History of Western North Carolina - Chapter 8-B



YANCEY. Yancey county was formed in 1833. It was cut off from Burke and
Buncombe. Three counties have since been partly formed out of Yancey. They
are: Watauga in 1849; Madison in 1851; and Mitchell in 1861. Yancey county
is now bounded on the north by Mitchell county and the State of Tennessee;
on the east by Mitchell and McDowell counties; on the south by McDowell
and Madison; on the west by Madison and Buncombe counties and the
Tennessee line. Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain in the eastern half of
North America, is in Yancey county. It was named for Dr. Elisha Mitchell,
a teacher in the University, who explored it. Mt. Mitchell is a part of
the Black mountains which extend partly across this county. Yancey county
contains eighteen mountain peaks that rise above 6,300 feet. These
mountains are very fertile and are covered with great forests of gigantic
trees. Cherry trees in Yancey often grow four feet, the walnut eight feet,
and the poplar ten feet in diameter.

The county was named for Bartlett Yancey, a native of Caswell county. He
was educated at the University of North Carolina, studied law, and became
eminent in his profession. He was twice a member of the Congress of the
United States, and eight times a member of the senate of North Carolina.
He was one of the first men in the State to favor public schools for all
the people.

The county seat of Yancey is Burnsville, named in honor of Capt. Otway
Burns, of Beaufort, N. C. He won fame in the war of 1812 against England.
With his vessel, the "Snap Dragon," he sailed up and down the Atlantic
coast, capturing many English vessels and destroying the British trade. He
had many wild adventures, and his name became a terror to British
merchants. Finally the English government sent a war vessel, called the
"Leopard," to capture Captain Burns. The "Leopard" succeeded in capturing
the "Snap-Dragon" while Captain Burns was on shore sick. After the war he
was frequently a member of the legislature. A monument to his memory was
recently erected at Burnsville.

Yancey has an approximate area of 193,000 acres, with an average assessed
value of $2.60 per acre. Over 40 per cent of the land is held in large
tracts of 1,000 acres or more in extent. These holdings are valued chiefly
for their timber and are held principally as investments.

The topography is generally rough and the average elevation is high. The
Black mountain range in the southern portion of the county contains many
peaks more than 6,000 feet high, and Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east
of the Rockies, rises to an elevation of 6,711 feet above sea level. In
the northern and western sections of the county the ridges have an average
elevation of about 4,000 feet above sea level, Bald mountain rising to 5,
500 feet.

Four considerable streams, South Toe and Caney rivers, and Jacks and
Crabtree creeks, rise within the county, and flowing in a northerly
direction empty into Toe river, which forms the northern boundary of the
county.

MRS. NANCY ANDERSON GARDNER. There are many old people in these mountains,
but Mrs. Nancy Gardner of Burnsville was 98 the 15th of January, 1913. She
was in full possession of all her faculties, and in 1912 furnished for
this history a list of names of the first settlers of Yancey county. Her
husband's father was Thomas Gardner, who was born in Virginia in 1793, and
died in Yancey in 1853. He settled on Cane river when a boy. Her father
was W. M. Anderson and her mother Patty Elkins, who was born in Tennessee
in 1790. Her parents were married in 1809. James Anderson was from Ireland
and served in Virginia with the Americans during the Revolutionary War,
after which he moved (1870), first to Surry, and then to Little Ivy, where
D. W. Angel now lives and where Mrs. Gardner was born, January 15, 1815.
Her husband was William Gardner, to whom she was married March 22, 1832.
Thomas Dillard, father of the wife of Robert Love, was her mother's uncle.
She died early in 1913.

FIRST SETTLERS OF BURNSVILLE. Mrs. Gardner gave the following as the first
settlers of Burnsville: John L. W illiams and his sons Edward and Joshua;
Dr. Job, Dr. John Yancey, Abner Jarvis, Dr. Jacob Stanley, Samuel
Flemming, Gen. John W. McElroy, James Greenlee, John W. Garland, "Knock"
Boone, Amos Ray, W. M. Westall, J. Bacchus Smith, Joseph Shepard, Adam
Broyles, Mitchell Broyles, W. M. Lewis, John Woodfin, James Anderson,
Milton P. Penland, Jack Stewart and John Bailey.

FIRST SETTLERS OF YANCEY. Among them Mrs. Gardner mentioned the following,
giving also the names of their wives: Henry Roland, Berry Hensley, Ed. and
James McMahan, Thomas Ray, Edward Wilson, Jacob Phipps, Jerry Boons, Hiram
Ray, John Bailey, John Griffith, Joseph Shepard, Strowbridge Young, James
Proffitt, James Greenlee, Blake Piercy, Thomas Briggs, John McElroy, Wm.
Angel, James Evans, W. M. Angelin, John Allen, Rev. Samuel Byrd.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OLD TIMES. Mrs. Gardner's grandfather, James
Anderson, was said to be the first Methodist west of the Blue Ridge. She
remembered Parson Brownlow and the "lie bill" suit and the sale of his
bridle, saddle and horse; also that William Angel lived near the present
site of Burnsville but moved to Georgia, carrying his family and "One
hundred geese, which they drove." She gave not only the names of the wives
of the first settlers, but their children, and where the first settlers
lived. Also, that John Bailey married Hiram Ray's daughter and donated the
land for the town of Burnsville; that Joseph Shepard married Betsy Norton,
the grandparents of the late Judge J. S. Adams; that Thomas Ray married
Ivey Hensley and lived in Cane river valley; that Jacob Phipps married
Nancy Hampton, and lived four miles west of Burnsville; that Edward Wilson
married Polly Gilbert and lived on Cane river; that Jerry Boone was a
noted blacksmith and married Sallie McMahan. They lived where Burnsville
now stands; also that Hiram Ray married a Miss Cox and was a wealthy and
influential man. Also that Zepheniah Horton lived one mile west of
Burnsville, but none of his descendants now live in Yancey, though some
live in Buncombe and the State of Kansas; that Henry Roland married Sallie
Robinson and lived on Cane river; that Berry Henley married Betsy
Littleton, among whose descendants were B. S., W., and Jas. B. Hensley.
Edward and James McMahan were the first settlers of Pensacola, and
Strowbridge Young married Patty Wilson. She spoke of James Proffitt as
having lived on Bald creek, and of his direct descendants, but did not
give the name of his wife. She also spoke of James Greenlee as having
married Polly Poteet and living on Cane river, but having had no children;
Blake Piercy who married Fanny Turner, and lived on Indian creek, Thomas
Briggs who married Jane Wilson and lived on Bald creek, John McElroy who
married Miss Jamison and lived on Bald creek, James Evans who married a
Miss Bailey and lived on Jack's creek, W. M. Angelin who married Miss
Betsy Austin and lived on Banks creek, John Allen who married Molly
Turner, and the Rev. Samuel Byrd who married a Miss Briggs and lived in
the northern part of the county, naming many of his descendants.

FINE RIVER BOTTOMS. Those splendid lands, extending from the mouth of
Prices creek up Cane river to within two or three miles of Burnsville,
were in possession of white people as early as 1787, and were originally
granted to John mocking Alexander and Win. Sharp. The 640-acre tract at
the mouth of Bald and Prices creeks is owned by descendants of Thomas L.
Ray, who was among the first settlers of Yancey county. The Creed Young
place, originally the John Griffith farm, on Crabtree, about two miles
from Burnsville, is another fine farm. Milton P. Penland was another early
settler, and owned valuable land near Burnsville. He was a man of
influence and ability.

CELO OR BOLEN'S PYRAMID. What is known on government maps as Celo Peak
used to be called Bolen's Pyramid; but why either name should have been
given to this northernmost peak of the Blacks is not known, though, as
there is a Bolen's creek between it and Burnsville, it is probable that a
man of that name once lived near what is now called Athlone.

HENDERSON COUNTY.(30) Until 1838 Henderson was a part of Buncombe, and the
story of its first settlement belongs to that county . . . . But in 1838,
when Hodge Rabun was in the senate and Montreville Patton and Philip
Brittain were in the house, it was erected into a separate county and
named in honor of Leonard Henderson, once chief justice of the State, the
county seat also having been named in his honor. In 1850 it had only 6,483
population, while in 1910 it contained 16,262.

"The crest of the Blue Ridge, in Henderson county, is an undulating
plateau, which will not be recognized by the traveler in crossing. The
Saluda mountains, beyond Green river, are the boundary line of vision on
the south. The general surface features of the central part of this pearl
of counties will be best seen by a glance at the pictorial view from Dun
Cragin, near Hendersonville."(31)

With a general altitude about that of Asheville, with broad river bottoms
along the French Broad, Mud creek and elsewhere, its agricultural and
grazing advantages surpass those: of Buncombe; while as a summer and
health resort, Hendersonville, its county seat, with its fine and well-
kept hotels and boarding houses, surpasses in many important respects the
only town that exceeds it in population, the famed city of Asheville. The
social charm of this beautiful place, as well as of Flat Rock and
Fletcher, is at least not surpassed in Buncombe or in Asheville itself.
Hendersonville has everything in the way of hotels, boarding houses,
clubs, banks, street railways, parks, lights, water, livery and other
advantages that could be wished. The points of interest in the immediate
vicinity are numerous and appealing. Last summer there were 15,000
visitors in town and 25,000 in the county. The churches represent every
denomination.

John Clayton, of Mills river section, was in the legislature in 1827 and
1828, and in the senate in 1833. Largely through his influence Henderson
was formed into a separate county. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Mattie
Fletcher Egerton, first wife of Dr. J. L. Egerton and great-grandfather of
Mrs. Wm. Redin Kirk. He with his son, John, was among the first jurors of
this county. R. Irvine Allen, brother of Dr. T. A. Allen, the latter being
the oldest male inhabitant of this county, and Jesse Rhodes were among the
chain-bearers when the county lines were first surveyed. A committee,
consisting of Col. John Clayton, Col. Killian, and Hugh Johnston, was
appointed to select and lay off a county seat, and their first choice was
the land at what is now called Horse Shoe in 1839. But there was so much
dissatisfaction with this that two factions arose, called the River and
the Road parties, the River party favoring the Horse Shoe site, it having
been on the French Broad river. In 1839, however, the Road party enjoined
the sale in lots of the land selected at Horse Shoe, and the controversy
soon waxed so warm that the legislature authorized an election to
determine the matter by popular vote, resulting in the success of the Road
party. Judge Mitchell King of Charleston, S. C., who had been among the
first settlers of this section and owned much of the land where
Hendersonville now stands, conveyed fifty acres for the county site; and
this was laid off into lots and broad, level right-angled streets, and
sold in 1840. Dr. Allen died early in 1914.

