USA > North Carolina > Chronology of North Carolina : showing when the most remarkable events connected with her history took place, from the year 1584 to the present time, with explanatory notes > Part 5
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shown her by him, and cast his vote, on that account, for William Hill. That one vote secured his election.
" Mr. Hill had two brothers, one of whom is still living. The other was at the battle of the Horse Shoe, under General Jackson, and was called by the Indians ' Captain Big John Hill.' HIe has been dead several years."
In conclusion we append. an article, published sev- eral years ago in the " Asheville Messenger," written by its editor, James M. Edney, Esq. :
" WILLIAM HILL, SECRETARY OF STATE .- Perhaps there is not a gentleman in North Carolina who has held office so long, or given as general satisfaction to the whole State, through its representatives and his private business intercourse, as the one whose name stands at the head of this article. James Glasgow was the first Secretary of the State of North Carolina after the De- claration of Independence. IIe held that office till 1798, and was succeeded by William White, who held it till removed by death in 1811, when the present Secretary took possession of an office that he has held without interruption, over forty years ! ever faithful, ever at his post. Mr. Hill was born in Surrey County, on Dan River, in 1773, we believe, and was first recom- mended to consideration by a letter (now in the Se- cretary's office), from Mark Hardin to Glasgow. His father was a Baptist. Amid all the changes of political strife, the contention, ascendeney and overthrow of par- ties in the State, and the consequent scrambling for office, the finger of proscription has never been applied to this now venerable citizen and faithful public servant. In glancing at the order in which he has the books and papers pertaining to his office arranged, while
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paying him a visit in June last, we were struck with the order, precision, and methodical arrangement of everything belonging to this important public office. After years of labor, he has just completed the arrange- ment of every book and paper in his office in alphabeti- cal order. He begins with the counties commencing at A and going through, then he takes up the names in the same order; then in the file of his papers, he takes up the years beginning with the first records at 1694. The counties are arranged from 1735, and State papers from 1776. A reference may be now had by him to anything pertaining to the history of the State and the Colony, that has been preserved, in a moment's time, - for the last 157 years, now shrouded in the gloom of by- gone days, and many and singular and woeful are the musty records that are now imprisoned and speechless upon his shelves. The first grants given by the State of North Carolina, were dated in 1777. Mr. Hill is now in a green old age, and has little to hope from the pleasures of this fleeting world, more than that con- sciousness which is of more value than gold, of having honestly and faithfully performed, his part upon the stage of human action, with an eye single to truth, honesty, and the glory of his God. His probation upon the confines of this earth is fast approaching that point, 'where the good man meets his fate,' and evinces to the world the excellence of religion and the blissful reward of a virtuous and consistent course of conduct. Such men are a blessing to the world in life. glorify their Creator in death, and leave the world the better for having lived in it, and their friends 'not without hope.' Mr. Hill has long been a faithful at- tendant, a sincere worshipper, and a consistent member
**
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of the Methodist Church. Long may he live to adorn her communion, and spread abroad in society the sweet influences of virtue, honor, and religion ; and when he dies, may his exit be calm, triumphant, and peaceful, for
"'Death is the crown of life ;
Were death denied, poor man would live in vain ; Death wounds to cure ; we fall, we rise, we reign, Spring from our fetters, fasten to the skies, Where blooming Eden withers from our sight. The King of Terrors is the Prince of Peace.'"
WARM SPRINGS-PAINTED ROCK-CHIMNEYS.
