married  Jane  Green  December 
6,  1856;  Wiley,  born  June  2y,  1836,  never  married;  CaroHna, 
born  January  5,  1838,  never  married;  Rhoda,  born  March  22, 
1839,  married  Finley  P.  Mast;  Henry,  born  March  3,  1841, 
never  married;  Wilham,  born  September  18,  1842,  never  mar- 
ried; Mary,  born  October  9,  1845,  married  Tillett  Combs; 
Martha,  born  June  15,  1847,  and  Jehiel,  born  October  27,  1849. 
Martha  married  D.  J.  Lowrance. 

Bennett  Smith  married  Jane  Green  December  6,  1856,  and 
their  children  were:  Carohna,  born  May  3,  1857,  and  died 
April  26,  1859;  John  C.  Smith,  born  January  28,  1861,  and 
married  Sarah  C.  Mast  January  2,  1881.     Abner  and  Bennett 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  345 

Smith  settled  at  Silverstone,  Abner  having  been  in  the  legislature 
in  1821  and  1825,  while  his  great-grandson,  Abner  W.,  was  sent 
there  in  1914. 

Story  Family. — This  name  is  also  spelt  Storie.  The  first  of 
the  family  who  came  to  Western  North  Carolina  was  Jesse,  who 
settled  on  King's  Creek.  He  came  from  Pennsylvania  and  mar- 
ried Frances  Bradley.  Their  children  were  Joshua,  John  and 
Eli,  all  of  whom  married  and  reared  large  families,  Eli  moving 
with  his  family  to  Missouri  many  years  ago.  About  181 5 
Joshua  and  John  were  living  on  the  old  Thomas  Lenoir  place 
on  the  Yadkin  River,  both  having  married  Greens,  but  about 
1825  they  removed  with  their  famihes  to  Ashe  County,  follow- 
ing members  of  their  wives'  families,  one  of  whom  settled  at  the 
Wm.  Gragg  place  and  the  other  at  Blowing  Rock,  near  the 
present  store  of  Mr.  Holtshouser,  while  a  third  settled  at  what 
is  now  Green  Park.  The  Storys,  however,  settled  at  what  is 
now  known  as  Bailey's  Camp,  where  Thomas  H.  Story,  son  of 
Joshua,  was  born.  The  nearest  mill  to  their  home  at  that  time 
was  what  is  now  known  as  Winkler's,  two  miles  south  of  Boone. 
The  children  of  Joshua  were :  Elvira,  William,  Thomas,  Lucy, 
Channie,  Jesse,  Amos,  Isaac,  Rufus,  Martha  and  Noah.  John's 
children  were:  Walter,  Bettie,  Ann,  Jonathan,  Rachel,  Eliza, 
Sena,  Mary  and  Jesse.  William,  Noah  and  Jesse  (son  of  John) 
were  in  the  Federal  army  in  the  Civil  War,  while  Walter,  Jona- 
than, Rufus,  Jesse  (son  of  Joshua)  and  Amos  were  conscripted 
into  the  Southern  army.  Isaac  was  in  the  Home  Guard.  Some 
of  the  others  tried  to  enlist  in  the  Federal  army,  but  could  not 
get  through  the  lines.  The  homes  of  the  Storys  were  open  to 
the  Federal  soldiers  and  sympathisers,  and  the  women  of  the 
families  often  waded  the  streams  to  carry  food  to  outlyers, 
Bettie  and  Lucy  once  taking  a  wounded  Yankee  to  Coffey's 
Gap  in  the  night  on  an  old  horse,  while  on  another  occasion 
they  hunted  and  found  the  body  of  a  man  named  Hines,  who 
had  been  killed  by  the  Home  Guard,  and  buried  it  decently, 
Jesse,  son  of  John,  is  the  only  survivor.  It  is  said  that  the 
Toledo  Blade  a  few  years  ago  stated  that  the  Story  family  came 
to  America  on  the  Mayflower  in  1620,  but  afterwards  moved  to 


346  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Pennsylvania.  This  is  a  very  prolific  family,  the  single  school 
district  of  Aho  having  out  of  105  children  of  school  age,  twenty- 
nine  Storys.  Of  the  present  family,  Mr.  G.  L.  Story  has  been 
active  in  promoting  good  roads  in  Watauga  County. 

Swift  Family. — Samuel  Swift  came  from  Germany  and  set- 
tled where  Joseph  Johnson  now  owns  on  Cove  Creek,  His  chil- 
dren were:     Samuel,  who  married  ;    Hila, 

who  married  Berryman  Fletcher;  Rhoda,  who  married  James 
Lewis;  Polly,  who  married  Jack  Horton,  sheriff;  Sarah,  who 
married  William  Proffitt;  Emily,  who  married  Bartlett  Milliard; 
Massy,  who  married  Calvin  Moody,  and  Nancy,  who  married 
Hugh  Harman;  Thomas,  who  married  a  Greene;  Elias,  who 
married  an  Adams,  a  daughter  of  Squire  Adams. 

Thomas'  children  were:  Richard,  born  in  1845  ^^^  ^i^d  in 
the  Civil  War;  Enoch,  born  in  1847  and  married  Martha  Mc- 
Bride ;  Clarissa,  born  in  1849  and  married  J.  C.  Davis ;  George, 
born  in  1851  and  married  Jane  McBride.  Enoch  is  the  father  of 
Wiley,  the  distinguished  friend  of  factory  children.  Samuel 
Swift  deeded  the  land  for  the  Cove  Creek  Baptist  Church. 

Tatum  Family. — Elijah  Tatum  was  born  April  16,  1816,  and 
married  a  cousin,  S.  Goodin  Tatum,  November  21,  1852,  near 
Old  Fields,  in  Ashe.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Tatum  and 
wife,  Sarah  Pearson.  Joseph  was  reared  in  Ashe,  but  Miss 
Pearson  came  from  Burke.  Elijah's  father  was  George  and  was 
reared  in  Ashe  and  was  a  brother  of  Joseph.  Their  home  was 
what  is  now  Riverside.  George  married  Delphia  Jennings,  of 
Old  Fields.  The  father  of  George  and  Joseph  was  James  and  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  James'  wife  was  a  Miss  Shep- 
pard,  of  Ashe.  James  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  from  which 
he  came  to  Ashe  before  the  Revolutionary  War  when  he  was 
about  fourteen  years  old.  His  father  had  come  to  America  from 
England.  Elijah  had  nine  children.  Only  two  of  his  boys  lived 
to  be  grown — George  and  John.  George  married  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  Walters,  of  Burke,  and  John  married  Zora  C.  Tugman 
about  1880.  Her  father  was  Thomas  Tugman  and  his  wife  was 
Anzanette  Davis,  daughter  of  W.  S.  Davis.  Elijah's  children 
were:     James,  who  married  Julia,   and   Senter,   who  married 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  347 

Evelyn  Tatum,  sisters,  and  daughters  of  Joseph  Tatum.  George 
Tatum  had  two  brothers,  Joseph  and  Buckner,  the  latter  having 
married  a  Miss  Sheriff  of  Ashe.  John  Lee  Tatum  is  a  son  of 
Elisha,  and  has  an  old  sword  which  tradition  says  was  used  by 
James  Tatum  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  James  is  buried  in 
Ashe  County,  near  Riverside,  the  new  railroad  station.  James 
and  Senter,  sons  of  Elijah,  moved  to  Newtonia,  Mo.,  where 
James  died  about  1907.    Buckner  moved  to  Georgia  about  1845. 