HENDERSONVILLE. At the time the Civil War commenced there were on Main
street, the Episcopal church, completed save for the spire; the Shipp
house, adjoining, which formerly stood where the Pine Grove lodge now
stands, and where Lawyer Shipp, father of Bartlett Shipp, Esq., lived. The
present Sample home was then owned by the Rev. Collin Hughes, the
Episcopal clergyman. The old Virginia House stood on the corner now
occupied by the First National bank, and was built by David Miller and
William Deaver, the latter having been killed in the Civil War. It was
conducted many years by Mr. C. C. Chase; but about eighteen years ago it
became the property of Hall Poole. A still older house was the old hotel
built by John Mills, and stood on the present site of the St. John. It
later became the property of Colonel Ripley, and was known far and wide as
the Ripley House. There was nothing south of the court house site except
the old Ripley residence, built by the Kings, and the house that is now
Col. Pickens' residence. The only two houses standing prior to the
formation of Henderson county in the town of Hendersonville, and remaining
unchanged now, are the Arledge house on Main street, and the stone office-
building in front of the Pine Grove lodge, near the Episcopal church.

BOWMAN'S BLUFF. About forty years ago a small colony of English people
came to this section, and bought a vast acreage of land. Among them were
the Valentines, well known in Hendersonville for many years, the Thomases,
the Jeudweines, the Malletts (who still live on their place) and the
Holmeses, still owning the place above referred to. It would be hard to
describe this beautiful place. To the south of the old-fashioned house
lies a tangle of garden, with its riot of vines, and its numerous
overgrown arbors, and old trees trimmed in fantastic shapes. The house is
approached by a long winding drive, between great old pines, and just in
front of the house is the immense bluff, whereon wild crabapples bloom in
profusion. This falls away, a sheer descent many feet to the river below,
and it was here that Marv Bowman was said to have leaped to her death many
years ago, desperate over a hopeless love.

Centrally located to what was this English colony and on top of a hill,
sits the little Episcopal church where they were wont to worship on
Sunday, and which is used irregularly still.

Mr. Frank Valentine, who came to America in this colony, was educated at
Cambridge, England, graduated with highest honor, holding several degrees.
He went from Bowman's Bluff to Asheville, and later moved to
Hendersonville, where he spent his remaining days. He was known as one of
the finest educators in Western North Carolina.

FORMER CITIZENS. Peter Stradley lived at Old Flat Rock, and in 1870 died
there almost 100 years old, highly respected and loved; Joseph Dotson
lived to the age of 104 on his farm near Bat Cave, and made baskets and
brooms. He was captured while in the Confederate army but escaped, running
18 miles over the ice. Govan Edney of Edneyville, also lived to a great
age, and had a large experience as a hunter. Harvey Johnston and his wife
once owned nearly all the land on the west side of South Main street,
Hendersonville, and having no horse, managed to make fine crops
notwithstanding. Robert Thomas, first sheriff of Henderson county, was
killed by bushwhackers during the Civil War. Solomon Jones lived on Mount
Hebron, and was known as a builder of roads, having constructed one from
Hendersonville to Mount Hebron, and another up Saluda mountain; lived to
be nearly 100, and made his own tombstone.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISES. The Freeze Hosiery mills were opened June 15, 1912;
the Skyland Hosiery Co., at Flat Rock make silk and cotton hose and have
been operating several years; the Green River Mfg. Co., at Tuxedo, six
miles south of Hendersonville, was started in 1909. They make combed
peelers and Egyptain yarns, their annual output being 350,000 pounds;
employing 250 hands, of whom 200 are skilled. They support an excellent
school eight months every year; the Case Canning factory on the Edneyville
road six miles from Hendersonville, at Dana, has a capacity of 500,000
cans a season; the Hendersonville Light & Power Co., 7 1/2 miles east of
Hendersonville, have 1,250 horsepower, using only 400 at present; George
Stephens operates a mission furniture factory, at Lake Kanuga, six miles
out, where also is Kanuga club.

COUNTRY RESORTS. Besides the excellent hotels in Hendersonville, there is
a fine hotel at Osceola lake, one mile from town on the Kanuga road;
Kanuga club on Kanuga lake; Highland lake club, one and a half miles out
on the Flat Rock road, with cottages, is a stock company; Chimney Rock,
twelve miles east, is in the Hickory Nut canon; Buck Forest, now the
property of the Frank Coxe estate, was for years a summer resort, and the
falls in the vicinity are noted; Fletcher, near the Buncombe line is also
popular, and the social charms of the neighborhood are well recognized;
Buck Shoals is near, and the famous Rugby Grange, the attractive country
estate of the Westfelts of New Orleans, is one of the "show-places" of
Western North Carolina.

A LITERARY CURIOSITY. A poem written on white satin in quatrain form, into
each of which was incorporated a clause of the Lord's prayer, is known to
have been written by Mrs. Susan Baring and is now in the possession of a
Hendersonville lady.

SETTLING THE GRAHAM BOUNDARY LINE. By ch. 202, Pub. Laws, 1897, 343, the
county surveyors of Cherokee and Graham were authorized to locate the line
between these two counties and Tennessee, according to the calls of the
act of 1821.

CHEROKEE AND MURPHY. As early as 1836 the legislature provided that the
Indian lands west of Macon should remain under the jurisdiction of that
county till a new county should be formed for them, whose county seat
should be named Murphy. (Rev. St. 1837, Vol. ii, p. 213 and p. 214). In
1842 the State granted to A. Smith, chairman of the County court, 433
acres for a court house, etc. (Deed Book A, p. 429, dated March 23, 1842)
(32)

OLD COUNTY BUILDINGS. The old jail was back of the J. W. Cooper residence
and the whipping post stood near where a street now runs, and the first
court house, a very plain and unpretentious affair, stood at the
intersection of the two main roads from the country. The new court house
was built where the present one now stands, in 1891, at a cost of about
$20,000., but it was burned in 1892. In 1893 and 1894 it was rebuilt, as
the marble foundations and brick walls stood intact after the fire, at a
cost of $12,000. There was no insurance on the burned building.

PREEMINENT ADVANTAGES. Murphy's location between two clear mountain
rivers, its broad and almost level streets, its fine court house, schools
and hotels form the nucleus around which a large city should grow. It has
two competing railroads, and a climate almost ideal. Its citizens, too,
are enterprising and progressive, good streets and roads being appreciated
highly

MURPHY'S FIRST CITIZENS. Daniel F. Ramseur kept the old "Long Hotel," with
offices, that used to stand near the public square. Felix Axley was the
father of the Murphy bar and of F. P. and J. C. Axley. J. C. Abbott lived
at the old A. T. Davidson place, and was a leading merchant after the
Civil War. Samuel Henry, deceased, was an ante-bellum resident, was U. S.
Commissioner for years, and a friend of the late U. S. District Judge R.
P. Dick. A. M. Dyche (pronounced Dike) was sheriff, justice of the peace
and a good citizen. S. G. R. Mount was postmaster and lived in the
southern part of town. Dr. .John W. Patton was a leading physician and
lived near Hiwassee bridge. Mercer Fain lived where the Regal hotel stands
now, and was a merchant, farmer and land speculator. Benjamin S. Brittain
lived in East Murphy from the organization of the county till his death,
and was register of deeds. Drewry Weeks lived on the northeast corner of
the Square and was from the organization of the county till his death
clerk of the old county court. Seth Hyatt, sheriff, lived where Capt. J.
W. Cooper afterwards resided. Johnson King lived where S. Hyatt had lived,
and married his widow. He was a partner of the late Col. W. H. Thomas, and
the father of Hon. Mark C. King, several terms in the legislature. Dr. C
T. Rogers was another leading physician. Jesse Brooks was a merchant and
lived on what is now Church street. G. L. D. McClelland lived first on
Church and afterwards on the east side of Main street and lived to be over
ninety years of age, being highly esteemed. William Berry was a merchant
and farmer; Xenas Hubbard was a tinner; James Grant was a merchant and
kept store where the Dickey hotel now stands; John Rolen was a lawyer; J.
J. Turnbill was a blacksmith, and a man of unusual sense.

WILLIAM BEALE. This scholarly man came to Murphy from Canada just prior to
the Civil War and taught school; was several times sheriff, and lived on
the south side of Hiwassee bridge.

DAVID AND JOHN HENESEA. Just after the Civil War they moved from a fine
farm at the head of Valley river. John kept a hotel, now the residence of
C. E. Wood.

JAMES W. COOPER. He moved to Murphy from Graham soon after the Civil War,
and was a most successful lawyer and land speculator.

