USA > North Carolina > Western North Carolina; a history, 1730-1913 > Part 7
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REMAINS OF FORT LOUDON. In June, 1913, Col. J. Fain Anderson, a noted historian of Washington College, Tenn., visited Fort Loudon, and found the outline of the ditches and breastworks still visible. The old well was walled up, but the wall has fallen in. He says there were twelve small iron cannon in this fort in 1756, all of which had been "packed
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over the mountains on horses," and that a Mr. Steele who lives at McGee's Station-the nearest railroad station to the old fort-has a piece of one of them which his father ploughed up over forty years ago. The land on which the fort stood now belongs to James Anderson, a relative of J. F. Anderson, near the mouth of Tellico creek. But no tablet marks the site of this first outpost of our pioneer ancestors.
WESTWARD THE COURSE OF EMPIRE TAKES ITS WAY. From Judge A. C. Avery's "Historic Homes of North Caro- lina" (N. C. Booklet, Vol. iv, No. 3) we get a glimpse of the slow approach of the whites of the Blue Ridge : "According to tradition the Quaker Meadows farm near Morganton was so called long before the McDowells or any other whites established homes in Burke county, and derived its name from the fact that the Indians, after clearing parts of the broad and fertile bottoms, had suffered the wild grass to spring up and form a large meadow, near which a Quaker had camped before the French and Indian War, and traded for furs." This was none other than Bishop I. Spangenberg, the Moravian, who, on the 19th of November, 1752, (Vol. v, Colonial Records, p. 6) records in his diary that he was en- camped near Quaker Meadows "in the forest 50 miles from any settlement."
THE MCDOWELL FAMILY. Judge Avery goes on to give some account of the McDowells : Ephraim McDowell, the first of the name in this country, having emigrated from the north of Ireland, when at the age of 62, accompanied by two sons, settled at the old McDowell home in Rockbridge coun- ty, Virginia. His grandson Joseph and his grandnephew "Hunting John" moved South about 1760, but owing to the French and Indian War went to the northern border of South Carolina, where their sturdy Scotch-Irish friends had already named three counties of the State, York, Chester and Lancas- ter. One reason for the late settlement of these Piedmont regions was because the English land agents dumped the Scotch-Irish and German immigrants in Pennsylvania, from which State some moved as soon as possible to the unclaimed lands of the South.
"HUNTING JOHN" AND HIS SPORTING FRIENDS. "But as soon as the French and Indian war permitted the McDow- ells removed to Burke. 'Hunting John' was so called be-
.
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cause of his venturing into the wilderness in pursuit of game, and was probably the first to live at his beautiful home, Pleasant Gardens, in the Catawba Valley, in what is now McDowell county. About this time also his cousin Joseph set- tled at Quaker Meadows; though 'Hunting John' first en- tered Swan Ponds, about three miles above Quaker Meadows, but afterwards sold it, without having occupied it, to Waight- still Avery. . The McDowells and Carsons of that day and later reared thorough-bred horses, and made race-paths in the broad lowlands of every large farm. They were su- perb horsemen, crack shots and trained hunters. John McDowell of Pleasant Gardens was a Nimrod when he lived in Virginia, and we learn from tradition that he acted as guide for his cousins over the hunting grounds when, at the risk of their lives, they, with their kinsmen, James Greenlee and Captain Bowman, [who fell at Ramseur's Mill in the Revo- lutionary War] traveled over and inspected the valley of the Catawba from Morganton to Old Fort, and selected the large domain allotted to each of them."
LOG CABIN LADIES' WHIMS. "They built and occupied strings of cabins, because the few plank or boards used by them were sawed by hand and the nails driven into them were shaped in a blacksmith's shop. I have seen many old buildings, such as the old houses at Fort Defiance, the Lenoir house and Swan Ponds, where every plank was fastened by a wrought nail with a large round head-sometimes half an inch in diameter. From these houses the lordly old propri- etors could in half an hour go to the water or the woods and provide fish, deer or turkeys to meet the whim of the lady of the house. They combined the pleasure of sport with the profit of providing their tables. . . . 'Hunting John' prob-
ably died in 1775."
