North Carolina booklet : great events in North Carolina history

              Vol. IX. JANUARY. 1910 No. 3
B/?e
North Carolina Booklet
GREAT EVENTS
IN
NORTH CAROLINA
HISTORY
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
BY
THE NORTH CAkOLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS oFmE REVOLUTION
RALEIGH. N. C.
CONTENTS
The History of Lincoln County, ....
By Alfred Nixon
Our State Motto and Its Origin,
By Chief Justice Walter Clark
The Work Done by the D. R. in Pasquotank County,
By C. F. S. A.
Biographical and Genealogical Memoranda, .
By Mrs. E. E. Moffitt
Abstracts of Wills,
By Mrs. H. DeB. Wills
Page
111
179
183
185
194
SINGLE NUMBERS 35 CENTS $1.00 THE YEAR
^•X"^"^"X"^"^"X"»'^"^"X"X"X"X"^"X"X-&i^gi^!g^^"^-&
ENTERED IN THE POST-OFFICE AT RALEIGH, N. C, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.
The V )rth Carolina Booklet
Great Events in North Carolina History.
Volume IX of the Booklet will be issued quarterly by the North
Carolina Society Daughters of the Revolution, Raleigh, N. C, beginning
July, 1909. Each Booklet will contain three articles and will be pub-lished
in July, October, January and April. Price $1.00 per year, 35
cents for single copy.
Editors :
Miss Mary Hilliard Hinton. Mrs. E. E. Moi-fitt.
VOLUME IX.
General Joseph Grraham Mrs. Walter Clark.
Indians, Slaves, and Tories: Our Early Legislation Regarding Them,
Mr. Clarence H. Poe.
General Thomas Person .Dr. Stephen B. Weeks.
History of Lincoln County Mr. Alfred Nixon.
History of States Rights in North Carolina Down to 1840,
Professor H. M. Wagstaff.
George Durant Captain B. A. Ashe.
Historic Duels of North Carolina Mr. F. M. Harper.
The Early History of Medicine in North Carolina,
Dr. Hubert Boyster.
Der North Carolina Laud und Colonie Etablissement,
Miss Adelaide Fries.
Our Colonial Historians: Hakluyt, Lawson, Brickie, Williamson,
Right Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, D.D.
This list of subjects may be changed, as circumstances sometimes
prevent the writers from keeping their engagements.
The histories of the separate counties will in future be a special
feature of the Booklet. When necessary, an entire issue will be devoted
to a paper on one county.
The Booklet will contain short biographical sketches of the writers
who have contributed to this publication, by Mrs. E. E. Moffitt.
The Booklet will print abstracts of wills prior to 1760, as sources of
biography, history and genealogy, by Mrs. Helen DeB. Wills.
Parties who wish to renew their subscriptions to the Booklet for
Vol. IX, are requested to give notice at once.
Many numbers of Volumes I to VIII for sale.
Thk North Caroi^ina Booki^kt,
Address
MISS MARY HILLIARD HINTON,
"Midway Plantation,"
Raleigh, N. C.
HON. WALTER CLARK
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Vol. IX JANUARY, 1910 No. 3
^he
floHTH CflROIilflfl BoOKIiET
'Carolina! Carolina! Heave?i' s blessi7igs attend her
!
While we live we will cherish^ protect and defe7id her.'
Published by
THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
The object of the Booklet is to aid in developing and preserving
North Carolina History. The proceeds arising from its publication will
be devoted to patriotic purposes. Editors.
ADVISORY BOARD OF THE NORTH CAROLINA
BOOKLET.
Mrs. Spier Whitaker. Me. R. D. W. Connob.
Dr. D. H. Hill. Dr. E. W. Sikes.
Mr. W. J. Peele. Dr. Richard Dillabd.
Dr. Keiip p. Battle. Mr. James Spkunt.
Mr. Marshall DeLancey Haywood. Judge Walter Clark.
EDITORS :
Miss Mary Milliard Hinton, Mrs. E E. Moffitt.
OFFICERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION,
1906-1908.
regent :
Mrs. E. E. MOFFITT.
VICE-REGENT
Mrs. WALTER CLARK, j
HONORARY REGENT:
Mrs. spier WHITAKER.
RECORDING SECRETARY:
Mrs. LEIGH SKINNER.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
:
Mrs. PAUL H. LEE.
TREASURER
Mrs. FRANK SHERWOOD.
REGISTRAR
Miss MARY BILLIARD HINTON.
GENEALOGIST
Mrs. HELEN De BERNIERE WILLS.
Founder of the North Carolina Society and Regent 1896-1902:
Mfs. spier WHITAKER.
REGENT 1902:
Mrs. D. H. hill, Sr.*
REGENT 1902-1906:
Mrs. THOMAS K. BRUNER.
*Died December 12, 1904. fDied December 10, 1909.
THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Vol. IX JANUARY, 1910 No. 3
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
BY ALFRED NIXON.
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
Lincoln County was born mid the throes of the American
llevolution, and christened for a patriot soldier, then battling
for independence. Prior to that time, while Carolina was a
Province of Great Britain, in the bestowal of names there was
manifest a desire to please royalty : ISTew Hanover was called
for the House of Hanover ; Bladen, in honor of Martin Bla-den,
one of the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Planta-tions
; Anson, set up in 1Y49 from Bladen, derived its name
from Admiral Anson, of the English ISTavy, who in 1761 was
charged with the mission of bringing to her marriage with
George the Third, Charlotte of Mecklenburg. So, when the
western part of Anson was set up into a county in 1762, it
was called Mecklenburg, with county seat the Queen City of
Charlotte, in compliment to the wife of His Majesty, George
the Thil-d. As the settlements extended westward from the
Atlantic seaboard new counties were formed to meet the con-venience
of the inhabitants. In 1768, Mecklenburg was
divided "by a line beginning at Earl Granville's line where
it crosses the Catawba Biver and the said river to be the line
to the South Carolina line, and all that part of the county
lying to the westward of the said dividing line shall be one
other distinct county and parish, and remain by the name of
Tryon County and Saint Thomas Parish." The name Tryon
was given in honor of His Excellency, William Tryon, Royal
Governor of the Province.
112 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
William Tryon, an officer in the regular army of Great
Britain, landed at Cape Fear October the 10th, 1764, with
a commission as Lieutenant-Governor of the Province. His
administration as Governor of JSTorth Carolina lasted from
the death of Governor Dobbs, 28th March, 1765, to the 30th
day of June, 1771, when he was appointed Governor of ISTew
York. In the rupture with Great Britain he was a Major-
General in command of American Loyalists, vainly endeav-oring
to re-establish Royal Rule. He remained nominally
Governor of 'New York until March 22, 1780. The name of
Governor Tryon appears at the head of the list of names
enumerated in the confiscation acts of both ISTorth Caro-lina
and New York, and the county of Tryon in each of
these States was enpunged from the map. Tryon Mountain
and Tryon City in the county of Polk, and one of the princi-pal
streets in the city of Charlotte yet preserve his name.
Shortly after relinquishing the government of ISTew York, he
failed for England, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-
General. He died in London, the 27th of January, 1788,
aged 58 years.
The War of the Revolution rages. The patriots are bat-tling
for independence. Opj)ressions of the Royal Governor
have made his name odious. "The large extent of the county
of Tryon renders the attendance of the inhabitants on the
extreme parts of the said county to do public duties extremely
difiicult and expensive. For remedy whereof," the General
Assembly in 1779, instead of setting the western part off
into a new county, as had been its custom, blotted the name
of Tryon from the list of counties and divided its territory
into two counties, "by a line beginning at the south line near
Broad River, thence along the dividing ridge between Buf-falo
Creek and Little Broad River to the line of Burke
County" ; and to the two counties thus formed were given
the names of two patriotic soldiers. The western portion was
THE HISTORY OF LUSrCOLN COUNTY. 113
named Rutherford in honor of Griffith Rutherford, of Rowan
County, a Brigadier-General in the Revolution ; and the
eastern portion Lincoln, in compliment to Maj .-Gen. Benja-min
Lincoln, of Rhode Island, commander of the Southern
armies.
Benjamin Lincoln was born January 23d, 1733, at Hing-ham,
about thirteen miles from Boston. In February, 1777,
he was appointed Major-General in the Revolutionary Army
and served with gallantry throughout the struggle. At the
i-equest of the delegation in Congress from South Carolina,
he was assigned to command the Army in the South. In
1780 General Lincoln was forced to surrender to the superior
force of the British at Charleston. When exchanged he
resumed the service, and was at the surrender of Cornwallis
at Yorktown, where the generous Washington designated him
to receive the conquered arms of the British. He was ap-pointed
Secretary of War in 1781, with permission to retain
his rank in the army. He died in the house of his birth 9th
of May, 1810.
When Tryon was divided the Tryon court-house fell in
Lincoln County, and the courts of Lincoln were held there
until April, 1783, and the Tryon records are still in Lincoln-ton.
The pioneers came into what is now Lincoln County
between the years 1745 and 1749, when it was Bladen
County; they continued to come until the American Revolu-tion.
So the pioneer history of Lincoln County is covered
by Bladen, Anson, Mecklenburg and Tryon counties. The
Tryon records cover ten years of the Colonial history of Lin-coln
County, 1769 to 1779. When Tryon was formed, the
first settlers had not been here more than a score of years.
The Tryon records contain many quaint things, mingled with
matters of grave public concern, and a glance at them is of
interest to the student of Lincoln County history.
114 THE JSrORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
TRYON COUNTY.
In a letter of Governor Tryon of date December 12th, 1768,
he describes Tryon County as "forty-five miles in breadth due
north and south and eighty miles due east and west it having
been found to be that distance from the Catawba River to
the western frontier line which was run last year between the
Cherokee hunting grounds and this Province." The site for
the public buildings was not fixed until 1774. As there was
no court-house the courts during this time were held at pri-vate
residences that happened to be convenient and suitable
for the purpose.
The Tryon records begin with these words : ''North Caro-lina,
Tryon County. Pursuant to Act of Assembly of the
Province aforesaid bearing date the fifth of December, 1768,
in the ninth year of his Majesty's reign, for dividing Meck-lenburg
into two distinct counties by the name of Mecklen-burg
County and Tryon County and for other purposes in
the said Act mentioned." His Majesty's commission under
the great seal of the Province appointing certain justices
to keep the peace for the county of Tryon is read. Ezekiel
Polk, Clerk, John Tagert, Sheriff, and Alexander Martiji,
Attorney for the Crown, produce commissions and take oaths
of office. Waightstill Avery produces license of attorney and
takes oath of office.
The court records, beginning at April Sessions, 1769, are
in the handwriting of Ezekiel Polk, the first clerk, who lived
near King's Mountain. Ezekiel Polk removed to Mecklen-burg
County, and afterwards became famous through his
grandson, James K. Polk, president of the United States.
The Tryon Courts were styled the "County Court of Pleas
and Quarter Sessions." In this court deeds and wills were
probated, estates settled, land entries recorded, guardians ap-pointed,
orphans apprenticed, highways opened, overseers
appointed, and many other matters attended to. There
were grand and petit juries and an "attorney for the crown."
THE HISTORY OF Li:^COLiSr COUXTY. 115
These courts convened quarterly and continued without ma-terial
change until the adoption of the constitution of 1868.
The courts of Oyer and Terminer, corresponding to our
Superior Courts, were District Courts, several counties com-prising
one district, Tryon County was in the Salisbury
District, and each County Court appointed its quota of jurors
to attend the Salisbury Court. In 1782 the Salisbury Dis-trict
was divided, and Lincoln and other western counties
were declared a separate district by the name of Morgan,
where the Judges of the Superior Courts shall sit twice every
year and hold a Superior Court of law. Lincoln County re-mained
in the Morgan District, the courts being held at Mor-gan
Town, until 1806, when a Superior Court was estab-lished
in each county of the State to be held twice every year.
The Tryon Court was organized at Charles McLean's, and
the Quarter Sessions for the years 1769, 1770, and 1771,
were held at his house. He lived in the southern part of
what is now Gaston County, on the headwaters of Crowder's
Creek, near Crowder's Mountain. Charles McLean was an
early, active, and zealous friend of liberty. At January
Sessions 1770 he produced his Excellency's commission ap-pointing
him captain in the Tryon Regiment of Loot, and
took the oath of office. In 1774 he was one of his Majesty's
justices, and chairman of the committee appointed to select
a permanent site for the court-house of Tryon County. He
was a delegate from Tryon County to the Provincial Congress
at Halifax, 4th April, 1776 ; also representing Tryon County
in Assembly during the years 1777 and 1778. Between
sessions, as colonel of the Tryon Regiment, he was actively
engaged against western Tories.
The criminal docket of Tryon is marked "Crown Docket,"
and the indictments are brought in the name of the "King"
or "Rex," as we now use "State." The minutes of a few
cases tried at the first term will serve to show the administra-tion
of justice: "The King v. John Doe. Petty Larceny.
116 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Jury empaneled finds the defendant guilty of the charge
against him. Judgment by the Court that the defendant be
detained in the Sheriff's custody till the costs of this prosecu-tion
be paid, and that at the hour of one o'clock of this day
the said defendant on his bare back at the public whipping
post receive thirty-nine lashes well laid on. "Rex. v. Thomas
Pullham. Profane swearing. Submitted and fined five
shillings." ''The King v. John Case. Sabbath breaking.
Defendant pleads guilty, fined ten shillings and the cost."
"The King v. John Carson. IsTeglect of the King's High-way.
Submitted and fined one shilling and sixpence." Let-ters
testamentary granted ISTicholas Welsh on the estate of
John Welsh, deceased. William Wilson, appointed overseer
of the road from the South Fork to Charles Town in that
part between King's Mountain and Ezekiel Polk's; Charles
McLean in that part between Ezekiel Polk's and the head of
Fishing Creek. The road orders extend to the "temporary
line between So. and ISTo. Carolina." At October Sessions
the claims against Tryon County for the year 1769, include
a charter, twenty pounds expenses in sending for charter,
eight pounds ; Charles McLean, to two courts held at his
house, five pounds ; other items swell the amount to seventy-one
pounds, sixteen shillings, and ten pence; and a tax of
three shillings and two pence was levied on each of the 1221
taxable persons in Tryon County to meet the same.