RESIDENTS of CHEROKEE COUNTY. Among the more prominent may be mentioned
Abraham Harshaw, the largest slave owner, four miles south of Murphy; John
Harshaw, his brother; Abraham Sudderth, who owned the Mission farm six
miles south of Murphy, where Rev. Humphrey Posey had established a mission
school for the Cherokees; William Strange owned a fine farm at the mouth
of Brasstown creek; Gideon Morris, a Baptist preacher, who married
Yonaguska's daughter; Andrew Moore; David Taylor; David Henesea; James W.
C. Piercy, who, from the organization of the county till his death,
located most of the land in Cherokee; James Tatham, the father of Purd and
Bent, who lived a mile west of Andrews; James Whitaker and his son
Stephen, who lived near Andrews; Hugh Collett and his father, who lived
just above Old Valley Town and were men of industry and integrity; Buck
and Neil Colvard, who lived at Tomotla; Win. Welch, who lived in the same
neighborhood; and Henry Moss, who lived at Marble, Ute Hyatt living on the
adjoining farm. Elisha P. Kincaid lived four miles east of Murphy, and
above him lived Betty Welch, or Betty Bly or Blythe, the heroine of Judge
Strange's romance, "Yonaguska." John Welch was her husband, a half-breed
Cherokee, and an "Avenger of Blood." (See ch. 26) In the western part of
the county were Burton K. and George Dickey, Wm. C. Walker, who was killed
at the close of the Civil War, having been colonel of the 29th N. C.
regiment; Abel S. Hill, sheriff; Calvin C. Vest; and others, who lived on
Notla. In the northern part lived Harvey Davidson, sheriff and farmer; and
the Hunsuckers, Blackwells, Longwoods, Gentrys and others. Goldman Bryson
lived on Beaver Dam, and was said to have been at the head of a band of
banditti during the Civil War, and was followed into the mountains and
killed by a party of Confederates. Andrew and Jeff Colvard were founders
of large and influential families. They were bold and daring frontiersmen
and citizens of character and ability. "Old Rock Voyles," as he, was
affectionately called, lived on Persimmon creek, ten miles from Murphy,
and was a man of originality and humor. He lived to a great age.

A CEMETERY IN THE CLIFFS. All along the crest of the ridges which
terminate in rock cliffs on the bank of the Hiwassee river about one mile
below Murphy are large deposits of human bones, supposed to be the bones
of Cherokees. The number of shallow graves on the crests of these ridges,
covered over by cairns of loose stones, indicate that this must have been
the burial place of Indians for many years.

EARLY WATAUGA AND BOONE HISTORY. The first court in Watauga was held in an
old barn near the home of Joseph Hardin one mile east of Boone, Judge
Mitchell presiding, and E. C. Bartlett being clerk. The first court house
was built in Boone in 1850 by John Horton for $4,000, but was burned in
1873, with the records. The records were restored afterwards by
legislative authority upon satisfactory evidence being furnished, and T.
J. Coffey & Bro. in 1874 rebuilt the court house for $4,800, the building
committee having been Henry Taylor, Dudley Farthing and Jacob Williams.
The present fine court house was erected in 1904 by L. W. Cooper of
Charlotte for $19,000. Alex. Green, J. W. Hodges and George Robbins were
the county commissioners. The first jail was of brick and built by Mr.
Dammons for $400, and the second jail was a wooden building of heavy logs.
On the second floor the timbers were twelve inches square, crossed with
iron, and when it was torn away by W. P. Critcher in 1909 the logs were
made into lumber of the finest grade. A splendid new jail, with iron cages
and rooms, was built in 1889 by Win. Stephenson of Mayesville, Ky., for $5,
000. The following have been sheriffs of Watauga: Michael Cook, John
Horton, Cob McCanles, Sidney Deal, A. J. McBride, John Horton, A. J.
McBride, D. F. Baird, J. L. Hayes, D. F. Baird, J. L. Hayes, D. F. Baird,
W. M. Calloway, W. B. Baird, J. H. Hodges, D. C. Reagan. The following
have been clerks: Mr. McClewee, J. B. Todd, Henry Blair, W. J. Critcher,
J. B. Todd, M. B. Blackburn, J. H. Bingham, Thomas Bingham, W. D. Farthing.

W. L. Bryan in 1872 started the Bryan hotel and conducted a first class
hotel for 27 years. In 1865 T. J. Coffey & Bro. came to Boone, and started
the Cofey hotel, where they maintained an up-to-date stopping place for
many years. It is now being conducted by Mr. Murry Critcher. In 1858
Marcus Holesclaw, Thomas Greene and William Horton ran for the legislature
upon the issue of moving the court house from Boone to Brushy Fork, and
Holesclaw was elected by one vote. This meant that the court house must be
moved; and Holesclaw introduced the bill for that purpose; but Joe Dobson
represented this district in the senate, and although he was from Surry
county, he managed to keep Holesclaw's bill at the foot of the calendar
until the legislature adjourned. Of course, Holesclaw was never satisfied
that his bill never reached a vote in the senate.

From ordinary circumstances L. L. Green came from the farm, studied law
and became a leader in politics; was elected judge and performed his
duties well. His portrait hangs in the court room, to the left of the
judge's stand, while on the right is a portrait of his friend, Major
Bingham, who was a fine lawyer and a great teacher of law. His name and
fame went out over the whole State.

E. Spencer Blackburn was one of the most attractive men this section has
produced. His father was Edward Blackburn, and his mother Sinthia Hodges.
He was one of nine children. He was four times nominated for Congress, was
elected twice; was assistant district attorney of the United States court,
and died at Elizabethtown early in 1912.

W. B. Councill was a student of the learned Col. G. N. Folk, who after
being admitted to the bar was elevated to the position of judge of the
Superior court of this judicial district. He declined a renomination.

A FAMILY OF PREACHERS. William Farthing came as a missionary from Wake
county to Beaver Dams, now in Watauga county, about 1826, but lived only
three months after settling there. He bought what was then known as the
Webb farm, about one-half mile from the principal Baptist church of that
settlement. He had owned many acres near Durham before going to the
mountains. His sons and those of John, his brother, who soon followed him
to Watauga, were men of the highest character and standing. Many of them
have been preachers, and four brothers of his family were in the ministry.
Like the descendants of the original Casper Cable who settled on Dry Run,
just in the edge of Tennessee, no drop of rowdy blood ever developed in
any of the descendants of the pioneer Farthings. Dudley, son of Wm.
Farthing, was for years judge of the county court and chairman of the
board of county commissioners.

THE BROWNS of WATAUGA. Joseph Brown came from Wilkes to Watauga long
before the Civil War, and settled at Three Forks, where he married Annie
Haigler, and reared eight children. Captain Barton Roby Brown of May Mead,
Tenn., was a grandson, and married Callie Wagner in 1864. He was in the
Sixth North Carolina cavalry, and a gallant soldier.

THE MAST FAMILY. Joseph Mast, the first of the name to come to Valle
Crucis, Watauga county, was born in Randolph county, N. C., March 25,
1764, and on the 30th of May, 1783, married Eve Bowers who had been born
between the Saluda and Broad rivers, South Carolina, December 30, 1758.
Joseph was a son of John, who was brother of the Jacob Mast who became
bishop of the Amish Mennonite church in Conestoga, Pa., in 1788. They had
left their native Switzerland together, and sailed from Rotterdam in the
ship "Brotherhood," which reached Philadelphia November 3, 1750. John Mast
was born in 1740, and shortly after becoming 20 years of age left his
brother Jacob, who had married and was living near the site of what is now
Elverson, Pa. John wandered on foot through many lonely forests, but
finally settled in Randolph county, where Joseph was born. There he
married a lady whose given name was Barbara. From Joseph and Eve Mast have
descended many of the most substantial and worthy citizens of Western
North Carolina, while the Mast family generally are people of influence
and standing in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, Oregon,
Florida, Illinois, Missouri, California, Kansas, and in fact nearly every
State in the Union. C. Z. Mast of Elverson, Pa., in 1911, published a
volume of nearly a thousand pages all of which are devoted to an excellent
record of all the Masts in America. John A. Mlast was born on Brushy creek
September 22, 1829. He married Martha Moore of Johns river, December 5,
1850. He died February 6, 1892. His paternal grandfather, John Mast, and
maternal grandfather, Cutliff Harman, were among the pioneers of this
section, and were Germans, settling on Cove creek. His wife, Martha Mast,
was born April 13, 1833. She died February 15, 1905.

THE MORETZ FAMILY. John Moretz came from Lincolnton long before the Civil
War and settled on Meat Camp, seven miles from Boone, where he built and
operated a large mill, which was burned but rebuilt. He prospered greatly,
and his descendants are numerous and influential.

THE SHULL FAMILY. Philip P. Shull was born at Valle Crucis, February 15,
1797, and married Phoebe Ward of Tennessee. He died January 9, 1866. His
father, Simon Shull was one of the first settlers of this country, having
been a German, and settled near Valle Crucis. His wife, Phoebewas born May
28, 1801, and died September 29, 1882. Joseph Shull, who was desperately
wounded in May, 1863, at the Wilderness fight, is a son of Philip P. Shull.

THE COUNCILL FAMILY. Jordan Councill, Sr., was the first of the name to
settle in Watauga, then Ashe county. He married Sally, the daughter of
Benjamin Howard, and from them have descended a long line of virile men
and lovely women, who for years have been the backbone of this section.

OTHER FIRST SETTLERS were Amos and Edward Greene near Blowing Rock; Ransom
Hayes at Boone; Jackson, Steven and Abner Farthing at Beaver Dams, James
McCanless, Elisha Coffey, Amos Greene, Isaac Greene, Lee Foster and Joel
Moody, at and near Shull's Mills; Malden Harmon, Calvin Harmon, Seaton
Mast, Lorenzo Whittington, and George Moody, on Cove creek. Henry Taylor
came to Valle Crucis long before the Civil War and married a Miss Mast.

FORGOT HOW TO MAKE AN "S." In the graveyard of the old German Reformed
church, one mile from Blowing Rock, is an old gravestone which, tradition
says, was brought by a Mr. Sullivan from the Jersey settlement in Davidson
county for the purpose, as he stated, of "starting a graveyard." On it are
carved or scratched the following letters and numbers:

E E S 1794.

This stone is said to mark the grave of the pioneer who brought it to
Blowing Rock. But whether he died or was born in the year given, is not
known. It is quite evident that he had forgotten in which way an "S" is
turned.