Tester  Family. — Samuel  Tester  came  from  Scotland  and  set- 
tled at  the  mouth  of  Cove  Creek  before  1840.  His  wife  was  a 
Miss  Foster.  Their  children  were :  Robin  and  Ransom,  Jennie, 
who  married  Hiram  Hix;  Ellen,  who  died  young,  and  another 
who  married  a  man  in  Tennessee.  Robin  married  first  a  daugh- 
ter of  David  Hix  and  their  children  were  Finley,  Harman  and 
Elizabeth.  Robin's  second  wife  was  Katie  Ward,  daughter  of 
Duke,  and  their  children  were  Robin,  Duke,  James  and  Samuel; 
Sarah,  who  married  Councill  Harman,  and  another  daughter 
who  married  Waightstill  Davis;  Celie,  who  married  a  Panther, 
and  still  another  who  married  Link  Pressly.  Ransom  married 
Fannie  Hix,  daughter  of  Harman,  and  their  children  were 
Harman,  Samuel,  Ellen  and  Polly. 

Thomas  Family. — William  Thomas  was  the  first  of  the  name 
and  was  born  in  Salem,  N.  C,  and  married  Sarah  Sutherland, 
of  Ashe  County.  Their  children  were  Alfred,  Margaret,  Sarah, 
Joseph,  Steven  and  William.  By  a  second  marriage  to  Mary 
Greer,  there  were  the  following  children :  William  K.,  Thomas, 
Wiley  and  Elizabeth.  Alfred  was  born  in  1823  and  married 
Malinda  Wilson;  Joseph  was  born  in  1825  and  married  Sarah 
Wilson;  Stephen  was  born  in  1837  and  married  Lidia  Porter; 
Sarah  was  born  in  1828  and  married  Alexander  Osborn ;  Mar- 
garet was  born  in  1821  and  married  Reuben  Potter;  William, 
born  in  1834,  married  a  Miss  Potter;  Alexander,  born  January 
26,  1830,  at  Sutherland,  and  married  Elmira  M.  Ward  in  1853. 
Alex,  ran  away  from  his  uncle,  Joseph,  when  the  former  was 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  going  to  Missouri,  where  he  re- 
mained about  eighteen  months,  and  then  crossed  the  plains  to 
California  in  1849.    He  returned  via  the  Panama  route  in  1853, 


348  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

He  married  Elmira  M.  Ward  in  1853  o^"  1854  and  settled  at  the 
old  Samuel  Baker  farm  on  lower  Watauga  River,  where  Samuel 
Baker  had  lived  till  about  1909.  (Ashe  County  Deed  Book  D, 
pp.  207,  210.)  He  died  December  13,  1909,  and  was  buried  at 
St.  John's  Church. 

Col.  Joe  B.  Todd. — He  was  born  September  2,  1822,  and  died 
December  11,  1903.  From  the  old  Todd  family  Bible,  printed 
in  Edinborough  by  Mark  and  Charles  Kerr,  MDCCXCI,  it  is 
learned  that  James  Todd  was  born  July  31,  1757,  and  Margaret 
Erwin,  his  wife,  October  14,  1759.  These  were  married  March 
II,  1784;  and  that  John  Sharp  Todd,  father  of  James,  was 
born  December  11,  1724,  and  his  wife,  Nancy,  was  born  June  7, 
1739-  James  Todd  died  November  17,  1814.  He  was  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution,  and  Mrs.  Lizzie  McGhee,  of  Boone,  has  the 
old  powder-horn  he  used  in  that  war. 

Col.  Joe  B.  Todd's  first  wife  was  Caroline  McGhee,  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  first  Jordan  Councill,  and  wife  of  William  McGhee, 
who  was  born  December  5,  1830,  and  died  September  i,  1873. 
Two  of  their  children  are  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Boone: 
Joe  C.  Todd,  born  November  8,  1855,  and  died  November  i, 
1858,  and  Maggie  E.,  born  July  7,  1853,  and  died  February  12, 
1858.  James  Polk  Todd  and  Mary,  wife  of  F.  P.  Moore,  and 
William  G.  Todd,  three  of  his  children,  survive  him. 

Colonel  Todd's  second  wife  was  Mrs.  EHza  Edmisten,  widow 
of  Harrison  Edmisten  and  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Dancey,  of  Wilkes 
County. 

Colonel  Todd  was  a  non-commissioned  officer  in  the  Mexican 
War,  having  first  volunteered  in  Boone,  but,  there  being  delay  in 
calling  out  the  volunteers  from  Ashe  County,  he  went  to  Cabar- 
rass  County,  joined  a  company  there  and  went  to  Mexico  with 
them,  participating  in  several  battles.  He  received  a  pension  till 
the  Civil  War,  and  it  was  restored  long  after  the  close  of  that' 
struggle.    He  was  colonel  of  the  98th  North  Carolina  militia. 

He  was  a  candidate  for  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  in  August, 
1852,  but  was  defeated  by  George  M.  Bingham,  who,  however, 
resigned,  owing  to  an  impediment  in  his  speech,  and  a  young 
lawyer    named    Clewell    was    appointed    in    his    place.     Upon 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  349 

Clewell's  removal  from  Watauga,  Col.  Joe  B.  Todd  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  court,  and  he  was  sent  for  in  the  night,  his  resi- 
dence then  being  at  Dugger,  now  Penly  Postoffice,  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge.  He  was  first  lieutenant  in  Company  D  of  the  ist 
North  Carolina  cavalry  in  the  Civil  War,  but  resigned  on  ac- 
count of  heart  disease  and  returned  home.  He  re-entered  the 
service  soon,  however,  joining  the  37th  North  Carolina  Infantry. 
After  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was  elected  clerk  of  the  Superior 
Court  and  served  till  the  arrival  of  Judge  J.  L.  Henry,  when  he 
was  removed  because  he  could  not  take  the  iron-clad  oath.  He 
was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1872,  and  then  in  1882  to  the 
office  of  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  which  office  he  held  for 
twelve  years  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  With  his  ten 
years'  service  before  the  Civil  War,  this  makes  the  longest  service 
of  anyone  in  this  office  in  Watauga  County.  Colonel  Todd  was 
highly  esteemed  by  all.  He  was  a  fine  sportsman,  delighting  in 
hunting  and  fishing. 