At July Term, lYYO, "Thomas Camel came into court
and proved that the lower part of his ear was bit off in a fight
with Steven Jones, and was not taken off by sentence of law
;
certified to whom it may concern." At a later term, "James
Kelly comes into open court of his own free will and in the
presence of said court did acknowledge that in a quarrel be-tween
him and a certain Leonard Sailor on the evening of
the 2d day of June, 1773, he did bite off the upper part of
the left ear of him, the said Leonard Sailor, who prays that
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 117
the same be recorded in the minutes of the said court." This
confession gave James Kelly such standing in the esteem of
his Majesty's Justices that at the same term it was "Or-dered
by the Court that James Kelly serve as constable in the
room of George Trout and that he swear in before Thomas
Espy, Esq." From the court entries biting off ears was a
popular way of fighting, but whole ears were at least an out-ward
sign of honesty.
An old parchment, yellowed with age, labeled "Charter of
Tryon County," encased in a frame, with great wax seal
appended hangs on the court-house walls. It is addressed
in the name of his Majesty, "George the Third by the Grace
of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender
of the Faith, and so forth, To All and Singular our Faithful
Subjects, Greeting," and is officially attested by "our trusty
and well-beloved William Tryon, our Captain-General, Gov-ernor
and Commander-in-Chief," at Wilmington, 26th June,
1Y69. It authorized Tryon County to elect and send two
representatives to sit and vote in the House of Assembly.
The Quarter Sessions of 1772 were held at Christian Eein-hardt's.
The site of his house is now in the northern cor-porate
limits of the town of Lincolnton, on the Ramsour Bat-tle
Ground. The Tories were encamped around his house,
and after the battle it was used as a hospital. His house was
built of heavy hewn logs, with a basement and stone founda-tion,
that served some of the purposes of a fort both during
Indian troubles and the Eevolution. Some evidence of its
strength is furnished by this item from the record of July
Sessions, 1783 : "Ordered by the Court that Christian Rein-hardt's
loft be the public gaol of said county until the end of
next Court, October Term, 1783."
The courts of 1773 and 1774 were held at Christopher
Carpenter's. He lived in the Beaver Dam section. There
were some half-dozen Carpenters among the pioneers. Their
118 THE JSrOETH CAROLINA BOOKLET,
signatures to all early deeds and wills are written in the Ger-man,
Zimmerman.
The commissioners appointed by Act of Assembly to se-lect
the place whereon to erect and build the court-house,
prison and stocks of Tryon County, on 26th July, 1774, re-ported
their selection of the place "called the cross-roads on
Christopher Mauney's land, between the heads of Long
Creek, Muddy Creek, and Beaver Dam Creek in the county
aforesaid as most central and convenient for the purpose
aforesaid." The county court adjourned to meet at the
"house of Christy Mauney or the cross-roads in his land."
The site of the old Tryon court-house is eight miles south-west
of Lincolnton, in Gaston County. October Sessions,
1774, were held at the house of Christian Mauney, and a
room in his dwelling was used as a jail.
The old county of Lincoln, with its fine farms and beau-tiful
homes, dotted with towns and villages, and musical with
the hum of machinery, the pioneers found a wild, luxuriant
with native flora, the habitat of the red man and wild ani-mals.
There were herds of fleet-footed deer; there were
clumsy brown bears and fierce wild cats and panthers ; there
were droves of buffalo, and countless beavers building their
dams on the creeks. The early settlers waged a relentless
war on these animals and set a bounty on many of their
scalps. The scalps on which a price was set were the wolf,
panther, wild cat, and such other as preyed on domestic ani-mals.
For killing a gro^vn Avolf the price was one pound ; a
young wolf ten shillings ; a wild cat five shillings. The
claims filed in court were for "scalp tickets." As late as
October Sessions, 1774, there were audited in favor of vari-ous
individuals forty-nine "wolf scalp tickets." We still
retain Indian, Beaver Dam, and Buffalo Creeks, Bear Ford,
Wolf Gulch, and Buffalo Mountain, Buffalo Shoals, and the
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 119
Indian names Catawba and Tnckaseegee, memorials of these
primeval days.
In Trjon County there were many loyal subjects of the
king, and there was likewise a gallant band of patriots who
as early as August, 1775, adopted and signed the following
bold declaration:
"The unprecedented, barbarous and bloody actions com-mitted
by British troops on our American brethren near
Boston, on 19th April and 20th of May last, together with
the hostile operations and treacherous designs now carrying
on, by the tools of ministerial vengeance, for the subjuga-tion
of all British America, suggest to us the painful neces-sity
of having recourse to arms in defense of our iTational
freedom and constitutional rights, against all invasions
;
and at the same time do solemnly engage to take up arms
and risk our lives and our fortunes in maintaining the free-dom
of our country whenever the wisdom and counsel of the
Continental Congress . or our Provincial Convention shall
declare it necessary ; and this engagement we will continue
in for the preservation of those rights and liberties which the
principles of our Constitution and the laws of God, nature
and nations have made it our duty to defend. We there-fore,
the subscribers, freeholders and inhabitants of Tryon
County, do hereby faithfully unite ourselves under the most
solemn ties of religion, honor and love to our country, firmly
to resist force by force, and hold sacred till a reconciliation
shall take place between Great Britain and America on Con-stitutional
principles, which we most ardently desire, and
do firmly agree to hold all such persons as inimical to the
liberties of America who shall refuse to sign this associa-tion.
(Signed) John Walker, Charles McLean, Andrew
N^eel, Thomas Beatty, James Coburn, Frederick Ham-bright,
Andrew Hampton, Benjamin Hardin, George Paris,
William Graham, Robt. Alexander, David Jenkins, Thomas
120 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Espey, Perrygreen Mackness, James McAfee, William
Thompson, Jacob Forney, Davis Whiteside, John. Beeman,
John Morris, Joseph Harden, John Robison, James Mcln-tyre,
Valentine Manney, George Black, Jas. Logan, Jas.
Baird, Christian Carpenter, Abel Beatty, Joab Turner, Jon-athan
Price, Jas. Miller, John Dellinger, Peter Sides, Wil-liam
Whiteside, Geo. Dellinger, Samuel Carpenter, Jacob
Moony, Jun., John Wells, Jacob Costner, Robert Hulclip,
James Buchanan, Moses Moore, Joseph Kuykendall, Adam
Simms, Richard Waffer, Samuel Smith, Joseph ISTeel, Sam-uel
Loftin.
In 1777 an act was passed establishing State courts, pro-viding
that all suits and indictments instituted and fines im-posed
"in the name or the use of the King of Great Britain,
when this territory was under his government, and owed
allegiance to him, and all breaches on penal statutes di-rected
to be prosecuted in the name of the king shall be
prosecuted and proceeded in the name of the State." This
act terminated the "Crown Docket," and the King or Rex
as prosecutor. The "State Docket" begins at October Ses-sions,
1777.
The change of government from royal to state in Tryon
County was consummated without a jar. The last Tryon
court was held in January, 1779. During this year Tryon
is blotted from the list of counties and the War of the Revo-lution
is in progress. Lincoln County became the scene of
many thrilling Revolutionary events.
THE BATTLE OF RAMSOUR's MILL.
The Tories were embodied at Ramsour's Mill through the
efforts of Lieut.-Col. John Moore and Maj. IsFicholas Welch.
These officers left the victorious British on the march from
Charleston and arrived at their homes early in June, 1780.
Moses Moore, the father of Colonel Moore, was a native of
THE HISTOEY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 121
Carlyle, England, married a Miss Winston, near Jamestown,
Virginia, and came to this section with the pioneers. Esther,
a sister of Colonel Moore, married Joshua Roberts, a patriot
soldier. The late Capt. John H. Roberts, a grandson, lived
on the Moore homestead. It is situate on Indian Creek,
eight miles southwest of Eamsour's Mill. Colonel Moore
was an active partisan throughout the Revolution. Major
Welch was a son of John Welch, and was reared next neigh-bor
to Colonel Moore on Indian Creek. He was of Scottish
descent, of great fluency of speech and fine persuasive power.
Thej bore English commissions, were arrayed in splendid
official equipments, and made lavish display of British gold.
By the twentieth of June, these zealous loyalists collected at
Eamsour's Mill a force of 1,300 Tories, and were actively en-gaged
in their organization and drill preparatory to march-ing
them to unite with the British in South Carolina. They
occupied a well-chosen and advantageous position for offense
and defense. It was on a high ridge that slopes three hun-dred
yards to the mill and Clarke's Creek on the west,
and the same distance to a branch on the east.
Col. Francis Locke collected a force of Rowan and Meck-lenburg
militia to engage the Tories. His detachments met
at Mountain Creek, sixteen miles from Ramsour's, on Mon-day,
the 19th, and when united amounted to four himdred
men. They marched at once to the assault of the Tory posi-tion.
At dawn of day on the morning of the 20th, in two
miles of Ramsour's, they were met by Adam Reep, a noted
scout, with a few picked men from the vicinity of the camp,
who detailed to Colonel Locke the position of the enemy, and
the plan of attack was formed. The mounted men under
Captains McDowell, Brandon and Falls, marching slowly,
were to follow the road due west to the camp, and not attack
until the footmen under Colonel Locke could detour to the
south, and reach the foot of the hill along the Tuckaseegee
122 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
road, and make a simultaneous assault. They proceeded
without other organization or order, it being left to the offi-cers
to be governed by circumstances when they reached the
enemy.
The mounted men came upon the Tory picket some dis-tance
from the camp, were fired upon, charged the Tory
camp, but recoiled from their deadly fire. The firing hur-ried
Colonel Locke into action, a like volley felled many of
his men, and they likewise retired. The Tories, seeing the
effect of their fire, came down the hill and were in fair view.
The Whigs renewed the action, which soon became general
and obstinate on both sides. In about an hour the Tories
began to fall back to their original position on the ridge, and
a little beyond its summit, to shield a part of their bodies
from the destructive fire of the Whigs, who were fairly ex-posed
to their fire. In this situation the Tory fire became
so effective the Whigs fell back to the bushes near the branch
;
and the Tories, leaving their safe position, pursued half way
down the hill. At this moment Captain Hardin led a com-pany
of Whigs into the field from the south and poured a
galling fire into the right flank of the Tories. Some of the
Whigs obliqued to the right, and turned the left flank of the
Tories ; while Captain Sharpe led a few men beyond the
crest of the ridge, and, advancing from tree to tree, with
unerring aim picked off the enemy's officers and men, and
hastened the termination of the conflict. The action now
became close and warm. The combatants mixed to-gether,
and having no bayonets, struck at each other with the
butts of their guns. When the Whigs reached the summit
they saw the Tories collected beyond the creek, with a white
flag flying. Fifty Tories, unable to make the bridge, were
taken prisoners. Those beyond soon dispersed and made
their escape. One-fourth of the Tories were unarmed, and
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 123
thej with a few others retired at the commencemeiit of the
battle.
Seventy men, including five Whig and four Tory captains,
lay dead on the field, and more than two hundred were
wounded, the loss on each side being about equal. In this
contest, armed with the deadly rifle, blood relatives and
familiar acquaintances and near neighbors fought in the
opposing ranks, and as the smoke of battle occasionally
cleared away recognized each other in the conflict.
Moore's defeat destroyed Toryism in this section. When
Lord Cornwallis marched through the county the following
January, and encamped at Eamsour's Mill, he lost more
men by desertion than he gained by recruits.
THE BATTLE OF KINg's MOUNTAIN.
Col. Patrick Ferguson pitched his camp on the summit of
King's Mountain, the 6th of October, 1780. So well pleased
was he with his position that he gave vent to the impious
boast that God Almighty could not drive him from it. In
his army were eleven hundred men, brave and well disci-plined,
every one of whom knew what actual flghting meant.
The patriot army aggTegated a like number of eleven hun-dred
men. Their only weapon was the long-barreled rifle in
whose use they were experts. FergTison had out foraging
parties, and some of the patriots on foot could not keep up
with the march, so it is probable the combatants on each
side numbered nine hundred men.
To Colonel Shelby is due the inception of the campaign
and much of the mobilization of the patriot army. To its
successful culmination the little band of Lincoln men, sixty
in number, contributed their full share. They united with
the mountain men in pursuit of Ferguson at the Cowpens
about sunset on October the 6th. Between 8 and 9 o'clock
of the same evening the army set out toward King's Moun-
124 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
tain in quest of Ferguson. Enock Gilmer, an advance scout^
dined at noon of the Yth with a Tory family. From them he
learned that Ferguson's camp was only three miles distant,
on a ridge between two creeks, where some deer hunters had
a camp the previous fall. Major Chronicle and Captain
Mattocks stated that the camp was theirs and that they well
knew the ground on which Ferguson was encamped ; where-upon
it was agreed that they should plan the battle. They
rode a short distance by themselves, and reported that it was
an excellent place to surround Ferguson's army; that the
shooting would all be uphill with no danger of destroying
each other. The officers instantly agTeed to the plan, and
without stopping began to arrange their men, assigning to
each officer the part he was to take in surrounding the moun-tain.
To the north side were assigned Shelby, Williams,
Lacey and Cleveland, and on the south side Campbell, Sevier,
McDowell and Winston, while the Lincoln men, under Lieut.-
Col. Frederick Hambright, were to attack the northeast end
of the mountain. It was three o'clock in the afternoon
when the patriots reached their position, and Campbell's
men were first to fire into the enemy. His column was
charged by Ferguson's men with fixed bayonets, and driven
down the mountain side. Shelby was advancing in quick
time from the other side, so the enemy found it necessary to
give attention to Shelby's assault, when Campbell's men re-turned
to the fight, and Shelby and his men were forced to re-treat
before the dashing charge of Ferguson's bayonets.
Thus back and forth, Campbell, Sevier, McDowell and Win-ston
on the one side, Shelby, Williams, Lacey and Cleveland
on the other, charged up the mountain and were driven back,
only to renew the charge, until the mountain was enveloped
in flame and smoke, and the rattle of musketry sounded like
thunder.
The South Fork boys marched to their position with quick
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 125
step, Major Chronicle ten paces in advance, and heading the
column were Enock Gilmer, Hugh Ewin, Adam Barry and
Kobert Henry. Arriving at the end of the mountain, Major
Chronicle cried, "Face to the hill!" The words were
scarcely uttered when they were fired upon by the enemy's
sharp-shooters, and Major Chronicle and William Eabb fell
dead. But they pressed up the hill under the leadership of
Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright, Maj. Jos. Dixon, Capts.
