USA > North Carolina > Watauga County > A history of Watauga County, North Carolina. With sketches of prominent families > Part 12
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Watauga County Lines .- In order to determine the lines of Watauga County it is necessary to give the various calls of sev- eral counties, as follows :
Of Burke: Beginning at the Catawba River on the line be- tween Rowan and Tryon Counties; thence running up the meanders of said river to the north end of an island known by the name of the "Three Cornered Island;" thence north to the ridge that divides the Yadkin and Catawba waters; thence westerly along the ridge to the mountain which divides the east- ern and western waters, commonly known by the name of the Blue Mountains (sic). All that part of Rowan County which
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lies west and south of the said dividing line shall thenceforth be erected into a new county by the name of Burke, while that part east of the dividing line shall remain Rowan County. Laws of 1777.
Of Buncombe: Beginning on the extreme height of the Ap- palachian Mountain where the southern boundary of this State crosses the same; thence along the extreme height of said mountain to where the road from the head of Catawba River to "Swannanoe"(sic) crosses; thence along the main ridge di- viding the waters of South Toe from those of "Swannanoe" unto the Great Black Mountain; thence along the mountain to the northeast end; thence along the main ridge between South Toe and Little Crabtree to the mouth of said Crabtree Creek; thence down Toe River to where it empties into the Nollechucky River (sic) ;' thence down the said river to the extreme height of the Iron Mountain and Cession Line; thence along the Ces- sion Line to the southern boundary; thence along said boundary to the Blue Ridge, and thence to the beginning. Laws of 1791.
Of Ashe: "That all that part of the county of Wilkes lying west of the extreme height of the Appalachian Mountains shall be and the same is hereby erected into a separate and distinct county by the name of Ashe." Potter's Revisal, Vol. II, p. 98, Laws 1799. This is the shortest act creating a new county on record, and the supplemental acts required to make it clear shows that while brevity may be the soul of wit, it is not that of perspicuity.
In 1814 (Rev. Stat. Vol. II, p. 98) an act was passed to estab- lish permanently the dividing line between the counties of Burke and Ashe, which was to be as follows: Beginning at the Yadkin Spring (which is fifty yards southeast of Green Park Hotel, Blowing Rock) ; thence along the extreme height of the Blue Ridge to the head spring of the Flat Top Fork of Elk Creek (on the right of Linville River after passing Linville Gap) ; thence down the meanders of said creek to the Tennessee State line, shall be and the same is hereby declared to be the perma- nent dividing line between the counties of Burke and Ashe.
5 This river is now called the Toe or Estatoe till after it passes into Tennessee, when it becomes the Nollechucky, or simply "the Chucky."
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Of Yancey: That all that part of Burke and Buncombe in- cluded within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning on the extreme height of the Black Mountain, running thence along said mountain to Ogle's improvement; thence along the divid- ing ridge to Daniel Carter's Fork field; thence a direct course to the mouth of Big Ivy Creek; thence with the Warm Springs Road by Barnard's Station to the Three Forks of Laurel; thence a direct line, so as to include James Allen's house to the Ten- nessee line; thence with said line to the county of Ashe; thence with the line of said county to the Grandfather Mountain; thence a direct course to the extreme height of the Hump Backed Mountain [just east of Linville River above the Falls] ; thence with the Blue Ridge to where it intersects the Black Mountain; thence with the ridge of said mountain to the be- ginning, be and the same is hereby erected into a separate and distinct county by the name of Yancey. Laws of 1833.
A Supplemental Act, passed in 1833 (Rev. Stat. Vol. II, pp. 170, 171), provided that the county courts of Buncombe and Yancey should appoint commissioners to ascertain the dividing line between said two counties whenever the same shall be neces- sary, and that they should commence their survey at Daniel Carter's Fork field and run a direct line from thence to Barnard's Station, from which point the line shall run along the old Warm Springs Road to James Allen's Road, so as to include his house, and thence to the Tennessee line.