Trivett  Family. — The  great-great-grandfather  of  Larkin  M. 
Trivett  lived  in  Pennsylvania  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  in 
which  he  was  a  soldier  and  during  which  he  was  killed  in  battle. 
His  widow  with  two  sons  moved  to  Surry  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, where  one  of  these  sons  married  and  reared  a  large  family 
of  six  or  seven  boys,  two  of  whom  settled  in  what  is  now 
Watauga  County.  One  of  these  was  named  John,  who  settled 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge  on  Stony  Fork,  near  the 
Wilkes  line.  He  married  Sallie  Elrod,  daughter  of  Adam  Elrod, 
and  reared  one  son  and  two  daughters.  The  son  was  named 
Elijah,  and  he  married  Irena  Carleton,  daughter  of  Wyatt  Carle- 
ton  and  his  wife,  Nancy  Livingston.  Elijah  was  the  father  of 
thirteen  children,  ten  of  whom  are  still  living.  One  of  the 
daughters  of  John  Trivett,  of  Stony  Fork,  married  Larkin 
Greene,  son  of  Solomon,  and  they  reared  a  large  family  of  boys 
and  girls.  The  other  daughter  of  John  Trivett  married  David 
Adams,  son  of  Allen  Adams,  and  his  wife,  Maggie  Greene 
(familiarly  known  as  Aunt  Peggy  Adams),  and  they  reared  a 
large  family.  John  Trivett,  of  Stony  Fork,  had  a  brother  whose 
name  was  Samuel,  and  he  settled  in  the  western  part  of  Watauga 


350  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

County  near  the  Tennessee  line  on  a  creek  known  as  Poga.  He 
married  Rebecca  Norris,  daughter  of  William  Norris,  and  to 
them  were  born  nine  children,  four  boys  and  five  girls.  Larkin 
M.  Trivett,  the  author  of  this  sketch,  is  a  civil  engineer  and  a 
man  of  ability. 

Tugman  Family. — Micajah  Tugman  was  born  about  1820 
and  married  Nancy  Greer  in  1843.  They  had  six  children,  five 
boys  and  one  girl,  all  of  whom  lived  to  be  grown,  .except  one 
boy,  who  did  not  survive  his  fourteenth  year.  James  M.  died  at 
Richmond  in  August,  1862,  in  the  Confederate  service,  un- 
married; Benjamin  married  Carolina  Miller  and  died  in  Janu- 
ary, 1900;  WiUiam  L.,  who  died  at  fourteen;  Thomas  J.,  who 
married  Anzonette  Davis,  was  born  on  Riddle's  Fork  March  5, 
1851 ;  Mary  married  L.  Frank  Ragan  and  died  August  31,  1910; 
Marshall  E.,  who  married  Neomi  Miller  and  is  still  living. 
Micajah  Tugman's  father  was  William  and  his  mother  Mary 
Hawkins,  both  of  Mecklenburg  County,  while  William's  father 

was  James  and  his  mother  Elizabeth ,  both  of  whom 

came  from  England  to  America.  Micajah  Tugman  had  a  brother, 
James,  who  married  Lemedy  Hendrix,  and  two  sisters,  Nancy 
and  Jennie.  Nancy  married  Ben.  Brown,  father  of  Rev.  Asa 
Brown  and  Jennie,  who  married  Wilburn  Groman.  Of  these, 
James  lived  in  Wilkes,  Jennie  in  Caldwell  and  Nancy  in  Watauga. 

Van  Dyke  Family. — A  widow  Van  Dyke  came  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Catawba  County  with  her  parents  and  her  one  child, 
a  son,  named  William,  where,  after  rearing  him  to  manhood,  she 
died.  This  son  moved  to  Watauga  in  1846,  after  marrying 
Sarah  Herman,  of  Catawba  County,  and  settled  where  George 
L.  Van  Dyke,  his  son,  now  lives,  one  mile  from  Three  Forks 
Church.  William's  children  were:  Demarcus,  born  in  Catawba 
about  1834;  Emanuel,  born  about  1837;  Luvina,  born  about 
1840,  and  George  L.,  born  January  17,  1843.  George  L.  mar- 
ried Mildred  Morris  April  4,  1867.  He  was  a  sergeant  in 
Company  I,  58th  North  Carolina  Regiment,  having  enlisted  in 
November,  1862,  remaining  in  the  service  till  the  close  of  the 
war.  His  children  are :  Ada  Cornelia ;  Alice  Delona,  who  mar- 
ried John  C.  Brown ;    William  Thomas,  who  married  Nevada 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  351 

Elrod,  and  Clara  Ella,  who  married  Leonard  Cook.  For  fine 
housekeeping,  this  family  is  rivaled  only  by  those  of  John  K. 
Perry  and  J.  J.  T.  Reese,  of  Beaver  Dams. 

Vannoy  Family. — Jesse  Vannoy  married  Elizabeth  Fair- 
child.  Their  children  were:  Ann,  who  married,  first,  Adam 
Greene,  and,  second,  Reuben  Isaacs;  John  M.,  who  married 
Martha  Byers ;  Melvin,  who  married  Amanda  Eggers ;  Matilda, 
who  married  George  Younce;  Clarinda,  who  married  Jacob 
Norris ;    Elizabeth,  who  married  Jonas  Winebarger. 