These celebrated Springs are situated in old Buncombe (now Madison) County, on the French Broad, thirty- six miles below Asheville, and have long been known and extensively resorted to by Southerners during the summer months. The following is taken from the " Asheville Messenger" of 1850 :
" These Springs boil up in various places, in a low flat piece of ground immediately on the margins, or banks of French Broad and Spring Creek, two beautiful and limpid streams of crystal cold water. The temperature of the warm water of the springs is 105°, sufficiently hot to kill a fish or snake in three minutes ! These Springs were discovered some time anterior to 1800. They were first owned by William Neilson, senior, as carly perhaps as 1804; afterwards by his son, I believe, and then by Captain Garrett, of South Carolina, who purchased them about 1817 : he held them ten years; then Mr. G. K. Sisney owned them for four years, when in 1531 they became the pro- perty of James Patton, and have been used, owned, and occupied by James W. and John E. Patton, his
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sons, ever since. These gentlemen have greatly im- proved and popularized them. The present building is a most beautiful one ; 230 feet long, two stories high, with a piazza fronting the river, studded with thirteen massive columns, 20 feet in height. The dining-room is 40 by 80 feet ; the bar, ball, and dancing rooms are all airy, spacious, and comfortable. In addition to this, there are six other small brick buildings for families and single gentlemen, all beautifully situated on a level surface or green lawn, in a fine grove of locust and other forest trees, set out by the proprietors. The estab- lishment accommodates comfortably two hundred and fifty persons, and two hundred and forty can be seated at the dining tables at one time. The improvements were made at great expense, and the main building, with a stable 60 by 160 feet, were burned down, Sept. 18, 1838 ; but, by great efforts, were re-opened July 1, 1839. The largest number of visitors was from 1833 to 1838. The great 'panic' then came on, new springs were discovered, which, with other causes, greatly les- sened the number annually. Last year, 1849, was the most prosperous for many. The proprietors erected a good bridge across the river in 1832, and rebuilt it in 1842. The French Broad at this point is about 420 feet in width, tolerably rapid and at one place quite deep. The buildings are beautifully located, 60 yards from the river ; a beautiful lawn, gravel walks, etc., intervening. In the rear, a large scope of finely-cultivated lands ap- pear, which are gradually succeeded by sloping hills and towering mountains. Visitors will always here find all the luxuries of fine air, fine water, fish, venison, and whatever else the country affords.
" The Vicinity .- The vicinity around the Springs is
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grand and picturesque. 'Mountain Island,' two miles above the Springs on the main road, is one of the pret- tiest we have ever scen ; it is perhaps half a mile in length, and is really a little mountain, carpeted and de- corated with all that rich variety of evergreens, forest trees, shrubbery, flowers, etc., which nature so lavishly bestows on our mountains generally. The river below is smooth, deep, narrow, and polished as a mirror for some distance, when it breaks up, as above, into beau- tiful, dashing, sparkling cascades. The 'Paint' or ' Painted Rock,' properly, is five miles below, and is on the line between Buncombe and the ' Old" North State,' and Tennessee. On this rock, about twenty feet from the ground or road, is what resembles red paint, in irregular curvatures or lines ; these face the river and the road, and have been much mutilated by inquisitive visitors. This rock is about 200 feet in height, formed of regular strata, which seem to have been jarred or broken, by some terrible pressure, into pieces or seams of every imaginable size, horizontally and perpendicu- larly, east and west, north and south ; parts of which are perpendicular from and others actually hang over
. the road, astonishing the beholder below; and well it may, for portions of it occasionally fall off into the road or river. The top of this rock may be easily attained from the north side.
"Winding our way along the margin of this most wild and restless foaming river, we reach, after another mile's journey, what are called the Chimneys.' About a quarter of a mile before doing so, the road seems to be hedged up entirely, and an outlet to the visitant seems impossible. as the river spreads out to a great width, and dashes up its spray-apparently for a great distance-directly
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against the ' Chimneys;' but by pressing on, as in climb- ing winding stairs, there is a way opened for him, and he soon finds himself standing 'on a narrow neck of land,' built up of stones and dirt by human hands, and upon his left, the beautiful but wild and terrific French Broad, leaping and dashing in its onward career for the great Father of Waters ; and upon his right, rising pre- cipitously and perpendicularly to the astonishing height of 400 feet, stand, in their natural sublimity and gran- deur, the far-famed 'Chimneys.' At the highest point, broken and disjointed, rocks stand ont as if unsustained in mid-air, and the least motion would send them di- rectly into the road, which, at some points, does not exceed 12 feet in width ! rendering this the last place we should want to cry out for ' mountains and rocks to fall on us,' unless we wished to depart ! We have crept under the Niagara Falls, and listened with awe and solemn veneration to their unceasing thunders ; wan- dered about the Devil's Hole, visited the Hickory-Nut Falls, Table Rock, and a thousand other wonderful manifestations of natural sublimity ; but have never seen anything in the shape of a rock that penetrated further into the sublime than do portions of the 'Chim- neys.' These rocks, like the 'Painted,' seem to have been formed by (to use a new phrase) the rock-forma- tion process, and to have been shivered to atoms by some master-stroke of volcanic thunder! So much is this the case that thousands of pieces, in square, dia- mond, oblong, and almost every conceivable shape, have fallen off or out, and are scattered in every direc- tion below, and are composed of almost every species, from white flint to soft sandstone. Various scribblers have exposed their names on these rocks, which may be
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considered as decaying mementoes of departed ' greens.' The hills and crags near by are great resorts for the turkey buzzard; these congregate here, especially at night, in great numbers, and ' waste their sweetness on the desert air.' The sight of the Chimneys, from the op- posite side of the river, is a most charming one. The ap- proach to the Springs from Asheville covers almost every species of beautiful scenery. It is remarkable that on the north side of the river, all the way down, the water from the Springs is particularly warm and bad; on the other side, good. Two miles below the Springs, there is an exception-on the north side ; here there is a good spring. On our way down we met 373 head of Ken- tucky cattle in one drove ; and at the Springs saw in another drove, four hundred ducks! We leave the reader to judge whether these latter were of the 'cold water cure,' or the 'quack' fraternity! But to the French Broad, beautiful and lonely stream, I turn, and turning, repeat the verses of Moore :
"' Oh, I have thought, and thinking, sighed, How like to thee, thou restless tide, May be the lot, the life of him, Who roams along thy water's brim ; Through what alternate shades of woe, And flowers of joy, my path shall go ! How many an humble, still retreat, May rise to court my weary feet, While still pursuing, still unblest, I wander on, nor dare to rest.'
