USA > North Carolina > Ashe County > A history of the Ashe County, North Carolina, and New River, Virginia, Baptist associations > Part 1
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A HISTORY
of the
Ashe County, North Carolina and New River, Virginia Baptist Associations
By
J. F. FLETCHER
A HISTORY 11
of the
Ashe County, North Carolina and New River, Virginia Baptist Associations
By
J. F. FLETCHER -
1935 COMMERCIAL PRINTING CO. RALEIGH, N. C.
REV. J. F. FLETCHER AND WIFE, LOUISA BARKER FLETCHER
LI
PREFACE
My father has asked that I write an introduction to his "His- tory of the Ashe (N. C.) and the New River (Va.) Baptist Associations." Since I can add nothing to the story he has told, I think I can best serve the reader by setting down here a few facts about the author. Since 1876, when he became an ordained minister in Ashe County, he has been so close to men and events in the country he writes about that he found it difficult to tell the story without bringing in the personal pronoun "I" too much, a thing that worried him no little. Reading his history, I think he has shown a fine restraint and has exhibited again the mod- esty and self-effacement that has characterized his life since he was a boy.
I have known for several months that I would have to do this bit of writing but now that I am called upon for it, I find my- self as poorly prepared to do it as I was months ago. As I sit facing a blank sheet of paper, my mind is crowded with a thousand pictures of the man, a thousand aspects of his life as father, minister, husband, neighbor, citizen-all clamoring for recognition, all worthy of a place in this brief sketch of his life.
If I had to choose one word to designate his character I would choose the word "father," because for nearly sixty years he has been father-kind, sympathetic, helpful, trusting, loving-not only to his own children but to thousands of people in his be- loved mountains. Nobody ever went to him seeking spiritual or material aid without receiving it in the fullest measure he was able to bestow. I think he is the kind of father that Christ's earthly father must have been, for when Christ sought to give mortals some conception of the character and attributes of God, the word he used was "father."
James Floyd Fletcher was born Nov. 11, 1858, the son of John and Barbara Johnston Fletcher. He was a youngster of energy and ambition and at the age of 14 left home and served an apprenticeship as a printer. He returned home after two years and attended school near Jefferson, Ashe County, N. C., and at the age of 17 taught school. It was while teaching that he began the work of the ministry, to which he had been called of God.
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
I have in my possession an old diary of his. It is not com- plete but there are paragraphs and pages that are priceless to me. Under date of Jan. 9, 1876, this is written:
"I organized my first prayer-meeting at Pugh's school house in connection with Thomas Warren and Emmett Stump. Neither of us 20 years of age."
There is the further record that the prayer-meeting was con- tinued for three months and there were "fifty-nine conversions from its immediate influence."
In the following April, at old Bethel Church, in Ashe County, he was licensed to preach. I have the original certificate, which was signed by Aaron Johnston, pastor of the church, and E. C. Faw, clerk, and reads as follows :
"North Carolina, "Ashe County, "April the 8th, 1876.
"We the Baptists of Christ's Church at Bethel now in con- ference, do grant Brother J. F. Fletcher the liberty and permis- sion to pray, exhort or take a text and preach the Gospel.
"Done by order of the Church."
On April 30, 1876, at old Mt. Pleasant Church, near the edge of Watauga County, he preached his first sermon and his text was John 3:14-15 :
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life."
In this sermon the boy preacher set up not only the mark of his high calling in Christ Jesus but his standard of living as well, because I can truthfully say that in all of my experience, which has been varied and extensive, I have never known a human being who more faithfully and unswervingly "lifted up" Christ in his life and his preaching and teaching. There are thousands of good people in North Carolina and Virginia, whose lives he touched and blessed, who will vouch for what I say.
In his diary there follows a list of the next 209 sermons which he preached, the place, time and text. He was ordained to the ministry at Bethel Church on December 10, 1876, one month after his 18th birthday. At that time he had averaged one sermon every three days from the date he had been licensed to preach, showing real activity on the part of the boy preacher.
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THE NEW RIVER ( VA. ) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
He began his first pastorate at White Top Baptist Church on February 3, 1877, and from that time he was continuously in the pastorate until he resigned as pastor of Southside Baptist Church in High Point, N. C., on April 6, 1924.