JACKSON COUNTY. While the late Michael Francis was in the senate and R. G.
A. Love was in the house from Haywood in 1850-52, Jackson county was
formed with Webster as the county seat. Daniel Webster had just died, and
the naming of this town for him was a graceful concession to the Whig
element of the country, while giving to "Old Hickory" the honor of naming
the county for him pleased the Democrats. Col. Thaddeus D. Bryson, a son
of Daniel Bryson of Scott's creek, was the first representative in the
house from Jackson, while Col. W. H. Thomas represented it in the senate.
John R. Dills, a member of the large and influential Dills family of
Dillsborough, represented this county in 1856. Joseph Keener, an
influential and valuable citizen represented the county in 1862, followed
by W. A. Enloe, a representative of the extensive and leading Enloe family
of Jackson. Following are the names of some of the more prominent
legislators: J. N. Bryson, E. D. Davis, G. W. Spake, F. H. Leatherwood, J.
W. Terrell, J. M. Candler, R. H. Brown, W. A. Dills, C. C. Cowan, and John
B. Ensley. The late John B. Love lived near Webster, and kept a store, W.
H. Thomas being a part ner for a while. Mr. Love owned much of the land in
that section, and his sons settled on Scott's creek from Addie to Sylva.
He also owned the famous "Gold Spring," near the head of Tuckaseegee, in
the basin of which a small amount of gold was deposited each morning; but
a blast ruined even that small contribution. He married a Miss Comans of
Wake county. Philip Dills was another pioneer, and was born in Rutherford,
January 10, 1808, and came with his father to Haywood soon after his
birth, and about the time Abraham Enloe settled on Soco creek. ...He was a
useful and respected citizen. Abraham Battle was born in Haywood in 1809,
and his father was one of the three men who came from Rutherford to
Haywood with Abraham Enloe. Win. H. Conley was another important citizen
of Jackson before Swain was taken from it, and was born in 1812 within
fifteen miles of Abraham Enloe's Ocona Lufty place, his father, James
Conley having been the first white man to settle on that stream. James W.
Terrell was born in Rutherford county, December 31, 1829, and at sixteen
years of age, carne to Haywood and lived with his grandfather, Win. D.
Kilpatrick, till 1852, when he went into business with the late Col. Win.
H. Thomas. In 1854 he was made disbursing agent for the Cherokees, was a
captain in the Civil War, and in the legislature for several terms. The
late Daniel Bryson kept a hotel or stopping place on the turnpike road
below Hall's and above Addie, in the turn of the road, where all the
judges and lawyers stopped while attending the courts of the wetsern
circuit. He was a most excellent and useful citizen, and left several sons
who have been prominent and influential citizens. Rev. William Hicks lived
in Webster after the Civil War, where he taught school for two years; but
in 1868 he was appointed presiding elder and moved to Hendersonville where
he remained till 1873, when he returned to Webster and resumed his school.
Later he moved to Quallatown where he taught school till he was appointed
to a district in ''Vest Virginia, where he afterwards died. He was a fine
public speaker, a Confederate soldier, a member of the Secession
convention from Haywood in 1861, and with Rev. J. R. Long, in 1855, built
up a large school near the junction of Richland and Raccoon creeks, giving
the place the name of Tuscola. This school flourished till the beginning
of the Civil War. Mr. Hicks also edited The Herald of Truth, a newspaper
in Asheville, for a few years. He was born in Sullivan county, Tennessee,
in 1820, became a Methodist preacher and came to Buncombe in 1848, holding
that year the first conference ever held in Haywood, the meeting being
held at Bethel church.

WEBSTER AND THE RAILROAD. With the coining of the railroad, Webster, the
county seat, found itself about three miles from that artery- of trade and
travel; and, soon afterward, an agitation began for the removal of the
court house to Dillsboro or Sylva, and has continued ever since. The
question was submitted to the people but they voted to retain Webster as
the county site; a new court house was built, and it was supposed that the
matter had been settled forever; but in 1913 a more vigorous movement was
started to change: the county court house to Sylva, which offered a bonus
in case it should be done. The legislature of 1913 authorized the people
to vote on the proposition, and the result changed the county site to a
point between Dill sboro and Sylva, May h, 1913. Webster is a pretty
little town with many attractive and useful citizens. The improvements
along the line of railroad from Hall's to Whittier have been remarkable.
The talc mine and factory of C. J. Harris at Dillsboro, the nickel mine
nearer Webster of W. J. Adams, and the tannic acid plant at Sylva
contribute much to the prosperity of these towns and to that of the county
generally. With a railroad up Tuckaseegee a large tract of timber will
find an outlet, and the copper mine on that stream may come into
development. Jackson is a rich and productive county and its people are
thriving and energetic. Lake Fairfield and Inn, and Lake Sapphire are in
this county on Horsepasture creek. Ellicotte mountain is near the extreme
eastern end of the county. Cashiers Valley, Chimneytop, Whiteside Cove and
mountain, Glenville, East LaPorte, Cullowhee and Painter are places of
interest and importance.

SCOTT'S CREEK. As this creek was on the eastern border of the Cherokee
country from which the Indians were removed, and as Gen. Winfield Scott
was in charge of their removal in 1835-38, some suppose that the creek
took its name from him; but in two grants to Charles McDowell, James
Glascow and David Miller, dated December 3, 1795, (Buncombe Deed Book No.
4, p. 104) the State conveyed 300 acres on the waters of Scott's creek,
waters of Tuckaseegee river, including the forks of Scotts creek and "what
was said to be Scott's old lick blocks," and on the same date there was a
further grant to the same parties to 300 acres on the same stream,
including a cane brake, with the same reference to Scott's old lick
blocks. (Book 8, p. 85) But a careful search revealed no grant to any
Scott in that section at or near that time; and the Scott who gave his
name to this fine stream was doubtless but a landless squatter who was
grazing and salting his cattle on the wild lands of that day. He probably
lived in Haywood county, near the head of Richland creek.

MADISON COUNTY. It was formed in 1851 from Buncombe and Yancey; it was
named for James Madison, while its county seat bears the name of the great
chief justice, John Marshall.

JEWEL HILL OR LAPLAND? It is almost forgotten that the postoffice at what
is now Marshall was called Lapland in 1858, and that it used to be said
that pegged shoes were first made there because the hills so enclose the
place that it would be impossible for a shoemaker to draw out his thread
to the full width of his arms, and consequently had to hammer in pegs,
which he could do by striking up and down. It is also uncertain whether
the name of Madison's first county seat is Jewel Hill or Duel Hill. One
thing, however, is certain, and it is that there once was a spirited
contest over keeping the seat of government there. There were several
"settlements" which desired to become the county seat of Madison county,
Lapland, on the French Broad river, being barred by the act of the
legislature (1850-1), which provides that the "county seat is to be
called" Marshall which is not to be within two miles of the French Broad
river. The principal candidates for this honor were "Bryants," Barnards
and Jewel Hill. The last named was selected at first and several terms of
court were held there.

The location of the county site at Jewel Hill soon proved unsatisfactory,
and the legislature of 1852-53 appointed a commission to fix the plan for
a county government. They decided on what is now Marshall "on lands of T.
B. Vance where Adolphus E. Baird now lives." But a doubt as to the
legality of this selection was immediately raised, though the county
offices remained at Jewel Hill. But David Vance, in order to comply with
the terms of the act, deeded to Madison county fifty acres of land for a
town site, by deed dated April 20, 1853.(33)

The location of the county site entered into the politics of that year,
and the legislature of 1854-55 (ch. 97, Pr. Laws) passed an act which
provided for an election to be held the first Thursday in June, 1855, to
determine whether the new location should stand or another location be
chosen. In case a new location should be decided on, a commission of nine
citizens was named, any five of whom might determine the new location; or
if five did not agree, then they were to name two places, one of which
should be on the French Broad river, one of which was to be chosen by a
majority of the voters at an election to be held at a time to be fixed by
the county court.

The act further provided that "if the Supreme court now sitting [February,
1855] should decide that the location of the county seat at Adolphus
Baird's" was lawful, then this act should be null and inoperative.
Pursuant to this act the question as to whether the location of the county
site at Adolphus E. Baird's should stand or a new location be chosen was
decided at a popular election held on the first Thursday in June, 1855,
pursuant to the act of 1852-53, and an order of the county court made at
its April term, 1855. 34 The votes for and against the present location,
however, is not stated in the minutes; but there is a tradition that
Marshall won by only one vote. At the fall term, 1855, of this court, a
building committee was appointed and the building of a brick court house
decided upon, which was ordered to be built in 1856. The records show,
however, that the county court was still held at Jewel Hill up to the fall
of 1859. There appears to be no record of any litigation to test the
legality of the selection of the commissioners under the Act of 1852-53,
notwithstanding the allusion to such a suit in the act itself.

OLD RESIDENTS of Madison. Dr. W. A. Askew was born on Spring creek in
August, 1832, his father having been G. C. Askew, and his mother Sarah H.
Lusk, daughter of Win. Lusk, and a sister of Col. Virgil S. Lusk of
Asheville. There were only four men living on Spring creek when G. C. Lusk
settled there in 1820, and they were Win. and Sam Lusk, a Mr. Crawford and
Win. Garrett. Later on Win. Moody and Josiah Duckett of South Carolina, a
soldier of the Revolution, came. Wm. Woody also lived there, and his son
Jonathan H. Woody moved to Cataloochee and married, first Malinda
Plemmons, and afterwards Mrs. Mary Caldwell, a widow. The Gahagans and
Tweeds lived on Laurel, while on Turkey creek Jacob Martin, James
Alexander, A. M. Gudger, R. L. Gudger, Win. Penland, Robert Hawkins, Irwin
West and John Alexander lived and prospered. Col James M. Lowrie, a half-
brother of Gov. Swain, with John Wells, John Reeves, lived on Sandy Mush.
Ebbitt Jones also lived on Sandy Mush; and on Little Sandy Mush G. D.
Robertson, Jackson Reeves, Jacob and John Glance and others lived.
Nathaniel Davis, Nathan Worley and the Worleys lived on Pine creek. James
Nichols married a Barnard and lived at Marshall. Robert Farnsworth lived
and died at Jewel Hill, where Mrs. Clark now lives, and was a son of David
Farnsworth who kept a stock stand on the French Broad. James Gudger and
his wife Annie Love also lived in this county, and Col. Gudger was a
delegate to the State convention of 1835.