Ward  Family. — Among  the  first  to  settle  on  lower  Watauga 
at  what  is  now  called  Watauga  Falls  Postoffice  (though  the 
actual  falls  are  just  across  the  border  in  Tennessee),  was  Ben- 
jamin Ward,  who  had  seven  sons;  Duke,  Daniel,  Benjamin, 
Nicodemus,  McCaleb,  Jesse  and  James.  He  also  had  three 
daughters,  one  of  whom  was  named  Celia.  Benjamin  Ward,  Sr., 
was  a  most  enterprising  and  worthy  man,  and  his  widow  lived 
to  be  105  years  of  age,  while  their  son,  Dan,  lived  to  be  no. 
Duke  married  Sabra,  widow  of  Andrew  Harmon,  and  moved 
to  Illinois.  Ben.,  Jr.,  went  to  Cumberland  Gap,  and  his  son, 
Duke,  came  back  and  married  Lucy  Tester,  while  Amos,  son  of 
Duke,  Sr.,  came  back  from  Illinois  and  married  Sally,  sister  of 
Lucy  Tester.  They  had  two  sons,  L.  D.  and  John,  the  latter 
having  been  killed  before  Richmond  in  1863. 

Watson  Family. — David  Watson  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  and  on  a  retreat  escaped  because  his  horse  jumped 
a  ditch  which  his  pursuer's  nag  could  not  get  over.  David  prob- 
ably came  from  Scotland,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  married  a  Miss 
Hamby  and  settled  in  Wake  County,  where  twelve  children  were 
born,  moving  afterwards  to  the  old  Davis  Place,  near  Holman's 
Ford.  Their  children  were:  Elizabeth,  James,  Gillie,  Thomas, 
Bedie,  John,  Elihu,  Mary,  Sarah,  David,  Willis  and  Daniel. 
Of  these  Elihu  married  Celie  Sherrill,  of  Burke,  she  having  been 
born  in  June  and  he  in  August,  1803.  Their  children  were: 
Mary,  George,  Nancy,  Melinda,  Susannah,  Ann,  Lucy,  John,  who 
died  in  the  Civil  War;  Smith,  Sarah,  Elizabeth  and  Catharine. 
Of  these  George  W.  Watson  was  born  in  1823  and  married 
Keziah  Morphew,  who  was  born  March  10,  1831,  June  7,  1849. 


352  A  History  of  Watauga  County 

Their  children  were:  Isaac  S.,  John,  Sarah  and  Cehe.  Isaac  S. 
was  born  October  4,  1850,  and  married  Mary  C.  Proffitt  April  20, 
1873,  twelve  children  having  been  born  to  them. 

Welch  Family. — William  Welch,  of  Ireland,  married  Eliza- 
beth Roper  about  1823,  and  of  this  marriage  Wm.  P.  Welch,  of 
Deep  Gap,  was  born,  October  22,  1837,  at  High  Point,  Guilford 
County,  N.  C.  Wm,  P.  Welch  moved  to  Deep  Gap  in  1863 
and  married  Margaret  Bradley  about  that  time.  They  have 
eight  children.  Solomon  Greene  had  lived  where  W.  P.  settled, 
and  his  house  had  long  been  a  famous  stand  or  stopping  place 
for  travelers  and  stock  drovers  from  Tennessee  to  Kentucky. 
But  he  sold  out  to  his  son-in-law,  Larkin  Greene,  and  W.  P. 
Welch  bought  him  out  and  has  remained  ever  since.  The  coun- 
try was  all  in  woods  when  Welch  came,  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  Murphy  old  place  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  where 
Wilson  Bros,  have  a  store  and  house  now,  and  the  old  David 
Greene  place,  Welch's  home  was  the  only  house  in  that  section. 

Wilson  Family. — Charles  Wilson  came  to  North  Carolina 
from  Pennsylvania  about  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
His  wife  is  said  to  have  been  a  sister  of  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene, 
of  Rhode  Island.  Charles  was  in  General  Greene's  army  and 
was  killed  at  Guilford.  Hiram  Wilson  married  a  Miss  Smith 
and  they  settled  on  Cove  Creek  about  1815.  Their  children 
were:  John,  who  married  Mary  Mast;  Lucretia,  who  married 
Isaac  Wilson,  a  distant  kinsman;  Sarah,  who  married  Dudley 
Farthing ;  Isaac,  who  married  Miss  Caroline  Greer ;  Ellen,  who 
married  Reuben  Farthing;  Albert  P.,  who  was  born  April  14, 
1826,  and  married  Elizabeth  Councill,  a  daughter  of  Jesse; 
Clarissa,  who  married  George  Younce;  Hiram,  who  married 
Alex.  Baird,  and  Wm.  Carroll,  who  married  a  Miss  Adams,  a 
daughter  of  Alfred  Adams.  Hiram,  Isaac  and  Carroll  were 
killed  in  the  Civil  War,  and  Albert  P.  was  wounded  twice,  John 
having  died  just  prior  to  the  Civil  War. 

Another  Wilson  Family. — ^A.  J.  Wilson  was  the  head  of  this 
family,  and  it  is  said  that  he  "came  over  in  the  Mayflower." 
Isaac  Wilson,  a  son  of  A.  J.  Wilson,  is  said  to  have  been  killed 
at  Lexington,  N.  C,  in  the  Revolutionary  War.     His  children 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  353 

were:  Boyd,  Isaac,  John  and  Hiram.  Boyd  went  to  Middle 
Tennessee;  Isaac  settled  at  Sutherland  and  was  killed  by  a  tree 
falling  on  him ;  John  married  and  lived  on  Sawyer's  Creek,  as 
did  Hiram,  who  lived  lower  down  that  creek.  Hiram's  children 
were :  John,  Crissy,  Sarah,  Albert,  Clarissa,  Hiram  and  Carroll. 
John's  children  were:  Betsy,  Hannah  and  Susan,  William,  Al- 
exander and  John.  This  family  of  Wilsons  came  about  1817, 
when  John  Wilson,  who  was  born  in  181 5,  was  two  years  old. 

Lemuel,  John  and  Hiram  Wilson  came  from  Rowan  and 
Lemuel  settled  at  Sutherland  and  John  and  Hiram  near  John 
Mast's  present  home. 

Lemuel  Wilson  lived  near  the  Tennessee  line  and  near  the 
dividing  line  between  Watauga  and  Ashe.  His  children  were: 
Andrew,  who  is  yet  living  in  that  neighborhood,  and  Alexander, 
who  was  in  the  Civil  War.  Lemuel  had  two  daughters,  one  of 
whom  married  Alfred  and  the  other  Joseph  Thomas,  sons  of 
William  Thomas,  of  that  section.  Rev.  Leonard  C.  Wilson,  of 
Beaver  Dams,  is  a  son  of  Lemuel  Wilson  and  grandson  of 
Lemuel  Wilson.  William  Thomas  was  a  school  teacher  on 
Sharp's  Creek,  just  below  T.  P.  Adam's  present  home.  He  had 
a  number  of  rules,  among  which  was  one  that  no  scholar  should 
nickname  another  scholar,  but  this  rule  did  not  apply  to  the 
pedagogue  himself.  He  nicknamed  T.  P.  Adams  when  he  was 
six  years  old  because  he  said  he  reminded  him  of  pictures  of 
President  John  Tyler.  This  nickname  clung  till  T.  P.  was 
grown. 