James Johnston, Samuel Espey, Samuel Martin, and James
White. Before they reached the crest, the enemy charged
bayonets, first, however, discharging their guns, killing Cap-tain
Mattocks and John Boyd and wounding William Gilmer
and John Chittim. As Robert Henry, a lad of sixteen,
raised his gun to fire, a bayonet glanced along the barrel,
through his hand and into his thigh. Henry discharged his
gun, killing the Briton and both fell to the gi'ound. Henry
observed that many of his comrades were not more than a
gun's length in front of the bayonets and the farthest not
more than twenty feet. Reaching the foot of the hill, they
reloaded, and fired with deadly effect upon their pursuers, in
turn chasing their enemies up the mountain. William Cald-well,
seeing Henry's condition, pulled the bayonet out of his
thigh, kicked his hand from the bloody instrument and
passed on. Thus the battle raged on all sides. E'o regiment,
no man failed to do his duty. The unerring aim of the
mountain men from behind every tree and every rock was
rapidly diminishing the brave fighters under Ferguson, who
began to despair. At the end of an hour Ferguson was
killed, and a white flag was hoisted in token of surrender.
Three hundred of his men were dead and wounded, and six
hundred prisoners. The Americans suffered a loss of twenty-eight
killed and seventy-four wounded.
Thus was fought one of the decisive battles of the Revolu-
126 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
tion. It was the enemy's first serious disaster and turned
the tide of war. Ferguson and his army were wiped out of
existence. Its immediate result was to check the enemy's
progress until the patriots could muster strength for his final
overthrow.
The Lincoln County men, considering their small number,
suffered considerably in the engagement: Maj. William
Chronicle, Capt. John Mattocks, William Kabb, John Boyd
and Arthur Patterson were killed ; Moses Henry died soon
thereafter in the hospital at Charlotte of the wound he re-ceived
in the battle; Capt. Samuel Espey, Eobert Henry,
William Gilmer, John Chittim, and William Bradley were
wounded. The Tories, shooting down the steep mountain
side, much of their aim was too high. Lieutenant-Colonel
Hambright's hat was perforated with three bullet holes, and
he received a shot through the thigh, his boot filled and ran
over with blood, but he remained in the fight till the end,
gallantly encouraging his men.
CORNWALLIS IN PURSUIT OF MORGAN.
Morgan defeated Colonel Tarleton in a signal victory at
the Cowpens, South Carolina, 17th January, 1781. In less
than an hour five hundred of Tarletoii's Legion were prison-ers,
the remainder slain and scattered, and he scampering in
mad haste to Cornwallis, then but twenty-five miles distant.
General Morgan, anxious to hold every one of his prisoners
to exchange for the Continental line of ]!^orth Carolina cap-tured
at Charleston, and then langTiishing on British prison
ships, immediately began his famous retreat toward Vir-ginia,
while Cornwallis, in command of 4,000 well-equipped
veterans, gave pursuit. Colonel Washington's cavalry, with
the prisoners, safely crossed the Catawba at the Island Ford
;
the prisoners were sent on, while Washington rejoined Gen-eral
Morgan, who had crossed with the main army eight or
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 127
nine miles farther down at Sherrill's Ford, where they tar-ried
awhile on the eastern bank.
The British came by way of the old Tryon court-house.
Cornwallis says "I therefore assembled the army on the 25th
at Eamsour's Mill on the south fork of the Catawba, and as
the loss of my light troops could only be remedied by the ac-tivity
of the whole corps, I employed a halt of two days in col-lecting
some flour, and destroying superfluous baggage, and
all my wagons except those loaded with hospital stores, and
four reserved in readiness for sick and wounded." Stead-man
says that Lord Cornwallis, "by first reducing the size
and quantity of his own, set an example which was cheer-fully
followed by all the ojfficers in his command, although
by so doing they sustained a considerable loss. No wagons
were reserved except those loaded with hospital stores, salt
and ammunition, and four empty ones for the accommodation
of the sick and wounded. And such was the ardour, both of
officers and soldiers, and their willingness to submit to any
hardship for the promotion of the service, that this arrange-ment,
which deprived them of all future prospect of spiritu-ous
liquors, and even hazarded a regular supply of provisions,
was acquiesced in without a murmur."
Cornwallis crossed the South Fork Eiver at the Keep Ford,
one mile from Eamsour's Mill, and pitched his marquee on
the Eamsour battle-gTound ; O'Hara remained on the west
bank of the river at the Eeep place; Webster occupied !;he
hill west of the Eamsour Mill; while Tarleton, who had
crossed the river three miles lower down, between the Labora-tory
and the present railway bridge, in rejoining his chief,
camjDed on the hill south of Cornwallis. Foraging parties
were sent out in different directions to collect grain, and
Eamsour's Mill was kept running day and night converting
the grain into flour to replenish his Lordship's commissary.
In the destruction of baggage, Cornwallis first ordered his
128 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
splendid camp chest burned. His mahogany tea chest with
the remainder of his tea, and six solid silver spoons, he sent
to Mrs. Barbara Reinhardt, wife of Christian Reinhardt,
with a note requesting that she accept them. These presents
were treasured and carefully preserved. At the breaking out
of the Civil War they belonged to a granddaughter, whose
sons were Confederate volunteers. Believing an old saying
that whoever carries anything in war that was carried in an-other
war by a person that was not killed, v^U likewise be
unharmed, she gave each of her sons one of the silver spoons,
and the others to neighbor boys, and in this way the spoons
were lost and Federal bullets shattered faith in their charm.
The chest is yet preserved. After the conflagration many
irons were tumbled in the mill-pond while others left on the
ground were picked up by citizens. The milldam was taken
down the next summer and much iron valuable to the farmers
taken out. A few defective muskets were found ; also one
piece of artillery, so damaged it was not removed from the
mud. Where the whiskey and rum bottles were broken the
fragments lay in heaps for years. These were afterwards
gathered up and sold to the potters for glazing purposes.
To this destruction of his whole material train and neces-sary
outfit for a winter campaign Judge Schenck attributes
the final discomfiture of Cornwallis at Gruilford Court House.
The supplies he burned could not be replaced short of Wil-ming'ton,
and thither he was compelled to go when a reverse
met his arms.
While here Cornwallis requested Christian Reinhardt to
point out Colonel Moore's position, and describe the battle of
Ramsour's Mill. At the conclusion his only observation
was that Colonel Moore had a fine position, but did not have
the tact to defend it ; that he ought not to have risked a bat-tle
but should have fallen back to Ferguson.
Early on the morning of the 28th the British broke camp
THE HISTOKY OF LI]SrCOLN COUNTY. 129
and marched toward Beattie's Ford, a distance of twelve
miles, to Jacob Forney's. The moving Britons, in scarlet
uniforms, with glittering muskets, made an impressive sight,
and tradition still preserves their route. Jacob Forney was
a thrifty farmer and well-known Whig. Here they en-camped
three days, consuming his entire stock of cattle,
hogs, sheep and poultry, and taking his horses and forty gal-lons
of brandy. Some state that Cornwallis approached the
Catawba on the evening of the 28th, and found it consider-ably
swollen and impassable for his infantry and this caused
him to fall back to Jacob Forney's plantation.
THE BATTLE OF COWAN^S FOKD.
The tardiness of Cornwallis was not altogether due to the
flushed condition of the Catawba, however much the swollen
waters of the Yadkin and the Dan may have later impeded
his pursuit. The prime cause of delay was the vigilance of
the Whigs in guarding the several fords. On the approach
of the British, Gen. William Davidson placed guards at the
Tuckaseegee, Tool's and Cowan's fords ; with his gTeatest
force and Capt. Joseph Graham's cavalry troops, he took
position himself at Beattie's Ford; while Morgan and Wash-ington
were at Sherrill's Ford. Cornwallis kept posted on
these dispositions. Cowan's was a private ford, guarded only
by Lieut. Thomas Davidson with twenty-five men. After
getting the best information he could obtain, C:rnwallis re-solved
to attempt the passage at Cowan's Ford. Each army
was keeping close watch on the movements of the other. On
the 30th Captain Graham's cavalry was dispatched across
Beattie's Ford and ascertained that the British were en-camped
within four miles, and in two miles they discovered
one hundred of the enemy's cavalry, who followed them to
the river but kept at a respectful distance, evincing fear of
an ambuscade. Green, Morgan and Washington came to
130 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Davidson's headquarters at Beattie's Ford on the afternoon of
the 31st and held a consultation. The British vanguard of
ioar or five hundred men appeared on the opposite hill be-yond
the river and viewed the American position. After
Oeneral Green's departure, leaving a portion of his force at
Beattie's Ford, under Colonel Farmer, General Davidson,
with 250 men and the cavalry, marched dovni the river four
miles to Cowan's Ford, where he arrived after dark.
The river at Cowan's Ford is one-fourth of a mile wide.
The wagon ford went directly across the river. The horse
ford, entering at the same place, obliqued down the river,
through an island, and came out on the Mecklenburg side a
quarter of a mile lower down. The latter was the shallower
and most used, and the one the British were expected to
follow, so General- Davidson took position on the hill over-looking
this ford. Above the coming-out place of the wagon
ford was a narrow strip of level bottom, and then an abrupt
hill. Lieutenant Davidson's picket remained at +heir post
on this level strip, fifty steps above the landing and ne:ir
the water's edge.
Cornwallis broke camp at one in the morning of the first
of February, and detached Lieutenant-Colonel Webster with
that part of the army and all the baggage to Beattie's Ford,
where General Davidson was supposed to be posted, with
direction to make every possible demonstration by cannon-ading
and otherwise of an intention of forcing a passage,
while he marched to Cowan's Ford, arriving at the bank of
the river as day began to break. The command of the front
was given to Colonel Hall of the Guards. Under the guid-ance
of Frederick Hager, a Tory living on the west bank,
employed by Cornwallis on account of his familiarity with
the ford, the bold Britons plunged into the river, with the
firm determination of encountering the small band of Amer-icans
on the eastern bank. When one hundred yards in the
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 131
river they were discovered and fired upon by Lieutenant
Davidson's picket which aroused the guard, who kept up the
fire, but the enemy continued to advance. 'No sooner did
the guide who attended the light infantry to show them the
ford, hear the report of the sentinel's musket than he turned
around and left them. This, at first seemed to portend much
mischief but in the end proved fortunate for the British.
Colonel Hall, forsaken by his guide, and not knowing the
true direction of the ford, led his column directly across the
river to the nearest point of the opposite bank. The picket
fire alarmed Davidson's camp, who paraded at the horse ford,
then Graham's cavalry was ordered to the assistance of the
picket. By the time the cavalry were in position on the high
bank, and ready for action the British were within fifty
yards of the Mecklenburg shore. The cavalry poured a de-structive
fire into the advancing columns. The British did
not fire a gTin while in the water ; as they landed they loaded
their guns and fired up the bank. The firing was kept up
some minutes, but the Whigs soon retreated from the unequal
contest.
By the time his Lordship crossed the river Webster had his
force in array on the face of the hill fronting Beattie's Ford,
and was making demonstrations of attempting a passage.
His front lines were firing by platoons, a company went into
the water fifty steps and fired ; while four cannon were boom-ing
for half an hour, the flying balls cutting off the limbs of
trees and tearing up the opposite bank, the sound rolling
down the river like peals of thunder. All this, however, was
only a feint. Colonel Farmer, being notified by an aide of
General Davidson, that the enemy had crossed at Cowan's
Ford, retired. The pickets at other points were notified and
all united at John McKnitt Alexander's that afternoon, eight
miles from Charlotte ; while Cornwallis united his forces two
miles from Beattie's Ford at Given's farm.
132 THE NORTH CAEOLINA BOOKLET.
In this action, the Americans lost General Davidson, a
gallant, brave and generous officer, and three others. Of the
British, Colonel Hall and another officer and tv^enty-nine
privates were killed and thirty-five were wounded. The
horse of Cornwallis was shot and fell dead as he ascended the
bank. Lord Cornwallis on the 2d of February returns his
thanks "to the Brigade of Guards for their cool and deter-mined
bravery in the passage of the Catawba, while rushing
through that long and difficult ford under a galling fire."
IMPOBTAKCE OF THESE ENGAGEMENTS.
On the 18th June, 1780, General Eutherford, in command
of the Mecklenburg and Eowan militia, marched to attack
the Tories at Eamsour's Mill. At the Catawba, Col. William
Graham, with the . Lincoln County Eegiment, united with
General Eutherford, swelling his command to twelve hun-dred.
He encamped at Col. Joseph Dickson's, three miles
from the Tuckaseegee, twenty miles from Eamsour's, and
about the same distance from Colonel Locke on Mountain
Creek. General Eutherford dispatched a message directing
Colonel Locke to join him at the Dickson place on the even-ing
of the 19th or the morning of the 20th. Colonel Locke
likewise dispatched James Johnston to inform General
Eutherford of his intention to give the Tories battle on the
morning of the 20th. However, no junction was formed
and after a hard and well-fought battle Colonel Locke de-feated
the Tories. General Eutherford followed the Tucka-seegee
road and arrived at Eamsour's Mill two hours after the
battle. The dead and most of the wounded were lying where
they fell. General Eutherford remained here two days send-ing
Davie's Cavalry and other troops in pursuit of the To-ries,
thus accenting the victory and making the defeat crush-ing
and complete, subduing the loyalist spirit, with conse-quent
encouragement of the patriots.
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 133
Three days after the battle Allaire, who was with Fergu-son,
referring to the battle of Kamsour's Mill, recorded in
his dairy: ''Friday, 23d. Lay in the field at ISTinety-six.
Some friends came in. Four were wounded. The militia
had embodied at Tuckaseegee, on the South Fork of the Ca-tawba
River. Were attacked by a party of rebels, under
command of General Rutherford. The militia were scant
of ammunition, which obliged them to retreat. They were
obliged to swim the river at the milldam. The Rebels fired
on them and killed thirty." Col. John Moore with thirty
men reached Cornwallis at Camden, where he was threatened
with a trial by court-martial for hastening organization in
advance of Ferguson.
