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The History of Lincoln County, North Carolina
a series of newspaper articles published in 1935 in the Lincoln County News
by
Alfred Nixon
The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
The inculn
(Every Monday and Thursday)
LINCOLNTON, NORTH CARO
manty Vetos
Price $2.00 Per Year.
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1935.
TAKIN' A LOOK AT THIS 'N THAT
The News today begins the ser- ialization of the late Alf Nixon's history of Lincoln county. This history is considered by all to be the one authentic history of this grand old county and the fact that it is being carried in print at this time-prior to the 150th birthday celebration of the Town of Lincolnton-should be of inter- est to all loyal sons and daughters of Lincoln who bask in the sun- light of former accomplishments and achievements of sons of Lin- coln county.
Any person living in Lincoln need not fear the possibility of having to apologize for living in Lincoln county. It's a noble coun- ty, founded and settled by men and women of sturdy build and honest, upright characters and the fact that Lincoln is what she is to- day is due perhaps to the quality of its early founders and settlers.
The News offers this unique, authoritative and original compil- ation to its many readers in the hope that all may be better in- formed of the history of their county. School teachers and school children could do well by preserv- ing the issues of this newspaper containing these installments that they may be referred to at any time in the future when mat- ters of historical interest come up for discussion and settlement.
The late Alf Nixon was a man close to the hearts of all Lincoln County. He knew Lincoln county as perhaps no other man ever knew it. He knew firsthandedly from members of the older fami- lies various incidents and happen- ings which he recorded with accur- acy and which he has preserved for the posterity of Lincoln Coun- ty. These records are of intrinsic value to Lincoln citizens.
Various and sundry so-called historians have bobbed up since Mr. Nixon's day and have com- piled various data but they invari- ably, so far as the News can es -: certain, have relied upon Mr. Nix- on's unerring information to fur- nish a background for their treat- ises. Hence, the News, in securing this valuable history of Lincoln, for publication, feels that no other work of its kind could be as com- prehensive, as complete as origin- al and as authoritative, as the writings of the late Alf Nixon, with whom today's issue of The News begins serially, the publica . tion of his Lincoln History. We hope and feel assured that the public of this county will appreci- ate this publication and use it in future discussions and teachings of this great county.
A. Nixon's History Lincoln Co. To Appear Serially In News
First Instalment To Appear To- Day; This History Chosen Be- cause Of Its Authenticity And Because Of Mr. Nixon's Position As Firsthanded Historian Of Lincoln For Years; Was Clerk .Of Court Of Lincoln For Years And Is Father Of Illustrious Lincoln Family.
Recognized As 'The' History Of Lincoln
The News is happy to announce to its big family of readers that starting with today, the history of Lincoln County, as written by the late Alf Nixon, Clerk of Court of Lincoln for several years prior to his death, will be published serial- ly.
This history, the authentic his- tory of Lincoln and the back- ground for other minor historians of recent years, is particularly ap- propriate at this time as Lincoln enters into its 150th anniversary with a mammoth celebration to be held this Fall.
The News in deciding upon this history as 'the' history to publish of Lincoln, used the father of one of the members of the Lincoln Historical Society, Joe R. Nixon, Lincoln Historian now, as the source for its information. Mr. Alf Nixon was also the father of Kemp B. Nixon, state Senator, who is vitally interested in Lin- coln and its welfare. Senator Nix- on has very graciously agreed that The News use the only book known to him, bound and printed by Edwards & Broughton, of his father's history, as our manus-
The late A. Nixon was a son of Lincoln. He lived his entire life in this county and was perhaps the most widely known man, during his lifetime, in Lincoln county. He knew Lincoln history. He had an historical turn of mind and he ex- hausted every historical source available before writing his his- tory which was accepted as the authentic Lincoln history by his. torical societies in the state at the time it was written.
Other historians, of a later date, using Mr. Nixon's history as background for their writings, have attempted to compile the his- tory of this famous old county but they have not been able to equal it because they have not known first- handedly the information with which they were dealing. Mr. Nix- on knew all the old families in Lincoln and wrote exhaustive his- tories of most of them before his death. These documents today are priceless because they are inti- mate, accurate and depict in Mr. Nixon's own classical manner the true family history and traditions of Lincoln's first families.
This history will be read and preserved by all Lincoln citizens who want to know their county history from a reliable source and from a source that can't be suc- cessfully contradicted. It is with pleasure that The News presents these installments and it is hoped that in so doing the public of Lin- coln county will become more his- tory-conscious of their grand old county.
cript.