Isaac  Wilson,  son  of  Hiram,  known  as  Little  Isaac,  was 
"bushwhacked"  during  the  Civil  War  and  killed.  His  son,  Rev. 
W.  A.  Wilson,  a  missionary  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  has 
been  stationed  at  Huoshima,  Japan,  a  number  of  years. 

George  Wilson,  of  Fork  Ridge,  was  the  father  of  Lucky  Joe 
Wilson,  but  not  related  to  the  other  Wilson  families. 

Jacob  Winebarger  married  Sallie,  daughter  of  John  Moretz; 
lived  on  Meat  Camp  Creek  and  reared  a  good  sized  family.  He 
was  a  good  carpenter  and  millright  and  owned  a  good  grist  and 
sawmill.  He  came  from  Lincoln  County,  was  a  good  citizen, 
and  was  about  sixty  years  old  when  he  died  about  1895.    John, 


354  ^  History  of  Watauga  County 

Hiram,  Levi  and  AbelWinebarger  also  came  from  Lincoln  and 
settled  on  Meat  Camp  and  New  River  about  1850,  where  their 
descendants  still  reside.  These  were  carpenters  and  farmers  and 
excellent  citizens. 

Joshua  Winkler  was  born  in  Wilkes  County  and  in  1856 
bought  the  farm  two  miles  south  of  Boone  on  which  his  son, 
George,  now  lives.  He  married  Carolina  Pearson,  and  they 
reared  ten  children,  five  boys  and  five  girls.  He  kept  a  grist  and 
saw  mill  on  what  is  now  known  as  Winkler's  Creek,  the  same 
stream  that  was  formerly  called  Flannery's  Fork.  He  intro- 
duced the  first  burrs  into  his  mill  for  grinding  wheat.  He  was  a 
good  farmer  and  stock  raiser  and  a  most  estimable  citizen.  His 
death  was  caused  by  a  hurt  received  from  a  cow,  followed  by 
measles. 

Woodring  Family. — Lincoln  also  gave  Watauga  another  good 
citizen  of  German  blood  in  the  person  of  John  Woodring,  who 
settled  on  Meat  Camp.  He  and  his  sons  were  farmers  and  hard 
workers,  and  accumulated  much  wealth.  The  boys  were  Daniel, 
Joseph,  Alfred,  Lawson,  Rufus,  Noah  and  Marcus.  All  have 
died  but  Marcus,  who  yet  lives  on  Riddle's  Fork.  His  one 
daughter  was  named  Kate,  and  she  married  Ephriam  Miller,  but 
died  in  childbirth. 

Yountz  Family. — According  to  Phillip  C.  Yountz  or  Younce, 
of  Mabel,  N.  C,  PhiUip  was  the  first  of  the  name  to  come  to 
America,  he  having  emigrated  from  Holland  about  1700.  He 
settled  in  New  York.  It  is  said  he  had  one  noted  son,  John, 
born  in  1748,  a  blacksmith,  who  shod  horses  for  Washington's 
army  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  twice  captured  by  the 
British,  and  twice  rescued.  After  the  war  he  moved  to  German- 
town,  near  Winston,  N.  C,  coming  thence  to  what  is  now  Wa- 
tauga, at  the  head  of  the  New  River.  He  married  Rhoda  Foutz 
and  died  while  crossing  Elk  Ridge  on  a  very  cold  day  when  he 
was  about  100  years  old.  Their  children  were:  Andrew,  who 
moved  to  Macon  County;  Phillip  and  John,  who  settled  in 
Miami  County,  Ohio;  David  and  Elijah  remaining  in  Ashe,  while 
Solomon  came  to  what  is  now  Watauga.  Solomon  was  born 
August  19,  1798,  and  married  Sallie  RoUen  near  JeflFerson.    She 


A  History  of  Watauga  County  355 

was  born  in  1802.  Their  children  were:  John,  born  December 
15,  1818,  married  Hannah  Lowrance,  and  to  them  were  born 
twelve  children;  Abraham,  born  December  10,  1820,  married 
Betsy  Lewis,  four  children.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife, 
Solomon  married  Louisa  Lewis,  whose  children  were:  Char- 
lotte, born  August  2,  1823,  married  Franklin  Greer,  seven  chil- 
dren ;  Phillip,  born  October  3,  1825,  married  Margaret  Musgrave, 
six  children;  PoUie,  born  March  11,  1828,  married  David  Roten, 
ten  children;  George,  born  March  19,  1830,  married  Clarissa 
Wilson,  eight  children ;  Barbary,  born  August  19,  1834,  married 
Isaiah  Greer,  five  children;  Sabra,  born  July  26,  1836,  married 
Hugh  Reese,  eight  children;  Hannah,  born  July  10,  1838,  mar- 
ried Henry  Grogan,  five  children;  William,  born  August  i, 
1840,  died  when  a  small  boy ;  Rhoda,  born  August  6,  1842,  mar- 
ried Elijah  Grogan,  five  children;  Nancy,  born  November  18, 
1845,  married  Rev.  E.  F.  Jones,  seven  children.  This  family  is 
very  musical,  pious  and  independent  in  thought. 


INDEX 

Sketches  of  prominent  families  and  of  individuals  are  alphabetically 
arranged  from  page  279  onward  to  the  end,  and  are  not  included  in 
this  index. 

