USA > North Carolina > Buncombe County > Asheville > The Asheville city directory and gazetteer of Buncombe County: comprising a complete list of the citizens of Asheville with places of business and residence 1883-'84 > Part 8
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James Patton, many of whose descendants yet live in Bun- combe county, was born in Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1783, first settling in Virginia. He removed to this county in 1792, and died in 1845, at the age of 90. He pur- chased nearly all the ground upon which Asheville now stands from James M. Smith for a small sum, little thinking how valua- ble the investment would prove in after years to his children.
John Young, grandfather of Sheriff Young, settled on Cane Creek, where he purchased 600 acres of land, about the year 1800. He afterwards bought 1,600 acres on the Swannanoa,
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where many of his descendants now live. He was a sturdy type of the American pioneer, and died universally beloved and respected, in 1845, at the age of 80. His mother lived to see her 113th year.
Zebulon Baird, father of "Uncle Joe" Baird, and maternal grandfather of General R. B. and Senator Z. B. Vance, was born in New Jersey. He came to Buncombe county in 1795 from Augusta, Ga., in the first four-wheeled wagon to cross the moun- tains. Cutting his way through the forests, he made a track which was soon to become the main thoroughfare between Tennessee and Augusta, from which city most of the merchandise sold in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina was hauled for the next sixty years. This pioneer wagon was loaded with a stock of goods, including the first jews-harps seen in Buncombe. Mr. Baird built and occupied the first storehouse on the present site of Asheville ; he also built the first court-house, the first jail, and, indeed, made the first clearing where the city now stands. His original grant of land, embracing fourteen square miles, extended north to the mouth of Beaver Dam. Mr. Baird rep- resented this county in both branches of the State Legislature for many successive terms.
Colonel David Vance, grandfather of General R. B. and Senator Vance, came from Virginia, and settled on Reems' Creek, this county, very soon after the close of the Revo- lution. His house, the same in which the post-office of Vance- ville is now kept, was built by him nearly one hundred years ago, and it is said that the covering has not been renewed to this time. Previous to his settlement in Buncombe county, Colonel Vance was present at, and took an active part in, the battle of King's Mountain, October 7, 1780. He was a brave soldier and a talented man. His sons-David, who married a daughter of Zebulon Baird, and Robert, who represented the Western District in Congress one term, and was killed in a duel with Samuel Carson, of Burke county, in 1827-lie buried with him, in the family graveyard, on a hill overlooking the old homestead, on Reems' Creek.
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It is related that his daughter, Miss Celia, who afterwards married Colonel Ben Brittain, on one occasion having seen a " muster," was so much taken with the warlike motions of the troops going through their exercises, that she determined, on reaching home, to try the "manual" herself. An old shot-gun entitled " Billy Craig," with a barrel six feet long, was procured, and the young girl went through the manual of arms to the best of her ability. When the command to "fire !" was given (by herself), she pulled the trigger, when bang ! went the old gun, (which, of course, "wasn't loaded,") tearing a hole in the corner of the house large enough to put one's arm through. This hap- pened eighty years ago, but the hole has never been repaired, and can be seen to this day.
David L. Swain was born in Buncombe county in 1801, his father having emigrated from Massachusetts a few years pre- viously. The son of a poor frontiersman, by the exercise of native talent and perseverance he elevated himself to the highest rank as a statesman. His early education was received at New- ton Academy, Asheville, since the alma mater of many distin- guished North Carolinians. Afterwards graduating at Chapel Hill, he lived to become Governor of the State, and closed his brilliant career as President of the University where he had achieved distinction in his youth. Governor Swain built the first brick house west of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. The building is still standing on south Main street, Asheville, and is now, with a modern front, occupied by S. R. Kepler as a store.
James Alexander was born in the north of Ireland. He settled on Bee-Tree creek, a branch of Swannanoa, about 1786. His descendants at this day outnumber the scions of any other " first family" in the county. His wife was also an Irish woman, and was noted, like her husband, for many sterling qualities of head and heart.
James Weaver settled in this county very early in its history. He entered a large body of land on Reems' Creek, near the present site of Weaverville. His descendants, a numerous and respectable body, still live in the vicinity.
