^VA I^ibrary of the University of North Carolina Kndovved by ihe Dialectic ami I'liilan- thropic Societies ^^7|.^S"-Pl'?8 C.3 >t: UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00015556337 This book may be kept out one month unless a recall notice is sent to you. It must be brought to the North Carolina Collection (in Wilson Library) for renewal. Form No. A-369 THE GRANDFATHER PROFILE By permission of the author and publishers of "The Carohna Mountains. 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, P. A. Ltnney, 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, IQIS- BIBLIOGRAPHY. Allison means "Dropped Stitches in Tennessee History," by Hon. John Allison, Nashville, 1896. Asbury means Bishop Asbury's Journal, 3 volumes, out of print. Booklet means "The North Carolina Booklet," published by the State D. A. R. Society, Raleigh, N. C. Bruce means "Daniel Boone and the Wilderness Road," by H. Addington Bruce, McMillan Co., N. Y., 1913- Cobb means Address by Prof. Collier Cobb before the American 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 CaroUna, 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 WiUiams), Raleigh, 1890. Draper means "King's Mountain and Its Heroes," by Dr. L. C. Draper, (Peter G. Thompson), Cincinnati, 1888. Dagger 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 WilHams), Raleigh, 1910. Ives means "Trials of a Mind," etc., Boston and New York, i8'54- 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. ^ iii IV 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. Moork, 3 volumes, Raleigh, 1882. Morley means "The Carolina Mountains," by Mar(;aret W. Morley, Houghton-Mifflin, New York, 1913. Murphey means "Papers of Arch. D. Murphey," 2 volumes, N. C. Hist. Comm., Raleigh, 1914. 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. Smythe 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. ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS (Lines are numbered from the top of pages.) LINE. PAGE. "it" should be "inscriptions" 28 40 "whom" should be "who" 15 45 "recall" should be "recalls" 22 86 Insert "by a freshet, and the third church" first part of 8 103 "D. B." should be "J. B." Phillips last 132 "185S" should be "1859," according to W. E. Greene, Esq.... 19 138 "Sing Sing" should be "Albany County, N. Y." 6 154 "five" should be "four" 6 154 "Cove Creek" should be "New River" 28' 170 "Hamby" should be "Henley" 29 184 "lived on Beaver Dams and" should be omitted 4 201 "soon after his return from" should be "before his trip to". . 28 201 "called Harman Rock House" should be omitted 26 202 "Sharp's" should be "Sawyer's" 15 210 "bridge which replaced" should precede "old bridge" 4 224 "Harley" should be "Hartley" i 240 "Louise" should be "Nancy" 17 280 "ex-Sheriff W. B. Baird" should be "Capt. B. F. Baird" 18 280 "Rittenhouse, who married Mrs. Eliza PhilHps" should pre- cede "lives" 19 280 Blank should be filled by "Laura Martin" 35 315 Blank should be filled by "Miss Marilda EUett first, and then Jane Brown" 36 315 "a Ray" should be "Margaret Duke" 5 316 Blank should be filled by "Jane Ray" 6 316 Blank should be filled by "Catharine Burkett" 7 316 "Ray ?" should be "Morris" 19 316 "a Ray" should be "Ella Ray" 22 316 "a I-ieeves" should be "W'infield Doub" 23 316 "Henry C." should be "Henr>' W." 26 316 "1829" should be "1827" 30 331 "Eleline" should be "Emeline A." 8 332 "Hiram" should be "William Carroll" 10 332 "Andrew" should be "Jacob" 14 353 "George" should be "William" 31 353 Both accounts of the Wilson families are said to be inaccurate. DR. ARCHIBALD HENDERSON. This gentleman writes (January 6, 1916) to the effect that if I had read an article by him, published in the A)iierican Historical Review for Octo- ber, 1914, and another, published in the Mississippi Historical Review. Volume I, December, 1914, I might have "tempered my prejudices and modified the oft'ensiveness of my tone" in my "polemics." (Pages 42 to 52.) Also that, in my references to himself, my tone lacked courtesy. I hasten to disclaim any intentional offensiveness or discourtesy. Having since read the two articles above referred to, however, I am unable to withdraw or modify any of the statements concerning the facts in ques- tion. On the contrary, I reaffirm that, aside from Dr. Henderson's unsup- ported statements, there is no satisfactory evidence as yet published that Boone owed Richard Henderson one cent ; that he was employed by Henderson to go to Kentucky in 1769; that Henderson & Co. ever paid him for his services out of the 400,000 acres they received from Virginia and North Carolina; that Richard Henderson ever conspired while he was on the bench to violate the law he had sworn to uphold by purchas- ing lands from the Indians, or that there was a wagon road across the North Carolina mountains in 1775. J. P. A. Boone. N. C, January 10, igi6. CONTENTS. PAGE 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 begmnmg 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 ^2 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 Tones. 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 PAQK 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 Sui>erior 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 XI. 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. Cof?ey. 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. Delila 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 VU PAGE Chapter XIV. Fine Watauga County scenerj'- 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 -O l^^cX Wj^^^u^^^ ^>'^'^'>\>'', ILLUSTRATIONS. The Grandfather Profile. By permission of author and publishers of "The Carolina Mountains." Frontispiece Col. William 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. C. 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 publishers of "The Carolina Mountains 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 I'lash 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-cliflfs 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 IMason 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 2 A History of Watauga County Edenton, X. 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 heen 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 rei)re- 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 hundrea 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, 1 75 1, 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 I'resbyterians. 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 TifTanys 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 Nationai 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 Reviezv of Review's 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 Riltmore'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 troulile 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 tlie 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 ofT 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 eflfect 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 X'irginia 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 ciited 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 unzveakened 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 EngUsh 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 gangers 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, oflFered 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. — W'^e 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 different 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 Comity 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 I'Lnglish 