The Battle of Ramsour's Mill was fraught with important
results. It was fought at a gloomy period of the Revolution,
when the cause of liberty seemed prostrate and hopeless in
the South. The victorious British considered South Caro-lina
and Georgia restored to English rule and were planning
the invasion of ISTorth Carolina. It marks the turning
point in the war. But for this battle Moore and Welch could
have reinforced Ferguson with an army of 1,500 or 2,000
men, and there might have been no King's Mountain, or
King's Mountain with a different result. But instead of
aid to Ferguson, the Lincoln Regiment with the South Caro-linians
under Hill and Lacey were again encamped on the
Catawba, and when Colonel Williams crossed the Tucka-seegee,
and united with these troops, the entire force encoun-tering
no opposition, followed the Tuckaseegee road, via Ram-sour's
Mill, the Flint Hill road to Cherry Mountain, later
uniting with the mountain men at the Cowpens, the next day
helping to destroy Ferguson, and gain the glorious victory,
that makes the name of King's Mountain famous in our
country's history, of which the Battle of Cowpens, Guilford
Court House and the surrender of Cornwallis at Torktown
were the direct consequences.
134 THE NORTH CAHOLINA BOOKLET.
LINCOLN COUNTY PENSION ROLL.
On the pension roll as late as 1834, more than fifty years
after the Revolution, the following is the Lincoln County list
of soldiers yet living and drav^^ing pensions: Robert Aber-nethy,
Vincent Allen, Christian Arney, Matthew Armstrong,
Robert Berry, Jonas Bradshaw, Caspar Bolick, Alexander
Brevard, Samuel Caldwell, William Carroll, John Chittim,
Michal Cline, Samuel Collins, Martin Coulter, Thomas Cost-ner,
George Dameron, Joseph Dixon, Peter Eddlemon, Wil-liam
Elmore, Samuel Espey, James Farewell, Abraham For-ney,
Robinson Goodwin, Joseph Graham, William Gregory,
I»[athan Gwaltney, Mcholas Hafner, Simon Hager, John
Harman, John Helm, James Henry, James Hill, John Kidd,
John Kincaid, Robert Knox, Shadrack Lefcy, Tapley Ma-hannas,
Marmaduke Maples, Samuel Martin, Thomas Ma-son,
William Mayes, William McCarthy, William McLean,
N'athan Mendenhall, Alexander Moore, John Moore, William
Moore, Jeremiah Mundy, Humphrey Parker, Hiram Pen-dleton,
Jacob Plonk, William Potter, William Rankin,
Charlie Regan, Adam Reep, Michael Reep, Joshua Roberts,
James Robinson, Henry Rumfeldt, Peter Scrum, John
Stamey, Bartholomew Thompson, Charles Thompson, Phillip
Tillman, Conrad Tippong, Robert Tucker, John TurbyfiU,
Charles Whit, John Wilfong, Joseph Willis, James Wilkin-son,
and Elisha Withers.
LINCOLNTON AND LINCOLN COUNTY.
When Tryon County was divided the Tryon Court-house
fell in Lincoln County, but too near its western border for
public convenience. The courts for part of the years 1783
and 1784 were held at the house of Capt. Nicholas Friday.
His residence stood on the east side of the river, seven miles
south of Lincolnton. The courts of July and October ses-sions,
1784, were held at the house of Henry Bellinger, and
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLlSr COUNTY. 135
his spring house was designated as the "gaol." This spring
house was a two-story affair, the lower stone, the upper logs
;
the upper story was used as the public jail. Some of the
prisoners escaping, the sheriff was ordered "to make use of a
room in Henry Dellinger's house to be strengthened for the
purposes of a common gaol." The sheriffs, for protection
against the escape of prisoners from these very odd jails,
always had entered on the court record their "protest against
the sufficiency of said gaol." The site of Henry Dellinger's
home is Magnolia, six miles southeast of Lincolnton, where
the late John B. Smith lived.
While the location of the county seat remained an open
question, the map of the county changed. In 1753, the
western portion of the Granville domain was set up into the
county of Eowan. Rowan in 1777, was divided by a line
beginning on the Catawba Eiver at the Tryon and Mecklen-burg
corner, thence up the meanders of the said river to
the north end of an island, known as "the Three Cornered
Island," etc., and the territory west and south of said line
erected into a new county, by the name of Burke, and the
county seat, Morganton, located fifty miles from the south-east
part of the county on the Catawba. It being repre-sented
to the General Assembly that "certain of the inhabi-tants
of Burke labor under great hardships in attending on
courts and other public meetings from their remote situation
from the court-house," in 1782 it enacted that all that part
of Burke from Sherrill's Ford to the Fish Dam Ford of the
South Fork, "and from thence a southwest course to Earl
Granville's old line," be taken from Burke and added to Lin-coln
County. In 1784 a gTeater slice of Burke was added
to Lincoln. The line separating the counties began at the
Horse Ford on the Catawba and ended at the same point in
the Granville line. This is now a noted point, known as
the "Three County Corner," the corner of Lincoln, Burke
136 THE NORTH CAHOLINA BOOKLET,
and Cleveland, and is the only established point in the old
Granville line west of the Catawba River.
The act of 1784 appointed Joseph Dickson, John Carruth,
John Wilson, Joseph Steele and Nicholas Friday, commis-sioners
to locate the county toMm, which they did by entering
for the purpose three hundred acres of "vacant and unappro-priated
land, lying between the lines of Christian Eeinhardt
and Phillip Cansler in our county of Lincoln on both sides
of the wagon road leading from the Tuckaseegee Ford to
Eamsour's Mill and including the forks of the road leading
to Cansler's sawmill." The grant for same was made De-cember
14th, 1785, to "Joseph Dickson in trust for the citi-zens
of Lincoln County." The General Assembly, in 1786,
granted a charter for Lincolnton, reciting that the place is
"a healthy and pleasant situation and well watered." The
same year the town was laid off into lots. At the intersec-tion
of Main and Aspin streets, the two principal streets of
the town, was left a public square on which the court-house
was erected. The first hundred lots laid off the commission-ers
disposed of by a tov^ni lottery, the draft of which and the
papers connected therewith are yet on file. Chances were
taken by the prominent men of that day and also by many
ladies. A specimen ticket reads : "This ticket entitles
the bearer to whatever number is drawn against it in the
Lincoln Lottery, 'No. 86, Jo. Dickson." The corporate lim-its
have been tv^ce extended in the last decade, and the
western boundary now rests on Clarke's Creek and the South
Fork Eiver.
In the history of Lincolnton and Lincoln County the
name of Joseph Dickson stands conspicuous. The site of his
homestead is two miles northwest of Mount Holly, on the
line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. General Ruther-ford,
en route to attack the Tories at Ramsour's Mill, en-camped
at Dickson's the night before the battle. He accom-
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 137
panied General Rutherford next day, passing over the ground
then vacant land, where five years later, the grant was made
to him as proprietor in trust for the citizens of Lincoln
County. He was one of the immortal heroes of King's
Mountain. With the rank of major he was one of the ofiicers
that led the South Fork boys up the rugged northeast end of
the mountain, facing with undaunted spirit the lead and the
charge of the enemy's bayonet. In 1Y81 he opposed the Brit-ish
invasion of IS^orth Carolina, serving with the rank of
colonel. During this year he was elected county court clerk,
which office he held the next ten years. He was chairman
of the committee that selected the site of Lincolnton, and
the grant for the land on which the town was built was made
to him. The grantor to all the original purchasers of lots
is, "Joseph Dickson, Esq., proprietor in trust for the commis-sioners
appointed to lay off a town in the county of Lincoln
by the name of Lincolnton." He was chosen Senator from
Lincoln County in 1788, and continuously succeeded himself
until 1795. In 1789 he was one of the forty great men of
the State selected by the General Assembly to constitute the
first trustees of the University of ISTorth Carolina. He then
served as a general in the militia. From 1799 to 1801 he
was a member of Congress. December 27th, 1803, he sold
his plantation of twelve hundred acres, and removed to
Rutherford County, Tennessee, where he died, April 24th,
1825, aged eighty years, and was buried with military and
Masonic honors.
Lincolnton is situate 869 feet above sea level in the hill
country of the great Piedmont belt. In the county are Reece,
Clubbs, Daily, Rush and Buffalo Mountains; they are small
peaks not larger than Hog Hill in the northern part of the
county. From Lincolnton mountains are visible in almost
every direction. On the northeast is Anderson's Mountain
;
in the southwest looms up King's Mountain, on whose his-
138 THE NOKTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
toric heights was fought the memorable battle that broke the
power of the British crown; in line with King's Mountain
to the south can be seen Spencer, Crowder, and Pasour Moun-tains;
in the north and northwest are Baker's Mountain,
Carpenter and Ben's Knobs, and numerous peaks of the
South Mountains; while in the distance in solemn grandeur
lies the upturned face of the Grandfather; and yet still
farther away rise the far-distant peaks of the great Blue
Eidge. The Carolina and ]^orthwestern Railway comes in
from Chester, South Carolina, and runs northwesterly into
the heart of the mountains of ITorth Carolina ; while from
the east comes in the Seaboard Air Line, and extends west-wardly
to Rutherfordton.
Lincoln thus remained a large county until 1841, when
the first slice was- taken to form, with a portion of Ruther-ford,
the county of Cleveland. In 1842, Catawba was set
up from Lincoln by an east and west line passing one and a
half miles north of Lincolnton. In 1846, the southern part
was set off into the county of Gaston, by a line to pass four
and a half miles south of Lincolnton, and four miles of
Catawba ceded back to Lincoln. The formation of these
new counties reduced Lincoln to a narrow strip, ten miles
in width with an average length of thirty miles, and it is with
this strip that the remainder of this narrative will deal.
Lincoln County is bounded on the north by Catawba County
;
on the east by the Catawba River, which separates it from
Iredell and Mecklenburg; on the south by Gaston; on the
west by Cleveland, and one-fourth mile of Burke.
FIKST SUPERIOR COURT CLERK.
Lawson Henderson was long an influential citizen, filling
the offices of county surveyor, sheriff, and clerk of the county
and Superior Courts. He was a son of James Henderson,
a pioneer settler, and was appointed Superior Court clerk
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 139
for life under the Act of Assembly of 1806 establishing a
Superior Court in each county of the State. He served from
April term, 1807, to Fall term, 1835, when he resigned. At
Fall term, 1833, John D. Hoke applied for the clerk's office,
having been elected pursuant to act of 1832. Then followed
the suit of "Hoke vs. Henderson," in which Mr. Henderson
was the winner. This was a famous case. It decided that
an office is property, and was not reversed until 1903, and
then by a majority opinion, two justices dissenting.
PLEASANT RETREAT ACADEMY.
This school occupied four acres in the northern part of
Lincolnton. From its institution it bore the attractive name
of Pleasant Retreat Academy. The older students delighted
to speak of its refreshing shades—the oak and the hickory
interspersed with the chestnut and the chinquepin—and the
spring at the foot of the hill. It was chartered by the Gen-eral
Assembly, 10th December, 1813, with the following trus-tees
: Rev. Philip Henkle, Rev. Humphrey Hunter, Lawson
Henderson, Joseph Graham, John Fullenwider, John Hoke,
Peter Forney, Robert Williamson, Daniel Hoke, J. Rein-hardt,
Vardry McBee, David Ramsour, Peter Hoyle, Henry
Y. Webb, George Carruth, William McLean, Robert Burton,
John Reid, and David Reinhardt. In this school were
trained a long roll of men whose names adorn their county's
history. Of its students
—
James Pinkey Henderson, son of Maj. Lawson Hender-son,
sought the broad area of the "Lone Star State" for the
full development of his giant intellect and won fortune and
fame. An eminent lawyer, Attorney-General of the Repub-lic
of Texas, its minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extra-ordinary
to France, England and the United St:ites, Major-
General of the United States Army in the War with Mexico,
Governor of Texas, and at the time of hi? death United
140 THE NOETH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
States Senator, he adorned the positions hi< courage and
talents won.
William Lander, brilliant, impetuous and chivalric, was
one of the foremost advocates of the bar and member of the
convention from Lincoln County that passed the Ordinance
of Secession. Afterwards his splendid eloquence found con-genial
fellowship amid the fiery spirits of the Confederate
CongTess. Lawyer, solicitor, legislator and member of the
Confederate Congress, he has a monument of love and affec-tion
in the hearts of those who knew him best. His brother,
Rev. Samuel Lander, was a man of broad scholarship, an edu-cator
of note, and a preacher of wide repute.
Thomas Dews, when a mere lad, entered the State Uni-versity,
graduated in the class of 1824, taught awhile in
Pleasant Retreat, , and began the practice of law. He was
drowned in Second Broad River, August 4th, 1838, aged 30
years, 2 months and 25 days. His remains lie in honor
beneath a marble shaft, the tribute of a noble-hearted woman
to the man who adored her while he lived, and marks the
spot where rests her lover and her love. Judge William H.
Battle knew Mr. Dews at Chapel Hill and often spoke of
his talents and his genius. Toward the close of an address
before the literary societies at the commencement of 1865,
growing reminiscent, Judge Battle said: "I will occupy a few
more moments of your time in recalling from the dim recollec-tions
of the past the names of a few men, each of whom was
regarded as a college genius of the day, and who with well-directed
energies, and a longer life might have left a name
the world would not willingly let die. In the year 1824
Thomas Dews, a young man from the county of Lincoln, took
his degTee of Bachelor of Arts, dividing with Prof. Sims,
Judge Manly and ex-Governor Graham the highest honor of
the class. His parents were poor, and it is said resorted to
the humble occupation of selling cakes for the purpose of
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 141
procuring means for the education of their promising boy.
After graduation, he studied law and commenced the practice
with every prospect of eminent success, when unhappily, a
morbid sensitiveness of temperament drove him to habits of
intemperance, during one of the fits of which he came to an
untimely end. His name, which ought to have gone down
to posterity on account of great deeds achieved by extraordi-nary
talents, will probably be remembered only in connection
with a happily-turned impromptu epitaph." Yet it has
gone down in history immortalized by his neighbor and
friend. Col. James E. Dodge, a distinguished practitioner for
many years at the Lincolnton bar. Colonel Dodge was a
son of Gen. Eichard Dodge and Sarah Ann Dodge, his
mother being a sister of Washingtnn Irving, of ISTew York.
Those acquainted with the playful writings of Washington
Irving will not be surprised at the spontaneous retort of
his nephew. But one residence separated the Dews home
from that of Colonel Dodge in Lincolnton. At April term,
1832, of Eutherford Superior Court, David L. Swain, after-wards
Governor, was on the bench and in the bar were Samuel
Hillman, Tom Dews and Mr. Dodge. While Mr. Dodge was
addressing the jury. Judge Swain recalled a punning epitaph
on a man named Dodge, wrote it on a piece of paper, and
passed it around to the merriment of the bar; and when
Colonel Dodge had finished his speech, he found lying on
his table:
"epitaph of JAMES E. DODGE, ESQ., ATTORNET-AT-LAW.