ALLEGHANY COUNTY.(35) "Alleghany" is, in the language of the Delaware
Indians, "a fine stream." Lip to 1858-59 Alleghany was a part of Ashe.
Win. Raleigh and Elijah Thompson of Surry, James B. Gordon of Wilkes, and
Stephen Thomas and John F. Green of Ashe were appointed commissioners by
the act creating the county to locate the county seat, and had power to
purchase or receive as a gift 100 acres for the use of such county, upon
which the county site, to be called Sparta, should be located. In April,
1859 Win. C. DeJournett, a Frenchman, of Wilkes, made a survey and plat
locating the center of the county; James H. Parks and David Evans donated
50 acres where Sparta now stands, near the geographical center located by
DeJournett, but the deed was destroyed by a fire which burned Col. Allen
Gentry's house, and another deed was executed in 1866. In 1859 the county
court appointed commissioners to lay off and make sales of town lots, but
at the next term revoked their appointment and directed them not to
proceed. A mandamus was asked and the Superior and Supreme courts both
ordered that it be granted; but nothing further seems to have been done
till the April term, 1866, when the county court appointed F. J. McMillan,
Robert Gambill, Sr., James H. Parks, Morgan Edwards and S. S. Stamper
commissioners to lay off and sell lots from the tract donated for a county
seat, etc.; and at the October term following these commissioners were
directed to advertise for bids for building a court house, etc. But, at
the January term, 1867, all bids were rejected and the plans altered so
that the court house and jail should be in one and the same building. This
was the first term held in Sparta, and the court was composed of Morgan
Bryan and Win. L. Mitchell. The first term of the Superior court was held
at Sparta in the spring of 1868, with Anderson Mitchell as presiding
judge, J. C. Jones, sheriff, and W. L. Mitchell as foreman of the grand
jury. Stephen Landreth was officer in charge of the grand jury.

BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. It seems that there were no settlers in Alleghany
prior to the Revolutionary War; but it had been visited by hunters both
from Virginia and the central part of this State, among whom were three
brothers named Maynard from what is now Surry, who crossed the Blue Ridge
and built cabins along Glade creek. This was about 1786, and they had
lived there about six years when Francis Bryan, from Orange county, in
1793, located within five miles of them. About the same time Joel Simmons,
Wm. Woodruff and _____ Crouce settled along the top of the Blue Ridge,
thus making seven families in the county. But this was too much for the
Maynard brothers, and claiming that the country was too thickly settled,
they moved to Kentucky. But who was the first white man to visit this
section is unknown; though Win. Taylor, the Coxes, Gambills and Reeves
probably lived in the borders of what is now Alleghany during the
Revolutionary War. Two men named Edwards settled here also at an early
date, viz: David anal William Edwards. John McMillan came from Scotland in
1790 and was the first clerk of Ashe court. Joseph Doughton from Franklin
county, Va., was an early settler, and represented Ashe in the House of
Commons in 1877. Joseph Doughton was the youngest son of Joseph. This
family has always been prominent in the county. H. F. Jones built the
present court house for $3,475, and it was received September 4, 1880, J.
T. Hawthorn and Alex. Hampton, building committee.

PRINCIPAL OFFICE-HOLDERS. The following are the names of those who have
held the principal offices in the county.

Senators: 1879, Jesse Bledsoe; 1880, F. J. McMillan; 1893, W. C. Fields;
1899, W. C. Fields; 1906, Stephen A. Taylor; 1909, R. L. Doughton; 1911,
John M. Wagoner.

Representatives: 1869, Dr. J. L. Smith; 1871, Robert Gambill; 1873, Abram
Bryan; 1875, W. C. Fields; 1877, E. L. Vaughan; 1879 and 1881, E. L.
Vaughan; 1883, Isaac W. Landreth; 1885, Berry Edwards; 1887, R. A.
Doughton; 1891, R. A. Doughton; 1893, C. J. Taylor; 1895, P. C. Higgins;
1897, H. F. Jones, 1899; J. M. Gambill; 1901, J. C. Fields; 1903, R. A.
Doughton; 1905, R. K. Finney; 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, R. A. Doughton.

Clerk of County Court: 1859 to 1862, Allen Gentry; 1862 to 1866, Horton
Reeves; 1866 to 1868, C. G. Fowlkes.

Clerk Superior Court: 1864 to 1868, Win. A. J. Fowlkes; 1868 to October,
1873, B. H. Edwards. Edwards resigned and J. J. Gambill appointed. October
1873 to March 1882, J. J. Gambill; Gambill resigned and R. S. Carson
appointed. March 1882 to 1890, R. S. Carson; 1890 to 1898, W. E. Cox; 1898
to 1910, J. N. Edwards; 1910 to 1914, S. F. Thompson.

Sheriff: 1859 to 1864, Jesse Bledsoe; 1864 to 1870, J. C. Jones; 1870 to
1882, J. R. Wyatt; 1882 to 1884, Berry Edwards; 1884 to 1885, George
Bledsoe (died while in office); 1885 to 1888, W. F. Thompson; 1888 to
1894, W. S. Gambill; 1894 to 1898, L. J. Jones; 1898 to 1904, D. R.
Edwards; 1904 to 1908, S. A. Choate; 1908 to 1910, John R. Edwards; 1910
to 1914, S, C. Richardson.

Register of Deeds: 1865 to 1868, Thompson Edwards; 1868 to 1880, F. M.
Mitchell 1880 to 1882, F. G. McMillan; 1882 to 1886, F. A. Mitchell; 1886
to 1892, J. C. Roup; 1892 to 1898, J. N. Edwards; 1898 to 1904, S. F.
Thompson; 1904 to 1908, John F. Cox; 1908 to 1914, G. D. Brown.

The following is a list of the first Justices of the Peace of the county:

A. B. McMillan, John Gambill, Berry Edwards, John A. Jones, Solomon Jones,
W. P. Maxwell, Solomon Long, Nathan Weaver, Win. Warden, C. G. Fowlkes, F.
J. McMillan, John Parsons, Caleb Osborn, Wm. L. Mitchell, C. H. Doughton,
James Boyer, Win. Anders, Thomas Edwards, Thomas Douglass, I. C. Heggins,
Hiram Heggins, Morgan Bryan, A. M. Bryan, A. J. Woodruff, Alfred Brooks,
Win. T. Choate, Daniel Whitehead, Goldman Heggins, Absalom Smith, Martin
Carico, Ruben Sparks, Spencer Isom, Chesley Cheek.

Of this number, Dr. C. G. Fowlkes and Nathan Weaver are the only ones now
living, 1912.

FIRST MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. This is a copy of the first marriage record in
the county:

"This is to certify that I married Calvin Caudill and Sarah Jones the 16th
day of March, 1862.

DANIEL CAUDILL."

TWO NOTED LAWSUITS. What is probably the most important lawsuit that ever
existed in the county was W. D. Maxwell v. Noah Long, for the recovery of
the "Peach Bottom Copper Mines" and for about, 1000 acres of land. This
cause was carried to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals and then
to the United States Supreme Court. Polk, Fields, Doughton, Watson &
Buxton represented Maxwell. Vaughan, Linney, and Judge Schenk represented
Long. Maxwell finally gained the suit, Chief Justice Fuller writing the
opinion.

Another historical lawsuit in this county, was one of ejectment, Wm.
Edwards v. Morgan Edwards. This litigation was begun about the year 1864,
and lasted nearly thirteen years. The action was moved to Ashe county at
one time, and probably to Watauga at another. It was finally disposed of
at Spring term 1877 of Alleghany Superior Court. After a desperate battle,
which lasted for nearly a week, the jury gave a verdict in favor of Morgan
Edwards.(36)

MITCHELL'S COUNTY SEAT. By ch. 8, Pub. Laws of 1860-61 Mitchell county was
created out of portions of Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke and McDowell
and by chapter 9 of the same laws it was provided that the county court of
Pleas and Quarter Sessions should be "held in the house of Eben Childs on
the tenth Monday after the fourth Monday in March, when they shall elect a
clerk, a sheriff, a coroner, a register of deeds and entry-taker, a
surveyor, a county solicitor, constables and all other officers. Thomas
Farthing of Watauga, John W. McElroy of Yancey, Joseph Conley of McDowell,
A. C. Avery of Burke, David Prophet of Yancey, John Harden of Watauga and
James Bailey, Sr., of Yancey, were appointed commissioners to select a
permanent seat of justice and secure fifty acres of land, to meet between
the first of May and June, 1861. Tilmon Blalock, J. A. Person, Eben Childs
and Jordan Harden were appointed commissioners to lay off town lots; "and
said town shall be called by the name of Calhoun."

A HITCH SOMEWHERE. But, at the first extra session of 1861 (Ratified
September 4, 1861), Moses Young, John B. Palmer of Mitchell, John S. Brown
of McDowell, Win. C. Erwin of Burke, and N. W. Woodfin of Buncombe were
appointed commissioners to "select and determine a permanent seat of
justice," to meet between October 1, 1861, and July 1, 1862.

STILL ANOTHER HITCH. By chapter 34, Private Laws, second extra session,
1861, the boundary lines of Mitchell were so changed as to detach from
Mitchell and re-annex to Yancey all the country between the mouth of Big
Rock creels and the Tennessee line, so that the county line of Mitchell
should stop on Toe river at the mouth of Big Rock creek and run thence
vith the ridge that divides Rock Creek and Brummetts creek to the State
line at the point where the Yancey and McDowell turnpike road crosses the
same.

THE LAND IS DONATED. On the 17th of October, 1861, Lysander D. Childs and
Ehen Childs conveyed to Tilmon Blalock, chairman of the County Court,
fifty acres of land (Deed Book C, p. 30) the which fifty acres were to be
used "for the location thereon of a permanent seat of justice in said
county; two acres for a public grave-yard, one acre for the site of a
public school building, and one-half acre to be devoted to each of the
following denominations for the erection thereon of church buildings; to
wit: Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists"; the location
of lots in the grave-yard and for the school and church buildings to be
made by the commissioners charged by law with the duty of laying off the
town lots in said seat of justice.