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- lina, "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, Ilolston 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, altiiough Wheeler tells us that Ashe was partially settled as early as 1755 by white people — principally h.unters — 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 \'irginia 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 Spangcnberg 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 2 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, 3^6), "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 setders in the neighborhood and even from the Mul- berry Fields near Wilkesborough took refuge, about seventy famihes 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 [CherokeesJ, came at the head of 300 or 4CX) 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. W^ade 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 neighhorhood 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. XXH, 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 wiien 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 McCulloh lands, consisting of 1,200,000 acres, were granted on the 19th of May, '^yyj^ 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 F^ar 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 accfeptable 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 Tiorse, 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 A 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 liigher 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 Mrginia 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 "Httle 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 buflFalo 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 liad 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 climb 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 largo 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 clififs 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 \V. H. Witherspoon. of Jefferson, thinks that the Meadow Mountain which Bishop Spangenberg saw was the WTiite 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 Shull'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, 18 14, and the grant for it was made November 29, 1817, 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: "\\'e 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 Coflfey 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. CoflFey, 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, r DANIEL BOONE CABIN MONUMENT Erected by Colonel W. L. Bryan, October, 191 2. 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 unveiHng 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 Httle 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. 1 While excavating for the foundation of the monument a pair of rusted bullet-molds was found. 34 -4 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, 1913, 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; Born 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 Carohna 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 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 CHnchport; 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 postofiice, 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 unsulHed 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 zvestivard 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 Cifmberland 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. 2y, 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 Watatiga 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 sheher 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 locality, "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 IMontgomery 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 thrilling 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 brilliant 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 Wake, who, in 1770 or 1771, had been driven to seek new homes beyond the reach of the exactions of the British tax collectors. 44 ^ 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 vfzs 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 (X. 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. ' 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: "It 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 transniontane 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 English 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 Tudee 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 lit fnT^ ^^^""^If /J^^fV^- ^°,^ '^""^'^^^ that the lands could be acquire^d only from o^ the Reg'ultti^n "''' *"'' ^'^° ^^' temporarily "frustrated by th^e excitinTissue'^ nf\^c°J f^'?^^""^ Henderson, then a private citizen, could have had knowledge 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. '0 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 Finlej 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 w^ith 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 taken 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 obnpxious under two heads (pp. 72, y^) 5 they were allies of a tyrant who lived 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 ^ Owing to the several counties in whicti 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 Pluribiis 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 rom- promised the matter by Avery paying John Brown, Cathcart's representative, 12% cts. per acre for the tract, and talcing 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 Sahs- 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, WilHam 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 Brights 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, 1915. 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 Watanga 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, floiving 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 "x\bsalom Miller told me that his father lived at Shelving Rock in September, 1780, and shod the horses of some of the King's IMountain 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 2y, 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 ofif 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 impossibility. 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 \vas 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 ail 1,040 men. Photo, by Vannoy. THE OLD PERKINS PLACE. Where Cleveland was captured. A History of Watauga County 6i 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- birthl 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 mto the ambush prepared for him and was captured and taken into the Perkins house, which stood on the site of the house m 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 brod.er, 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, eanng 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 let on the ground to meet his fate alone. But he ^^^^^^^^ About 1857 Micajah Tugman found a curious knife m 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 s 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 \V. 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 infesting the frontiers." Others say that two of these men were named Snecd 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 V'alle 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 sliot 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 cliff 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, SalHe, 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 M6ody. 