LIVING WITHOUT LAW OR GOSPEL? William Byrd, the Vir- ginia commissioner who helped to run the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia in 1728, wrote to Governor Bar- rington, July 20, 1731, 18 that it "must be owned that North Carolina is a very happy country where people may live with the least labor that they can in any part of the world, " and "are accustomed to live without law or gospel, and will with great reluctance submit to either." This is still true of North Carolina, except the statement-which was never true-that
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we were accustomed to live without law or gospel in 1731; for when this identical gentleman was seeking to get paid for his services as a commissioner to run the boundary line in 1728, he wrote the Board of Trade that the Reverend Peter Foun- tain, the chaplain of that survey "christened over 100 chil- dren among the settlers along the line in North Carolina."
A "BIRD" WHO SPELT HIS NAME IMPROPERLY. In spite of his animadversions upon the pioneer settlers of the eastern part of our State, we must always incline to forgive Col. Wil- liam Byrd of Westover after reading his piquant and learned disquisitions upon many matters in the "Dividing Line." He must truly have been what we of more modern times call a "Bird," although he spelt his name with a y.
WHERE EVERY DAY WAS SUNDAY. 19 Following are Col. Byrd's Pictures of Colonial Days: "Our Chaplain, for his Part, did his Office, and rubb'd us up with a Seasonable Ser- mon. This was quite a new Thing to our Brethren of North Carolina, who live in a climate where no clergyman can Breathe any more than Spiders in Ireland. For want of men in Holy Or- ders, both the Members of the Council and Justices of the Peace are empowered by the Laws of that Country to marry all those who will not take One another's Word; but for the ceremony of Christening their children, they trust that to chance. If a parson come in their way, they will crave a Cast of his office, as they call it, else they are content their Offspring should remain Arrant Pagans as themselves. They account it among their greatest advantages that they are not Priest-ridden, not remembering that the Clergy is rarely guilty of Bestriding such as have the misfortune to be poor. . . . One thing may be said for the Inhabitants of that Pro- vince, that they are not troubled with any Religious Fumes, and have the least Superstition of any People living. They do not know Sunday from any other day, any more than Robinson Crusoe did, which would give them a great Advan- tage were they given to be industrious. But they keep so many Sabbaths every week, that their disregard of the Seventh Day has no manner of cruelty in it, either to servants or cattle."
NYMPH ECHO IN THE DISMAL SWAMP. 20 Once, when sep- arated from their companions, Col. Byrd "ordered Guns to be fired and a drum to be beaten, but received no Answer,
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unless it was from that prating Nymph Echo, who, like a loquacious Wife, will always have the last word, and Some- times return three for one."
THEY BROUGHT NO CAPONS FOR THE PARSON. 21 Some of the people were apprehensive that the survey would throw their homes into Virginia. "In that case they must have sub- mitted to some Sort of Order and Government; whereas, in North Carolina, every One does what seems best in his own Eyes. There were some good Women that brought their children to be Baptiz'd, but brought no Capons along with them to make the solemnity cheerful. In the meantime it was Strange that none came to be marry'd in such a Multi- tude, if it had only been for the Novelty of having their Hands Joyn'd by one in Holy Orders. Yet so it was, that tho' our chaplain Christen'd above an Hundred, he did not marry so much as one Couple during the whole Expedition. But marriage is reckon'd a Lay contract, as I said before, and a Country Justice can tie the fatal Knot there, as fast as an Arch- bishop."
GENTLEMEN SMELL LIQUOR THIRTY MILES. 22 "We had several Visitors from Edenton [who] . . . having good Noses, had smelt out, at 30 Miles Distance, the Precious Liquor, with which the Liberality of our good Friend Mr. Mead had just before supply'd us. That generous Person had judg'd very right, that we were now got out of the Latitude of Drink proper for men in Affliction, and therefore was so good as to send his Cart loaden with all sorts of refreshments, for which the Commissioners return'd Him their Thanks, and the Chap- lain His Blessing."
GETTING UP AN APPETITE FOR DOG. 23 "The Surveyors and their Attendants began now in good earnest to be alarm- ed with Apprehensions of Famine, nor could they forbear look- ing with Some Sort of Appetite upon a dog that had been the faithful Companion of their Travels."
POVERTY WITH CONTENTMENT. 24 The following is Col. Byrd's idea of some of our people who lived near Edenton in 1728:
"Surely there is no place in the world where the Inhabitants live with less labor than in North Carolina? It approaches nearer to the descrip- tion of Lubberland than any other, by the great felicity of the Climate, the easiness of raising provisions, and the Slothfulness of the People. ..