PAGE 

Absentee  landlords, — Killing  of  the  cattle  of 203, 204 

Adams,  Col.  T.  P.    Active  in  school  work 252, 253 

Agriculture, — Facts  about    138 

— First  instruction  in   254 

Aldridge, — Sketch  of   187  to  190 

Altitudes  of  various  mountains  and  places 138 

of  mountains  still  doubtful 258 

Ancestry  of  our  mountain  people  3  to  5 

Character  of  our   74, 97 

Appalachian  Training  School, — Some  facts  about 252 

Apples.     Facts  about  orchards  211 

Argonauts.     Forty-niners  from  Watauga 131 

Arthur,  J.  P., — Poem  by  x 

Asbury,  Bishop  Francis.    Extracts  from  his  journal 103  to  106 

Asher,   Charles, — KiUing  of    64 

Avery  County, — Establishment  and  lines  of 125 

Baird,  Bedent  E., — Anecdotes  of  196  to  198 

Baird,  Delilah.     Elopes  with  Holtsclaw   191 

Lives  in  camp,  etc 192 

Her  ridiculous  romance  with  Dyer 192, 193 

Banks, — Facts  about 140 

Banner's  Elk, — Some  account  of  227  to  231 

Battle  on  the  Beech, — Some  account  of  I74 

Beaver  Dams, — Some  account  of 239  to  242 

Boone's  Trail  through   241, 242 

Beech  Creek, — Some  account  of   242 

Belle  of  Broadway.    Mrs.  Horton's  experience  in  the  wilds 207,208 

Big  Glades.    Battle  fought  there  in  Revolutionary  War 70 

Blalock,  "Keith."     His  part  in  Civil  War   160, 161 

Refused  to  shoot  Wm.  Coffey  166 

Attack  on  Lott  Greene's  home  167, 168 

His  threat  against  Boyd  184 

Kills  Boyd   185 

Blowing  Rock.    Described  by  Miss  Morley   214  to  216 

Its  advantages  and  attractions  216  to  220 

Boone,  Daniel.     No  descendants  from  in  Watauga 29 

His  relatives  in  Watauga 29,  30 

His  creed 30 

Marking  trail  of 32 

Monument  on  his  cabin  site 33 

Colonel  Bryan  finds  his  trail 34 

Cumberland  Gap  pedestal    35 

His  trail  in  other  States  35 

357 


358 


INDEX 


PAGE 


Boone,  Daniel.    National  monument  to,  advocated  36 

Trail  had  been  lost  37 

Was  a  hunter,  not  a  farmer  38 

The  Boone  Tree  inscription  discussed 40,41,42 

First  trip  across  mountains  41 

At  Fort  Prince  George   41, 42 

Trail  through  Beaver  Dams  241,  242 

Gave  James  Brown  description  of  lands 290 

Boone,  Jesse  and  Jonathan.     Members  of  Three  Forks  Church. .  30 

Get  into  trouble  with  church 31, 32 

Boone,  Town  of.    Incorporation  and  attractions   142 

Miss  Morley's  visit  to   143  to  146 

Map  of  old  town  146 

First  residents  of 147 

First  builders  of   147  to  150 

Hotels  of   ; 150 

First  merchants  of   151  to  154 

Post  bellum  town 154  to  156 

Population  of   157 

Boundary  Lines.     State  and  county  given  117  to  121, 123, 124 

Braswell,  Wm.  Jonas.     Soldier  of  Revolution ;   grave,  etc 65, 66 

Bright,  Samuel, — Former  home  and  lands  of 53,  54 

Pilf erings  of  his  wife 55 

Took  oath  of  allegiance  55 

His  spring  on  the  Yellow   56 

His  "trace"  or  trail  56,  59 

Brown,  James.    Entered  land  described  by  Boone 290 

Brown,  Thomas.    Killed  by  tree  289 

Brushy  Fork, — Some  account  of  221, 222 

Buckwheat  of  Watauga  won  prizes  at  Columbian  Exposition 139 

Cabbages, — Facts  about 139 

Caldwell  and  Watauga  Turnpike, — Facts  about 269, 270 

Calloway  Sisters.    Sad  lives  of  Fanny  and  Betsy 186  to  192 

Carmichael,  Lee.    Defended  Davis  205 

Cattle.    Killing  of  those  of  absentee  landlords 203, 204 

Fine  cattle  introduced  by  Ives  254 

Lived  on  lin  limbs  in  spring 225 

Character  of  mountain  people  3  to  5,  74 

Cheese  Factories, — Facts  about   139, 214 

Chestnuts.    Grafting  French  and  Italian  shoots  on  native  stock..  210,239 