CALHOUN. This town was not far from Spruce Pine and Ingalls, "on a lane
leading from the Burnsville and Boone road."(37) It was what was
afterwards called Childsville. But, although by chapter 61 of the second
session of the laws of 1861, a term of the Superior court was directed to
be held "for Mitchell county in the town of Calhoun on the sixth 'Monday
after the fourth Monday each year," the county seat never assumed townlike
proportions. The people never liked it; and at the first session of the
legislature after the Civil War it was changed to the present site of what
is now called Bakersville. But, it seems, it was first called Davis; for
by chapter 2, Private Laws of 1868, the name of the "town site of Mitchell
county" was changed from Davis to Bakersville.

BAKERSVILLE. On the 27th of July, 1866, for $1,000 Robbert N. Penland
conveyed to the chairman of the board of county commissioners 29 acres on
the waters of Cane creek "and the right of way to and the use of the
springs above the old Baker spring . . to be carried in pumps to any
portion of said 29 acres.(38) This was a part of the land on which
Bakersville is situated. In 1868 there was a sale of these lots, and at
the December, 1868, session of the commissioners the purchasers gave their
notes, due in one and two years for balances clue on the lots. The first
court house in Bakersville was built by Irby & Dellinger, of South
Carolina, in 1867, and on the first of November, 1869, M. P. and W.
Dellinger gave notice of a mechanic's lien in the building for work done
under a contract for the sum of $1,409.85 subject to a set-off of about
$200. The first court held in Bakersville was in a grove near the former
Bowinan house, when it stood on the top of the ridge above its present
site. Judge A. S. Merrimon presided. The next court was held in a log
house built by Isaac A. Pearson. The present court house was built by the
Fall City Construction Company, of Louisville, Ky.

TRANSYLVANIA.(39) This county was formed in 1861, while Marcus Erwin was
in the senate and Joseph P. Jordan of Henderson county was in the house.
M. N. Patton was its first representative, in 1861. Court was held in a
store room on what is now Caldwell street, Brevard. The first regular
court house was a small frame building which stood on site of present
building. It was built by George Clayton and Eph. England, contractor, and
was not quite complete in 1866. The first jail was also small and of wood.
Both these, buildings were moved across the street and are still iii
existence. The present court house was built about 1871 by Thomas Davis
contractor. Probit Poore a built what is still known a:. the "Red House,"
before the Civil War; but it was not used as a hotel till William Moore
opened it as such, and this was the first hotel in Brevard. In 1872 or
1873 Nathan McMinn built a store and afterwards a hotel where the present
McMinn house stands and opened a hotel there about 1879. George Shuford,
the father of Judge G. A. Shuford, used to own the Breese or Hume place in
Brevard, and sold it to Meredith D. Cooper who built the present mansion,
and sold it to Mrs. Hume. George Shuford bought the mill place from Ethan
Davis and built a grist mill there, but when M. D. Cooper got it lie built
a flour mill, which was burned. Cooper afterwards sold the mill to Mr.
Lucas and he sold it to Mrs. Robert L. Hume, who conveyed it to her
daughter, Mrs. Wm. E. Breese, the mill having been rebuilt. About 1800
George Shuford moved from Catawha county and bought land below Shuford's
bridge on the French Broad river, and took up a lot of mountain land,
considered valueless, but which is held today by John Thrash at $25 per
acre. It is in the Little river mountains. John Clayton, father of John,
George and Ephriam Clayton, settled on Davidson's river, above the mill,
at the Joel -Lackey place. The Gash family were originally from Buncomhe.
Leamler S. Gash lived for a time in Hendersonville where he died. lie was
a prominent and influential man, having represented Henderson county in
1866 in the senate; while Thomas L. (sash represented Transylvania in the
house in 1874. Their ancestor had fought in the Revolutionary War. The
Duckworths are another large and influential family, John having settled
at the mouth of Cherryfield creek on a part of the David Allison grant,
which corners there, after following the present turnpike from Boylston
creek. It was here, too, that the Paxtons lived. Just prior to the Civil
War, while Transylvania was a part of Henderson county, many wealthy and
fashionable people from the lower part of South Caroliua bought many of
the finest farms and built what were palatial homes for those days. Among
them were Frank -'vlcKune and William Johnston from Georgetown, S. C.
Their fine teams and liveried servants are still remembered. Then, too,
Robert Hume built a stone hotel at the foot of the Dunn Rock, about four
miles southwest of Brevard, where he kept many summer boarders prior to
the Civil War; but, during that awful time, the hotel was burned; the
ruins still standing. What is still known as the Lowndes Farm, on the
French Broad river, about five miles below Brevard, originally belonged to
Benjamin King, a Baptist minister, who married Miss Mary Ann Shuford; but
when the Cherokee country was opened to the whites, Mr. King sold it to
William Ward, a son of Joshua Ward. William Ward built the fine house
which stands on the land still; his father having built Rock Hall, the
present home of the Westons. Ephriam Clayton was the contractor who built
the Lowndes house for ''William Ward, and it was then one of the show-
places of Transylvania. The Wards were South Carolina rice planters, and
quite wealthy; but during the Civil War William got into debt to Mr.
Lowndes, a banker of Charleston, who obtained judgments and sold the land
after the war, bidding it in, and afterwards placing the farm in charge of
a Scotch gardner named Thomas Wood, who immediately put the land in
splendid conditionthe amount spent for the land and improvements having
cost the estate nearly one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Lowndes was very
much attached to this place and spent much of his time there; but after
his death, his grandson did not care much for it, and sold it, with stock
and farm implements for a small sum to John Thrash, and he in time sold it
to Col. Everett, a genial and popular gentleman of Cleveland, Ohio. He has
improved the place greatly. The original farm now includes the James
Clayton, the Wm. Allison and the Henry Osborne places-all fine farms. The
late A. Toomer Porter, of Charleston, started to build a home on top of a
small mountain, three and one half miles down the French Broad river, and
a Mr. Clarkson of South Carolina started a summer residence on the
opposite side, but the war stopped both enterprises. A relative of the
late P. T. Barnum, owns the Hankel place about three miles from Brevard on
the French Broad river. He has an extensive chicken farm, containing 5,000
white Leghorns. His name is Clark. Buck Forest, nine miles south of
Brevard on Little river, containing the shoals and three picturesque falls
or cascades of that stream, graphically described the "Land of the Sky,"
was originally the property of Micajah Thomas, who after building a hotel
there before the Civil War, kept summer boarders when deer hunting was
popular; but after the war sold it to Joseph Carson. The late Frank Coxe,
Carson's brother-in-law, however, paid for it, and in the litigation which
followed retained the title and possession by paying Carson's estate about
$12,000 in 1910. The Coxe estate have since bought large tracts of land in
that neighborhood and it is said will create a large lake and build a
hotel on the property. The Patton family of Transylvania is one of the
largest and most influential of that section, the original of that name
having owned from Clayton's to the Deaver farm, a distance along the
French Broad river of about three miles. They were a large family, but
there was land enough to go around to about a dozen children. No better
people live anywhere than the Pattons.

CHERRY FIELD. In November, 1787, Gen. Charles McDowell and Willoughby
Williams entered 200 acres in Rutherford county (Buncombe county Deed Book
A, p. 533), "adjoining the upper end of his Cherry Field survey on French
Broad river and extending up to his Meadow Camp survey"; and in November,
1789, the State granted to Charles McDowell 500 acres on both sides of the
French Broad river, including the forks of said river where the Path
crosses to Estatoe (Deed Book No. 9, p. 200, Buncombe). This old Indian
path to Estatoe crossed near Rosman.

BEN DAVIDSON'S CREEK.(40) On the 25th of July, 1788, Charles McDowell
entered 500 acres in Rutherford county on Ben Davidson's river, including
the Great Caney Cove two or three miles above the Indian Path, though the
grant was not issued till December 5, 1798 (Buncombe county Deed Book 4,
p. 531), and in November, 1790, Ben Davidson got a grant for 640 acres in
Rutherford county on both sides of French Broad river, above James
Davidson's tract, including the mouth of the Fork on the north side and
adjoining Joseph McDowell's line, "since transferred to Charles McDowell."
(Buncombe county Deed Book 1, p. 74)

CLAY COUNTY AND HAYESVILLE. Clay county was enacted in 1861, but it was
organized in 1864. The first sheriff was John Patterson, but he could not
give the necessary bond and the commissioners appointed J. P. Chastine in
his place. Then came James P. Cherry who was sheriff for many years. Win.
McConnell was the first register of deeds. John C. Moore, G. W. Bristol
and Harvey Penland were the first County Commissioners. The county seat
was named for George W. Hayes. He lived on Valley river near Murphy and
was the father of Mr. Ham Hayes, who is still living. He was an
extraordinary man and much respected. He had Clay county cut off from
Cherokee while he was in the legislature.

John H. Johnson of Tennessee, Robert Martin of Wilkes county, North
Carolina, and Elijah Herbert of Wythe county, Virginia, married three
daughters of John Alexander, of Abshers, Wilkes county, North Carolina,
about 1823, and afterwards moved to Clay, then Cherokee county, when the
Cherokee lands were sold. They settled near Hayesville. Elijah Herbert,
who had married Winifred Alexander, died in March, 1875, aged seventy-four
years. John H. Johnson died about 1895. Robert Martin died about 1880.

Clay county lands are exceedingly fertile and, with the sparkling Hiwassee
river flowing through the center from east to west, with its tributaries,
Tusquittee, Brasstown, Sweetwater, Shooting Creek and various other
smaller streams and hundreds of clear, sparkling springs, make it a well
watered country. It is surrounded on three sides by mountains forming an
amphitheatre overlooking a valley that is unexcelled for natural beauty.
Its soil is adapted to the production of all the grains and grasses but
more especially to the growth of apples. This county has long been noted
for the morality of its people and the maintenance of a high school at
Hayesville, the county seat, the courts seldom last longer than two days,
and often only one day, and the jail is almost always free of prisoners.