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The Men, for their Parts, just like the Indians, impose all the Work upon the poor Women. They make their Wives rise out of their Beds early in the morning, at the same time that they lye and Snore, till the sun has run one third his course, and disperst all the unwholesome damps. Then, after Stretching and Yawning for half an Hour, they light their Pipes, and, under the Protection of a cloud of Smoak, venture out into the open Air; tho', if it happens to be never so little cold they quickly return Shivering into the Chimney corner. When the weather is mild, they stand leaning with both their arms upon the corn-field fence, and gravely consider whether they had best go and take a Small Heat at the Hough; but generally find reasons to put it off till another time. Thus they loiter away their lives, like Solomon's Sluggard, with their arms across, and at the Winding up of the Year Scarcely have Bread to Eat. To speak the truth, 'tis aversion to Labor that makes People file off to N. Carolina, where Plenty and a warm Sun confirm them in their disposition to Laziness for their whole Lives."
OUR COMMISSIONER TREATS THE PARSON TO A FRICASSEE OF RUM. 25 The chaplain went once to Edenton, accompanied by Mr. Little, one of the North Carolina commissioners, "who to shew his regard for the Church, offer'd to treat Him on the Road with a fricassee of Rum. They fry'd half a Doz- en Rashers of very fat Bacon in a Pint of Rum, both of which being disht up together, served the Company at once for meat and Drink."
THE DEMOCRACY OF THE COLONISTS. 26 "They are rarely guilty of Flattering or making any Court to their governors, but treat them with all the Excesses of Freedom and Famil- iarity. They are of opinion their rulers wou'd be apt to grow insolent, if they grew Rich, and for that reason take care to keep them poorer, and more dependent, if possible than the Saints in New England used to do their Governors."
THE MEN OF ALAMANCE. Meantime the exactions of the British tax collectors had brought on the Regulators War, and the battle of Alamance in May, 1771, resulted in the departure of a "company of fourteen families" from "the present county of Wake to make new homes across the mountains. 27 The men led the way and often had to clear a road with their axes. Behind the axmen went a mixed procession of women, children, dogs, cows and pack-horses loaded with kettles and beds." These settled in Tennessee on the Watauga river. James Robertson, "a cool, brave, sweet-natured man was the leader of the company." Then came John Sevier and many others. In the language of the
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Hon. George Bancroft, historian and at that time minister to England, "it is a mistake if anyone have supposed that the Regulators were cowed down by their defeat at Alamance. Like the mammoth, they took the bolt from their brow and crossed the mountains." Of them and those who followed them, Hon. John Allison in his "Dropped Stitches of Ten- nessee History" (p. 37) says:
"The people who made it possible for Tennessee to have a centennial were a wonderful people. Within a period of about fifteen years they were engaged in three revolutions; participated in organizing and lived under five different governments; established and administered the first free and independent government in America, founded the first church and the first college in the Southwest; put in operation the second newspaper in the 'New World West of the Alleghanies'; met and fought the British in half a dozen battles, from Kings Mountain to the gates of Charleston, gaining a victory in every battle; held in check, beat back and finally expelled from the country four of the most power- ful tribes of Indian warriors in America; and left Tennesseans their fame as a heritage, and a commonwealth of which it is their privilege to be proud."
THE FREEST OF THE FREE. The historian, George Ban- croft, exclaims: "Are there any who doubt man's capacity for self-government? Let them study the history of North Carolina. Its inhabitants were restless and turbulent in their imperfect submission to a government imposed from abroad; the administration of the colony was firm, humane and tran- quil when they were left to take care of themselves. Any government but one of their own institution was oppres- sive. North Carolina was settled by the freest of the free. " 2 8
THE FIRST PUBLIC DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. This was made at Halifax, N. C., by the Provisional Congress, April 12, 1776, when its delegates to the Continental Con- gress were authorized to concur with other delegates in "declaring independence and forming foreign alliances," reserving the right of forming a constitution and laws for North Carolina.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH; THEIR ORIGIN AND RELIGION. 29 "Men will not be fully able to understand Carolina till they have opened the treasures of history and drawn forth some few particulars respecting the origin and religious habits of the Scotch-Irish and become familiar with their doings previous to the Revolution-during that painful struggle-and the
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succeeding years of prosperity; and Carolina will be respected as she is knwon."