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Wm. Whitson, grandfather of Dr. G. W. Whitson, was one of the very earliest colonists of Buncombe county. Emigrating from Virginia, he first pitched his tent near Morganton, where he married. His father-in-law, a member of the McDowell family, had entered land on the Swannanoa; and long before any permanent settlements had been made there, he was in the habit of paying occasional visits to his property to enjoy the fine hunt- ing and fishing which it afforded. On returning to his home he would give such glowing accounts of the beauties of the Swan- nanoa valley that Whitson at last determined to try his luck in the wilderness. He built his cabin on the banks of the river, (then rolling through a dense cane-brake,) near where John H. Murphy now lives, and had many trials with his neighbors, the Indians, before his life was made comfortable by their removal further west.
Samuel Chunn, some of whose descendants are now living in Asheville, came to this county in 1797. His house, one of the first erected in the town, occupied the ground where the Brand building, on south Main street, now stands. Mr. Chunn was one of Asheville's first merchants, and was a very successful business man.
James Brevard, grandfather of J. D. Brevard, came from Mecklenburg county, and settled on Cane creek, at the place now called Fairview, about the year 1800. The county seat of Transylvania is named in his honor, and not, as is often sup- posed, after Ephraim Brevard, his near relative, one of the signers of the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence." Mr. Brevard represented Buncombe county in the State Legisla- ture several terms. He was a man possessed of many of the highest qualities, and was renowned, like most of his fellow- pioneers, for nobility and purity of character. Indeed, if any of the early settlers of this county were possessed of traits which their children do not delight to record, tradition fails to give the particulars. Their vices must have been few and their virtues many ; for it is a noteworthy fact that the men who first broke ground in the wilderness, and laid the foundation of the great-
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ness and prosperity of our country, were invariably of simple and religious natures. To this the pioneers of Buncombe county were no exception-
" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learned to stray."
EMINENT SONS OF BUNCOMBE.
CROTALE
UNCOMBE County has produced, in addition to many now dead, several men, yet living, who have achieved national reputations.
Senator Z. B. Vance was Governor of the State both during and since the war, and is now a Senator of the United States, and one of the most brilliant members of the Upper House. He is the author of the celebrated expression, " What the Governor of North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina."
His brother, Gen. Robt. B. Vance, was a distinguished Confed- erate officer, and has represented the Eighth District in Congress several successive terms. He is now an eminent member of that body, and is always one of the few sober men in the House when Congress adjourns.
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General Thomas L. Clingman, though not a native of this county, has made it his home for over forty years, and can, therefore, justly be claimed as a Buncombe man. He first represented the Western District in the lower house of Congress forty years ago, and served several terms with distinction. He was also a United States Senator for one term. As a scholar and scientist, he has few superiors in this country; and his invention of an electric light is said to be superior to that of Edison. During the late war General Clingman served gallantly, and was wounded severely on the field of battle.
Judge A. S. Merrimon was born in Asheville, where several of
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his brothers and sisters are now living. He has filled many offices of trust in the gift of the people, and was United States Senator from 1871 to 1877. He has been lately appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, caused by the resignation of Judge Thos. Ruffin.
ANTLER HALL, ON FRENCH-BROAD RIVER, NEAR ASHEVILLE, RESIDENCE OF G. B. TENNENT.
Several others, of more or less distinction in "field" or "forum," have honored this county with their birth; but space forbids a mention of their deeds and virtues here. Their memo- ries live in the hearts of their children, who, we hope, will strive to emulate the actions of their fathers.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH
-OF-
ASHEVILLE,
BUNCOMBE CO., NORTH CAROLINA .*
GEOGRAPHICAL.
ATDASN
SHEVILLE, the seat of justice for Buncombe county, the metropolis of Western North Carolina, and justly styled the "Queen City of the Mountains," is situated near the confluence of the French-Broad and Swannanoa rivers ; 272 miles west of Raleigh, 495 southwest of Washington, and 297 miles northeast of Charleston. The city, built at the edge of an extensive basin, on a series of undulating hills running back eastwardly from the French-Broad, is about two miles long by the same distance in width, and contains a population of over 4,000 souls. Its mean elevation above the river-bed is 300 feet, and above sea-level 2,360 feet, which insures a dry and bracing atmosphere, extremely favorable to health. The mean annual temperature of Asheville, from observations conducted during six and one-half years by the State Geological Survey, is found to be 54° 3'; ranging from a minimum of 7º above zero in win- ter to a maximum of 86° in summer; the average spring temperature is 53° ; summer 72°, autumn 54°, and winter 38°. The extremes of heat and cold are never oppressive, and even in the warmest part of summer the nights are delightfully cool.