On December 26, 1876, he was married to Louisa Barker, daughter of Alfred and Kate Blevins Barker, who was his faith- ful help-meet for nearly 47 years. She died June 3, 1923, while he was pastor of Southside Baptist Church in High Point. N. C. To them were born twelve children, of whom nine lived to manhood and womanhood, these being :
A. L. Fletcher, J. V. Fletcher and A. J. Fletcher, of Raleigh, N. C .; Mrs. W. R. Absher, of North Wilkesboro, N. C .; Her- bert S. Fletcher and Mrs. E. W. Bean, of High Point, N. C .; Charles F. Fletcher, of Kirksville, Mo .; Mrs. J. M. Daniel (deceased) and Mrs. J. P. Bingham, of Lexington, N. C.
It was during the year following his resignation as pastor of Southside Baptist Church in High Point, N. C., that he began to gather material for this history. He had in his possession many valuable note-books and manuscripts and, better than any other person, he knew where others could be found, and it was to him a labor of love to ferret them out and delve into them. He spent many happy months visiting old friends in the moun- tains and getting material together for this book. Being at that time 66 years of age, and not in the best of health, he did not expect to return to the ministry, but God had willed otherwise and he was again called to the pastorate of Young's Chapel Church, to which he had been called thrice before and since Feb- ruary 1, 1925, he has been pastor of that splendid church at Kindrick, Va., and chaplain of the fine school there, doing the best work of his life.
On December 17, 1925, he was married to Mrs. Ada Willett, of Gloucester County, Virginia, a fine Christian woman who had come to Kindrick to assist in the management of "Oak Hill Baptist Academy." She is an outstanding leader of Baptist women in Virginia and under her leadership the Women's Mis- sionary Union of the New River Baptist Association has been a "banner" union for six years. She has been a valuable assistant to her husband.
And here I close. If the reader thinks I have exaggerated the virtues of my father and offended against the canons of good taste, I am truly sorry, but I have looked over what I have writ-
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
ten and I can find no exaggeration. In fact, I am amazed at my restraint. When I was just a little boy I remember watching my father in action on a memorable occasion and thinking, with an uprush of pride that left me dizzy, that my dad was the greatest man in the world. Nearly forty years have passed since that day and I still think so.
A. L. FLETCHER.
Raleigh, N. C., Feb. 1, 1935.
7
THE NEW RIVER (VA.) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
A HISTORY OF THE Ashe County, North Carolina, and New River, Virginia, Baptist Associations
By J. F. FLETCHER.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Ashe County, North Carolina, originally including Alleghany County and part of Watauga County, was formed in 1799 from "that portion of Wilkes County lying west of the extreme height of the Appalachian mountains." Ashe is in the extreme north- western corner of the State of North Carolina and is bounded on the north by Grayson County, Virginia, and on the west by Tennessee. Watauga County lies to the south and Wilkes touches the county on the south and southeast. Alleghany County bounds it on the east.
Wheeler's "History of North Carolina," Vol. 1, page 27, says that "Ashe County was settled about 1755." It is extremely doubtful if any permanent settlements were made in Ashe County as early as 1755. Today in North Carolina Ashe, Alleghany and Watauga Counties are spoken of as the "Lost Provinces" because of their lack of railroad connection with the rest of the State and back in those early days, 175 years ago, this same territory was spoken of as "No Man's Land."
It was believed among the people of North Carolina and among the people of other states as well, that the North Caro- lina line in the northwestern section of the State followed the crest of the Blue Ridge, though no other state claimed the terri- tory. No state actually exercised authority over this territory for many years.
In David Wood's "History of the New River Settlements" it is stated that the first people to settle in Ashe County located on Helton Creek, a tributary of New River, which has its origin in Ashe County and flows through Virginia and West Virginia and on into the Ohio. In the year 1770, David Helton, for
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
whom the creek was named, William Wallin and William Mc- Lean visited this section on a hunting trip and were so pleased with it that they returned in 1771 and brought their families with them. They established a settlement on Helton Creek. Many years ago, when I was a little boy, I saw the house where David Helton was said to have lived.