IN PIONEER DAYS. 30 The men and boys wore moccasins, short pantaloons and leather leggings, hunting shirts, which were usually of dressed deerskin, cut like the modern shirt, open the entire length in front and fastened by a belt. In this belt were carried a small hatchet and a long, sharp hunting knife. They wore caps of mink or coon skin, with the tail hanging behind for a tassel. The rifles were long, muzzle- loading, flint-locks, and in a pouch hung over one shoulder were carried gun-wipers, tow, patching, bullets, and flints, while fastened to the strap was a horn for powder. The women and girls wore sun bonnets, as a rule, and had little time to spend on tucks and ruffles. There was no place at which to buy things except the stores of Indian traders, and they had very few things white people wanted. . . . The pioneer moved into a new country on foot or on horse back and brought his household goods on pack horses. They were about as follows : The family clothing, some blankets and a few other bed clothes, with bed ticks to be filled with grass or hair, a large pot, a pair of pothooks, an oven with lid, a skillet, and a frying pan, a hand mill to grind grain, a wooden trencher in which to make bread, a few pewter plates, spoons, and other dishes, some axes and hoes, the iron parts of plows, a broadax, a froe, a saw and an auger. Added to these were supplies of seed for field and vegetable crops, and a few fruit trees. When their destination was reached the men and boys cut trees and built a log house, split boards with the froe and made a roof which was held on by weight poles, no nails be- ing available. Puncheons were made by splitting logs and hewing the flat sides smooth for floors and door shutters. Some chimneys were made of split sticks covered on the in- side with a heavy coating of clay; but usually stones were used for this purpose, as they were plentiful. The spaces between the log walls were filled in by mortar, called chinks and dobbin. Rough bedsteads were fixed in the corners of the rooms farthest from the fire place, and rude tables and benches were constructed, with three-legged stools as seats. Pegs were driven into the walls, and on the horns of bucks the rifle was usually suspended above the door. Windows were few and unglazed. Then followed the spinning wheel,
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the reel, and the hand loom. Cards for wool had to be bought. The horses and cattle were turned into the woods to eat grass in summer and cane in winter, being enticed home at night by a small bait of salt or grain. The small trees and bushes were cut and their roots grubbed up, while the larger trees were girdled and left to die and become leaf- less. Rails were made and the clearing fenced in, the brush was piled and burnt, and the land was plowed and planted. After the first crop the settler usually had plenty, for his land was new and rich. Indeed, the older farmers of this region were so accustomed to clearing a "new patch" when the first was worn out, instead of restoring the old land by modern methods, that even at this time they know little or nothing of reclaiming exhausted land. Cooking was done on the open hearths by the women who dressed the skins of wild animals and brought water from the spring in rude pails, milked the cows, cut firewood, spun, wove, knit, washed the clothing, and tended the bees, chickens and gardens. When the men and boys were not at work in the fields they were hunting for game. After the first settlement time was found for cut- ting down the larger trees for fields, and the logs were rolled together by the help of neighbors and burned. The first rude cabin home was turned into a stable or barn and a larger and better log house constructed. When the logs had been hewed and notched neighbors were invited to help in raising the walls. The log-rollings and house-raisings were occasions for large dinners, some drinking of brandy and whiskey, games and sports of various kinds. There were no schools and no churches at first, and no wagon roads; but all these things followed slowly.
OTHER EARLY EXPLORERS. In the case of Avery v. Walker, (8 N. C., p. 117) it appears that Col. James Hubbard and Captain John Hill had "been members of Col. George Do- horty's party" and explored "the section of country around Bryson City, Swain county, shortly before April 22, 1795"; that Col. John Patton, the father of Lorenzo and Montreville Patton of Buncombe, and who owned the meadow land on the Swannanoa river which was sold to George W. Vander- bilt by Preston Patton, and the "haunted house" at the ford of that river, when the stage road left South Main street at what is now Victoria Road and crossed the Swannanoa, there,
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instead of at Biltmore, was then county surveyor of Bun- combe, and refused to survey land on Ocona Lufty for Waight- still Avery because it was "on the frontier and the Indian boundary had not then actually been run out, and it might be dangerous to survey near the line." Also that Dohorty's party had a battle with the Indians at the mouth of Soco creek, and that what is now Bryson city was then called Big Bear's village. In Eu-Che-Lah v. Welch (10 N. C., p. 158) will be found an exhaustive study of the laws of Great Britain in colonial days regarding the granting of Indian lands and of the various treaties made by the State with the Cherokee In- dians since July 4, 1776.
NOTES.
1Roosevelt, Vol. III, 276 to 280.
"Ibid.
"Hill, pp. 32, 116.
Ibid., p. 121
"Ibid., pp. 89, 90, 116.
"There were other Old Fields, doubtless made by Indians years before America was discovered, at the mouth of Gap creek in Ashe; at Valle Crucis in Watauga, at Old Fields of Toe in Avery, at "The Meadows" in Graham, and at numerous other level places.
