They Helped Build (Jp Asheville
Our iiiolropolis of the mountains has been
fortunate in having had among its residents
a number of publie-spirited men who did
mueh for the advancement of that seetion.
Buncombe is a famous couniy.
named for Col. Edward Buncombe of
Tyrrell, who was killed a» the Revo¬
lutionary battle of Germantown just a
few moments after our Carolina Gen¬
eral Francis Nash received his mortal
wound in the same battle.
Asheville, the county scat, preserves
the name and fame of Governor Sam¬
uel Ashe, as docs also the county of
that name. Wheeler, authoritative
Carolina historian, tells us that in Bun¬
combe the scenery is beautiful beyond
description, and that the climate is
even more lovely than the scenery. If
climate can be "lovely" anywhere, it
surely must be in Buncombe, which is
"beautiful for situation." But it re¬
mained for Francis Fisher Tiernan to
bestow upon the section the sobriquet
by which the section is known through¬
out the nation — “Land of the Sky."
She was the daughter of Col. Charles
F. Fisher, of the 6th N'orth Carolina,
who was the first Confederate Colonel
to fall in battle.
Birthplace of Famous Men
The city has been the birthplace
and home of many famous men. From
this soil sprang Zebulon Baird Vance,
famous Civil War Governor, and again
Governor in Reconstruction days, the
only son honored by being Governor
at two different periods in his career;
and then for a generation the most
prominent Southern figure in the Uni¬
ted States Senate. From this section
also came David Lowrie Swain. Gov¬
ernor and President of our University;
Governor Locke Craig; Chief Justice
and United States Senator Augustus S
Mcrrimon; United States Senator Jeter
C. Pritchard; General Robert Vance,
who fought a fatal duel with Con¬
gressman Samuel P. Carson; Confed¬
erate Brigadier Thomas L. Clingman.
whose celebrated feud with Professor
Elisha Mitchell over the question as to
whether Mount Mitchell was higher
than Clingman's Dome, resulted in the
death of the scholarly Professor in his
third measurement of the peak which
bears his name. The Coast and Gco-
10
detic Survey finally determined that
Mitchell was the highest by something
more than forty feet.
The county also is the last resting
place of three famous authors: at
Fletcher rests all that is mortal of
"Bill Nyc”; while in Asheville are
buried William Sidney Porter (O. Hen¬
ry) and Thomas Wolfe — whose novels
are among the most lengthy of any
American author.
Benefactions of E. W. Groves
Ihe city has had numerous bene¬
factors. Hither came the multimillion¬
aire patent - medicine manufacturer
E. W. Groves (Groves tasteless chill
tonic) who invested millions in Ashe¬
ville real estate. The old Battery Park
Hotel, a rambling wooden structure,
with a beautiful and spacious lawn,
was a thing of beauty and a joy for¬
ever. but the commercially minded
Groves purchased the estate, prompt¬
ly tore down the celebrated old build¬
ing. and steam shovels graded down
the high hill. There arose on the site
the present well known Battery Park
Hotel, a great commercial hotel, but
its setting is drab as compared with
that of the original building. Nearby
Groves also erected the great Arcade
Building, while in a different section
of the city he built the great Grove
Park Inn. swankiest of Carolina ho¬
tels. resort of wealthy Northern tour¬
ists, but too expensive for many
Carolinians to remain there for any
length of time. He also constructed a
large woolen mill and other buildings
in the vicinity. His son-in-law, Fred
Seely, was a man of business genius
who carried on after the death of Mr.
Groves, and who served as a member
of our Public Utilities Commission
V underbill's Contributions
There was also George W. Vander¬
bilt. who not only invested largely in
Asheville real estate, but who created
the suburban village of Biltmorc. and
nearby erected the magnificent Bilt-
ntore House, one of the most elaborate
and expensive private residences to
be found in the United States, and con¬
stituting one of the show places of the
state. In connection therewith he pur¬
chased a vast tract of land, embracing
not only a large section of Buncombe
County, but also a large part of the ad¬
joining county of Transylvania, a large
part of which is included within what
is now a National Forest, and embrac¬
ing within its limits, the famous Mount
Pisgah, one of the loftiest peaks in our
State, from whose lofty heights can be
sepn many of the glories of terrestrial
North Carolina.
Asheville has been the home of
many famous lawyers, one of the most
scholarly of whom was F. A. Sondly,
and upon his lamented death he be¬
queathed to his native city his entire
library which, at the time, was per¬
haps the largest and most valuable
private library in our State, and set an
example which might well be followed
in other of our Carolina cities.
George W. Pack
To Buncombe also came George
Washington Pack, far-seeing business
man from the woods of Michigan, a
famous lumberman who had once
been in the employ of the celebrated
Jay Gould, and who had served as
President of the National Forestry As¬
sociation. Seeking a suitable location in
the South to carry on his extensive
lumbering operations, he was pointed
to the Buncombe section where he
found practically every variety and
species of hardwood which exists on
the North American continent, and
which then clothed every mountain
side with a dense growth.
Pack prospered and waxed fat fi¬
nancially as the result of nis vast lum¬
bering operations in the Buncombe
sector, and he was liberal in his bene¬
factions to the section which had pros¬
pered him. Other cities have received
great gifts, notably Chicago, where
the great Field Museum was present¬
ed to the city by the merchant prince
Marshal Field; the Corcoran Art Gal¬
lery at Washington; the Mellon Art
( Continued on page
/6)
THE STATE. June 2. 1951