Flow on, thon beautiful river, and bear on thy palpitat- ing bosom the dew-drops of 'Pisgah,' the tears of the far-famed "Black,' and the gushing rills of Old Bun- combe's thousand hillsides, as pure and spotless as the hearts that innocently throb in the angelic bosoms of
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your numberless and charming daughters ; till you, like they, shall, after life's fitful visions and destined journey are ended, rest in the haven of your last re- pose ; one the mirror of earth, the other the light of heaven."
[From the " Asheville Messenger," 1857.]
THE BLACK MOUNTAIN.
The Black Mountain ! Who has not heard of it ? Who among us has not seen it? Who that does not desire to see it and be upon it ? Standing, as it does, a full head and shoulders above any mountain in America east of the Rocky Mountains-and it would do no dis- credit to the standing, elevation and character of any one west of them, if " Buncombe" is its mother and Yancy its godfather! Above the dark blue sea, whose waters never rest, its summit sleeps in undisturbed serenity and composure, at an elevation of 6,672 feet ; and whilst the sea rocks, washes and scours the great bulk of the known world, it rises, like some tall cliff, with a grandeur and sublimity that defies competition ; it opens the rain clouds, peers out above the storm, husbands the ice and snows of winter, gives life and beauty to a perpetual green verdure, carpets itself with a dark green moss, is first to challenge the admira- tion of the sun and last to witness his departure, receiv- ing the first and last kisses of his golden rays at morn and even. Who would not stand upon the top of such an honored and time-worn patriarch and view a land- scape, from centre to circumference, which for its beauty, variety, extent and sublimity, is, perhaps, in unadorned nature, unsurpassed by any in the known world ? There
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are not many reading persons who have not heard of it ; not a great many among us who have not had glimpses of it from some point; but there are hundreds and thousands who were born and have been raised within thirty miles of it, who know as little about it (more than that it is the "Black Mountain"), as they do about the " mountain in the moon," and without being particu- lar, we were among the number, though old enough for king, priest, patriarch, or president ! We had for years desired to wipe off the reproach; but one misfortune and another deprived us of the opportunity till Thurs- day, the 23d of October, 1851, when, after failing to induce several friends to accompany us, on account of the cold, the weather being a little frosty, we mounted our "ball against the field," swung the " Alpine horn " about us, and in company with Mr. A. S. Merrimon, we struck the " winding way," chiming to ourselves :
" Away ! away! to the mountain brow, Where the streams are gently laving ; Away! away !" ete.