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 w'ife 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 W'ise'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 w'as 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 "Jonas'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 — William, 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 4tli 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. Grit. 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 \^irginia 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, m Ashe County. Three Forks was constituted by the Yadkm 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 I799- 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 Virgmia, 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 Cofifey, 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- 1 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 P^ork 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 churcli 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, William 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 Profifitt. 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- clavvT, 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 ^ 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 1800. 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 W^ade 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 3 The language of the minute shows the frequent use of "of," not now so common: -first, of joining of them (the Masons) ; second ?/ • ''*'°^'°f i'L'*; ^1^ 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 Comity 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, 181 5, 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, 1812, 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 V'alle Crucis, and on his return interested Bishop L. SilHman Ives, then bishop of the Episcopal Church of North CaroHna, in this locahty. 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 Sklles' "A Sketch of Missionary Life at Valle Crucis, 1842-1862." Edited by Susan Fenimore 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 CaroHna. 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, 183 1, 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 name. Its altitude is 2,726 feet. ' 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 published 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. 2)2>7) 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 8 1 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 1851, 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 mucli 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 Efi^pt 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 Shull'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 Alarch, 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. CofTey 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 "hpired" it from her father, Larkin Calloway. (Deed Book 6, p. 209.) Mr. Savage sold it to Mr. Norton. H 3 < O ■z. CL, o K H >, Oi, i- o c ■z. ffi 2; > o CD 1— > -M ^ > cu M ^ -M rt 'o fe 0) O 6 o w J2 o V- 2 i Q M w 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, cofifee, 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 Hix 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. 11 1). Seven deer within hmits 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 theology 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 sunnv land." CHAPTER VIII. 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, 1 77 1, 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, McGuires, 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 iCK),ooo 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. 1312.) 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. xxsil. ' 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 httle 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 w^ent 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 like 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 liked 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 ofT 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 off, 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 ^ History of Watauga County Lincoln a Plagiarist? — On a blank discharge from Sir Henry Clinton, K. U., (Jcneral 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 \V4, 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 tlie 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 ofif 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 proselite.' 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. lor, 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 life 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 Carolina" (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. 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 horn 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, Alice 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 likewise 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, 1 85 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 Banner, 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. Eller, 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 183 1. 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 Vernon, 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 wuth 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 like 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 CoflFey 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 Butler, 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 W bite 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 W^hite 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 181 3. 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" Christoffle," 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. io8 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. Hanson's Chapel. — According to Col. Thomas Bingham, Elizabeth \\ hitlow was the first Methodist who ever came to Vkrhat 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 wliich is still common with our people. At that meeting at Davis's house only two or three were present. This was near Amantlia 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 w^as 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 tiie 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 lier 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 caijie 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 ill 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 ShuU'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 \^alle 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 VH, 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 "J," 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 w^as 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 w^ere 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 iSSS."" He certainly flayed us, sparing * "On Horseback." y 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 lacrimcB, 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 Ballon 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, Xo. 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 Carolina and set up a government of their own. The result was the attempt to establish the indci)cndent State of Franklin, with John Sevier at its head. This attempted secession failed and North Carolina 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 southw^estern 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 of 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 aiiotlier 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 ]\Ieat 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 NoUechucky 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. s This river is now called the Toe or Bstatoe till after it passes into Tennessee, when it becomes the NoUechucky, 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 Linville 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 tlie 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 Fairview on the Caldwell and W^atauga 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 Hne 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 lienor 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 line 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, 19 15.) 