"There is a family of Perkinses living at Old Field now, 1912, the descendants of Luther Perkins.
"Thwaites, p. 14.
"Ibid., p. 15, and Col. Rec., Vol. IV, p. 1073.
"From R. G. McGee's "A History of Tennessee."
11Ibid.
""Thwaites, pp. 46-47.
18Ibid., p. 37.
1'Ibid., p. 41.
1'Ibid., p. 42.
"Ibid., p. 48.
17Ibid., p. 59.
1ªCol. Rec., Vol. III, pp. xii and 194. Thwaite also says: "There was for a long time neither law nor gospel, upon this far-away frontier. Justices of the Peace had small authority. Preachers were at first unknown." "Daniel Boone," p. 33. 1ºByrd, 60-61.
** Ibid., 62.
"1Ibid, 63.
"Ibid.
""Ibid., 66-67.
"Ibid., 75-76.
"Ibid., 76.
"Ibid., 80-81.
17McGee, p. 214.
">Asheville's Centenary.
"Foote's Sketches, p. 83.
"Condensed from G. R. McGee's "A History of Tennessee."
CHAPTER IV
DANIEL BOONE
Just as seven cities contended for the honor of having been the birthplace of Homer; so, too, many states are proud to boast that Boone once lived within their borders. But North Carolina was the home of his boyhood, his young manhood and the State in which he chose his wife. From his home at Holman's Ford he passed to his cabin in the village of Boone on frequent occasions, making hunting trips from that point into the surrounding mountains. From there, too, he started on his trips into Kentucky.
From an address read by Miss Esther Ransom, daughter of the late U. S. Senator Matt. W. Ransom, to Thomas Polk Chapter, D. A. R., the following is copied :
"It has been argued that Boone did not fight in the Revolutionary war. This is true. He was too busy fighting Indians in Kentucky, the 'dark and bloody ground.' Let me impress it upon you that but for Boone and Clark and Denton and the other Indian fighters there wouldn't have been any Revolutionary war; no Kings Mountain, no Guilford Court House, no Yorktown. The Indians were natural allies of the British. British money supplied them with arms and ammunition and King George III was constantly inciting them through his officers, to murder and destroy the Patriots.
"Just suppose for a moment if, at Kings Mountain where the moun- tain men surrendered Ferguson they, in their turn, had been surrounded by five hundred or a thousand Indians. The day would have ended in dire disaster and it would have taken another Cæsar to have rescued the Patriots from that terrible predicament.
"Daniel Boone did as much or more service for our country in fight- ing Indians and keeping them back as if he had served in the war with Washington and Green.
"Like Washington, Boone was a surveyor. He surveyed nearly all the land in Kentucky. He was a law maker. He passed a law for the protection of game in Kentucky and also one for keeping up the breed of fine horses.
"Roosevelt in his vigorous English calls him 'Road-Builder, town-maker and Commonwealth founder,' and when Kentucky had representation in Virignia, Boone sat in the house of commons as a Burgess.
"He might be styled the 'Nimrod' of the United States, for truly 'He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.'"
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JOHN FINLEY. Finley was the Scotch-Irishman who had descended the Ohio river as far as Louisville in 1752; and who, after Boone's return from his trip to the Big Sandy in 1767, turned up at Boone's cabin at Holman's Ford in the winter of 1768-69.1 He had suggested when on the Brad- dock expedition that Boone might reach Kentucky "by fol- lowing the trail of the buffaloes and the Shawnese, northwest- ward through Cumberland gap."? "Scaling the lofty Blue Ridge, the explorers passed over Stone and Iron mountains and reached Holston Valley, whence they proceeded through Moccasin gap of Clinch mountain and crossed over interven- ing rivers and densely wooded hills until they came to Powell's Valley, then the furthest limits of white settlement. Here they found a hunters' trail which led them through Cumber- land gap."3 If they did this by the easiest and shortest route, they passed up the Shawnee trail on the ridge between Elk and Stony forks through Cooks gap, down by Three Forks of New river, through what is now Boone village and Hodges gap, across the Grave Yard gap down to Dog Skin creek, following the base of Rich mountain to State Line gap be- tween Zionville and Trade to the head of Roan creek to the crossing of the two Indian trails at what is now Shoun's Cross Roads, and thence over the Iron mountains. Any other route would have been deliberately to go wrong for the sake of doing so. From any eminence that route seemed to have been marked out by nature.
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