Chimneys,  The.    Described  209 

Churches.    Three  Forks  Baptist  71  to  79 

Character  of  people  of  early  churches  97 

Pioneer  Baptists  98 

Various  churches  of  Baptist  faith  100  to  103 

Excerpts  from  Asbury's  journal   103  to  105 

Methodist  churches   105  to  iii 

Primitive  Baptists   iii 

Presbyterian  112 

Lutherans   112 

Episcopalians 85, 113 

Civil  War  Period, — Volunteers  in    159, 160 

Danger  from  Tennessee  162 


INDEX  359 

PAGE 

Civil  War  Period.    Longstreet's  withdrawal 163 

Kirk's  Camp  Vance  raid  164 

Various  activities  of  Unionists   167 

Michiganders  escape  169 

Killing  of  Levi  Guy  169  to  171 

Killing  of  Thomas  Stout   171 

Amazons  "arrest"  a  Johnny  Reb  172 

Camp  Mast  and  Beech  Mountain  battle 173  to  177 

Stoneman's   Raid    177  to  180 

Home  Guard  180 

Robbing  Mrs.  Horton   180 

Post  bellum  troubles  182  to  185 

Fort  Hamby,  attack  and  capture  of 183  to  184 

Blalock  kills   Blair    184, 185 

Clawson,  Mrs.  Peggy, — Stories  of   198 

Cleveland,  Col.  Ben.     Not  descended  from  Cromwell 60 

His  capture  and  rescue 60, 61 

Executed  Riddle  and  others ;    his  grave ...  63 

Clingman's  Dome.     Name  of  undisputed  258 

Clingman,  Hon.  Thomas  L.     Greatest  school  master 256 

Statesman,  soldier,  scientist   257 

Refused  controversy  with  the  dead  257 

Mount  Mitchell  controversy 25710262 

Mined  on  Beech  Creek  257, 267 

Coflfey,  Austin, — Murder  of 166 

Coffey  Brothers.    Four  in  Civil  War  troubles  161 

Coffey  Brothers.     Merchants  of  Boone  156 

Their  enterprises   156,  I57 

Coffey,  William,— Killing  of  165 

Cone,  Moses  H.,— Sketch  of  220 

Active  in  school  work 254 

Confederate  Soldiers, — Facts  about  I35 

Cook's  Gap.     Most  lovely  section  of  county  207 

Facts  about    207 

Councill,  Jordan,  Jr.    His  influence  in  forming  Watauga  County  114,11s 

Counterfeiters, — Facts   about    I57 

Courts, — First  terms  of   129 

Court  Houses, — Facts  about  126, 127 

Cousins,  John  and  Ellington, — Facts  about I49,  150 

Cove  Creek, — Some  account  of  210 

Cranberry  Iron  Mine, — Facts  about  264  to  267 

Davis,  William.     Revolutionary  soldier ;    grave,  etc 67 

His  wife's  courage  68 

Davis,  W.  S.    "Hollered  School  Butter" 204, 205 

Dotson,  Elijah.    Long-distance  quarrel  200 

Dougherty,  D.  D.  and  B.  B.    Active  in  school  work 254 

Active  in  railroad  work  254 

Dutch  Creek  Falls,— Facts  about 209 

Easter  Chapel, — Establishment  and  ruin  of  82 

Elkland.     Railroad  name  for  Todd  227 

Elk  Creek  Falls  described  209 

Elk  Cross  Roads, — Some  account  of  226, 227 


360  INDEX 

PAGE 

Elk  Knob  Copper  Mine, — Facts  about  268 

English,  Mrs.  Jemimah.     Preserved  traditions  56 

Episcopal  Church.    Activities  in  Watauga  85, 86 

Fairchild,  Ebenezer.     His  diary 89  to  93 

Appointed  "Insigne"  93 

Left  old  documents    94 

Old  church  letter  concerning 95 

His  daughters  95, 96 

Not  allowed  to  "spark"  hired  girl 339 

Farthing,  Dudley.    Judge  of  County  Court  308, 309 

Farthing  Family.     One  of  preachers  and  good  works 99 

Established  first  Sunday  School  s^ 

Farthing,  Paul  and  Reuben.     Their  troubles  in  Civil  War 170 

Paul's  home  attacked   170 

Predicted  death  if  surrendered 176 

Farthing,  Rev.  Reuben  P., — Sketch  of  310 

Fish, — Laws  for  protection  of  128 

Supplying  streams  with  trout Note  5,  p.  229 

Flowers, — Some  account  of  our  wild   210,  211 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Stringfellow  and  Mr.  Savage  cultivate...  211 

Forests, — Facts  about    139 

Forts, — Location  of  early    17 

Fort  Hamby, — Attack  on  and  capture  of  183,  184 

Gaines,  Joseph  C, — Facts  about  154 

Gano,  Rev.  John.     Preached  at  Jersey  Settlement 89 

His  journey  there  and  back  89 to  93 

Ginseng, — Facts  about  190,  221, 222 

Grandfather  Mountain  described  by  Miss  Morley 234  to  239 

Grandmother  Mountain  visited  by  Miss  Morley 239 

Grant  family  referred  to  S6 

Greer,  Benjamin.     Helped  rescue  Cleveland  61 

Gave  and  received  "hints"   61, 62 

Helped  kill  Ferguson  62 

Guy,  Levi, — Killing  of    169, 170 

Hammermen.     Names  of  some  still  remembered   267 

Harrison,  Rev.  Joseph, — Sketch  of 100 

Henderson,  Col.  Richard.     Relations  with  Boone  considered 42  to  52 

His  daughter  married  Judge  McCay..  127 

Hessian,  The  Big  and  Little.     Name  accounted  for Note7,  p.  240 

Hix,  Hiram.     His  ferry,  bridge,  and  cross-cut  saw 202,  203 

Horton,  Mrs.  Jonathan, — Robbing  of   180,  181 

Horton,  Mrs.  Nathan.     Belle  of  Broadway  in  wilderness 207,208 

Horton,  Nathan.     Helped  guard  Andre;    his  gun  and  clock 70,324 

Hospitality  of  pioneers  exemplified  by  Asa  Reese 338 

Howard,  Benjamin.     First  boarder  in  Boone  64 

His  knob  and  rock  house  64 

Indians  resembled  Hebrews   12,  13 

First  settlers  of  Watauga  iS 

Kept  treaty  with  settlers   16 


INDEX  361 


Indians.    Incursions  by 17,18 

Relics  of  preserved  by  Messrs.  Savage  and  Farthing.   Note  2,  p.'  16 

Ives,  Bishop  L.  S.     Established  school  and  brotherhood 78  to  81 

Sketch  of  life   79, 80 

Jackson,  James.     Came  from  Jersey  Settlement  207,  332 

Gave  land  for  meeting  house 207 

Jails, — Facts   about   127 

Jersey  Settlement.     Little  known  about   87, 88 

Rev.  Gano's  connection  with  89 

"Jug  Hill."     Why  so  called  204,  205 

King's  Mountain  Men.     Route  through  Watauga  59 

Incidents  on  the  way   58,  59 

Kirk's  Camp  Vance  Raid, — Some  account  of  164,  165 

Stationed  at  Boone  in  1865  178 

Land  Warrants  for  military  services   118,  119 

Lin  Trees, — Facts  about  15, 210,  225 

Linville  Country, — Some  account  of   224, 225 

Linville  Falls.     Why  so  named   15,  19, 20 

Linville  Family, — Facts  about    20 

Lookabill  School  House, — Facts  about  204,  249 

Lovill,  Col.  E.  F.     Active  in  school  and  railroad  work 254 

Sketch   of    328 

Lusk,  Samuel, — Sketch  of   255 

McCanless,  "Cobb."     Account  of  his  defalcation  and  flight 194-5 

Killed  by  Wild  Bill   196 

Maple  Trees, — Sugar  and  syrup  made  from  190 

Mast,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William, — Poisoning  of   200,  201 

Meat  Camp, — Some  account  of   231,  232 

Mexican  War, — Soldiers  of    I37 

Miller,   Hon.  David, — Facts  about    207,208,117,120,332,291 

Mines  and  Mining, — Some  account  of   263  to  267 

Mitchell,  Dr.  Elisha.     Visited  Watauga  in  1828  115,  116 

Controversy  as  to  Mount  Mitchell 257  to  262 

Moody,  Edward.     His  gravestone.     Revolutionary  soldier   65 

His  widow's  fine  character  83 

Moonshining.     An  inheritance  ? 9, 10 

Moore,  M.  V.     Wrote  "Rhymes  of  Southern  Rivers" 13 

Former  merchant  in  Boone   13 

Mountains.     Altitudes  of  given    138 

Altitudes  of  still  doubtful   258 

Rich,  Long  Hope,  The  Bald,  Black,  Riddle's  Knob  203 

Mount  Mitchell  Controversy, — Some  new  facts  regarding 257,252 

Mullins,  Jesse.     Lost  and  recovered  slaves    201, 202 

Musterfield  Murder.     Triplett  killed  by  Marshall 206 

Marshall  spent  night  at  Ailsey  Councill's. 