"Here lies a Dodge, who dodged all good.
And dodged a deal of evil.
Who after dodging all he could,
He could not dodge the Devil."
Mr. Dodge read the paper, turned it over and wrote on the
other side:
142 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
"epitaph of three attorneys.
"Here lies a Hillman and a Swain,
Whose lot let no man choose;
They lived in sin and died m pain.
And the Devil got his Dews" [dues].
Among the post-bellum students are Hoke Siuith, lawyer,
journalist, Secretary of the Interior, and Governor of Geor-gia;
William Alexander Hoke, Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of ISTorth Carolina ; William E. Shipp, Lieu-tenant
Tenth United States Cavalry, killed on San Juan
Hill, Battle of Santiago, July 1st, 1898 ; T. H. Cobb, Beverly
C. Cobb, David W. Robinson, Charles E. Childs, Charles C.
Cobb, and Lemuel B. Wetmore, lawyers ; Silas McBee, Editor
of the Churchman; Rev. William L. Sherrill of the West-ern
ISTorth Carolina Conference; William E. Grigg, banker;
Blair and Hugh Jenkins, Charles and Henry Robinson, mer-chants
; William W. Motz, architect and builder ; William A.
Costner, Thomas J. Ramsour, Charles M. Sumner, farmers,
and a long list of others.
The Pleasant Retreat Academy property has been trans-ferred
to the Daughters of the Confederacy for a Memorial
Hall. In this there is eminent fitness, for among its students
were William A. Graham, Confederate States Senator ; Wil-liam
Lander, member of the Confederate Congress ; Maj .-
Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur; Maj.-Gen. Robert F. Hoke; Col.
John E. Hoke; Col. William J. Hoke; Maj. Frank Schenck;
Capts. James F. Johnston, Joseph W. Alexander, George W.
Seagie, George L. Phifer, James D. Wells, and others, mak-ing
an honor roll of more than a hundred Confederate sol-diers.
Lincolnton Female Academy was chartered by the General
Assembly December 21st, 1821, with James Bivings, Vardry
McBee, David Hoke, John Mushatt, Joseph E. Bell, and
Joseph Morris, trustees. Four acres on the south side of
THE HISTORY OF LIISTCOLN COUNTY. 143
the town were conveyed to the trustees for school purposes,
and the two school properties were connected by Academy
street. The Female Academy likewise had a long and useful
career. It is now the site of the Lincolnton graded school.
EAKLY SETTLERS AND CHURCHES.
The early settlers of Lincoln were of Scotch-Irish and Ger-man
origin. There were but few of other nationalities.
They came in swarms, by "hundreds of wagons from the
northwards." About the year 1750, the Scotch-Irish settle-ment
covered both banks of the Catawba, so the eastern por-tion
of Lincoln was populated by this race, while the South
Fork and its tributaries—the remainder of the county
—
were contemporaneously settled by Germans.
The Scotch-Irish are stern and virile, noted for hatred of
sham, hypocrisy and oppression. The Germans are hardy
and thrifty, characterized by love of home and country, tena-cious
of custom and slow to change. Both were a liberty-loving.
God-fearing people, among whom labor was dignified
and honorable. A charm about these pioneers is, that their
heads were not turned by ancestral distinction. They were
self-reliant and mastered the primeval forest, with its hard-ships
and disadvantages. They became adepts in handicraft
and combated the foes of husbandry in an unsettled region.
They were the silent heroes who shaped destiny and im-bued
unborn generations with strength of character and force
of will. The early Scotch-Irish preachers taught the creed
of Calvin and Knox, and the first place of worship on the
east side was Presbyterian. The pioneer Germans were fol-lowers
of the great central figure of the Reformation, Martin
Luther, and the Swiss Reformer, Ulrick Zwingle, and the
oldest place of worship on the west side is Lutheran and
Reformed. To-day the county is dotted with churches which,
according to numerical strength, rank in the following order
:
144 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist Protes-tant,
Presbyterian, Keformed and Protestant Episcopal.
When churches were few camp meetings were held by the
Presbyterians, Baptists, Reformed, Protestants a ad Meth-odists.
They have all been discontinued except one, the
celebrated Pock Springs Camp Meeting of the Methodists
in east Lincoln. There a great arbor is surrounded by three
hundred tents, and the meeting has been held annually since
1830. It is incorporated after the style of a town, and gov-erned
much the same way. It is held on forty-five acres of
ground, conveyed 7th August, 1830, by Joseph M. Mundy
to Freeman Shelton, Richard Proctor and James Bivings,
trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Lincoln circuit.
The estate an owner has in a lot is conditional, and ceases
upon failure to keep and maintain a tent on it. The meet-ing
continues one week and embraces the second Sunday in
August. It is attended by all denominations from the sur-rounding
counties by from ten thousand to fifteen thousand
people. Deep religious interest is manifest and many date
their conversion from these meetings. Viewed from a social
standpoint this is also a great occasion. The old camp ground
combines the best elements of social life in the country, city
and summer resort. Rock Springs is the successor of an
older camp ground called Robey's, which was situate near
the Catawba Springs.
The memory of the old people runs back to the time when
the printing press had not filled the churches with hymn
books, when there were no church organs, nor organists to
lead the choir. In those days the congregations sung, being
led by a precentor called the clerk, a man of importance, and
the minister lined out the hymn. Pour young men from
Lincolnton attended a camp meeting. When the minister
lined out a couplet of a familiar hymn, the congregation fol-lowed
the clerk, sung the couplet and paused for the next
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 145
The four boys, filled with the spirit of John Barleycorn,
paused not, but in well-trained musical voice, carrying the
several parts finished the stanza; then the second and the
entire hymn to the dismay of the minister, the clerk, and
dumbfounding of the congregation. A charge of disturbing
public worship was preferred in the courts, conviction fol-lowed
and the offenders sentenced to sit one hour in the
stocks.
Most of the people in l^orth Brook, the western township in
the county, are Methodist Protestants, and they have one
church, Fairfield, near the Catawba River on the eastern side
of the county.
Long Creek was the first Baptist church established in
Lincoln County, either in 1772 or 1777. It is on Long
Creek, one mile from Dallas. Hebron was organized at
Abernethy's Ferry on the Catawba about 1792. Six miles
from Beattie's Ford was Earhardt's church, constituted in
the 18th century. Abraham Earhardt, upon whose land the
church was located, was an ordained minister and preached
at his church and elsewhere. He married Catharine Forney,
sister of Peter, Abram and Jacob Forney, and owned more
than a thousand acres of land, on which he operated a fiouring
mill, tan yard, blacksmith shop and a distillery. The
Earhardt place is now the home of Maj. W. A. Graham.
To-day the Baptists have churches in every section of the
county.
The act of the Provincial Assembly in 1768, erecting that
portion of Mecklenburg County west of the Catawba into a
separate county by the name of Tryon, also created Saint
Thomas Parish ; and, according to the custom of that day,
county and parish were coterminous. While nominally under
a church establishment, no clergyman of the Church of Eng-land
exercised any pastoral care in colonial days. In 1785
Robert Johnston Miller, afterwards known as Parson Miller,
146 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
came to Lincoln, and became the religious teacher, lay reader,
and catechist of the Episcopalians he found in the county.
While avowing himself an Episcopalian, he received Lutheran
ordination. In 1806 he resigned his Lincoln charge to David
Henkel, a Lutheran licentiate, and removed to Burke. From
1785 to 1823, Parson Miller was almost the only Episcopal
minister in this region. In 1823 John Stark Eavenscroft
was elected Bishop, Parson Miller, being in the chair. The
Bishop visited Lincoln County in 1824, and in the three
parishes of Smyrna, White Haven and St. Peter's confirmed
forty-one persons. In 1828 he again visited Catawba Springs
and endeavored to collect the remains of the three old parishes
in that neighborhood, but found it a hopeless task. While at
the Springs he preached at Beattie's Ford and "on Sunday
in the public room at the Springs to such of the company as
a very rainy day detained from visiting a camp meeting in
the vicinity." In the year 1835 Dr. Moses A. Curtis, the
noted botanist, was stationed at Lincolnton. The year 1837
found him in another field. On the 2d of March, 1842,
Col. John Hoke conveyed to "E. M. Forbes, Jeremiah W.
Murphy, T. 'N. Herndon, Michael Hoke, Leonard E. Thomp-son
and Haywood W. Guion, vestry and trustees of the
Saint Luke's church in Lincolnton, the lot on which Saint
Luke's church yet stands. Its rectors have been Rev. E. M.
Forbes, Rev. A. F. Olmstead, Rev. J. C. Huske, Rev. T. S.
W. Mott, Rev. H. H. Hewitt, Rev. C. T. Bland, Rev. G. M.
Everhart, and Rev. Dr. W. R. Wetmore for forty years
—
from 1862 mitil his death.
Rev. Robert Johnston Miller was born in Scotland July
11th, 1758. His parents designed him for the ministry,
and sent him to the Dundee classical school. Before he en-tered
the ministry he migTated to America, arriving in
Charlestown, Massachusetts, A. D. 1774. Soon after the colo-nies
declared their independence and young Miller at once
THE HISTORY OF LHSTCOLjST COUNTY. 147
espoused the cause of liberty, and when General Greene
passed through Boston, he enlisted as a Revolutionary soldier.
He participated in the battles of Long Island, where he was
wounded in the face, of Brandywine, White Plains, and the
siege of Valley Forge. With the army he traveled south,
where he remained after peace was restored and the army
disbanded. He began his work as a licentiate of the Episco-pal
Church without authority to administer the sacraments.
His people of White Haven church, in Lincoln County, sent
a petition to the Lutheran pastors of Cabarrus and Rowan,
with high recommendations, praying that he might be or-dained
by them, which was accordingly done at St. John's
church, Cabarrus County, on the 20th of May, 1794. His
ordination certificate reads : "To all to whom it may concern.
Greeting: Whereas, A great number of Christian people in
Lincoln County have formed themselves into a society by the
name of White Haven church, and also have formed a
vestry : We the subscribers having been urged by the pressing
call from the said church to ordain a minister for the good
of their children, and for the enjoyment of y^ gospel ordi-nances
among them, from us, the ministers of the Lutheran
Church in ISTorth Carolina, have solemnly ordained," etc.,
* * * "according to y^ infallible word of God, administer
ye sacraments, and to have y® care of souls ; he always being
obliged to obey y^ rules, ordinances and customs of ye Chris-tian
Society, called y^ Protestant Episcopal Church in Amer-ica,"
etc. This White Haven was situated near the Catawba,
on the opposite side of the great highway from Castanea
Presbyterian church. The Lutherans subsequently built a
White Haven three miles north on the same highway. Rev.
Miller attended the Episcopal Convention, held in Raleigh,
April 28th, 1821. His object was to connect himself fully
with the Episcopal Church, to which he really belonged. As
there was no Episcopal diocese at the time of his ordination
148 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
in the State, he felt it his duty to form a temporary connec-tion
with the Lutheran Church, was admitted a member of
the Lutheran ISTorth Carolina Synod at its organization in
1803, and labored for her welfare twenty-seven years, until
1821, when he severed that connection, and was ordained to
deacon's and priest's orders in the Episcopal ministry. Mr.
Miller likewise attended the Lutheran ISTorth Carolina Synod
in 1821, and from its minutes the following is quoted: "The
president now reported that the Eev. R. J. Miller, who had
labored for many years as one of our ministers had been or-dained
by the Bishop of the Episcopal Church as a priest
at a convention of that church ; that he had always regarded
himself as belonging to that church, but because the Epis-copal
Church had no existence at that time in this State,
he had himself ordained by our ministry, with the under-standing
that he still belonged to the Episcopal Church.
But as the said church had now reorganized itself (in this
State) he has united himself with it, and thus disconnected
himself from our Synod, as was allowed him at his ordi-nation
by our ministers. Eev. Miller then made a short
address before Synod and the congregation then assembled,
in which he distinctly explained his position, so that no
one should be able to say that he had apostatized from our
Synod, since he had been ordained by our Ministerium as a
minister of the Episcopal Church. He then promised that
he would still aid and stand by us as much as lay in his
power. With this explanation the whole matter was well
understood by the entire assembly, and was deemed perfectly
satisfactory. Whereupon it was resolved that the president
tender to Rev. Miller our sincere thanks, in the name of the
Synod, for the faithful services he had hitherto rendered our
church. This was immediately done in a feeling manner."
Mr, Miller died in 1833. One of the last acts of his minis-try
was to marry in that year Col. Michael Hoke and Miss
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 149
Frances Burton, daughter of Judge Robert H. Burton. The
marriage took place at Beattie's Ford. A carriage was sent
to bring Mr. Miller from Burke to solemnize it. Some time
after marriage Colonel and Mrs. Hoke were confirmed. One
of their sons is the distinguished Confederate General,
Eobert F. Hoke.
Col. W. L. Saunders, eminent authority, pays the State a
tribute (Col. Records, IV, Pref. jSTotes), that applies to Lin-coln
County : ''Remembering the route that General Lee took
when he went into Pennsylvania on the memorable Gettys-burg
campaigTi, it will be seen that very many of the JSTorth
Carolina boys, both of German and Scotch-Irish descent, in
following their great leader, visited the homes of their an-cestors,
and went thither by the very route by which they
came away. To Lancaster and York counties in Pennsyl-vania,
ISTorth Carolina owes more of her population than to
any other part of the known world, and surely there was
never a better population than they and their descendants
—
never better citizens, and certainly never better soldiers."
As the waters of the Catawba, that lave its eastern border,
and the South Fork, that flows through its center, united as
they left old Lincoln in their onward sweep to form the
Great Catawba, so have the settlers on the Catawba and the
South Fork merged into a Scotch-Irish-German people, pre-serving
the virtues, and mayhap the weaknesses, of a noble
ancestry. These settlements will be noticed separately.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH SIDE.
Early in the eighteenth century the Scotch-Irish emi-grated
to Pennsylvania, and from thence some came direct,
while others, and their descendants settled in Virginia before
coming to this section. A few of these settlers may have
been of other nationalities, but a careful writer has referred-to
this part of the country as "one of the areas of iJ^orth Caro-
150 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
lina, dominated hj the sturdy Scotch-Irish strain ; where the
thistle and the shamrock were planted toward the close of
the eighteenth century; where they throve and flourished,
and unaided produced results marvelous for the place and
time. The Scotch gumption and Irish ardor, finely blended,
was the patrimony of this section."