* For description of other post-offices and towns of Buncombe county, see "The Gazetteer," beginning on page 70 of this volume.
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Asheville received its charter as a city from the General As- sembly of 1882-'83, under the auspices of C. M. McLoud, Esq., one of the present members of the House from this county.
The Western North Carolina railroad passes through the city, giving it unbroken communication with Eastern and Western points ; and with the completion of the Spartanburg and Ashe- ville railroad, which now lacks but twenty miles (ten of them being graded) of reaching Asheville, a near outlet to the South will also be secured. A branch of the Western North Carolina railroad is graded for seventy miles due west of Asheville, twenty miles of this distance being open for traffic, and is designed to connect with the Knoxville and Augusta railroad.
HISTORICAL-1798-1865.
SHEVILLE came very near not being built where it now stands. It seems the commissioners appointed to select a location for a county-seat had agreed upon a spot about three miles south of the present site of the city ; but were afterwards so well treated to "mountain dew " by the proprietor of a tavern and store, which stood near what is now the court- house square, that, mellowed by the soothing influences of the liquor, they unanimously changed their minds, and, acceding to the wishes of the tavern-keeper, decided "the best place for a town to be, was where good whiskey was plenty." This event took place about 85 years ago. The town was at first called Mor- ristown, but the name was afterwards changed to its present title in compliment to Governor Samuel Ashe. It remained but a small and straggling village for a long period; and sixty years ago most of the ground on which the city is now built was in a chinquapin thicket. At this time three or four stores, a hotel, (still standing, and but little changed in outward appearance,) the offices of a few lawyers and physicians, a blacksmith and carpen- ter-shop, and about a score of dwellings, composed the town.
PHOTO ENCLO. N.Y
ASHEVILLE, FROM THE RESERVOIR.
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The population in 1830, two years before the first charter of incorporation was received, numbered about 350, one-third being slaves ; by 1840 it had grown to 500-the same relative propor- tions of whites and blacks being still preserved.
In 1845, the mercantile business of Asheville was conducted by Jas. M. Smith, Jas. W. Patton, Roberts & Williams, Joseph Dunlap, Alfred B. Chunn, and Montraville Patton ; the two last- named are yet living in Asheville. The physicians were Thos. C. Lester and J. F. E. Hardy ; the latter gentleman, the father of Dr. J. G. Hardy, of this city, died in 1882. The legal fraternity was represented by Joshua Roberts, N. W. and John Woodfin, Thos. L. Clingman, and B. M. Edney ; of these, all men of fine talents, General Clingman alone survives. The Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists all had places of worship; but the only religious edifice now standing, which was then in exist- ence, is that of the Presbyterians. Two hotels-the Eagle, kept by Jas. W. Patton, and the Buck, (now the Central,) by Jas. M. Smith,-sufficed for the wants of the travelling public. There was also, at this time, a large hotel, since destroyed by fire, at the Sulphur Springs, four miles west of town, where a great number of visitors assembled during the summer.
From old files of the Highland Messenger, the first newspaper published in Asheville, and its successor, the News, some interesting facts concerning the village at this period were gained. In the volume of the Messenger for 1844 we find a "Sketch of the Life and Public Services of Henry Clay " run- ning through several issues, which tends to prove the " Great Commoner " to have been a favorite in Buncombe. In the same volume the "Augusta Prices Current," for August 9, 1844, in- forms us that bacon (hog-round) was worth 6 to 612 cts. per lb., and hams from 7 to 8 cts .; Rio and Laguayra coffee from 7 to 10, Java from 14 to 16, and Mocha from 18 to 22 cts. per lb. Corn is quoted at from 50 to 621/2c. per bushel, flour from $4.50 to $6.50 per bbl., Liverpool salt 55 to 58 cts. per bushel; North Caro- lina tobacco 8 to 15, and Virginia tobacco 15 to 50 cts. per lb. (They can't beat us so badly as that now!) New Orleans sugar
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is quoted from 6 to 8, and " double-refined " 14 to 17 cts. per lb. The "Charleston Prices Current," in the issue of the News for January 24, 1846, quotes corn 65 to 70, and oats 46 cts. a bushel ; peach brandy $1, and " Northern whiskey " 26 to 27 cts. a gallon !