Watauga County Established .- "That a county be and is hereby laid off and established by the name of Watauga, to be composed of parts of the counties of Ashe, Wilkes, Caldwell and Yancey, beginning at the State line in Lemuel Wilson's planta- tion and running with the State line in a northern direction two miles; thence running as near as may be in a direct line, so as to include Thomas Sutherland in the county of Ashe, to the top of the Big Bald Mountain; thence to the mouth of Elk Creek (now Todd or Elkland) on the South Fork of New River; thence down the river to the mouth of a creek [now called Meadow Creek] that runs through Samuel Cooper's plantation ; thence to the Deep Gap of the Blue Ridge between the waters
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of Stoney Fork and Lewis Fork waters of the Yadkin River, to where the road leading from Wilkesboro to the Deep Gap crosses the top of Laurel Spur; thence to Elk Creek at the Widow Hampton's; thence to the top of the White Rock Mountain [between Joe's Fork and Dugger's Creek]; thence to the top of the Blue Ridge at the nearest point of the Yadkin Spring; thence along the extreme height of the Blue Ridge to the top of the Grandmother Mountain; thence with the lines of Burke County to the corner of McDowell County; thence to the State line where it crosses the Yellow Mountain; thence with the State line to the beginning. Ratified the 27th day of Janu- ary, 1849, Laws of North Carolina, 1848-49, pp. 66, 667, Ch. 25.
Mitchell County: It was established out of portions of Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke and McDowell Counties, with the following boundaries: Beginning at the top of Grand- father Mountain; thence with the top of the Blue Ridge to the Bear Wallow Gap; thence to the Three Knobs; thence to Big Crabtree Creek; thence down said creek to Toe River; thence down said river to the Tennessee line; thence with the Tennes- see line to Elk River; thence to the place of beginning. Laws of 1860-61, Ch. 8, p. 14.
Changes in Watauga County Lines .- By the laws of 1876-77, chapter LXVII, page 341, the lines between the coun- ties of Watauga, Wilkes and Ashe were changed so as to run from the top of the Wolf Knob, near the Widow Tempy Mikels, where the Watauga and Wilkes County lines intersect, and thence running a north course to the top of the Blue Ridge at the dividing line between the lands of Leander Robbins and Enoch Triplett, and thence a north course to the top of Henson's Ridge; then a north course to the ford of Gap Creek, near the mouth of Alexander Green's lane; thence a northwest course to the top of the Big Ridge to the Ashe County line. All of Ashe and Wilkes counties within these lines was to be a part of Stony Fork township, Watauga County.
By the laws of 1870-71, page 319, "all that portion of Cald- well County comprised within the following boundaries, viz: beginning at the Fairview on the Caldwell and Watauga turn-
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pike road on the top of the Blue Ridge; thence a straight line to the top of the Grandfather Mountain," was annexed to Watauga County. In a suit between Levi Morphew and Elisha and Joseph Tatum concerning the county line between the mouth of Meadow Creek and the high knob near Cranberry Methodist Church, about 1883, it was decided that there should be a resurvey, the first survey having been made by Reuben Mast, county surveyor when the county was first formed. It is said that Mast guessed that Deep Gap was south sixty degrees east from the mouth of Meadow Creek, but that when he got to the first high knob from which he could see Deep Gap he found he had been wrong. Instead, however, of turning back and running a new line, he continued the line to Deep Gap, leaving much land that legally belonged to Ashe in Watauga County. The court ordered a new survey, to be run on the true degree, and Rev. L. W. Farthing ran and marked it. (Levi Morphew v. Joseph Tatum and others, Minute Docket B, page 172, July Term, 1883, Superior Court, Watauga County.)
Avery County Established .- By the Public Laws of 1911, chapter 33, page 63, Avery County, named in honor of Col. Waightstill Avery, of Revolutionary fame, the one hundredth county of North Carolina, was established, with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the highest point of the Grandfather Mountain, the corner of Watauga, Caldwell and Mitchell Coun- ties, and running a direct line to the Hanging Rock Mountain ; then with the dividing ridge to the Turnpike Road in the gap of Bower's Mountain; then a direct course to the eastern prospect on the eastern end of Beech Mountain; then a direct course to the Buckeye Spring; then down and with the meanders of Buckeye Creek to Beech Creek; then with the meanders of Beech Creek to Watauga River; then with the meanders of Watauga River to the Tennessee line; then with the Tennessee line to the Grassy Ridge Bald; then a direct line to Spear Top; then with the main height of Yellow Mountain to the highest . point on Little Yellow Mountain; then a direct line to Pine Knob; then to the mouth of Gouge's Creek on Toe River; then south forty degrees east to the Bald Ground on Humpback
.