On the early maps the Great Catawba marked the tribal
division between the Catawbas and the Cherokees. East of
the river dwelt the Catawbas, once a numerous and powerful
people. This nation "writ its name in water," the Catawba
embahns it and it will be perpetuated while its majestic
waters flow
"To where the Atlantic lifts her voice to pour
A song of praise upon the sounding shore."
As the white settlements extended, the Cherokees receded
toward the setting sun, and occupied the peaks of the Blue
Ridge. Roving bands raided the settlements. One of the
Beattys went into the range in search of his cattle. He was
discovered and pursued by the Indians. When within a
mile of home he concealed himself in the hollow of a large
chestnut tree. The bark of his little dog disclosed his hiding
place and cost him his scalp and his life. The old chestnut
disappeared long since, but the place where it stood is yet
well known.
Jacob Forney and two of his neighbors were attacked by a
band of Cherokees. One of them, Richards, was wounded
and scalped. Forney, though shot at many times by the
Indians, reached his log fort in safety. The neighbors buried
poor Richards where he fell.
"No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Nor in sheet nor in shroud they wound him."
The site of his lone grave in the depth of the wildwood is yet
pointed out, situate near the old log fort where Jacob Forney
first settled.
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 151
Among the settlers on this side occur the names, Allen,
Anderson, Armstrong, Baldridge, Ballard, Barkley, Barnett,
Beal, Bell, Beatty, Black, Bradshaw, Brevard, Bryant,
Cherry, Childers, Cooper, Cox, Daily, Davis, Derr, Duncan,
Edwards, Graham, Hunter, Hutchinson, Jetton, Johnston,
Kelly, Kincaid, King, Knox, Little, Long, Lowe, Luckey,
Lynch, McAlister, McCaul, McCombs, McConnell, McCor-mick,
Mcintosh, McLean, McMinn, IsFixon, Proctor, Regan,
Reid, Robinson, Shelton, Stacy, Thompson, Wilkinson, Win-gate,
and Womack; while in the western part, are found,
Alexander, Baxter, Blackburn, Cobb, Goodson, Henderson,
Hill, McBee, McCaslin, Potts, Ramsey, Williamson, Wilson,
and others.
The first pale-face to set foot on the soil of Lincoln was
the bold pioneer, John Beatty. One of his land grants bears
date July I7th, 1749. He settled on the west bank of the
Catawba. The shoal at this point, over which the river tum-bles
with a gentle murmur, forms a splendid ford. It was
at this ford John Beatty crossed, and it yet bears his name,
Beattie's Ford. As the soil of Lincoln at Beattie's Ford felt
the primal tread of Anglo-Saxon, Beattie's Ford deservedly
figTires largely in the recital.
The old pioneer, John Beatty, located his home above the
ford, in the shade of the hillside, overlooking the beautiful
Catawba. IsTear by gurgled a limpid spring, its waters trick-ling
off in a sparkling brooklet to the river. John Beatty
had two sons, Thomas and Abel, and one daughter, Mary, the
wife of Matthew Armstrong. It is always interesting to
hear the last words of the departed. John Beatty's will bears
date 5th January, 1774. In this he gives to Margaret Beatty
certain items of personalty and his homestead to William
Beatty. These were his grandchildren, the children of
Thomas Beatty. Marked traits of his character are apparent
in this document. A short quotation will exhibit his love
152 THE NOE.TH CAKOLIKA BOOKLET.
for rectitude and obedience, and desire to keep his homestead
in the line of his o^vn blood : "And if j" above named Mar-garet
or William Beatty or either of them does misbehave or
be disobedient when come to j"" years of maturity, either
going against their parents will in the contract of marriage
or any way remarkable otherwise, that legatee is liable to y^
loss of his part of this legacy, and to be given to y^ other, the
offending person entirely cut off at their parents discretion,
or those that it may please to have the guardian and care
over the above-mentioned persons William and Margaret
Beatty. And further I do not allow the said lands that is
left to y*" above named William Beatty to be ever sold or dis-posed
of by any means or person whatsoever, but to firmly
remain and continue in the line and lawful heirs of the above
named William Beatty's body and to continue in that name
as long as there is a male heir on the face of the earth, and
after for the lack of a male heir to y*^ nighest female heir."
Thomas Beatty died in 1787, leaving three sons, John,
Thomas, and William. The inventory of his estate exhibits
in minute detail the entire possessions of a well-to-do man
of the pioneer period. A few items ranging between his
broad acres and a fine-toothed comb will indicate the extent
and variety of his possessions : "944 acres of land, ten negroes,
seventeen horses, sixty-six cattle, eighteen hogs, thirteen
sheep, thirty-four geese, five ducks, lot poultry, five pewter
dishes, sixteen pewter plates, twenty-four pewter spoons, one
pewter basin, one pewter tankard, one crook and two pot
hooks, one dutch oven, and griddle and frying pan, one dough
trough, one chest, two spinning wheels, and one big wheel,
three pair cards, cotton, wool, and tow, one .check reel, one
weaving loom, twenty-three spools, for spooling cotton, five
reeds for weaving, nine sickles, one foot adze, one thorn
hack, one hackel, two iron wedges, two bleeding lances, one
hair sifter, two riddles, three gimlets, thirteen bushels flax
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 153
seed, six bushels buckwheat, one slide, two bells and collars,
750 clapboard nails, four pair half worn horse shoes, one
redding comb, one fine-toothed comb, three coats and one
great coat, two jackets, one pair buckskin breeches, one pair
trousers, three hats and two linen shirts," constitute about
one-fourth of the articles enumerated.
In the pioneer stage every man was his own carpenter,
and the women knew how to card, spin, weave, and sew. The
men wore linen shirts and buckskin breeches; the women,
arrayed in their own handiwork, were beautiful in the eyes
of the forester. The patrimony of the son was broad acres
;
the dowry of the daughter was a horse and saddle, cow and
calf, a spinning wheel and check reel. The young men were
gallant, and the young maids charming. The young men
learned the art of horsemanship not only in the chase, but
by the constant habit of traveling on horseback, and every
woman was an expert horse-rider. The horse sometimes
served as a tandem, the man riding in front, the woman be-hind;
and, if trustworthy tradition is given credence the
young men sometimes augTQented the pleasure of this sys-tem
of equestrianism by making their steeds caper, thereby
frightening their innocent companions into a firm embrace
to retain their positions.
Most of the early Scotch-Irish were Presbyterians, and
the religious center was Seattle's meeting house. This place
of worship was established by the pioneer, John Beatty, one
mile west of Beattie's Ford. The meeting house stood on a
level plat of ground in a beautiful grove of oak and hickory
near a spring. Beattie's meeting house was built of logs.
In 1808, it was decided to erect a more commodious edifice,
and a plat of several acres was conveyed for the purpose by
James Little to "James Connor, Alexander Brevard, John
Eeid and Joseph Graham, trustees." The kirk is named in
the deed, Unity. In 1883 another church was erected and
154 THE NOE.TH CAE-OLINA BOOKLET.
additions to the former church lands made by conveyances
from Kobert H. Burton, W. S. Simonton, and Mary King to
"John D. Graham, D. M. Eorney, and John Knox, trustees."
This is the conventional structure of that period with its gal-lery
and large pulpit.
From the first settlement this was a place of worship. The
headstones date back to 1776. Dr. Humphrey Hunter, a
native of Ireland, and soldier in the Revolution, was pastor
from 1796 to 1804. Next came Rev. Henry K. Pharr. He
was succeeded by Patrick Sparrow. Mr. Sparrow's father
was a potter in Vesuvius furnace. When lads the future
Governor Graham was hard put to it to keep pace with Pat-rick,
and the members of the Governor's family ascribed
some of his success to this auspicious rivalry in the old-field
schools. General Graham, thus having the lad's aptitude
brought to his attention, interested others with him in giving
Patrick an education. AVhen he became pastor of Unity an
old negro servant of General Graham's expressed her sur-prise
at his rise of fortune, by exclaiming that the boy who
ate ash cakes with her children had become her master's
preacher. Mr. Sparrow was the first professor of lang-uages
at Davidson College, and afterwards President of Hampden-
Sidney. The present pastor is Rev. C. H. Little, descended
from a pioneer family.
About the year 1790 Maj. John Davidson, with his sons-in-
law, Maj. Joseph Graham and Capt. Alexander Brevard,
crossed from the Mecklenburg side into Lincoln, and with
Gen. Peter Forney engaged in the manufacture of iron.
These were all Revolutionary soldiers. The beginning of
the nineteenth century witnessed civilization progress with
leaps and bounds. Then followed years of plenty. The
virgin soil brought forth bountifully. Herds of cattle and
droves of swine ranged at large unrestrained by any stock
law. Deer, turkey, wild geese and duck abounded. The
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 155
Catawba was filled with shad, trout and red horse. A track-less
wilderness had been transformed into a moving, popu-lous
community. Instead of the wigwam, was the home-stead
dwelling. Instead of the Indian war-whoop, was to be
heard the furnace blast breathing forth actual and potential
energy, and the stroke of the gTeat trip hammer at the
mighty forge as it beat the heart throbs of commercial activ-ity.
They were years of peace and growth, of marriage and
home-building, of quiet domestic happiness.
The different grants to the Beattys approximate three
thousand acres. William and John Beatty sold to John
FuUenwider, an early iron master; and Thomas Beatty to
Alfred M. Burton. Mr. FuUenwider divided his purchase
between his sons-in-law, Alfred M. and Kobert H. Burton;
they settled on their splendid estates and became potent influ-ences
in the community. Alfred Burton settled above the
ford, the old John Beatty house constituting one wing of the
residence he erected. Robert H. built a spacious mansion be-low
the ford. They were learned lawyers and elegant gen-tlemen.
Their dust reposes in Unity graveyard, beside that
of their kinsman, Hutchings Gr. Burton, once Governor of the
State. Robert H. Burton filled the ofiice of Superior Court
Judge. After Judge Burton's death his homestead was pur-chased
by Col. John H. Wheeler, the genial historian.
Colonel Wheeler filled the ofiice of State Treasurer and many
positions of trust, but is best known for his great work,
"Wheeler's History of l^orth Carolina." This he compiled
at Beattie's Ford, devoting to it about ten years' time. The
preface bears date, "Ellangowan, Beattie's Ford, N". C, 1st
July, 1851."
Thi'ee brothers—Charles, James and Henry Connor
—
from Antrim, Ireland, settled near Beattie's Ford. James
was a captain in the Revolution. Henry, the youngest, a
patriot soldier, located near Cowan's Ford. Colonel Wheeler
156 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET.
sold out at Beatty's Ford to Maj. Henry W. Connor, the son
of Charles. Major Connor derived his title for service under
General Graham in the campaign against the Creek Indians.
He was a man of great popularity and represented his dis-trict
in Congress twenty-three years. His homestead was
identical with Judge Burton's.
Skilled physicians of sweet memory are William B. Mc-
Lean and Eobert A. McLean, father and son. The elder
was a son of Dr. William McLean, a continental surgeon,
resident in the forks of the Catawba.
Jacob Forney first settled on the creek near the present
town of Denver, the scene of his Indian troubles. This farm
passed to his son, Capt. Abraham Forney, a soldier of the
Revolution, and yet belongs to his descendants. Gen, Peter
Forney, son of the pioneer, was a patriot soldier, member of
the House, Senate and Congress. As presidential elector,
he voted for Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Jackson. He
erected a forge at his home and Madison furnace on Leeper's
Creek, that was afterwards evened by J. W. Derr. He ob-tained
possession of valuable ore beds, and commenced build-ing
his iron works in 1Y87, and. recorded that he produced
hammered iron in his forge 26th August, 1788.
Maj. Daniel M. Forney, eldest son of Gen. Peter Forney,
received his title in the war of 1812, also served as Senator
from Lincoln County, and member of Congress. He erected
a palatial residence, modeled after a house at the national
capital. The site chosen is an eminence between, two creeks,
where Jacob Forney lived when the British quartered on
him. This picturesque old mansion, with its long white col-umns,
surrounded by a grove of original oaks, yet retains the
charms of its ancient architecture. Major Forney sold to
Alexander F. Gaston, a son of Judge Gaston. It next passed
to James Anderson, and is now owned by Mrs. W. E. Hall.
Henry Y. Webb, Bartlett Shipp, William Johnston, C. L.
THE HISTOfty OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 157
Hunter, and Christian Keinhardt, married daughters of Gen.
Peter Forney. Henry Y. Webb was a lawyer and repre-sented
Lincoln County in the House of Commons. Bartlett
Shipp was a lawyer, a member of the Legislature, and of the
constitutional convention of 1835. His son, William M.
Shipp, was a member of the House of Commons, Senator,
Superior Court Judge, and Atttorney-General of the State.
W, P. Bynuni married Eliza, daughter of Bartlett Shipp,
and settled on the Henry Y. Webb homestead. He was an
eminent lawyer. Colonel in the Confederate Army, Solicitor
of his district, and Justice of the Supreme Court. His son,
William S. Bynum, was a Confederate soldier, lawyer and
Episcopal clergyman.
William Johnston, a physician, married ISTancy Forney,
and located at Mt. Welcome, General Forney's homestead.
His five sons were gallant Confederate soldiers. William
H., Eobert D., and James F. entered the service in the
Beatty's Ford Rifles, which was mustered into service as
Company K, 23d Regiment ; William H. and James F. won
captains' commissions; while Robert D., by promotion be-came
a distinguished Brigadier General; Joseph F., late
Governor of Alabama and now United States Senator from
that State, was Captain of Company A, 12th Regiment;
Bartlett S. Johnston served in the Confederate States ISTavy.
Dr. William Johnston was a son of Col. James Johnston, a
soldier of the Revolution, one of the heroes of King's Moun-tain,
the first Senator from Lincoln, and elder at Unity.
When Gaston County was set up from Lincoln, Colonel John-ston's
homestead on the Catawba fell in Gaston County. Dr.
C. L. Hunter was a scientist and historian. He was the son
of Rev. Humphrey Hunter, a soldier in the Revolution.
Mary, daughter of Gen. Peter Forney, married Christian
Reinhardt, a planter, and they migrated west.