In the summer of 1845, the proprietor of the Warm-Springs Hotel, Jno. E. Patton, (still living, near Asheville,) takes a full-page advertisement in the News, printed in large letters, leaving out the column-rules, in which he announces that the rates for board will be 75 cents a day, or $5.00 a week, during the season. (N. B .- The above prices are somewhat lower than those now charged at this famous watering place.) Mr. Patton also announces that he has engaged the services of a brass band for the season. Daily stages and mails are among the inducements held out to the health and pleasure seeker; and the use of "common tene- ments " is offered gratuitously to those who wish to secure the benefit of the waters, but who are unable to pay for accommoda- tions at the hotel.
In the issue for June 6, 1845, the latest news from New York is dated May 20; and by the "remarkably fast passage of the Brittania, only 16 days from Liverpool," the news of Europe to May 4, is secured. This must have seemed phenomenal to the citizens of Asheville at that day-the same when Horace Greely, Jas. Gordon Bennett, and Henry Raymond, were such rivals in their enterprising efforts to get the first news from the incoming European steamers. In the same issue we also see that O'Con- nell and "Repeal" were raising a stir in Ireland-that sweet isle, which hasn't yet stopped furnishing exciting intelligence to the world; only we get it a little fresher now than then.
From the advertising columns of the same paper, we find the rates for board in 1850 at the Asheville Hotel, now the Carolina House, were $7.00 to $8.00 per month, and that candles and fuel were " extras." From this year up to and during the war, very few copies of the Asheville Neros are in existence ; which is a great pity, and will prove an irreparable loss to the future historian of the city and county.
At the breaking out of the late war, in 1861, Asheville was the
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home of a large number of men of standing and influence, who all acted with a common impulse in furthering the cause of the South. Company after company was formed, organized, and equipped for the service; and not a few of the brave boys of Asheville and Buncombe county were destined soon to give up their lives, fighting for their homes, on the battle field. The first company to leave for the scene of strife was the Buncombe Rifles, W. W. McDowell, captain; and the second, the Rough and Ready Guards, with Z. B. Vance (now Senator) at its head. During the sanguinary struggle which laid waste some of the fair- est portions of the South, Asheville was but little troubled by the invading armies. In the spring of 1865, a party of about 1,500 Yankees, attempting to enter the place, was met and routed, after a sharp skirmish, at the Woodfin farm, on the French- Broad, two miles north of town, by the Confederate forces then stationed in Asheville. Stoneman and Brown, with their com- mands, passed through the town in the May after the Surrender, and Northern troops, under various commanders, were stationed at Camp Patton (which had been used as a place of encampment at various times by the Confederates during the war,) for a year afterwards ; but no fighting was done, and Asheville happily escaped the bloody scenes witnessed by so many Southern cities during the progress of the fratricidal strife.
SINCE THE WAR.
ASHEVILLE AS A SUMMER RESORT.
URING the war business suffered, of course, for the men were all in the field; but with the cessation of hostilities, things again took an upward turn, and prosperity soon began to dawn-a prosperity which has suffered no retrocession since. In 1850 the population of Asheville was about 800; in
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1860, 1, 100, and in 1870, 1,450; the rapid increase being largely due to the fame the town was acquiring abroad as a resort for health and pleasure seekers. Thousands of strangers from the South, besides numbers from the North and East, now visit Asheville every summer, to enjoy the fine breezes of the moun- tains, and the social pleasures of the city, which is fast taking rank as the leading summer resort of the Southern States. Three large, elegant, and well-kept hotels, capable of accom- modating from 150 to 300 guests each; three others, with capacities ranging from 50 to 100 guests; besides boarding houses innumerable, serve the wants of the army of tourists who flock here during the heated term.
Another hotel, to cost $100,000, exclusive of furniture, is to be ready for the season of 1884. It is now under way, in the midst of an extensive park, on an eminence, in the centre of the city, and is designed to accommodate from 500 to 600 guests. It will be, when completed, one of the largest and most magnifi- cent hotels in the South.