FIRST INSTALLMENT
The History Of Lincoln County
(By Alfred Nixon.)
The Colonial Period
Lincoln County was born mid the throes of the American Rev- olution, and christened for a pa- triot soldier, then battling for in- dependence. Prior to that time, while Carolina was a Province of Great Britain, in the bestowal of names there was manifest a desire to please royalty: New Hanover was called for the House of Han- over; Bladen, in honor of Martin Bladen, one of the Lords Commis- sioners of Trade and Plantations; Anson, set up in 1749 from Blad- en, derived its name from Admiral Anson, of the English Navy, who in 1761 was charged with the mis- sion of bringing to her marriage with George the Third, Charlotte of Mecklenburg. So, when the western part of Anson was set up into a county in 1762, it was called Mecklenburg, with county seat the Queen City of Charlotte, in com- pliment to the wife of His Majes- ty, George the Third. As the set-
tlements extended westward from the Atlantic seaboard new coun- ties were formed to meet the con- venience of the inhabitants. In 1768, Mecklenburg was divided "by a line beginning at Earl Gran- ville's line where it crosses the Catawba River and the said river to be the line to the South Caro- lina line, and all that part of the county lying to the westward of the dividing line shall be one oth- er distinct county and parish, and remain by the name of Tryon County and Saint Thomas Par- ish." The name Tryon was given in honor of His Excellency, Wil- liam Tryon, Royal Governor of the. Province.
William Tryon, an officer in the regular army of Great Britain, landed at Cape Fear October the 10th, 1764, with a commission as Lieutenant-Governor of the Pro- vince. His administration as Gov- ernor of North Carolina lasted from the death of Governor Dobbs, 28th March, 1765, to the 30th day of June, 1771, when he was ap- pointed Governor of New York. In the rupture with Great Brittain he was a Major-General in command of American Loyalists, vainly en- deavoring to re-establish Royal Rule. He remained nominally Governor of New York until March 22, 1780. The name of Gov- ernor Tryon appears at the head of the list of names enumerated in the confiscation acts of both North Carolina and New York, and the county of Tryon in each of these States was enpunged from the map. Tryon Mountain and Tryon City in the county of Polk, and one of the principal streets in the city of Charlotte yet preserve his name. Shortly after relinquishing the government of New York he sailed for England, where he rose to the rank of Lieu- tenant-General. He died in London the 27th of January, 1788, aged 58 years.
The War of the Revolution rag. es. The patriots are battling for independence. Oppressions of the Royal Governor have made his name odious. "The large extent of the county of Tryon renders the attendance of the inhabitants on the extreme parts of the said county to do public duties ex- tremely difficult and expensive. For remedy whereof," the General Asembly in 1779, instead of set- ting the western part off into a new county, as had been its cus- tom, blotted the name of Tryon
Lincoln Historian
The late Alf Nixon, County His- torian for years, who compiled a very exhaustive and comprehen- sive history of Lincoln county which, beginning with today's is- sue, The News is carrying serial- ly.
been here more than a score of years. The Tryon records contain many quaint things, mingled with matters of grave public concern, and a glance at them is of interest to the student of Lincoln County history.
Tryon County
In a letter of Governor Tyron of date Dec. 12, 1768, he describes Tryon County as "forty-five miles in breadth due north and south and eighty miles due east and west it having been found to be that dis- tance from the Catawba River to the western frontier line which was run last year between the Cherokee hunting grounds and this Province." The site for the public buildings was not fixed un- til 1774. As there was no court- house the courts during this time were held at private residences that happened to be convenient and suitable for the purpose.
The Tryon records begin with these words: "North Carolina, Tryon county. Pursuant to Act of Assembly of the Province afore said bearing date the fifth of Dec., 1768, in the ninth year of his Ma- jesty's reign, for dividing Meck- lenburg into two distinct counties by the name of Mecklenburg coun- ty and Tryon county and for other purposes in the said Act mention-
from the list of counties and di-Jed." His Majesty's commission un- vided its territory into two coun- der the great seal of the Province appointing certain justices to keep the peace for the county of Tryon is read. Ezekiel Polk, Clerk, John Tagert, Sheriff, and Alexander Martin, Attorney for Crown, pro- duce commissions and take oaths of office. Waightstill Avery pro- duces license of attorney and takes oath of office. ties, "by a line beginning at the south line near Broad River, thence along the dividing ridge be- tween Buffalo Creek and Little Broad River to the line of Burke County"; and to the two counties thus formed were given the names of two patriotic soldiers. The western portion was named Ruth- erford in honor of Griffith Ruth- erford, of Rowan County, a Briga- dier-General in the Revolution; and the eastern portion Lincoln, in compliment to Maj .- Gen. Benja- min Lincoln, of Rhode Island, com- mander of the Southern armies.