Note  10,  p.  206 

Newspapers, — Some  account  of    IS7 


362  INDEX 

PAGE 

Officers  of  Watauga  County 132  to  134 

Oil  and  Gas, — Boring  for,  etc 267 

Ollis  Family, — Sketch  of   225, 226 

Ollis,  Col.  W.  H.    Furnished  valuable  information 58 

Order  of  the  Holy  Cross, — Brotherhood  of  established 78  to  82 

Palmer,  Col.  John  B.    In  command  of  Western  North  Carolina..  165 

Home  burned  by  PCirk  165 

Facts  about  his  residence  in  Mitchell 225 

Pennell,  Joshua.     Manumitted  slaves   201 

Pioneers  of  mountains  in  Revolution  6 

Character  of 3  to  5 

Not  poor  whites  of  the  South  7 

McKamie  Wiseman's  views  of  8 

Descendants  of  have  ceased  to  co-operate 9 

Poga, — Some  account  of   242 

Population, — Facts  about  136, 157 

Potatoes  flourish  in  Watauga   139 

Powder  Mill.     Run  by  Oaks ;    bounty  for  making  59 

Presnell,  Col.  W.  W.    Recollections  of  "Old  Masters" 256 

Gave  information  about  Confederates 139 

Prout,  Rev.  Henry  H.    Facts  about  connection  with  Valle  Crucis  82, 83 

Put  trout  in  Linville  River Note  5,  p.  229 

Scholarly   man    248 

Railroads, — Some  account  of  efforts  to  secure   273  to  278 

Randall,  W.  G.     Eminent  artist  in  oils  217 

Records  of  Ashe  County ;   acts  to  restore  lost 127, 128 

Revolutionary  Soldiers, — Facts  about   65  to  70 

Rich  Mountain, — Some  account  of  232, 233 

Riddle's  Knob.     Where  Cleveland  was  rescued  61 

Riddle,  Captain  Wm.    Captured  Cleveland  60, 61, 62 

Death  of 63 

Roads.     Great  Pennsylvania  described   3 

Some  account  of  first  through  Watauga   268  to  273 

Rollins,  Major  W.  W.     Built  fort  at  Blowing  Rock  178 

Root  Crops.    All  kinds  flourish  in  Watauga  I39 

Savage,  Rev.  W.  R.,— Sketch  of  217 

Cultivates  flowers  211 

Has   Indian  relics    Note  2,  p.  16 

Scenery  in  Watauga  County  referred  to  209, 210, 217 

School  Butter, — Penalty  for  "hollerin'  "  204, 205 

School  House  Loan  Fund, — Establishment  of   255 

School  lands  donated  by  W.  A.  Lenoir 254 

School  Teachers, — Ancient  and  modern   243  to  258 

Seal.     Old  one  described  54, 225 

Shelving  Rock.     Where  King's  Mountain  men  camped 56  to  58 

Inscription  on  58 

Sheep, — Laws  for  protection  of   128 

Shull's  Mills,— Some  account  of  223, 224 

Silverstone, — Facts  about  210 

Has  fine  school  house  253 


INDEX  363 

PAGE 

Skiles,  Rev.  Wm.  West.     Connection  with  Valle  Crucis 83, 84 

Sketch  of    86 

Spangenberg,  Bishop.     Visited  Watauga   21, 22 

Description  of  Three  Forks    22  to  28 

Speer,  James, — "Sale"  and  disappearance  of  201 

Stair  Gap.     Proper  name  for  Star  Gap.     Note  4,  p.  104 241 

Stock.     AH  kinds  flourish  in  Watauga  131,  138,  139 

Stoneman's  Raid, — Some  account  of  177  to  186 

Stopping  Places.     Some  of  the  earliest  ones   272 

Stout,  Thomas, — Tragic  death  of  171 

Sugar  Grove, — Some  account  of 214 

Walnut  Grove  Institute   253 

Has  first  cheese  factory  139, 214 

Sunday  Schools  established  first  in  Watauga  339 

"Tater  Hill," — Some  account  of  233 

Three  Forks, — Spangenberg's  description  of   22  to  28 

Three  Forks  Baptist  Church.     Facts  from  minutes  71  to  77 

Todd.     New  name  for  Elk  Cross  Roads  227 

Tories, — Some  facts  about 53.  56 

Execution  of  several  63 

Two  "Tory  Knobs"  69 

Tufts,  Rev.  Edgar.    His  good  works  at  Banner  Elk 1 12, 230 

"Twisting  Temple."    Why  so  called   250 

Valle  Crucis.    Order  of  Holy  Cross  established  there 78  to  81 

Some  account  of  212, 213 

Mission  School  254 

Fine  public  school  254 

Walnut  Grove  Institute, — Facts  about   253 

Walks,  The,— Described  209 

Washington  County,  Tenn.,  embraced  part  of  Watauga  County. 

16,  57,  64, 223 
Watauga  County.     Indians  never  lived  here  in  memory  of  whites  15 

First  white  settlers  of  18 

First  visited  by  Spangenberg  22  to  28 

Once  part  of  Watauga  Settlement 16,  57, 64,  223 

Formation   of   114  to  117 

Boundary  lines  of   117  to  123 

Changes  in  lines  of   124, 126 

Avery  County  cut  off  125 

Line  changed  at  Todd   126 

Jails  and  court  houses   126, 127 

Ashe  County  records 127 

Lost  records  restored   128 

People  of 130 

Officers  and  representatives  of  132  to  134 

Finances   of    134 

Sent  soldiers  to  Civil  War  135 

Agriculture  and  other  facts   138  to  141 

Population  of  136 

Mexican  War  soldiers   I37 

Taxation  of   138 

Altitudes  of   138 


364 


PAGE 

Watauga  Falls, — Facts  about  209 

Watauga  Settlement.    Leased  and  bought  Indian  lands 15, 16 

Once    embraced    what    is    now    Watauga 

County    16,  57,  64, 223 

Weather, — Facts  about   138 

Whiskey  Rebellion  of  Pennsylvania  suppressed   10,11 

White,  Joseph.    Asher  killed  by  his  men  Note  4,  p.  64 

Wilson,  Isaac, — Murder  of   170 

Wilson,  "Lucky  Joe," — Stories  of  199, 200 

Wiseman,  McKamie.    Views  of  first  settlers  8 

Death  of   8 

Wiseman,  William, — Sketch  of   55 

Tried  and  convicted  Mrs.  Bright 55 

Wolf's  Den, — Cleveland  rescued  from   62 

Knife  found  there  by  Micajah  Tugman 61 

Words.    Derivation  of  some  Indian  words 14, 15 

Yarber,  Moses.     Soldier  of  War  of  1812 68 

Yarber,  Jemimah  and  Catharine, — Facts  about  '.  69 

Yellow  Mountain.    King's  Mountain  men  did  not  camp  there 60 

Yonahlossee  Road, — Miss  Morley's  description  of  237 


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