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, Coffey and W. H. Calloway, sold the lot on which the jail then stood to Cofifey 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)- ^^ 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 W'hittington, 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 18505 1, 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 rourts 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 Wilson, 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 Cahfornia, but spent it all buying a waterproof cloth with which to make a pipe to draw off tlie 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 lienjamin 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: 1854. 1856. 1858. i860. 1862. 1864. 1865. 1866. 1868. 1870. 1872. 1874. 1876. 1879. 1881. 1883. 1885. 1887. 1889. 1891. Senators. George Bower, of Ashe, A. M. Bryan, of Ashe. Joseph H. Dobson, of Surry. Joseph H. Dobson, of Surry. G. N. Folk having resigned, his place was filled by Isaac Jarratt, of Ashe. Jonathan Horton, of Watauga. A. C. Cowles, of Yadkin. A. C. Cowles, of Yadkin. Edmund W. Jones, of Caldwell. W. B. Council, of Watauga. J. W. Todd, of Ashe. A. J. Mc^Iillan, of Alleghany. Hervey Bingham, of Watauga. J. Bledsoe, of Ashe. F. J. McMillan, of Alleghany. E. F. Lovill, of Watauga. J. W. Todd, of Ashe. W. C. Fields, of Alleghany. W. S. Farthing, of Watauga. Benjamin P. Griggsby, of Ashe. Representatives. Jonathan Horton. George N. Folk. ]\Iark Holdsclaw. George N. Folk. Thomas Farthing. William Horton. William Horton. Charles Potter. William Horton. Lewis B. Banner. W. F. Shull. J. B. Todd. L. L. Greene. W. R. Council. W. R. Council. Thomas Bingham. W. W. Lenoir. E. F. Lovill. Thomas Bingham. J. A. Crisp. 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. WilHam 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; \V. 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. IVIoody, elected in 1914. Sidney Deal lived where J. W. Farthing now lives, and was elected sherifif 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. B.-, f 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. Shull; 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 lieutenant, W. P. Mast ; third lieutenant, 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, Watauga 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 loo 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. — Tiie population since 1850 follows : 1850 i860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 3400 4,957 5,287 8,160 10.61 1 13,417 13423 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 ! Plow 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 1915. — 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. . $1,783,983.00 Total personal property assessments for 191 5.... 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 Alay, 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 cliffs 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 191 5 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 wzs organized in 19 14 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. Bugger'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; ]\Iount 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 Httle 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 XI. 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 clinging mists. The town is 2>'33^ 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 * 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 < o < H O H < W >< P O O w w ;^ o o w 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. 10 146 A History of Watauga County that? — a teleplione 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, coflfee, 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 life 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 tlie 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 ofT 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 nmning between the present Watauga County Bank ' In her "Carolina Mountains" Mi.ss 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. Phillips 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 dwelling 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 sheriff. 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. William 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 Walauga 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 N'alle 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. W^ood 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 lived 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 ofiftce 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 Comity What is now Boone was for years known as Councill's Store, and as early as 1835 a 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 Ilorton 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 IMoretz 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. Sherifif 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, ^or 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 Cofifey in accordance with the new method. Squire D. B. Dougherty built a small house for the post office 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. Cofifey, between 1865 and 1868, and died there, having moved there from the head of Elk after the marriage of his daughter with T, J. Cofifey. 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, Term., 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 * 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. 11 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 William and Reuben CoflFey. 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 realized 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. LIII, p. 485. 164 A 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 \^ance 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, w-here they were fired into by pursuing Confederates at 3 :30 p. m. Kirk put some of his Camp \'ance 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 Drexel, 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 off 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. \V. 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 William 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 CoflFey 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 Coflfey 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 » AusUn Coffey was the son of Jesse Coffey, 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 bushv.hackers, 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 Uialock, Levi Coffey, Sampson Calloway, son of Larkin, Edmund Ivy, of Georgia, a deserter from the Confederate army, A(lc)li)hus 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 CofTey'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 W^right with them, but W^right's wife and Blalock's mother, then Mrs. Austin CoflFey, 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 CoflFey 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, MilHe, 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 Elisha 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 JefT 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 brolie. Jeff May, his raptor, then took the halter from Sheppard's horse and strangled Sheppard to death with Jt. 