We left Asheville at 10 o'clock A.M., and with a moderate ride reached the "Lodge," a handsome im- provement made at " Whitaker's Spring," on a spur of the Black Mountain, twenty-four miles from Asheville, at 6 p.M., having secured on the way the services of Mr. Jesse Stepp, as guide. Here, after gazing for some time with an almost bewildered astonishment upon the grandeur of the scene, the general beauty of the site, the improvements in that wild and terrific, mountainous, howling wilderness, and more particularly upon the indescribable grandeur -- the heaven-inspiring beauty
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and more than earthly splendor of (if we may be al- lowed the expression) the foliage of a golden sun, setting in a clear sky, and whose disc had just dropped, like a globe of molten gold, into a sea of liquid silver behind a blue mountain, throwing up to heaven the bright rays of the two, the gold preponderating below, the silver above, in such a beautiful softness and deli- cacy, that a fresh blown rose in the month of August would have blushed and hung its head to its mother earth at the sight. Such a scene we may gaze upon, but cannot describe. Raphael, Titian, Angelo or Rem- brandt, could they have witnessed it, would have cast their brushes to the four winds, their colors to the earth, sighed for immortality, given up the ghost in despair, and been buried, like Aaron, on a "high mountain " in the suburbs of this new earthly Jerusalem, where the plaintive requiem of the heavenly winds would have chanted their funeral dirge to the end of time. We partook of a plain repast, found our thermometer at thirty-four, retired to rest, and at half-past four the next morning got up and prepared for the ascent. Starting at a quarter before five, we made our way up the steeps of the mountain, keeping the winding of the only path on it, under the dark foliage of the millions of balsam trees that cover it like a cloak for miles, as best we could ; now in it, and now out; but " Excelsior" was . inscribed on our hearts, and we were determined to reach " Mitchell's Peak," which is the highest point, by sunrise. After we made the first long ascent, we gained the main ridge, leading to the "Potato Top," next in height to the Black; this we kept for some dis- tance, and then turned to the left, making a direct charge for the main top, and though the ground was
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crusted and icy, perspiration flowed freely; but o'er rock, and crag, and earth, and moss, on, on, "onward and upward," we went, toiling to make the ascent on one side, while the sun was bursting out from the eye- lids of morning with the velocity of lightning, to make his brilliant appearance upon the other! Occasionally we gave a blast from our " horn," which, though else- where clear and shrill, somehow had here lost its voice, and it fell powerless as one's breath against a strong wind; we listened in vain for the echo, and if it ever found a home, it was in heaven, as our favorite song says:
" And again, shall echo in heaven again."
Perhaps it did ; but we can't say. Diamonds and pearls are found by deep diving ; gold and brilliants by hard digging ; heaven by a long, boisterous journey ; almost everything valuable by hard labor, perseverance, or rigid application, in some way ; so is the summit of this beautiful mountain reached by a most tedious, circuit- ous, steep, long and tiresome ascent ; but at every turn new beauties enliven the scene and inspirit the pilgrim on his way to this prince of " Meccas." At last, we were ushered into an open plain, of some four or five acres. perfectly destitute of everything except grass, and the cold air struck us very sensibly while passing through it ; into the dark balsam forest we once more dashed, and in two or three minutes we shouted " Eureka !" for we stood upon the pinnacle of one of the highest moun- tains in America, and very considerably nearer heaven than we ever expected to be while editor of a country newspaper!, But so it was, and so was it once (editor excepted), with his brimstone majosty ! The atmos-
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phere was clear and beautiful, nothing to mar the sight but a long, white and variegated cloud, that stretched itself like a curtain across, over, before and behind the hills and mountain peaks below us, which was occa- sioned by the burning of the woods on the Swannanoa side. We planted our guns, mounted the highest rock, and had hardly time to look round-a moment had not passed-till "the glorious and beautiful sun of the morning" peered up from the dappled east, with a " brightness of glory," a dazzling brilliancy, an inde- scribable splendor, a fiery flashing, that baffles all description, and that we have seen nowhere else upon earth or water-though we have often watched his ris- ing and setting at sea; have seen him from hillside, from valley, from mountain and from plain, but never before did we see him as from the " Black Mountain ;" never did we behold him literally "taking the wings of the morning, and flying to the uttermost parts of the earth," gilding with a thousand hues the whole area in his gorgeous flight ; and though we did not realize that we were " in the mountain of his holiness," nor at "the city of our God," yet we felt that "the God who rules on high" is a terrible, a mighty God in his majesty, his handiworks, and his omnipotence, and we involuntarily exclaimed, "Great are thy wondrous works !" In this instance we did not behold " His footsteps in the sea ;" nor see him "riding on the storm," yet we saw him shooting his moral light from hill to hill, from mountain to mountain, and from valley to valley, waking up, call- ing to action millions of his creatures. Under these " reflections, we turned and saw the rays of his sun dash- ing from mountain to mountain ; now here, now there ; tipping this peak, glancing that cliff, yon precipice, that