This county was settled largely by emigrants from the counties east of it.
The Cherokee Indians were removed from this particular territory in the
year 1838, but a number of pioneers had settled in the county prior to
their removal. G. W. Hayes was the representative in the legislature from
Cherokee at that time and the county seat was named in his honor. The
minerals of the county are gold, corundum, asbestos, garnet, mica, kaolin,
and iron.

George W. Bristol came from Burke county in the spring of 1844 and settled
at the Mission Farin on Peachtree creek. The Bristols came to Burke from
Connecticut. His son, Thomas B. Bristol, was born in Burke county July 3,
1830, and married Mary Addie Johnson, a daughter of the late John H.
Johnson of Tusquittee, January 22, 1852. He died January 19, 1907. His
widow survived him till October 8, 1911.

Archibald O. Lyon was born in Tennessee and married 'Miss M. E. Martin
September 14, 1856. She was a daughter of Robert Martin, one of the first
and most prominent settlers of Clay county. A. O. Lyon died February 16,
1885. He went to Raleigh soon after the Civil War and obtained a charter
for a Masonic lodge at Hayesville, which was organized as Clay Lodge
October 2, 1866. He was its Worshipful master ten years and a faithful
member for nineteen years. He was a progressive and successful farmer, and
was loved and respected by all who knew him. James H. Penland also married
one of John H. Johnson's daughters, -Miss Fanny E. Johnson, as did H. G.
Trotter of Franklin and Win. B. Tidwell of Tusquittee two others.

John C. Moore was one of the first settlers of Clay county and lived in an
Indian but which stood near a beech tree near John H. Johnson's house
before the land sale. He came from Rutherford county and married Polly
Bryson of Mills river. Their daughter, Sarah, married Win. H. Herbert
about the year 1851.

W. P. Moore, universally called "Irish Bill," was a son of Joab Moore and
was born in Rutherford county and was a brother of John C. _Moore. He
married Miss Hattie Gash of Transylvania county. He was a captain in the
Confederate army and "every inch a soldier." He is still living at his
home on Tusquittee aged eighty-three years

Alexander Barnard settled on Hiwassee river, three miles above Hayesville.
Eli Sanderson was born in Connecticut and was the father of George W.
Sanderson who died some years ago. He and William Sanderson were among the
first settlers of Clay county. James Coleman was also among the first
settlers and owned a large farm. William Hancock lived below Hayesville
and Richard Pass came early from Georgia to Clay county. One of his
daughters married S. H. Haigler of Hayesville.

Joshua Harshaw was the original settler at the mouth of Brasstown creek on
a good farm. He came early from Burke county. Abner Chastine came from
Jackson county early and died about 1874 or 1875, when an old man. He left
several children, among them having been J. P. Chastine the first sheriff
of Clay county. Byron Brown married Miss Nancy Parsons and died about
1901. Daniel K. Moore, of Buncombe county, also lived on Brasstown. He
married a Miss Dickey and was the father of Judge Frederick Moore. He is
still living. Henry Platt, -the father of the present Rev. J. T. Platt of
Clay, was also an early settler, and died many years ago.

George McLure came from Macon county long before the Civil War and settled
near Hiwassee river. He was the father of W. H. McLure who has represented
Clay county in the legislature. W. H. McLure married one of the daughters
of R. S. Pass and was one of the California Forty-Niners. He stayed in
California till the Civil War, when he returned to Clay county.

The Mission farm is now partly owned by the heirs of a Mr. Sudderth,
originally of Burke county. He was at one time sheriff of Clay and a
gentleman of fine character. Fort Embree, one of the collecting forts at
time of the removal of the Cherokees, was on a hill just one mile
southwest of Hayesville. There is an Indian 'Mound at the mouth of
Peachtree creek on the old Robert McLure farm. It is about the same size
as that near Franklin. There is also a mound half a mile east of
Hayesville which is highest of all these mounds. It is on the land of W.
H. McLure and S. H. Allison, their line splitting the mound.

Among other prominent citizens of Clay should be mentioned Dr. D. W.
Killian, Dr. John Duncan, Gailor Bristol and S. H. Allison's father, who
came to Clay many years ago. S. H. Allison married -Miss Elizabeth Lyon,
daughter of A. O. Lyon. John O. Hicks was born in Rutherford county and
was among the first school teachers in Clay county. He built up a splendid
school at Fort Embree and afterwards moved to Hayesville. He represented
Clay in the legislature. He closed his school in 1876 and moved to
Walhalla, South Carolina, and then went to Texas, where he died in 1910.

There is now a fine high school at Hayesville. It is in charge of 'Mr. N.
A. Fessenden, who succeeded John O. Hicks. Among those who have
distinguished themselves after attending this school are Rev. Ferd. C.
McConnell, of Texas, one of the finest preachers of the Baptist church;
George Truett, another fine preacher; and Hon. George Bell of the Tenth
Georgia Congressional district.

SWAIN COUNTY AND BRYSON CITY. The county was created in 1871. The first
court house was a frame building, with the upper floor for a court room
and the lower for a jail. The "cage" was a pen of logs, under the front
outside stairs, and was used for misdemeanants only. The dungeon was a log
room within a log room, the space between being filled with stone.. A
padlocked trapdoor from the floor above was the only entrance, reached by
a ladder let down when required. Bryson City Was first called Charleston,
which name it retained sixteen years when it was called Bryson in honor of
Col. Thad. Dillard Bryson who was instrumental in having the new county
formed. Col. D. K. Collins built the first house there, Capt. Epp Everett
the next, and James Raby and 'I. Battle followed. H. J. Beck was first
clerk of court, Epp Everett sherriff, D. K. Collins postmaster, and Win.
Enloe, B. McHane, and John DeHart county commissioners.

OCANALUFTY. The first settlers on this creek were Robert Collins Isaac
Bradley, John Beck, John Mingus, Abraham Enloe, after whom came the
Hugheses, Connors, Floyds, Sherrills, etc Col. D. K. Collins' mother had
thirteen children, of whom twelve lived to 1>c grown. Seven of her sons
tool: part in the Civil War, one being killed. Their neighbor had eighteen
children. The earliest settlers on Deep creel. Were the Shulers, Wiggins,
and Millsaps. Those on Alarka were the Cochrans, Brendels, Welches, and
DeHarts.

ROBERT COLLINS. He was the guide and assistant of Professor Arnold Guyot's
surveying party in 1858-59, and Col. D. K. Collins was along as a helper,
to carry the instruments, chain, stakes, etc. They followed the summit of
the Smoky mountains from Cocke county, Tenn., to Blount county, Tenn.,
breaking up the party at Montvale springs, 16 miles from Maryville. Robert
Collins was born on Oconalufty river September 4, 1806, married Elizabeth
Beck, December 30, 1830, and died April 9, 1863, when he was an officer in
charge of 500 troops, mostly Cherokees, in Sevier county, Tenn.

ELI ARRINGTON. He helped to carry Rhynehart, who was ill of milk-sick in
1855, near Collins gap. Wain Battle was also one of the party who helped
carry Rhynehart from the mountains. About two years later he was with Dr.
John Mingus, Dr. Davis and a few others going to the Alum cave where Col.
Thomas got magnesia and alum during the war, and took sick and died alone
in one of the roughest countries in the mountains. He was found by Col. D.
K. Collins and taken to his home in Waynesville.

DANGER IN CROSSING THE UNAKAS IN WINTER. Andrew Sherman and _____ O'Neal,
two lumbermen, left camp on the head of Tellico creek just before
Christmas, 1899, intending to cross the Unaka mountains south of the John
Stratton Meadows, near Haw Knob, so as to reach Robbinsville in time for
Christmas. They got as far as the Whig cabin where they bought some
whiskey from Jim Brooksher; after which they started to cross the Hooper
bald. A blizzard and heavy snowstorm began and continued all that night.
They were never seen again alive. In September following Forest Denton
found their skeletons near the Huckleberry Knob, where Sherman's remains
were buried; but some physicians took O'Neal's remains home with them.

ORIGIN OF NAVIES. Hazel creek was named from a patch of hazelnut bushes
near its mouth; bland creek was named for Andrew Noland, its first
settler; Chambers creek for John Chambers; Eagle creek from a nest of
eagles near its head; Twenty-Mile creek is so called because it is just
twenty miles from the junction of Tuckaseegee and Little Tennessee river.

WILLIAM MONTEITH. He was the father of Samuel and the grandfather of
Ellis, John, Robert and Western 'Monteith. He married Nancy Crawford. COL.
THADDEUS DILLARD BRYSON. He was born near the present railroad station
called Beta, Jackson county, February 13, 1829, was married to Miss Mary
C. Greenlee of Turkey Cove, McDowell county, April 4, 1871. He died at his
home at Bryson City, January 2, 1890. He represented Jackson and Swain a
number of years in the legislature. He was appointed colonelcommandant of
the Jackson county regiment, militia, February 20, 1854, and was
commissioned captain in the 20th N. C. Infantry of the Confederate army,
September 7, 1861.

BRYSON CITY has one bank, three hotels, several boarding houses, a pump
factory where columns and liquor logs are made, a roller mill of 35-barrel
capacity, an ice plant, bottling works, a telephone system, a planing
mill, lumber yards and builder's supplies, livery stables and a fine
retail and wholesale trade with the surrounding country. The town owns its
own water system and watershed at Rich gap of 200 acres. The water is from
mountain springs and is piped to a fine reservoir on Arlington Heights
overlooking the town. There is also a sewerage system. The town owns its
own water power plant three miles up Deep Creek which furnishes
electricity to operate the ice plant and the roller mill and the electric
lights of the town, and has surplus power to sell. It has 140-horsepower
capacity.