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 ofif, 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 oftener 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 ' E. B. Miller, 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 Xorris, a son of Gilbert's, while Big Isaac himself was severely wounded, but recovered. It is said that Gilbert Xorris 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 CofTey and Erwin Calloway, a brother of W. H. Calloway, afterwards sheriflF, 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 Danner 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 Coflfey 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 gvufi 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 l-'arthing's home, a mile and a half below what is now Ward's Store on lower Watauga River, robbed iiim, 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 w^ay 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 m.ust 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 ]\Iast, 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 WilHams, 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 12 178 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, Tcnn., 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. Rollins, with 200 men of the third North Carolina 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 estabHshed 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 :oo 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 :oo 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, 1 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 i8l 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 : \^^illiam 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 WilHam 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 William Tiiomas 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 Tliomas 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 A History of Watauga County ham gave them time to dress. Tlie prisoners . . . rushed for their guns and fired on the attacking party, kilHng 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 \\'ade'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 thbn. This ended the marauding and robbing in that section. Henry Hamby was from Watauga County. The above v^^as 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 afifections 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 backw'oods 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," w^here 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, 1821. 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 life 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 Aldrich. 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 Alill 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. For 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 SheriflF 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, 182 1. 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: "V'engeance 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, oflfering 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 inquiretido, consisting of Smith CoflFey and two others, found that she still had mind enough to manage her own aflfairs. 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 judgmeht 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 Delilah 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. 13 194 -^ 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 ShuU's ^lills 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 sheriff 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 ]\IcCanless 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 \\'eath 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 CofTey. 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 \\'atauga 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 liability 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 togctlicr 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. Bnird, 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. \\'hen, however, his belong- ings were examined it was found that he had pilfered many small articles from the penitentiary itself, and consequently lost wdiat 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. w-ere poisoned by drinking wild parsnips in their cofifee. 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 MuUins 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 Boeotia, 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 Oedipus 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 W^atauga. 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 INIountain, 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 ^ 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 ^^^d ^^^t 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," — \\'hen 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 \\'idow Reagan now lives. Davis set out upon this errand, but meeting Wm. » Flnley 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 ; Fll 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 2o6 A History of Watauga County the above is from \\ . 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. ]\Iarshall 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. ii ^ ovton 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; enfiled 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 Coutity how to kindle another from flint and punk and steel," she and David, the son of W illiam and Alary 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 know 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- finger 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 Carohna. 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 Alontezuma 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 14 210 A History of Watauga County Cove Creek. — l-'rom 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 Cotmty 21 1 so large and fine a variety of wild flowers of all kinds. The rho- dodendron maxiimim 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 catazvbiense, 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 flow.ers, 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 com.e 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 Clieraw, 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 \'irginia 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 W^ar. 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." W^hether 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, married 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, ^o^ 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, ]\Iill, 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. Cutliff married Susan Fonts first and a widow by the name of Eliza- 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, 191 5. 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 \'alley 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 Blow^ing 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, w'hich 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 tw'o 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 Coffey'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 lived on Meat Camp near the noted Brown place of 640 acres, the lower part of \vhich 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 W' illiam 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 o o o o ►J o w o g s w :z; o ij o o t^ o w o •z w Q w Q ;?