Benjamin Lincoln was born January 23d, 1733, at Hingham, about thirteen miles from Boston. In February, 1777, he was ap- pointed Major-General in the Rev- olutionary Army and served with gallantry throughout the strug- gle. At the request of the delega- tion in Congress from South Car- olina, he was assigned to com mand the Army in the South. In 1780 General Lincoln was forced to surrender to the superior force of the British at Charleston. When exchanged he resumed the service, and was at the surrender of Corn- wallis at Yorktown, where the generous Washington designated him to receive the conquered arms of the British. He was appointed Secretary of War in 1781, with permission to retain his rank in the army. He died in the house of his birth 9th of May, 1810.
When Tryon was divided the Tryon court-house fell in Lincoln County, and the courts of Lincoln were held there until April, 1783, and the Tryon records are still in Lincolnton. The pioneers came in- to what is now Lincoln County be- tween the years 1745 and 1749, when it was Bladen County; they continued to come until the Amer-' ican Revolution. So the pioneer history of Lincoln County is cov- ered by Bladen, Anson, Mecklen- burg and Tryon counties. The Try- on records cover ten years of the Colonial history of Lincoln Coun- ty, 1769 to 1779. When Tryon was formed, the first settlers had not
The court records, beginning at April Sessions, 1769, are in the handwriting of Ezekiel Polk, the first clerk, who lived near King's Mountain. Ezekiel Polk removed to Mecklenburg county, and after- wards became famous through his grandson, James K. Polk, presi- dent of the United States.
The Tryon Courts were styled the "County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions." In this court deeds and wills were probated, es- tates settled, land entries record- ed, guardians appointed, orphans apprenticed, highways opened overseers appointed,and many
other matters attended to.
There were grand and petit juries and an "attorney for the crown." These courts convened quarterly and continued without material change until the adoption of the constitution of 1868.
(To be continued)
LINCOLNTON, NORTH CAROLINA, MONDAY, JULY 1, 1935.
History Lincoln County (WRITTEN BY THE LATE A. NIXON)
INSTALLMENT NO. 2
The courts of Oyer and Ter- miner, corresponding to our Su- perior Courts, were District Courts, several counties compris- in gone district. Tryon County was in the Salisbury District, and each County Court appointed its quota of jurors to attend the. Sal- isbury Court. It 1782 the Salisbury District was divided, and Lincoln and other western counties were declared a separate district by the name of Morgan, where the Judg- es of the Superior Courts shall sit twice every year and hold a Su- pior Court of law. Lincoln County remained in the Morgan District, the courts being held at Morgan Town, until 1806, when a Superior Court was established in each county of the State to be held twice every year.
The Tryon Court was organized at Charles McLean's, and the Quarter Sessions for the years 1769, 1770, and 1771, were held at his house. He lived in the southern part of what is now Gaston Coun- ty, on the headwaters of Crow- der's Mountain. Charles McLean was an early, active and zealous friend of liberty. At January Ses- sions 1770 he produced his Excel- lency's commission appointing him captain in the Tryon Regiment of Foot, and took the oath of office. In 1774 he was one of his Majes- ty's justices, and chairman of the committee appointed to select a permanent site for the court-house of Tryon County. He was a dele- gate from Tryon County to the Provincial Congress at Halifax, 4th April, 1776; also representing Tryon County in Assembly dur- ing the years 1777 and 1778. Be An old parchment, yellowea tween sessions, as colonel of the with age, labeled "Charter of Try- Tryon Regiment, he was actively { engaged against western Tories.
porary line between So. and No. Carolina." At October Sessions the claims against Tryon County for the year 1769, include a char- ter, twenty pounds expenses in sending for charter, eight pounds; Charles McLean, to two courts held at his house, five pounds; other items swell the amount to seventy-one pounds, sixteen shill- ings, and ten pence; and a tax of three shillings and two pence was levied on each of the 1221 taxable persons in Tryon County to meet. the same.
At July Term, 1770, "Thomas Camel came into court and prov- ed that the lower part of his ear was bit off in a fight with Steven Jones, and was not taken off by sentence of law; certified to whom it may concern." At a later term, "James Kelly comes into open court of his own free will and in the presence of said could did ac- knowledge that in a quarrel be- tween him and a certain Leonard Sailor on the evening of the 2d day of June, 1773, he did bite off the upper part of his left ear of him, the said Leonard Sailor, who prays that the same be recorded in the minutes of the said court." This confession gave James Kelly such standing in the esteem of his Majesty's Justices that at the same term it was "Ordered by the Court that James Kelly serve as constable in the room of George Trout and that he swear in before Thomas Espy, Esq." From the court entries biting off ears was & popular way of fighting, but whole ears were at least an out- ward sign of honesty.