Helton and his companions did not remain long in this sec- tion, but moved on westward with the tide that was even then carrying adventurous spirits to Kentucky and to sections further west. Following the Heltons, Wallins and McLeans, other families from the lowlands drifted into the same section and into other parts of Ashe County and moved on, leaving no trace except here and there a stream or a mountain was named for one of them.
Since I have set out to record one phase of the religious his- tory of Ashe County and of the territory over in Grayson County, Virginia, adjacent to it, it would be well to record that David Helton and his associates were Presbyterians and that the ma- jority of the others who settled in Ashe County shortly after were either Presbyterians or Episcopalians. Probably the first organized group of Baptists in this territory was the Baptist Church at Mulberry Fields, which church was formed from Dutchman's Creek Church, situated at what is now the town of Wilkesboro, county seat of Wilkes County. I do not know when the Mulberry Fields Baptist Church came into existence, though it must have been several years prior to the beginning of the Revolutionary War. General William Lenoir, famous states- man and soldier of North Carolina's early days, who moved into this western section of the State from Halifax County and estab- lished a home near Wilkesboro, found this church in existence when he settled there. Later he moved on into what is now Caldwell County and built a home near the present town of Lenoir, which was named for him. This house was built in 1788 and is still standing.
He came to Wilkes County, at that time a part of Surry County, in 1770 or 1771. In a sketch which he wrote in 1824 for a Mr. Ramsay, who was engaged in writing a history of Ten- nessee, appears the following :
"Surry was frontier country in 1775, including Wilkes, Ashe and Burke, and extending to the Mississippi River. It was thinly inhabited being an entire wilderness.
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THE NEW RIVER ( VA.) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
"Then the Mulberry Fields Meeting House was the only place of worship in said county. It was built by the Bap- tists and very large congregations of different persuasions of people attended their meetings. The gentlemen generally dressed in hunting shirts, short breeches, leggins and moc- casins. The ladies in linsy ( flax) petticoats and bed gowns and often without shoes in Summer. Some had bonnets and bed gowns made of calico, but generally of linsy, and some of them had on men's hats. Their hair was commonly clubbed.
"Men generally had long hair and wore it either in a cue or clubbed. Once at a large meeting I noticed there were but two ladies that had on long gowns. One of them was laced genteely and the body of the other was open and the tail thereof drawn up and tucked in her apron or coat string. They appeared very orderly and devout at meet- ings, and going to their homes you would find them living well and they would treat you with great hospitality, giv- ing you plenty of pork, beef, bear meat and venison; also milk, butter, cheese and honey. The buffaloes and elk were then chiefly destroyed. And when you left them, as there were no public roads and few plain paths, the men would go with you to show you the way until you could thus be accommodated by some other person. You might travel hundreds of miles and not meet with any person who would receive any pay."
Not all of this, of course, has reference to our story, but I have quoted it at length for the reason that it gives interesting side-lights on the times and the customs and the distinguished writer was plainly an admirer of these sturdy Baptist pioneers. He goes on to relate how these fine people denied themselves all of the luxuries of the day in order to bring the war for independ- ence to a successful termination, the men serving faithfully and bravely in the armies and the women working in their fields and carrying on as courageously at home as their men-folks did in the army.
The Fox Creek Baptist Church, constituted in 1782, was located in Grayson County, Virginia. It was probably the next organized body of Baptists in this territory. Authorities are agreed that it was the first Baptist church in Grayson County.
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
The next church of which I can find record was the Three Forks Baptist Church, in what is now Watauga County, which was organized in 1790. There is stored away in the vaults of the Bank of Watauga at Boone, N. C., the book of minutes of this fine old church, which still exists and from which a great Baptist association has been named. The book is well preserved and bears this title :
"A Book Containing the faith (as may be seen in the Covenant) & Conduct of the Baptist Church of Jesus Christ in Wilkes County, North Carolina State, New River Three Forks Settlement which ye Church being Constituted No- vember ye 6 Day in the Year of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ 1790 by the following Brethren, viz .: Richard Green, Daniel Eggers, Elender Green, William Miller, Mary Mil- ler, Phebe Eggers.