The livery service of Asheville is unsurpassed, yet it is taxed to its utmost capacity during the season. The delightful drives along the shaded banks of the French-Broad and Swannanoa rivers, and the roads to celebrated "views" and mountain peaks in the vicinity, are thronged with carriages and equestrians every day. Carriage and horseback riding seem to be the principal, and, indeed, almost the only, open-air pleasures indulged in by our summer visitors. They seldom fish; they never hunt, and the bare thought of a pedestrian tour through the mountains would strike a chill of horror to the heart of many a gallant "carpet knight." Almost every night during the season, balls are given at some one of the principal hotels, with fine bands of music in attendance; everything being free to all devotees of Terpsichore, as well as to the guests of the house. Skating rinks, billiard halls, and the Public Library reading room are all places where the long hours can be made to drift pleasantly into the past. Indeed, the visitor to Asheville need never suffer for
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lack of amusements; for, in addition to those already named, the trout-fishing and hunting within easy distance is superb, and parties to "rough it" in the grand old mountains, by which the city is surrounded, can always be made up. Mt. Mitchell, 6,71I feet, the highest peak in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and celebrated as the scene of the tragic death of Dr. Elisha Mitchell, who was the first to make accurate surveys of elevations in the Southern Plateau of the Alleghanies, is within a day's ride of Asheville; and Craggy, Pisgah, and other noted peaks and mountain ranges can be reached in less time.
THE BUSINESS OF THE CITY-ITS POPULATION AND WEALTH-ITS FUTURE.
HE business men of Asheville are an active and enter prising body; ever ready to embark in a paying invest- Govarve ment; ever honorable in their transactions with their customers, with each other, and with the wholesale dealers and manufacturers from whom they purchase their stocks; so, at home and abroad, the character and credit of our merchants stand deservedly very high. The amount of capital at present invested in all branches of business in the city, does not fall far short of $1,500,000.
A glance over the first parts of this book will show in detail the number and variety of the industrial pursuits of the citizens of Asheville; but a partial recapitulation here will not be out of place. We find in the city between 40 and 50 stores where general merchandise is sold; 8 or 10 doing a jobbing in addi- tion to a retail trade. Only one house does an exclusively wholesale business, but its transactions are very large. Two wholesale and retail hardware houses, both dealing also in agri- cultural implements; I wholesale and retail dealer in stoves and tinware, and 3 tinner's shops. One jeweler, 2 dealers in silver-
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ware, 2 in china and glassware, and I in Florida curiosities ; 4 millinery establishments, and 4 dealers in sewing machines; I bank, 5 real-estate and insurance agents, representing twenty- eight first-class companies, and over $200,000,000 of capital ; 6 liquor dealers, 2 being wholesale and retail, and 5 druggists ; 3 booksellers and news-dealers, and 2 newspapers. We also find 2 manufacturers of sash, doors and blinds, and 2 dealers in the same ; 3 lumber yards, 6 brick-yards, (not including places where builders make their own brick,) I foundry and machine shop, 2 planing mills, 2 corn and 2 flouring mills ; 2 carriage and wagon manufacturers ; 8 blacksmiths, 2 coopers, 4 painters, and 15 firms of contractors and builders. There are 3 furniture dealers, 4 cabinetmakers, I undertaker, and I marble yard; 8 shoemakers, 3 saddlers, and I tan-yard. There are 3 bakers, 5 butchers, 5 dealers in confectioneries and fruits; 6 hotels, about 50 boarding houses, and 6 livery stables. The tobacco interest is represented by 4 warehouses, 4 factories, and 18 firms of leaf- dealers. Of professional men, there are 6 dentists, 10 physi- cians (one being a lady), and 21 firms of attorneys.
Of course it will be understood that in the above list no mechanics but those running shops or employing workmen are included; there are several hundred journeymen mechanics in Asheville, most of them being skilful artisans.
The population of the city at the various decennial periods from 1830 to 1870 has been already given. By the census of 1880, 2,616 inhabitants were returned. In April of the present year (1883), the publisher of this work took a careful census, and found that there were 3,874 residents in Asheville: white males 1,235, white females 1,173 ; total whites, 2,408; colored males 717, colored females 749; total colored, 1,466-grand total, 3,874; showing an increase of 1,258, or 48. I per cent. in the 22 months which had elapsed since the census of June, 1880. Now, allowing for a proportionate growth in the five months from April to September, 1883, (and this no one will gainsay,) we have to-day 4,160 inhabitants in the city.
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