4
158 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Joseph Graham attained the rank of major in the Revolu-tion
and his title as general in 1814, when commissioned
Brigadier-General and sent in command of North Carolina
troops to aid General Jackson in the Creek War. To his
narratives of the battles of Ramsour's Mill, King's Mountain
and Cowan's Ford is largely due the preservation of the
Revolutionary history of this section. John D. Graham, his
eldest son, retiring from Vesuvius furnace, erected a brick
residence on the Catawba below Beattie's Ford, now the home
of his son. Clay Graham. James was a lawyer and politi-cian,
representing his district in Congress sixteen years.
William A., the general's youngest son, read law and located
at Hillsboro for the practice of his profession. He was twice
Governor, United States Secretary of the I^avy, and Con-federate
States Senator, and candidate for Vice-President on
the Scott ticket. Pure and spotless in private life, a learned
lawyer, a ripe scholar, a statesman of ability and clear judg-ment,
he is esteemed by many as the greatest man produced
by the State of iSTorth Carolina. William A. Graham, son
of the Governor, Major and Assistant Adjutant-General, his-torian
and author, the present Commissioner of Agriculture,
resides at Forest Home, the ancestral homestead.
Robert Hall Morrison, D.D., the first President of David-son
College, an eminent divine, was the honored pastor of
Unity for forty years. He married Mary, daughter of Gen
eral Graham. Cottage Home, his homestead, is intimately
associated with the Confederacy, for it was there that J. P.
Irwin, Lieut.-Gen. D. H. Hill, Lieut.-Gen. Stonewall Jack-son,
Brig.-Gen. Rufus Barringer, Maj. A. C. Avery, and
Col. John E. Brown, respectively married Harriet, Isabella,
Anna, Eugenia, Susan, and Laura, daughters of Dr. Morri-son.
His sons were Maj. William W. Morrison, Joseph G.
Morrison, A.D.C., on General Jackson's staff, Robert. H.
Morrison, A.D.C. to General Barringer and General Hill.
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 159
His youngest son, Alfred J. Morrison, was a lawyer, politi-cian,
and Presbyterian minister.
Alexander Brevard early received a captain's commission
in the Continental Army. He built Mount Tirzah and Reho-both
furnaces. Captain Brevard's homestead passed to his
son Robert A. Brevard, then to his grandson, Alexander F.
Brevard, and upon his death to Brevard McDowell, a great-grandson.
Captain Brevard and General Graham were hon-ored
elders at Unity, but were buried in a private cemetery
of their selection where Macpelah Church was afterwards
built. Vesuvius furnace passed into the hands of J. M.
Smith, a man who by his own initiative and endeavor rose to
position and influence and left a name distinguished for
good sense, kindness of heart, and business tact. He built
Stonewall furnace, on Anderson Creek.
On the post road between Beattie's Ford and Vesuvius fur-nace
are the Catawba Springs, a famous resort in ante-bellum
days. This was formerly Reed's Springs, owned by Capt.
John Reed, a soldier of the Revolution and Senator from Lin-coln
County. Valuable factors of this community are the
Asburys and Mundys, descendants of Rev. Daniel Asbury
and Rev. Jeremiah Mundy, pioneer Methodist ministers.
Rev. Daniel Asbury, when a youth, was taken by a band (/f
Shawnee Indians, carried to the far northwest and held in
captivity five years. In 1791 he established in Lincoln
County the first Methodist church west of the Catawba
River. Rev. Jeremiah Mundy was a native of Virginia and
located in Lincoln County in 1799. He was a soldier in the
Revolutionary War three years and a minister for thirty-five
years.
As one thinks of the old country 'squire who sott]ed dis-putes
between his neighbors, of the kind-hearted physician,
and the "lords of the manor," it seems "there were giants in
those days." But life was not all serious; it had its great
160 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
sunsiiiny side. They were apt at repartee, fond of the inno-cent
joke, and in social intercourse, peals of laughter went
the merry round ; for, has not the wisest of men said, "there
is a time to laugh" ? And, alas, in those halycon days, they
loved not the flagon to excess, but indulged a morning horn
to ward off the rising vapors, and the invitation to sample
the liquid contents of the sideboard was a mark of hospital-ity.
The sweet women, the embodiment of all that is true,
charming and good, raised high the standard of social purity.
The blushing bride became the uncrowned queen of the
home, around which the husband entwined the noblest affec-tions
of his heart. In this genial clime the pioneers found
a fertile land, undulating with hills and vales, chequered
with creeks and rills, and bountifully supplied with springs.
One mile west of Seattle's Ford, and flowing for some dis-tance
parallel with the river, is a large branch. On this
they found a maritime city, with streets of water through
meadows green, the habitation of the beaver. This animal
had felled trees, builded a great dam, ponding the waters
over many acres, so it was called Beaver Dam Branch. The
Burton mill was situate on the site of the old beaver dam.
The water from the pond was conducted through a race to
the great overshot wheel, the motive power of the mill. On
the ridge between the Ford and Beaver Dam Branch three
highways came together. At their convergence was situate
the village of Beattie's Ford with its mercantile establish-ments.
One of these roads was the great stage line via Lin-colnton
and Salisbury connecting far distant points. The
post-office of Beattie's Ford supplied a wide extent of country.
The approach of the stage was announced by winding blasts
from the long tin horn of the driver.
Exhaustless iron beds were discovered in other sections in
connection with limitless coal veins, and the fires of the
charcoal furnace were quenched, and the furnace blast and
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 161
forge hammer were heard no more. Some of the leading
spirits opposed the entrance of railroads, and their tracks
were laid over other routes. Trade centers sprang up on
their lines, and the stores at Beattie's Ford were closed. The
long interregnum of peace came to an end. The noise of
war was again heard in the land, and this section suffered in
blood and treasure and shattered homes.
THE DUTCH SIDE.
The German settlers came from Pennsylvania. Their
ancestors and some of them came from Germany. Their
settlement covers the whole of the county, except the eastern
portion bordering on the Catawba, and in this portion among
the Scotch-Irish were the German families of Cloninger,
Earnhardt, Forney, Hager, Lockman, Keever, Killian,
ISTantz, Silford and others. The names of the German pio-neers
deserve special mention, and many follow: Aderholdt,
Anthony, Arndt, Bangel, Benick, Beisaner, Beam, Bolinger,
Boyles, Botz, Coulter, Dellinger, Better, DeVepaugh, Dietz,
Eddlemon, Finger, Freytag, Gantzler, Gross, Haas, Hafner,
Helderman, Hallman, Hartzoge, Houser, Heedick, Heil,
Heltebrand, Henkel, Hoke, Huber, Hull, Jared, Jonas, Jundt,
Keener, Kizer, Kistler, Klein, Kneip, Krauss, Kuhn, Lantz,
Leeper, Lehnhardt, Leonard, Lingerfelt, Link, Lohr, Loretz,
Lorentz, Lutz, Michal, Miller, Mosteller, Plonk, Propst,
Quickel, Ramsauer, Rein, Reinhardt, Rieb, Rinck, Rudisill,
Sain, Scheidel, Schenck, Schufordt, Scronce, Seigel, Shrum,
Seitz, Shoup, Shull, Siginon, Speigel, Strutt, Summerrow,
Troutman, Tutherow, Warlick, Weber, Weckesser, Wehunt,
Weiand, Weiss, Wetzstein, Wisenhunt, Workman, Yoder,
Zimmerman.
Many of the American names have been anglicised, and the
spelling changed. To be a Zimmerman when one could be
a Carpenter was too unprogressive. Likewise Weber be-
162 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
came Weaver, Kruss, Grouse ; Huber, Hoover ; Freytag, Fri-day
; Gantzler, Cansler ; Heil, Hoyle ; Jundt, Yount ; Kulin,
Coon; Klein, Cline; Eieb, Keep; Weiss, Wise; Wetzstein,
Whetstone ; and so with many others.
They selected the finest lands and settled along the streams.
Their first dwellings were log cabins, then followed the red-painted
mansion. A few of the old red-painted houses, built
near the spring, yet stand, monuments of a bygone age. They
have always built large barns. Sweet memories of the pio-neers,
and many valuable papers linger among their descend-ants.
To give some illustration of pioneer times and condi-tions
a few notes of one family will be made.
Derrick Ramsour came with the pioneers about 1750. He
erected a mill on Clark's Creek, near its junction with the
South Fork River,' that was a noted industry and place in
colonial days. The subjects of the king often divided their
estates to prevent the oldest son becoming sole heir under the
English law of primogeniture. In April, 17Y2, impelled by
natural love and affection, he conveyed his property to his
two surviving sons, Jacob and David; first, however, re-quiring
them to enter into a bond in the sum of one thousand
pounds proclamation money for his support, conditioned that
they pay unto him every year during his natural life, ^'fifteen
pounds proclamation money, twenty-five bushels clean, sound
wheat, twenty-five bushels Indian corn, fifty-two pounds of
good butter, four hundredweight of good wholesome beef,
one-sixth of the net profits of the fruit trees, thirty pounds
sugar, three pounds Bohea tea, two pounds coffee, twelve gal-lons
of whiskey, four bushels of malt, one bushel of salt."
They also engaged to erect "a commodious and convenient
residence for him, the said Derrick Ramsour, in order to live
retired with a sufficient store and store room, and furnish the
same with the necessary furniture sufficient for his accom-modation
which building is to be erected on such a part of
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 163
the premises as he, the said Derrick Eamsour, pitches upon."
Also to find for him "one good feather bed and decent and
necessary furniture, and find and provide for him sufficient
firewood, ready hauled to his dwelling, to be cut a foot length
as often as occasion or necessity shall require ; and also to
supply him with a gentle riding horse, saddle, and bridle to
carry him wheresoever he may require to go, together with a
sufficient and necessary stock of wearing apparel both woolen
and linen, warm and decent, and becoming one of his cir-cumstances
to w^ar, together with the proper food and wash-ing
during his natural life."
Then by bill of sale he conveys to his sons Jacob and
David his "whole stock of black or neat cattle running on
the said lands whereon I now live, or to be found in the woods
or range, whether in my own proper mark, or the mark of
those from whom I might heretofore have purchased; also
all and singular my horses, mares, colts, yearlings, etc., which
of right doth or ought to belong to me, whether at this time
in my actual possession, or running their range at large, also
all my stock of hogs and sheep, be the same more or less in
number, wherever to be found, together with my wagons,
gears, plows, harness, still and vessels, plantation and car-penter
tools of every kind whatsoever."
To Jacob he conveys the plantation situate in the forks of
the South Fork Eiver and Clark's Creek and adjoining
tracts, in all 960 acres, including the mill. This tract ad-joins
the western limits of Lincolnton. The residence erected
for Derrick stood beside that of Jacob on the slope of the hill
a few hundred feet to the west of the mill that was destined
to become historic during the Revolution. The South Fork
River, in a great bend, forms its junction with Clark's Creek.
In this bend are three hundred acres of fertile bottom. Jacob
Ramsour died in 1787, and was buried in a private burying
ground, on the highest part of the ridge west of his house.
164 THE NOKTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
To David Eamsour he conveyed six hundred acres lying
three miles farther np the river. This tract is likewise situ-ate
in a great bend of the river including a broad sweep of
level bottom. On this farm to-day is the one-story cabin,
built of immense hewn logs, erected by David Ramsour, a
relic of pioneer days and architecture. The great stone chim-ney
is built entirely inside the house with fireplace seven feet
across, over which is the mantel nine feet long hewn out of a
log. In the chimney are cross bars from which the pot-hooks
were suspended to hold the cooking utensils in position over
the fire. This cabin occupies a knoll, commanding a fine
view with picturesque surroundings. It slopes toward the
south forty yards to the river. IvTear by is the rock-walled
spring, with stone steps leading down to its cool waters,
shaded by giant white oaks. Next stands the old red-painted
mansion characteristic of the early Dutch, built by his son,
John Hamsour, every part of which is put together with hand
forged nails. A little way out in the bottom is the brick
mansion of Jacob Eamsour, son of John. These, with the
modern residence of Thomas J. Ramsour, in view of each
other, standing in a radius of half a mile, represent four
generations of the Eamsour family. On a gentle knoll in the
great bottom is the family burying ground, where rests Jacob
Eamsour, who died in 1785, and many of his descendants.
The Germans encountered many hardships incident to the
settlement of a new country, but one of their most trying
ordeals was the change of their language from their native
German to English. They called themselves Dutch and their
language Dutch, and so are called to this day both by them-selves
and others. The pioneer Germans were Lutherans
and Eeformed, and they usually occupied the same house of
worship, where on alternate Sabbaths they worshiped, and
this is still the case in a number of churches. Four miles
northwest of Lincolnton the pioneers established a place of
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 165
worship and a schoolhoiise called Daniel's, on a tract of fifty
acres, but did not take a gi'ant. In 1767 a grant was issued
to Matthew Floyd for the tract of fifty acres including a
"schoolhouse." In 1768 it was purchased by E'icholas War-lick,
Frederick Wise, Urban Ashehanner, Peter Statler,
Peter Summey and Deter Hafner, who conveyed it to the
'*'two united Congregations of Lutherans and Calvinists."
The services were in German, and the records written in
German script until 1827. On this tract each has a brick
church and by them stands the brick schoolhouse. Eleven
miles east of Lincolnton, on the great highway is the site of
the "Old Dutch Meeting House," The deed is from Adam
Cloninger to the "German Congregation of Killian's Settle-ment."
The first church lot in Lincolnton was conveyed
June 10th, 1788, to Christian Eeinhardt and Andrew Hed-ick,
trustees for the "societies of Dutch Presbyterians and
Dutch Lutherans" of the town and vicinity, "for the intent
and purpose of building thereon a meeting house for public
worship, schoolhouses, both Dutch and English, and a place
for the burial of the dead." This was called the old White
church and occupied the site of the present Lutheran church.
The reference in title deeds to "Calvinists," and "Dutch
Presbyterians" is to the German Reformed or, as now known,
the Eeformed Church.
The pioneers brought with them Luther's German trans-lation
of the Bible. No dust was allowed to gather on this
precious volume. These have been handed down from gene-ration
to generation, and in almost every family to-day can be
found the Dutch Bible of the pioneers printed in a language
now considered foreign, yet justly esteemed precious heir-looms.