"At which time Received & Added by Experience and Baptism, Sarah Coleman & Lois Eggers also Sister Lidia Counsel by Letter also Bro'r Benjamin Cutbirth by Experi- ence. Also agreed to hold our Stational Meetings in the first Saturday in each Month."
Watauga was at that time part of Wilkes County and as will be related elsewhere, other churches had been constituted prior to this, but they were not in the part of Wilkes lying west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This famous range of mountains served to cut off all of that territory lying west of it from Wilkes County and the remainder of North Carolina and ally it with Virginia. Naturally the Baptist churches in this territory allied themselves with Virginia Baptists and they remained so allied for a hundred years.
In Semple's "History of the Baptists in Virginia" he tells of the organization of a Baptist church in Grayson County known as the "North Fork of New River Church" in 1796. This church was undoubtedly in Ashe County, North Carolina, as no part of the north fork of New River touches Grayson County anywhere. All of it lies in Ashe County. The church had thir- teen members and was, I believe, the first Baptist church in Ashe County. Meadow Creek Baptist Church, in the lower end of Grayson County, was also organized in 1796.
The Methodists were the next organized group to become established in this territory. I do not know exactly when they
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THE NEW RIVER (VA.) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
came to Ashe County. Daniel Burkett, of Jefferson, N. C., who was born in 1815 and lived to be 100 years and 7 months old, told me that the first Methodist "class" was organized at the home of George ("Paddy") Bowers, who lived where the town of West Jefferson now stands. Daniel Burkett remembered that it was organized in a cherry grove at the Bowers home. He was just a boy at the time, but he remembered the details of the meet- ing. The circuit rider who organized the class was James Hur- ley, a great-great-grandfather of Rev. D. P. Hurley, noted Meth- odist minister of today. James Hurley later died on a preach- ing tour in Tennessee and was buried in the Wills graveyard in Johnson County, Tennessee.
Thirty years ago at her home on Elk Creek in Grayson County, "Aunt" Betsy Delp, then a very old lady, told me that James Hurley was the first Methodist preacher to come to Grayson County. She heard him preach for the first time when she was 10 years old and she remembered his text. It was Proverbs 30:26.
"The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks."
From her story and from that of Daniel Burkett and from what I have learned from others, I think that I am safe in saying that the Methodists arrived in this territory some time between 1820 and 1825.
Getting back to the Baptists, with whose story we are more particularly concerned, it may be recorded that we find in the old records mention of other churches of which we know nothing except that they once existed in this section. With the close of the Revolutionary War and the lessening of the dangers of fron- tier life, a steady stream of immigrants had set in and Ashe County, then Wilkes, attracted a multitude of home-seekers. Then, as now, its beauties were alluring and the stories that hardy adventurers had carried back to the settlements in the low-lands before the Revolution, had been treasured in the hearts of the people during the long years of the war and when peace came, they moved over into Ashe with their families and their flocks and herds and settled along New River and along Helton, Grassy and Horse Creeks.
While we are interested primarily in the religious develop- ment of the section in general and the Baptist part in that de- velopment in particular, it will not be amiss to take note of a
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
political matter that comparatively few people know anything about. I refer to the formation of the State of Frankland (or Franklin ) which was established in 1784 by John Sevier. This ill- fated state had its capital at Jonesborough, now in the State of Tennessee. The inhabitants of Ashe County at that time con- sidered themselves subjects of the State of Franklin and many of the oldest records of Ashe County, including deeds and land grants, are on record today at Jonesborough, Tenn. These records must have been made between 1784 and 1788, for the State of Franklin became extinct after a tumultuous and un- happy existence of four years.
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THE NEW RIVER (VA.) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
CHAPTER II.
YADKIN BAPTIST ASSOCIATION.
In 1786 the Strawberry Baptist Association, of Virginia, had thirteen churches in North Carolina. These churches, with one in Virginia, formed a sort of sub-association, holding meetings every year, but reporting all acts and proceedings to the mother association for approval or disapproval. This arrangement may have existed prior to 1786, though I have no positive proof of it, but I do know that it existed then. In 1790 these churches petitioned the Strawberry Association to release them and per- mit them to form a separate association and their petition was granted.