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Mountain at the McDowell County line; then with the McDowell County line to the Burke County line; then with the Burke County line to the Caldwell County line; then with the Burke and Caldwell line to the highest point on Chestnut Mountain ; then a direct course to Anthony's Creek so as to include all of Carey's Flats; then to the beginning." Ratified 23d of Febru- ary, 19II.
Last Change in County Line .- The act creating Watauga County provided that the line should run from the top of the Big Bald Mountain to the mouth of Elk Creek. As long as men remember there has been a settlement at the mouth of Elk Creek, called at first Elk Cross Roads, and later on, for the sake of brevity, and in honor of the Todd family, Todd. When, how- ever, the Virginia-Carolina Railroad reached that place, it was found that Todd was too brief for euphony or the terminus of a great railroad, and changed to Elkland. But the post office still remains Todd. Then, too, it was found that a part of Todd or Elkland was in Watauga and part in Ashe County, owing to the fact that the line between the two counties did not follow Elk Creek, while the boundary line of the town did follow that stream. So, in order to avoid confusion and for other reasons, Hon. Robert L. Ballou, State Senator, had the line changed so as to run from the top of the Big Bald to the ford of Elk Creek near the residence of Alex. Blackburn, just above the town, from which point it follows the creek to its mouth in the South Fork of New River. (Ch. 34, Public Laws, 1915.)
Jail and Court House Changes .- The land for the first court house was donated by Jordan Councill the second. It was on the hill now occupied by F. A. Linney's and J. M. Moretz's resi- dences. The court house was burned on the 29th day of March, 1873, according to Col. W. W. Presnell, and while he was regis- ter of deeds." It was thought by some that one of the county officers, against whom judgments were docketed, caused it to be burned, but this theory is not generally believed now. Later on, during that year, a new court house was built on the lot now occupied by the Watauga County bank building, but a deed therefor was not made till April 12, 1875, when Joel Norris
6 A wind-storm blew in the gable end of the court-house January 28, 1886.
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conveyed to the county commissioners one half of an acre on the corner of King and Water Streets for $300.00 (Deed Book G, p. 208), Thomas J. Coffey and W. C. Coffey having the contract for $4,800.00, the building committee having been Henry Taylor, Dudley Farthing and Jacob Williams. It seems that there must have been some doubt as to the power of the county commissioners to build "the court house on a lot other than the one on which the old one stood when it was burned," for chapter CVII, Laws 1873-74 (p. 143), made that action legal. The county commissioners, consisting of J. E. Finley, Thos. J. Coffey and W. H. Calloway, sold the lot on which the jail then stood to Coffey Brothers for $555.00. The deed was dated June 1, 1888 (Deed Book N, p. 330). On May 22, 1889, Coffey Brothers sold to J. E. Finley, W. W. Presnell and Joseph H. Mast, county commissioners, for $200.00, half an acre of land on Burnsville and King streets, and running with Burnsville street across the branch to a back street. This is the lot on which the present jail stands.
The First Jail .- This was built by a Mr. Dammons for $400.00, and stood in front of the present Murray Critcher barn, west of the street leading from the Critcher Hotel to the side street in front of the present Baptist Church. It was of brick, with a steel cage inside. But the brick were of poor quality and could be easily removed from around the windows and doorways, and, after standing a few years, Elisha Green got the contract to build another of white pine logs, the same steel or iron cage which had been in the first being used in the second. This stood till Stoneman's raid, when it was burned. After the close of the Civil War, Jack Horton, who had built the first court house, got the contract to build a new jail, which was also of heavy logs, the second story timbers being twelve inches square and crossed with heavy iron bars three inches broad and bolted to each log by heavy iron bolts. This was removed when the jail lot was sold. The present jail was built by William Stephenson, of Mayesville, Ky., in 1889, for $5,000.00.
Court Records of Ashe .- Some of our heroes of the past suffer when subjected to the fierce light of history, among whom
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are Benjamin Cleveland, Richard Henderson and Judge Spruce McCay, the last of whom was denounced by Chancellor John Allison, of Tennessee, in his "Dropped Stitches" (pp. 51, 52) as a "heartless tyrant." This gentleman (McCay) married a daughter of Col. Richard Henderson, according to Wheeler's History (Vol. II, p. 384), and not a daughter of Gen. Griffith Rutherford, as erroneously stated in "Western North Carolina" (p. 374). He presided over the Superior Court of Ashe County in September, 1807, but his record there was unobjectionable. It was only when he was in Jonesboro, in August, 1782, presid- ing over the court of Oyer and Terminer, that he won for him- self such condemnation. It was Judge Francis Locke, at the March term, 1809, who passed such a cruel and bloody sentence upon Carter Whittington, at Jefferson, after his conviction of perjury. This sentence was that he be fined fio, stand one hour in the pillory, have both ears entirely severed from his head and nailed to the pillory.