:
I
on County," encased in a frame, with great wax seal appended
over
The criminal docket of Tryon is [hangs on the court-house walls. It marked "Crown Docket," and the is addressed in the name of his Majesty, "George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King Defend- er of the Faith, and so forth, To All and Singular our Faithful Subjects, Greeting," and is offi- cially attested by "our trusty and well-beloved William Tryon, our Capain-General, Governor and indictments are brought in the name of the "King" or "Rex," as we now use "State." The minutes of a few cases tried at the first term will serve to show the ad- ministration of justice: "The King v. John Doe. Petty Larceny. Jury empaneled finds the defendant guilty of the charge against him. Judgment by the Court that the defendant be detained in the Sher-
Commander-in-Chief," at Wil- mington, 26th June, 1769. It au- iff's custody till the cost of this | thorized Tryon County to elect and send two representatives to sit and vote in the House of As- sembly.
prosecution be paid, and that at the hour of one o'clock of this day the said defendant on his bare back at the public whipping post receive thirty-nine lashes well laid on. "Rex. v. Thomas Pullham. Pro-
The Quarter Sessions of 1772 were held at Christian Rein- hardt's. The site of his house is fane swearing. Submitted and fin- now in the northern corporate lim- ed five shillings." "The King v. John Case. Sabbath breaking. De- fendant pleads guilty, fined ten its of the town of Lincolnton, on the Ramsour Battle Ground. The Tories were encamped around his . shillings and the cost." "The King house, and after the battle it was used as a hospital. His house was built of heavy hewn logs, with a basement and stone foundation,
v. John Carson. Neglect of the King's Highway. Submitted and fined one shilling and sixpence." Letters testamentary Nicholas Welsh on the estate of John Welsh, deceased. William Wilson, appointed overseer of the road from the South Fork to Charles Town in that part be- tween King's Mountain and Ezek- iel Polk's; Charles McLean in that part between Ezekiel Polk's and the head of Fishing Creek. The road orders extend to the "tem-
granted | that served some of the purposes of a fort both during Indian trou- ples and the Revolution. Some evi- dence of its strength is furnished by this item from the record of July Sessions, 1783: "Ordered by the Court that Christian Rein- hardt's loft be the public gaol of said county until the end of next Court, October Term, 1783."
(To be continued)
History Lincoln County (WRITTEN BY THE LATE A. NIXON)
INSTALLMENT NO. 3
The courts of 1773 and 1774 were held at Christopher Carpen- ter's. He lived in the Beaver Dam section. There were some half-doz- en Carpenters among the pioneers. Their signatures to all early deeds and wills are written in the Ger- man, Zimmerman.
The commissioners appointed by Act of Assembly to select the place whereon to erect and build the court-house, prison and stocks of Tryon County, on 26th July, 1774, reported their selection of the place "called the cross-roads on Christopher Mauney's land, be- tween the heads of Long Creek, Muddy Creek, and Beaver Dam Creek in the county aforesaid as most central and convenient for the purpose aforesaid." The coun- ty court adjourned to meet at the "house of Christy Mauney or the cross-roads in his land." The site of the old Tryon court house is eight miles southwest of Lincoln- ton, in Gaston County. October Sessions, 1774, were held at the house of Christian Mauney, and a. room in his dwelling was used as a jail.
The old county of Lincoln, with its fine farms and beautiful hom- es, dotted with towns and villages, and musical with the hum of machinery, the pioneers found a wild, luxuriant with native flora, the habitat of the red man and wild animals. There were herds of fleet-footed deer; there were clumsy brown bears and fierce wild cats and panthers; there were droves of buffalo, and countless beavers building their dams on the' creeks. The early settlers waged a relentless war on these animals and set a bounty on many of their scalps. The scalps on which a price was set were the wolf, panther, wild cat ,and such other as preyed on domestic animals. For killing a grown wolf the price was one pound; a young wolf ten shillings; a wild cat five shillings. The claims filed in court rere for "scalp tickets." As late as Octo- ber Sessions, 1774, there were au- dited in favor of various individ- uals forty-nine "wolf scalp tick- ets." We still retain Indian, Beav- er Dam, and Buffalo Creeks, Bear Ford, Wolf Gulch, and Buffalo Mountain, Buffalo Shoals, and the Indian names Catawba and Tuck- aseegee, memorials of these prim- eval days.