Rev. Johann Gottfried Arndt came from Germany as a
school-teacher in 1773, and was ordained into the Lutheran
ministry in 1775. He died in 1807 and was buried beneath
the old White church in Lincolnton, The inscription on his
166 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
tombstone is in German, above it an eagle and thirteen stars,
and the motto of the new republic, E plurihus unum. The
Keformed preacher of this time was Rev. Andrew Loretz, a
native of Switzerland. He died in 1812 and was buried at
Daniel's. On the gable of his mansion, outlined in colored
brick, are the initials of his name and the date, A. L. 1793.
Only the German v/as used during their pastorates. Living
in the same county, and preaching in the same churches,
these godly men were devoted friends, and engaged that
whichever died first should be buried by the survivor. The
Lutheran pastor at Daniel's is Rev. Luther L. Lohr, and in
Lincolnton Rev. Robert A. Yoder, D.D., descendants of the
Dutch settlers. While Rev. William Ramsour Minter, pas-tor
of the Presbyterian church in Lincolnton, is a grandson
of Jacob Ramsour,' and great-grandson of David Ramsour,
both elders in that church; David Ramsour was a son of
Jacob Ramsour, owner of the historic Ramsour's Mill.
The ISTorth Carolina Synod held an historic meeting in
the ''old White church" in May, 1820. Then occurred the
first rupture in the Lutheran Church in the iN evv- World. The
president maintained his position in a long discourse in the
German, the secretary followed in a longer one in English.
This church and others withdrew and, July 17th, organized
the Tennessee Synod. At its first meeting German was made
the business language and all its transactions were to be pub-lished
in German. In 1825 the minutes were published in
both German and English. In 1826 David Henkle was ap-pointed
interpreter for the members who did not understand
the German, and it was ordered that "the business of Synod
shall be transacted in the German language during the first
three days, afterwards the English shall be used."
But perhaps the greatest hindrance was in the State. The
English was the dominant language. The laws were writ-ten
and expounded in English, and all public affairs con-
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 167
ducted in that language, and this prevented many from active
participation in public affairs. The change was gradual, but
was perhaps most marked between the years 1820 and 1830.
The entire German population outgrew the use of the Ger-man
tongue. In their pulpits no longer is it heard, nor have
they German schools. ISTow the Pennsylvania Dutch is
seldom ever heard, and even the accent and idiom remain on
but few tongues; yet it is sometimes observed in the use of
the letters v and w, b and p, t and d. This is seen in some
of the family names; Bangel and Pangie are the same name;
likewise Boovey and Poovey, Tarr and Darr; David Darr
was called Tavy Tarr. A venerable elder of fragrant mem-ory,
when the preacher ascended the pulpit to begin ser-vice,
was accustomed to step to the door and proclaim to
those outside, "De beobles will now come in, te breaching is
reaty."
The Pennsylvania Dutchman had his humorous side, for
"A little nonsense now and then
Is relished by the best of men."
They had their sports and amusements, their holidays and
gala days, their Easter fun and Kriss Kringle frolics. Many
of their sports and amusements partook more of skill and
labor than dissipation and debauchery, such as corn-shuckings,
choppings, log-rollings, house-raisings, spinning-matches,
quiltings and the like, tending to manly vigor and
modest womanhood, and brightening the links of friendship
and brotherly love. By hunting deer and turkey, the squir-rel
and other game they became expert riflemen. In the fall
of the year shooting-matches were common, the usual prize
a quarter of beef or a turkey. A witness at court, when
asked to fix the date of a certain transaction, replied "at
shooting-match time." They were gTcat fanciers of fine
stock, and the old Dutch farmer never felt more lordly than
168 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
when hauling great loads with his sleek team of horses. The
race track also had its devotees. Two prominent Germans
were once called to the bar of the church for some cause re-sulting
from a noted race run on the Warlick path. The
one who lost expressed proper contrition. The other was
incorrigible. Proud of his horse, the stakes, and exulting
in the plaudits of the community, he promptly responded
'*I not sorry. I von. Mr. H. werry sorry, he loss."
On the Dutch side are many signs and folk lore of in-terest.
The Dutch farmer is a close observer and is often
governed by signs. The moon is a powerful potentate. Its
phases are closely watched, and there is a time to plant every
seed, cut timber and do many things. A champion turnip
grower used an incantation of virtue in casting the seed, re-sulting
in a fourfold quantity. Each time he threw the seed
with his hand he repeated a line of the following:
"Some for the pug,
Some for tlie fly,
Some for the Debil,
And in comes I."
Michael Schenck, in 1813, erected the first cotton factory,
rim by water power, south of the Potomac, It was a small
affair located on a branch, one mile east of Lincolnton, but
proving profitable, attracted Col. John Hoke and Dr. James
Bivins, and they became partners of Michael Schenck. The
firm in 1819 erected the Lincoln Cotton Mills, with three
thousand spindles, on the South Fork, the beginning of the
cotton mill industry in this section. This mill was burned
in 1863.
There are situate in Lincolnton and within four miles along
the South Fork, thirteen cotton mills controlled by descend-ants
of the Dutch. The only cotton mill in the county at the
close of the war was the Elm Grove, owned by John F. Phifer,
now operated by Kobert S. Reinhardt. The Confederate
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 169
States government, about 1864, erected a laboratory for the
manufacture of medicines on the site of the old Lincoln fac-tory.
In 1887, J. A. Abernethy and D, E. Ehyne erected
the Laboratory Cotton Mills on the site of the Confederate
laboratory, E. E. Costner, J. A. Anthony, L. J, Dellinger,
John M. Ehodes, and W. A. Eudisill are mill men. Daniel
E. Ehyne is proprietor of three of these mills. Other suc-cessful
mill men are J. A. Abernethy, Edgar Love, and J.
M. Eoberts. The late Capt. Joseph G. Morrison erected the
Mariposa Mills, at the old Forney forge on Leeper's Creek.
Paper mills were operated for many years on the South Fork.
Among the noted manufacturers of paper were William and
Eufus Tiddy.
One of the noted pioneers was Daniel Warlick. His en-tries
approximate three thousand acres. In 1769 he made
division of it among his five sons and four daughters. The
oldest enterprise in the county to-day is the mill he established
on a branch five miles west of Eamsour's. It was once de-stroyed
by the Cherokees. This property has passed from
father to son, and is to-day owned by Jacob E. Warlick, a
great grandson. It is now a modern roller-mill, the motive
power a waterfall of sixty-two feet.
The old highway from Eamsour's Mill to Warlick's Mill
crossed the South Fork Eiver at Eeep's Ford, just below the
present Eamsour bridge. Here lived Adam Eeep and his
brothers, Adolph and Michael, all Whig soldiers. Just to
the west, in a private burying ground, rests Nicholas Heamer,
a patriot soldier and one of the last survivors of the Battle of
Eamsour's Mill.
The subject of dress properly occupies large space in
woman's thought. In the olden time there were no stores
near with heavily laden shelves from which to select, but
they knew how to color, then combine the colors in beautiful
fabrics, and were experts in fine weaving. They perhaps
170 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
were not bothered with gores and biases, frills and puffs, yet
they had their trouble in cutting, fitting, and arranging the
trimming as do those of the present with the latest magazine
and fashion plate. It is certain that in the vigor and strength
of perfect development they were fair to look upon, equally at
home, in the parlor or in the kitchen alive to the wants of
humanity and duty to God. Much of this inspiriting record
is due the examples, counsels and prayers of pious mothers
;
and while the songs of the nursery mingle with lessons of
peace and love, and tender hearts are impressed with re-ligious
truth the result will be men and women of high type.
As the century waned the German citizens were becoming
prominent in public affairs. In 1797, John Eamsour repre-sented
Lincoln County in the House of Commons and twice
afterwards. Th6n follows John Eeinhardt in 1799, Peter
Forney in 1800. Peter Hoyle was elected in 1802 and four-teen
times afterwards; Henry Hoke in 1803 ; David Shuford
in 1806. Then follows Loretz, Killian, Cansler and others,
Henry Cansler was long an influential citizen. He filled
the offices of county surveyor, sheriff, clerk of the court and
member of the General Assembly. His father and grand-father
each wrote his name in the German, Philip Gantzler.
Jacob Costner was one of the first justices of Tryon
County, sheriff of Tryon 1774 and 1775, major of the Tryon
Regiment in 1776, died in 1777. Ambrose Costner, his
great-grandson, planter and financier, was often the popular
representative of Lincoln County in the House and Senate.
John F. Eeinhardt, Confederate soldier, planter, com-moner
and senator, is a gi'eat-grandson of Christian Rein-hardt,
"agent of the Dutch Presbyterians." He owns the
Bartlett Shipp homestead. His father, Franklin M. Rein-hardt,
operated the Rehobeth furnace.
Andrew Hedick, a great-gi-andson of Andrew Hedick,
THE HISTORY OF LIlS^COLN COUNTY. 171
homestead. He lost his right arm in the fearful struggle
at Chancellorsville. After the war he attended Pleasant
Ketreat, and prepared himself for school teaching. For
many years he filled the office of county treasurer and is one
of the county's honored citizens. Andrew Hedick is likewise
the survivor of the usually mortal wound of a musket ball
passing entirely through his body, as are also Abel Seagle and
David Keever.
David Schenck, grandson of Michael Sehenck, was a
gi-eat advocate and lawyer, a judge of the Superior Court and
historian. He removed to Greensboro in 1882 and has a
monument in the Guilford Battle-gi'ound.
John F. Hoke, son of Col. John Hoke, won a captain's
commission in the Mexican War, and commanded his com-pany
with gallantry in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Tolema
and JSTational Bridge. He was adjutant-general in j^orth
Carolina, and colonel in the Civil War. He was an able law-yer
and often the representative of Lincoln County in the
General Assembly. His son, William A. Hoke, as citizen,
lawyer, legislator, judge of the Superior Courts, and now
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, occupies a large
space in public esteem.
Michael Hoke, son of Col. John Hoke, was an eminent
lawyer and an accomplished orator, whose brilliant career
added luster to his county and Commonwealth. The cam-paign
of 1844 justly ranks among the famous in the history
of the State. There were many causes contributing to its
intensity. It was a presidential election. Henry Clay, the
Whig nominee, a matchless orator and the idol of his party,
made a speech in Ealeigh on the 12th day of June of that
year. James K. Polk, of Tennessee, a native of Mecklen-burg
and gTaduate of our State University, was the nominee
of the Democrats, and his party hoped to carry the State.
172 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
The Eepiiblic of Texas was seeking annexation to the United
States, and this was a burning issue. Each political party
was on its mettle, and marshaling its forces for a battle royal.
Standard bearers must be selected with care and the very
best. Each party named a son of Lincoln County as its
candidate for Governor, The Democrats nominated Michael
Hoke, a gentleman of fine person, fine address, of long legis-lative
exjjerience and high position at the bar, whose ease of
manner and brilliancy of oratory won for him troops of
friends. The Whigs were equallj^ fortunate in the selection
of William A. Graham, a man of exalted character and
ability ; and, like his competitor, the fairness of his conduct,
his open, generous temper, and elevated mode of argument
met the highest expectation of his most ardent admirers.
Never in any campaign were two political antagonists more
evenly matched. Both were in the prime of life. Hoke
was only thirty-four, and Graham forty years of age. Both
were strikingly handsome men, tall, well-formed and grace-ful,
of polished manner and placid temper, pure of character
and free from guile. While possessing all these amiable
qualities when it came to the advocacy of the principles of
their respective parties, or assaulting those of the other, they
exhibited the courage of a Washington and the aggressiveness
of a Jackson. The dignified and majestic presence of Gra-ham
was formidably rivaled by the matchless manner and
ready humor of Hoke. Their joint canvass was a battle of
giants. Graham was elected Governor, Clay carried the
State and Polk was elected President. Hoke scarce sur-vived
the campaigTi. He died September 9, 1844, at the
youthful age of 34 years, 4 months and 7 days.
Among the record of baptisms at Daniel's is this, "George
Kuhn, und desen frau ihr sohn George Gebohren den 31 ten
December, 1809, Taufzeugen sind Johnannes Rudisill und
desen frau," which being translated reads, "George Coon and
THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY. 173
his wife, their son George was born the 31st December, 1809,
sponsors John Endisill ard his wife." The infant George
grew into a man full of years and honor. An old French-man
in Lincolnton, Lorenzo Ferrer, often bought farm prod-ucts
from Mr. Coon, and so admired his perfect integTitj,
and "full measure of potatoes," that one of his bequests was
:
"I will and bestow to honest George Koon one hundred dol-lars."
Lorenzo Ferrer, having been introduced, shall have place in
this history. He was a native of Lyons, France, but spent
his long life from early manhood in Lincolnton. He died
August 16th, 1875, aged ninety-six years. He had his cof-fin
made to order and gave directions concerning his grave.
It is marked by a recumbent slab, supported on marble col-umns.
The first paragraph of his will is in these words
:
"I, Lorenzo Ferrer, here write my last will and testament
whilst I am in possession of my faculties, as I have shortly to
appear at the tribunal of St. Peter at the gate of eternity;
when St. Peter is to pronounce according to my merits or
demerits : for our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted the key of
Heaven to St. Peter and enjoined him to admit the deserving
to enter into Heaven and enjoy an eternal happiness, but to
condemn the undeserving defrauders to the everlasting sul-phurious
flames in the Devil's abode. Therefore, I am en-deavoring
to comfort myself in such a manner in order to
merit an eternal happiness in the presence of God, and his
angels, and in company with St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Titus
and the other saints. For I am anxious to converse with
those happy martyred saints and rejoice with them at the
firmness, patience, and willingness they endured at their
martyrdom for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am
also in hope to see and embrace my kind friends Michael
Hoke, William Lander, and other good and honest friends
with whom I hope to enjoy an eternal felicity," etc.
5
174 THE ]SrORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Adam Sj)rings approached the dark river with no such
beatific vision. In the confident possession of a soundmind
and good judgment he likewise wrote his own will, the first
part of which follows: "ISTorth Carolina, Lincoln County,
—
Know all men by these presents, that I, Adam A. Springs,
believing himself of sufficient judgment of mind do now set
about making my will in hopes that my surviving fellow-citizens
will aid me in the disposal of my wish. If it should
lack form, I call upon our Constitution. Then I ordain this
my last will and testament as follows: As to my soul or
finer part, whatever it may be, I surrender it to its author
without any impertinent and intrusive requests against the
immutable laws of Deity. In the first place, I will to be
buried alongside of James Hender