To Restore Lost Records .- Laws to "restore the records of Watauga County carried away and lost by Kirk, in 1865," and when "the court house and all the records therein were burned," were passed in 1873-74 (Ch. XIX). Chapter 38, Laws 1874-75, makes the certificate of the clerk of the late county court and of the Judge of Probate competent to secure reregistration of destroyed record of deeds.'
To Encourage Sheep Raising .- The laws of 1850-51, chapter 184, page 497, authorized a majority of the justices of Watauga County to lay a tax on the citizens for the purpose of paying any person or persons who kill any wolf or red fox that is caught in said county, which was amended by chapter 121, Laws 1874-75, page 121.
To Protect Fish .- Chapter 285, Laws 1899, provided penal- ties for the destruction of fish in waters of Watauga County, while chapter 639 provided for fish-ways over dams on the South Fork of New River, and chapter 319 of the same laws forbade the use of dynamite to destroy fish; chapter 345 of same laws regulated fishing in Elk, while the laws of 1907 pro- hibits saw dust in streams.
" See, also, Chapter 162, Laws of 1874-'75.
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First Term of Superior Court .- There is much confusion as to where the first term of court was held in Watauga County. It is generally conceded that it was held in a barn in rear of what was then the home of Henry Hardin and is now the resi- dence of Joseph Hardin, a mile or more east of Boone. It is also generally admitted by those who were there that "hawgs"- not hogs, be it understood !- had held several terms of court there before Watauga County was formed. That should tell the entire story of what followed, but lest it fail to do so, it may be added that if an elephant had as much power in his or her hind legs as each denizen of that barn had before court met, he could jump around the world in one jump. But these facts are insignificant compared with the question as to what court was held there and then. If it was the County Court, then Dudley Farthing, Esq., presided over his first court as the presiding justice thereof-a position he held with dignity and honor till the constitution of 1868 substituted the Board of County Com- missioners therefor. If it was the Superior Court, then Judge Anderson Mitchell presided and E. C. Bartlett acted as clerk. It is contended by those who insist that it was the Superior Court which was then held there that there are yet living several men who were jurors at that term, and that jurors belong ex- clusively to the Superior Court. This is a mistake, grand and petty jurors having been a part of every other term of the County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, according to the recollection of Col. W. L. Bryan, who served as a justice of the peace several years before that court was abolished. Besides, unless it was, there was no county court from the formation of the county in 1849 until some time in May, 1851, for by an act which was ratified January 28, 1851, it was expressly provided that "there shall be a Superior Court of Law and Equity opened and held for the county of Watauga, at the court house in Boone on the sixth Monday after the fourth Monday in March and September, in each and every year, at which time the judge holding the said court shall appoint the necessary court officers." Watauga was then placed in the seventh circuit, and all suits pending in the Superior Court of Ashe in which both
9
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parties were citizens of Watauga, and all criminal proceedings against citizens of Watauga were transferred to this court. And it was further provided that the "spring and fall, now jury terms, of the Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions shall be held in . . Watauga County, at the same time and on the same week on which the Superior Courts of Law and Equity shall be holden," etc.8 This seems also to make still more doubt- ful another disputed point, viz: as to when the first sheriff was elected by the people. For if he was elected first in 1852, then the general impression that D. C. McCanless absconded during his second term is established, and if he was elected in 1850, then McCanless must have been serving his third term, whichi some still insist was the case. But this seems to establish another fact, viz: that the court house was far enough advanced by May, 1851, to be used by the court, for all who were present at the first court held in that building agree that it was far from finished at that time. The act expressly provides that the first term shall be held "at the court house in Boone." If there was no such building then, it is likely that the act would have been differently worded. Still, it may have been held elsewhere, as many contend.
A Snap-Shot in Passing .- Mr. Skiles, in his "Life," leaves us this (p. 79) : "I was at Boone Tuesday [before May 21, 1850] and saw a great crowd; it was court week, and I witnessed an amusing scene. There was a man intoxicated who was very rude and treated the court with contempt. For want of a jail to put him in, the court ordered him taken out and tied to a wagon wheel until he became civil. They took him out, tied him, and left him tied."