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hillside ; and anon, as with one blaze, he spread his omnipotence o'er the whole scene, leaving nothing, as far as the eye could see, upon which his rays and his brightness did not fall. We fixed our eye, like an eagle, steadfastly on him, and there seemed to be a fiery flash- ing, a brilliant revolution going on, increasing in velo- city and brightness, not round and round, but from the circumference to the centre, that we never before wit- nessed-it seemed to be a rolling up of his brightness, yet an increase of his light. Higher and higher he as- cended, and now the mists began to clear away in the , distance, and one object and another in rapid succession presented themselves, till we thought of the poet when he said :
" And still new beauties may I see, And still increasing light ;"
and so it was, for in the cast our eyes glanced rapidly upon the Blue Ridge, Table Mountain, Hawk Bill, Brushy Mountain, the Grandfather, Turkey Cock, and a multitude of others, apparently rising in the distance till the ground became one vast plain, as level, as blue, as beautiful as the sea; on the north, the Bald, the Tennessee, and the Paint Mountain, were glistening in the sun ; on the west, the Craggy, the French Broad Range, Pisgah, Hog Back, Looking-Glass, Glassy, etc., studded the picture ; on the south, the highest peak of the Alleghanies, the " Pinnacles," Rocky Knob, Slaty, . Grey Beard, Bear Wallow, Sugar Loaf, and a hundred others, appeared in every imaginable hne, and measur- ing and filling every descriptive height. From this point may be seen, on the east, and immediately under it, the rise of the Toe River, and just beyond, the beau-
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tiful Catawba; on the north, Caney River ; on the west, Ivy and Laurel; on the south, the limpid Swannanoa, whose waters help to swell the mighty Mississippi.
We made the ascent from the "Lodge," by a press- ing walk, in forty minutes. We then climbed the highest balsam, on the highest point, with our head two feet above its highest twig, and with Mr. Merrimon in another, we gave, in succession, three cheers each, for the United States, Millard Fillmore and William A. Graham, the Old North State, Professor Mitchell, Moun- tain Boys and Buncombe Lasses ! After which, at the top of our voice, and that topped everything else just there, we sang, alone and "in our glory," Hail Colum- bia, The Old North State, and Some Love to Roam, etc. As trophies, we took the two top twigs and descended, having realized " glory enough for one day ;" and to do something for so great a place, and to immortalize our- self, we have engaged Mr. Stepp, at our own expense, to open an avenue on the extreme edge of the precipice, and entirely round the next highest point southeast of the Potato Top, to which nothing has ever been done, and it is almost impossible now to penetrate it; yet it is the most precipitous, terrible, and presents one of the finest southern and eastern views of any point from the mountain ; and it will be one of the most beautiful and picturesque views yet made accessible on these wonder- ful, heaven-ascending and magnificent mountains. It is soon to be completed, and will be well worth a visit from every pilgrim who climbs those heights. We say now, as one of old, "go and see, for the half has not been told you," and it never can be. Go and see the "Black." Go.
The only inhabitants we saw on these high points
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were pheasants, cross bills, (a merry little bird, whose bill crosses, and compels him to turn his head aside when he picks up his food) and mountain boomers, a sort of squirrel. Hogs are deterred from ever pushing their snouts to this height, owing to the warm and affec- tionate embraces they have doubtless often met with here from " Bruin," who lords it in these dark recesses, in his own way, and sets everything at defiance.
After feasting our eyes to intoxication, we made our way back and ascended the Potato Top. In making the trip up the Swannanoa, this mountain stands square across in front of the Black, and entirely hides it from sight, and is so called by its highest point resembling a bunch of Irish potato tops; the Black derived its name from the everlasting black appearance it presents, by being covered with balsam both winter and summer. From the Potato Top, a most picturesque eastern and western view presents itself, including the Catawba, Toe River, Swannanoa and Homony Valleys. Marion, Morganton, and Burnsville can be seen from the Black. On the Potato Top, one may stand in a moment in the counties of Burke, McDowell, Buncombe and Yancy, all of which corner there. The contrast between the Black and the Craggy, both of which lock arms, is strikingly beautiful. The former ever stands in its dark, precipitous, gloomy and sombre hue ; the latter, with its beautifully sloped and curved top, its numerous pointed and peaked ridges, some of which are naked and barren, others wearing heavy foliage, and the whole presenting quite a lively and animated appearance, though of a bronzed and greyish hue. We took a long, lingering look all round and commenced the descent, and at 9 o'clock we were seated at the " Lodge," erected
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