carat and weight values. Every coin
carries one of the following geograph¬
ical designations: "North Carolina
Gold." "Carolina Gold." or "Georgia
Gold." They were issued in three de¬
nominations: $1.00. $2.50. and $5.00.
Bechtler struck the first gold dollar
issued in this country in 1832. some
fourteen years ahead of the national
mint.
Brilliant Gunsmiths
Many people living in and around
Rutherford County are familiar with
the Bechtlers and the history of their
coinage. Not as many are aware that
Christopher. Sr., and his son. Augus¬
tus. were also brilliant gunsmiths.
There are eyewitness accounts to
demonstrations of their rilles firing at
an unheard of rate of eight times per
minute. Another Bechtler long arm
was fed a sixty-cap chain issuing from
a cylinder that revolved by a catch of
the trigger. Augustus demonstrated
the weapon w'ith a target 165 yards
distant "with great success.”
During one of his stints as circuit
judge in the western part of the state.
Judge William Battle had an opportu¬
nity to visit the Bechtler farm. He
wrote his wife the following account:
"Saturday evening last, after court
was over. I rode out to see Mr. Becht¬
ler, a famous coiner of gold and first
rate gunsmith. He showed us ... a
great many beautiful l ilies and pistols,
and among others, a snuff box pistol
and a walking stick rifle."
Today there arc individuals in
Rutherford and surrounding counties
who. if you gain their confidence, will
show you Bechtler coins that have
passed through their families for gen¬
erations. These hoarders of Ruther¬
ford County’s material culture speak
of Christopher Bechtler as someone
who recently lived and worked in the
area. That living heritage is being pre¬
served at the North Carolina Museum
of History in a major interpretive ex¬
hibit devoted to the Bechtlers. The
story is told through graphics, a nar¬
rated slide program and authentic
Bechtler artifacts. The gold rollers
used at the little mint to roll strips of
gold for punching are on display, as is
a pistol made by Christopher, Sr. A
book. The Bechtlers and Their Coin¬
age can be purchased at the Museum
Sales Shop.
Additional museum displays on the
Bechtlers and their coins can be seen at
the Mint Museum in Charlotte and at
Reed Gold Mine Historic Site near
Concord.
THE STATE, May 1961
Tales Retold:
The Deceiving
Of Delilah
After traveling for weeks in the deep
mountains, she eould have het»n in
Kentueky — or the next county.
Hi# ANNIS
НАШ»
JACKSON
Many pages have been filled in re¬
cording literary folklore from the Ap¬
palachian Mountains, and perhaps just
as many have been filled with specula¬
tion on the true origins of this treasured
inheritance of every North Carolinian.
Having heard a vast amount of this
folklore, as cliche would have it.
"from the horse's mouth." my curi¬
osity has always leaned toward, not
the origin, but whether the stories were
vastly altered in their passing down
from generation to generation.
I speak not as much of the well-
known Jack Tales. Grandfather Tales,
and accounts of real characters such as
Tom Dooley, as I do the fireside stories
about pioneers of the Appalachian area
whose deeds and hardships made them
famous within families and small sects
of the area.
I recall listening, tongue-in-cheek,
to many tales of rugged, almost
super-human settlers in the Watauga
area, one in particular, a woman
named Delilah Baird.
I never tired of hearing about her.
She claimed a place on my childish
pedestal along with Annie Oakley, the
American Indian, and a first cousin of
mine rfamed Lovcc Lee. who was
allowed the freedom (which I strongly
coveted) to dress like a boy.
Not long ago. I was skimming
through a battered copy of John Pres¬
ton Arthur's History of Watauga
County, a volume I had apparently
failed to read thoroughly: for. to my
surprise, as the pages nipped by. a
familiar name jumped out to greet me.
Delilah Baird! As I devoured each line.
I was truly ama/ed at the accuracy of
my Grandmother's rendition of the
story. Born around 1 900. she could not
have known Delilah, so the story had
been told to her. probably as a child,
just as she told it to me.
Ooltlob <t burmd •> lb* SoirtJ Cemetery, ia Volte
Civcit (Wofougo County),
ртоЬоЫу
morked by one
of the hood-mode »tone» wbkh bean no name
Delilah Baird, born in Watauga
County in 1807. was the victim of a
unique deception w hich would do jus¬
tice to Guy Owen’s Mordecai Jones.
Eloped To Kentucky
Delilah was an attractive and enter¬
prising young woman who apparently
knew what she wanted out of life. Un¬
like the majority of her mountain
counterparts, she did not marry until
the age of eighteen. Even then, much
to the consternation of family and
friends, Delilah chose a man many
years her senior who already pos¬
sessed a wife and seven children.
John Holtsclaw. Delilah's choice,
was a moderator in the Three Forks
Church near Cove Creek and was con¬
sidered by many to be a “back-sliding
preacher."
No record exists showing whether
Delilah was the instigator in the prob¬
lems which led to the separation of
John Holtsclaw and his family. How¬
ever. she did elope with him in 1825. It
is not known if any sort of divorce w as
granted to John Holtsclaw but it is
n