GRAHAM AND ROBBINSVILLE. Graham was formed in 1872, but it was represented
in the legislature by the member from Cherokee till 1883, when George B.
Walker, Esq., was elected to the house. The county commissioners-elect met
at King & Cooper's store on Cheoah river, October 21, 1872, and were sworn
in by J. W. King, J. P.; J. J. Colvard, John Gholey, G. W. Hooper, N. F.
Cooper, and John Sawyer, commissioners, all being present. J. J. Colvard
was elected chairman, and the official bond of William Carpenter, register
deeds, was approved. So were also the bonds of John G. Tatham, as clerk,
J. S. Hyde, as sheriff, Reuben Carver, surveyor, all of whom were sworn
in. It was then ordered that the first term of the Superior court be held
at the Baptist church in Cheoah township, about one mile from
Robbinsville. Judge Riley Cannon held this court at that place in March,
1873; and the first court held in the court house in Robbinsville was the
fall term of 1874.On the 7th of December, 1872, the commissioners
considered three sites for the county seat: Rhea Hill, Fort Hill, and land
of C. A. Colvards. They chose the first named. Junaluska, the Cherokee
chief, lived at Robbinsville and is buried there. A tablet on an immense
boulder marks his grave. Snowbird mountains, the Joanna Bald, the Hooper
Bald, Huckleberry Knob, Laurel Top, the two Stratton Balds, the Hang Over,
the Hay O, the Fodder Stack and the Swim Bald are the principal mountain
peaks. They are the least known of any of our mountains. In them head the
Santeetla, Buffalo, Snowbird, Sweet 'later, the Yellow and Tallulah
creeks, all of which flow into the Cheoah river. One hundred and fifty
Cherokee Indians live on the head of Snowbird and Buffalo creeks. There is
more virgin forest land in this county than in any other now. It has
immense resources in water power, and the gorge at Rocky Point where the
Little Tennessee goes through has great value as a power site. The Union
Development Company has bought up many sites on these streams. In 1910-I1
the Whiting Manufacturing Company bought up many of the lots and houses in
Robbinsville and many thousands of acres of timber lands. Lafayette
Ghormley is the grandson of the man of that name who lived near the mouth
of Mountain creek, and the son of DeWitt Ghormley. Dave Orr went to his
present home between Bear and Slick Rock creeks in 1866, and his fame as a
hunter and trapper is now secure. Rev. Joseph A. Wiggins, a distinguished
Methodist minister of this county, was born on Alarka creek in 1832, but
moved with his father to Graham in 1840, when there was but one wagon
road, that from Old Valley Town to Fort Montgomery, just constructed for
the soldiers who removed the Indians in 1838. Dr. Dan F. Summey of
Asheville was in charge of its construction. There were no mills except a
few grist mills, an wheat was "packed" on horses by a trail to a mill five
mile from what is now Bryson City-a distance of about thirty miles. Indian
relies were then plentiful at the head of Tallulah creek at what is called
The Meadows. 11r. Wiggins married a daughter of George W. Hayes, after
whom Hayesville was named. There was not a church in the county and but a
few log school houses. He began to preach in 1859, and served four years
as chaplain in the Confederate army, after which he rode circuits in
Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia and Western North Carolina till stationed
in Graham county. His great-grandfather Garland Wiggins served in the
Revolutionary War, as did his wife's great-grandfather, Edward Hayes.
Andrew Colvard lived on Long Hungry branch, which got its name from the
fact that a party of hunters was once detained there by high water till
their rations gave out and they were for a long time hungry. The Stewarts
of Santeetla came from Georgia and the Lovens from Ducktown, Tenn. John
and Robert Stratton came from Monroe county, Tenn., in the thirties and
settled on the Unaka mountains between the head of Sassafras ridge and
Santeetla creek. John lived on the John Stratton Bald ten years and caught
19 panthers on Laurel Top, making "bacon" of their hams and shoulders. He
came with nothing but his rifle, blanket, skillet and ammunition, but made
enough herding cattle and selling deer and bear hams and hides, etc., to
buy a fine farm in Monroe county, Tenn. On a rude stone on the John
Stratton meadow is carved:

A. S.
Was born
1787
Died 1839.

A State Line stone stands about a quarter of a mile away. John
Ropetwister, Organdizer, Big Fat Coinmisseen and others moved from East
Buffalo creek to Slick Rock during the Removal of 1838, where they
remained in concealment till Col. Thomas arranged to have the remnant
remain. They sent their women into Tennessee to swap bear and deer hides
for meal. Thomas Cooper, the father of James W. Cooper of Murphy, lived on
Tallulah three miles east of Robbinsville. There was a large and
influential family of Crisps who settled on Stekoah, of whom Hon. Joel L.
Crisp is a distinguished representative. Rev. Isaac Carringer came from
the eastern part of this State and lived on Sallteetla. He was a Baptist
minister and died about 1897, highly respected. John Dentotl the most
picturesque mountaineer in this section, moved from Yolk count-, Telln.,
to Little Santeetla in 1879. In 1900 he was crippled while logging. He
stands six feet three in his stockings. Soon after his arrival some of the
bullies of Robbinsville tested John's pluck; but he worsted five of them
in a fist fight, and since then lie has lived in peace. His, wife's mother
was Jane Meroney, and a first cousin of Jefferson Davis. She married a
Turner, Mrs. Denton's given name being Albertine.

AVERY COUNTY. This was created in 1911, out of portions of Watauga and
Mitchell counties, principally.(41) At an election held August 1, 1911,
Old Fields of Toe was selected as the county seat. It so happened that
this land had been granted to Col. Waightstill Avery November 9, 1783. It
was in his honor that this, the 100th county, was named, while the county
seat was called Newland, in honor of Hon. W. C. Newland, of Lenoir, then
the lieutenant governor of the State. The jail and court house were
completed sufficiently to allow court to be held in April, 1913, Judge
Daniels presiding. There are two legends concerning the reason this tract
was called the Old Fields of Toe. L. D. Lowe, Esq., in the Watauga
Democrat of June 19, 1913, states that one legend relates that Estatoe,
the daughter of one of two rival chieftains, fell in love with the son of
the other; but her father refused his consent, which caused a bloody war
between the two factions. But Estatoe caused a pipe of peace to be made
with two stems of titi so that two could smoke it at once. The two rival
chiefs assembled their respective followers on the bank of the river, and
smoked till peace was concluded and Estatoe married her lover. The other
legend is that found in The Balsam Groves of the Grandfather mountain (p.
221), and in it Estatoe is made to drown herself because she could not wed
her Indian lover because of her father's implacable opposition.

AVERY COUNTY'S LONG PEDIGREE. "It was a part of Clarendon in 1729; of New
Hanover in 1729; of Bladen in 1734; of Anson in 1749; of Rowan in 1753; of
Surry in 1770; of Burke in 1777; of Wilkes in 1777; of Ashe in 1799; of
Yancey in 1833; of Caldwell in 1841; of Watauga in 1849; of Mitchell in
1861; so that that portion taken from Caldwell and attached to Avery in
1911 represents the eighth subdivision; and that from Watauga the tenth;
which is a record probably unsurpassed."(42) The principal reason for the
formation of this new county was the inaccessibility of Bakersville to
most of the inhabitants of Mitchell, it being in the northeastern part of
that county and only two and a half miles from the Yancey line.(43)
Lineville City, two miles from Montezuma and Pinola, is "the cleanest town
in the North Carolina mountains east of Asheville, and the only place of
the kind where guests have a large, ideal zone for golf."(44) The same
author speaks of the Yonahlossee road, running from Linville City to
Blowing Rock, as the Appian Way which ran from Rome via Naples, to
Brundesium, and claims that the latter was not more interesting than the
former.(45) The world will one day admit that the fine scenery of North
Carolina has its culmination in Avery county.

(1. From "Asheville's Centenary")
(2. Ibid)
(3. Ibid)
(4. Ibid)
(5. Ibid)

(6. Bourne's Asheville Code, 1909, vi. Scaife v. Land Co., 90 Federal
Reporter (p. 238) The deed from Tate to Morris is on parchment nearly
fifteen feet in length. It was by an English law clerk, and still looks
like copperplate. At page 165 of the Colonial Records is found a letter
from Robert Morris to the governor of North Carolina in reference to a
settlement of the account between this state and the United States, in
which he refers to the proposed arbitration in which this State proposed
to appoint one arbitrator and retain power of objecting to the other!)

(7. Pronounced Cochay. He was a Frenchman who had been brought to the
Sulphur Springs by Col. Reuben Deaver as a confectionery and pastery cook)

(8. Will Book B, p. 103, September 23 1844)

(9. Dr. A. B. Cox's "Footprints on the Sands of Time," p. 107)

(10. Record Book Superior Court, not paged)
(11. Ibid)

(12. From information furnished by Hon. A. H. Eller, 1912)
(13. Ibid)
(14. Ibid)
(15. Ibid)
(16. Ibid)

(17. Allen)

(18. Col.. Allen T. Davidson, in The Lyceum, January, 1891)
(19. Ibid)
(20. Ibid)

(21. Nineteenth Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology, p. 43)

(22. Vol. II Rev. St., 1837 p. 195)

(23. A Brief History of Macon County," by Rev. C. D. Smith Franklin, 1905.
"The organization of the county took place nine years after the survey of
the lands and the location of the site for the town of Franklin.")
(24. Ibid)

(25. Much of the information about the citizens of Franklin a Henry G.
Robertson Esq)

(26. In 1852 he represented Macon in the House of Commons)

(27 Henry G. Robertson, Esq., to J. P. A., 1912)
(28. Ibid)

(29. Connor)

(30. Written for this history by Mrs. Mattie S. Candler of Hendersonville)

(31. Zeigler & Grosscup. 32. The county seat was named in honor of Judge
Archibald D. Murphey, who was elected to the Superior court bench in 1818
and resigned in 1819. He spelt his name, how ever with an "e")

(33. Deed Book G, p. 139, et seq)

(34. Madison county records)

(35. See ante, page 7)

(36. Facts as to Alleghany county furnished by Hon. S. F. Thompson)

(37. Deed Book C, p. 30)

(38. Deed Book E, p. 203)

(39. Facts Furnished by Hon. George A. Shuford)

(40. What used to be called Davidson's River settlement is now known as
Pisgah Forest)

(41. Caldwell also contributed to this territory)

(42. L. D. Lowe, Esq., in Watauga Democrat, May 23, 1913)
(43. Ibid)

(44. Balsam Groves, 223)

(45. The same author claims that the Old Fields of Toe, now Newland, was a
muster ground before the Civil War, p. 180)