constitutional rights, against all invasions; and at the same time do solemnly engage to take up arms and risk our lives and our fortunes in maintaining the free- dom of our country whenever the wisdom and counsel of the Con- tinental Congress or our Provin- cial Convention shall ideclare it necessary; and this engagement we will continue in for the preser- vation of those rights and liber- ties which the principles of our Constitution and the laws of God, nature and nations have made it our duty to defend. We therefore, the subscribers, freeholders and inhabitants of Tryon County, do hereby faithfully unite ourselves under the most solemn ties of re- ligion, honor and love to our coun- try, firmly to resist force by force, and hold sacred till a reconcilation shall take place between Great Britain and America on Constitu- tional principles, which we most ardently desire, and do firmly agree to hold all such persons as inimical to the liberties of Amer -. ica who shall refuse to sign this. association. (Signed) John Walk- er, Charles McLean, Andrew Neel,' Thomas Beatty, James Coburn,
Frederick Hambright, Andrew
- Hampton, Benjamin Hardin,
George Paris, William Grahanı, Robt. Alexander, David Jenkins, Thomas Espey, Perrygreen Mack- ness, James McAfee, William Thompson, Jacob Forney, Davis Whiteside, John Beeman, John Morris, Joseph Harden, John Rob- inson, James McIntyre, Valentine Mauney, George Black, Jas. Lo- gan, Jas. Baird, Christian Carpen- ter, Abel Beatty, Joab Turner, Jonathan Price, Jas. Miller, John Dellinger, Peter Sides, William Whiteside, Geo. Dellinger, Sam- uel Carpenter, Jacob Moony, Jun., John Wells, Jacob Costner, Robert Hulclip, James Buchanan, Moses Moore, Joseph Kuykendall, Adamı Simms, Richard Waffer, Samuel Smith, Joseph Neel, Samuel Lof- tin.
In 1777 an act was passed estab- lishing State courts, providing that all suits and indictments in- stituted and fines imposed "in the name or the use of the King of Great Britain, when this territory was under his government, and owned allegiance to him, and all breaches on penal statutes direct
1
In Tryon County there were many loyal subjects of the king, and there was likewise a gallant band of patriots who as early as August, 1775, adopted and signed the following bold declaration:
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e
1
"The unprecedented, barbarous and bloody actions committed by British troops on our American brethern near Boston, on 19th April and 20th of May last, to- gether with the hostile operations and treacherous designs now car- rying on, by the tools of minis- terial vengeance, for the subjug- ation of all British America, sug- gest to us the painful necessity of having resourse to arms in de- fense of our National freedom and
ed to be prosecuted in the name of the king shall be presented and proceeded in the name of the State." This act terminated the "Crown Docket," and the King or Rex as prosecutor. The "Stat. Docket" begins at October Ses. sions, 1777.
The change of government from royal to state in Tryon County was consummated without a jar. The last Tryon court was held in, January, 1779. During this year Tryon is bloted from the list of counties and the War if the Rev- olution is in progress. Lincolni County became the scene of many thrilling Revolutionary events. (To be continued)
History Lincoln County (WRITTEN BY THE LATE A. NIXON)
INSTALLMENT NO. 4
The Battle Of Ramsour's · Mill
The Tories were embodied Ramsour's Mill through the ef- forts of Lieut .- Col. John Moore and Maj. Nicholas Welch. These officers left the victorious British on the march from Charleston and arrived at their homes early in June, 1780. Moses Moore, the fa- ther of Colonel Moore, was a na- tive of Carlyle, England, married a Miss Winston, near Jamestown, Virginia, and came to this
officers to be governed by circum- stances when they reached the enemy.
The mounted men came upon the Tory picket some distance from the camp, were fired upon, charged the Tory camp, but i scoil . ed from their deadly fire. The fir- ing hurried Colonel Locke into action, a like volley felled many of his men, and they likewise re- tired. The Tories, seeing the ef - fect of their fire, came down the hill and were in fair view. The Whigs renewed the action, which soon became general and obstinate on both sides. In about an hour the Tories began to fall back to their original position on the ridge, and a little beyond its sum- mit, to shield a part of their bodies from the destructive fire of the Whigs, who were fairly exposed to their fire. In this situation tho ! Tory fire became so effective the Whigs fell back to the bushes near the branch; and the Tories, leav . ling their safe position, pursued half way down the hill. At this
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