A Happy and Homogeneous People .- Many think that Wa- tauga has the best dwelling and farm houses in the State; that its inhabitants are of a more homogeneous character than any other; that there are almost as few tenants as in any other county, except Alleghany; that there are fewer very poor and fewer very rich people than elsewhere; that the average of in-
8 This was repealed, (Laws 1852, Ch. XLVI, p. 100) and the terms of courts of Pleas and Quarter sessions were required to be held on the third Monday in February, May, August and November of each year.
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telligence and education will compare with those of any other county most favorably ; that there is as little crime per capita as in any other; that there is as great church attendance and as many churches and school houses per capita as in any other county ; that the apples, cabbages, beets, buckwheat, stock of all kinds, and dairy products surpass all other counties in the State.
That Roving Spirit .- The same influences which brought our ancestors to America and their sons into the unexplored mountains, sent their grandsons across the plains in 1849, and since then into every State and territory of the vast West. When Missouri was first opened to settlement many left this county and tried their fortunes there, some to remain, others to return. It was probably this "trek" which caused so many families to disappear from the church rolls of Three Forks Baptist Church. For them, there was still something else to find, and they went and sought it, some of them to realize that they had already chanced upon it in Watauga County (then Ashe), and to return to enjoy it. Among those going to Missouri were the Whitting- tons. Dr. Whittington, of Asheville, is a descendant of Benja- min, and his wife, who was a Wilson, of Yancey. Wiley Whittington, a brother of John and Cromwell, who went to Mis- souri, passed on still farther westward, only to be killed at last by Indians in the Rocky Mountains while on his way to Cali- fornia. It is said he had shot an Indian, and when the rest of, the Indian band demanded his surrender by his party, they gave him up to the savages, who robbed him and stripped him of all clothing and then left him to perish in the mountains. Jonathan Lewis left Zionville for California in 1849, settled in Fresno and got rich. He went from Watauga County alone, joining a party in Missouri. Alexander Thomas, Andrew J. McBride, Marion Wilson, Jesse Bradley and Wm. Isaacs, of the Cove Creek section, went to California in 1849, and McBride left a diary, but it has been misplaced within the last few years. It is said that his brother, Carroll, went with him, and that on their re- turn Carroll stopped in Tipton County, Tennessee. While in the West they killed a deer, but Indians took it from them and forced them to run for their lives and to hide in a ravine. It
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is also said that they made money in California, but spent it all buying a waterproof cloth with which to make a pipe to draw off the water in a creek above the point at which they had dis- covered gold, hoping to gather much from the bottom of the bed, not realizing that it was being washed down from above till too late.
Legislative Representatives.ยช-Alexander B. McMillan, in 1850, and Benjamin C. Calloway, in 1852, both of what was and still is Ashe County, represented Watauga in the House, and George Bower, also of Ashe, in the Senate, but from and includ- ing 1854 Watauga has had its own citizens as representatives in the House :
Senators.
1854. George Bower, of Ashe.
I856. A. M. Bryan, of Ashe.
I858. Joseph H. Dobson, of Surry.
I860. Joseph H. Dobson, of Surry.
G. N. Folk having resigned, his place was filled by
I862. Isaac Jarratt, of Ashe. . 1864. Jonathan Horton, of Watauga.
I865.
A. C. Cowles, of Yadkin.
Charles Potter.
1866.
A. C. Cowles, of Yadkin.
I868. I870. 1872.
Edmund W. Jones, of Caldwell. W. B. Council, of Watauga. J. W. Todd, of Ashe.
William Horton. Lewis B. Banner. W. F. Shull. J. B. Todd. L. L. Greene.
W. R. Council.
W. R. Council.
Thomas Bingham.
W. W. Lenoir. E. F. Lovill.
1885.
J. W. Todd, of Ashe.
1887. W. C. Fields, of Alleghany.
I889. W. S. Farthing, of Watauga.
1891. Benjamin P. Griggsby, of Ashe.
Representatives. Jonathan Horton. George N. Folk. Mark Holdsclaw.
George N. Folk.
Thomas Farthing. William Horton.
William Horton.
1874.
A. J. McMillan, of Alleghany.
Hervey Bingham, of Watauga.
I876. I879. J. Bledsoe, of Ashe. 1881. 1883. E. F. Lovill, of Watauga.
F. J. McMillan, of Alleghany.
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