As soon as this petition was granted, immediate steps were taken to perfect the new association and its first meeting was held on August 28, 29 and 30, 1790, at Eaton's Meeting House in Rowan County, North Carolina. The introductory sermon was preached by Elder Andrew Baker. Text, I Cor. 1:30.
Elder George McNeill was chosen moderator and Stephen Wood clerk. Letters were presented from fourteen churches, as follows :
Beaver Creek, in Wilkes County, with John Barlow, James Franklin and John Sevier as delegates.
New River, in Wilkes County, Theophilis Irwin and Peter Whitehead, delegates.
North Fork, Wilkes County, John Vannoy and James Bum- gard, delegates.
Briar Creek, Wilkes County, George McNeill, Andrew Baker, Ben Martin and Stephen Poe, delegates.
South Fork of Roaring River, Wilkes County, William Ham- mond, Spencer Adams and William Morgan, delegates.
Mitchell River, Wilkes County, Barnet Franklin, and William Romley, delegates.
Head of Yadkin, Wilkes County, John Durham and James Coffey, delegates.
Roaring River, Wilkes County, Thomas Lawrence and Thomas Johnson, delegates.
Timber Ridge, Rowan County, John Eaton and Andrew Hunt. delegates.
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
Jersey, Rowan County (now Davidson ), Abraham Lewis and John Hollis, delegates.
Grassy Knob, Iredell County, Lazarus Whitehead, Moses Sanders and William Lunsford, delegates.
Catawba, Burke County, Cleveland Coffey, and William Brad- shaw, delegates.
Hunting Creek, Surry County, William Petty, William Cook and William McBride, delegates.
Rye Valley, Smythe County, Virginia, Benjamin Johns, dele- gate.
These fourteen churches had 370 members, the first three named being in what is now Ashe County. If you will get your map of North Carolina and take a look at the territory repre- sented by these fourteen churches, it will astonish you. The difficulties of attending a meeting of such an association, with churches so widely separated, would be considered insurmountable even in this day of improved roads. These hardy pioneers thought nothing of riding for days and days, over trails barely passable for horseback riders, in order to meet together in their associations and lay plans for the extension of the kingdom.
I have before me the minutes of the second meeting of this association, which was named the Yadkin Association. This meeting was held with Briar Creek Church, in Wilkes County, in 1791, and all of the churches were represented except Rye Valley. One church, Dutchman's Creek, the date of whose organization we do not know, with Andrew Hunt and John Irwin as delegates, was admitted. It is interesting to note, in passing, that Mulberry Fields Church, to which I have referred pre- viously, was formed from this old Dutchman's Creek Church.
To many the statistics which I have just given may not be interesting, but in view of subsequent events I feel that the preser- vation of the names of these splendid men is important and worth while. No association up to that time and none since, in my humble judgment, has possessed a larger vision, manifested more zeal, shown more wisdom than the Yadkin Baptist Association. No association has ever confronted greater difficulties, nor suc- ceeded more gloriously.
In the minutes of their first meeting, which began at 10:00 o'clock on Monday, August 30, 1790, there occurs the following language :
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THE NEW RIVER (VA.) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
"Met according to appointment and after Divine service pro- ceeded to business.
"First, application that the Clerk furnish Brother Cook, Brother Whitehead and Brother McNeill with letters of recom- mendation to travel on in the name of the Association.
"2. That there be an Association Fund prepared and for this purpose appointed Brother Barlow, Brother Eaton and Brother Martin as collectors of the same and that Brother Wood be trus- tee for that purpose."
It may be seen that our State, Home and Foreign Mission Boards of today and our whole financial system are simply an enlargement of the missionary plans of the Yadkin Baptist Asso- ciation, laid in 1790, involving more men, more money and a larger territory. These splendid Baptists, with their eyes set on the future, builded better than they knew. Many of them lived to see the Baptist State Convention, organized 40 years later, adopt their plans and fit them to the larger needs of the State.
From this beginning, so filled with the missionary spirit, the Baptists began to spread abroad and to multiply and there has been no let-up through the years. Today in the same territory embraced by the Yadkin Association, there are twenty-two Bap- tist associations, with thousands of members. Within nine years from its organization, the Yadkin Association was able to give off enough churches to form the Mountain Baptist Association, with ten churches and eight ministers. The following were the churches :
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