In Memoriam: James Henry Wiggins, A Soldier Boy (1891-1921)

 A statue in downtown Bryson City memorializes those Swain Countians who lost their lives in World Wars (WW) I and II, in Korea, and in Vietnam. However, there is at least one WW I soldier missing from that statue; his name was James Henry Wiggins . His death in December 1921, three years after the signing of the Armistice, resulted from his service in the war but as he was not killed in action, he is not counted among the dead. And yet, Henry deserves to be remembered and honored as a casualty of that war all the same.

James Henry Wiggins (1891-1921)
Source: Oscar Eugene Queen

Named after his grandfather, James Henry Queen, Henry was born in 1891 and was the first surviving child of Sherrill and Laura (Queen) Wiggins. Upon his birth, he had at least seven living stepsiblings, children born to Sherrill with his first wife, Julette “Lettie” Hyatt. From his two marriages, Sherrill fathered at least 24 children, several of whom did not live past birth or childhood. In a 1979 interview with her great-nephew, Eugene Queen, Henry’s sister Sally reported that the family moved to Georges Branch (a remote tributary of Indian Creek) shortly after her birth in 1897, however, Sherrill and his first family were already living on Georges Branch as early as 1880. Therefore, it stands to reason that Henry was likely born in the same area in which he eventually came to be buried.

Modern map showing location of Georges Branch (red pin).
Source: Google Maps 

As with so many mountaineers who lived during times when records and pictures were scarce, little is known of his early life. He attended the first school on Indian Creek, an old log building that served as both church and school. The children had only log benches (no desks) and school was only in session for four months, from September through December. Henry and his siblings likely appreciated that school only ran for only four months per year, as their walk to school was three miles each way! The family strictly observed the Sabbath and attended church regularly. With such a large family there was no shortage of work around the home and farm and the children worked hard alongside their parents to ensure that everyone was fed, clothed, and kept warm in winter. Leisure time was fleeting, but one thing the family enjoyed together was music - Henry could play the Jew’s harp (otherwise known as the Jaw harp) and was said to be a good buck dancer. However, his family shared that, like his mother, he suffered from a chronic cough throughout his life; his pulmonary compromise would later come to play a sad role in his untimely death.

Home of Sherrill and Laura Wiggins Family (and Henry); Georges Branch
Source: Open Parks Network

In 1910 Henry could be found still living on Georges Branch with his family, but by the time the draft came around in 1917, Henry was working on Noland Creek as a fireman at a sawmill owned by James Gore King McClure. This sawmill was almost certainly the one that sat in the flats down below what later became known as the Irving Kip (I.K.) Stearns place, near the road to the Lower Noland Cemetery. Several members of the extended Queen and Wiggins family lived in the Noland Creek area and it’s likely that he lived with one of them.

An old drum near the site of the McClure sawmill on Noland Creek.
October 2023, Photo by the author.

The draft came knocking at Swain County’s doors, and Henry was not to be spared. He registered for the draft on June 5^th, 1917, and by October 3^rd he was on his way to training at Camp Sevier, South Carolina. He was given the rank of private and was assigned to the Supply Company of the 119^th Infantry Regiment, 30^th Division – also known as the “Old Hickory” Division, primarily consisting of soldiers from North Carolina and Tennessee. Camp Sevier was set up to train these soldiers for service on the Western Front, even having trenches to mimic the conditions these young men were expected to face. After an extensive training period, he set sail from New York aboard the British ocean liner Ascania on May 11^th, 1918, bound for Europe.

Three WW1 soldiers, one of which (not known) is Henry Wiggins
Source: Sallie (Wiggins) Styles, sister (via Eugene Queen)

On May 27^th, the Ascania docked at Liverpool, England and by May 29^th, the regiment had arrived in Calais, France. The men trained side-by-side with British soldiers for several weeks before commencing a lengthy march to Belgium. By July 4^th, they were able to hear the guns at Flanders. After a series of relentless engagements during July, August, and September in the Ypres-Lys sector in Belgium during the Hundred Days Offensive, the Division was deployed to northeastern France and the Hindenburg Line. The line was the most fortified German defensive system of the war on the Western Front, and the Germans’ last line of defense. It had deep zones of barbed wire, concrete machine-gun bunkers, and fortified trenches designed to inflict maximum casualties. One of its most heavily fortified locations was the St. Quentin Canal and in particular the Bellicourt Tunnel through which the Canal flowed; crossing it was considered a perilous undertaking, sure to result in many casualties. However, on September 29^th, after over two days of near-continuous bombardment of the German fortifications across the canal, over 500,000 Allied soldiers engaged 400,00 to 500,00 German soldiers in one of the most consequential battles of the 20^th century. Excellent descriptions of the battle may be found online and therefore I will leave that aspect of this story to the experts. The Allies ultimately prevailed, breaking the line and thereby hastening the end of the war. Two hundred forty-one North Carolina soldiers died on that day including Henry’s fellow Swain Countians, Andy Styles of Wesser and William Berry Stephenson of Judson.

Aerial shot of the Hindenburg Line where the Battle of St. Quentin Canal was fought.
Source: The Hindenburg Line – Old Front Line

US soldiers en route to the Hindenburg Line
Source: Breaking the Hindenburg Line: The capture of St Quentin Canal - The History Press

After that fateful day and a few weeks of fighting thereafter, the Armistice was signed on November 11^th, 1918, bringing an official close to the war. This day is now observed annually as Veterans’ Day in the United States. Afterward, the 119^th Regiment stayed in Europe to rest and train for a period of time before departing for the US. They landed in Charleston, South Carolina on April 2^nd, 1919, and were then moved by rail to Camp Jackson, South Carolina. They were demobilized between April 6^th and 10^th.

Swain Countian Andy Styles, killed in action at the Battle of St. Quentin Canal
Source: Ancestry user Christopher Styles

One can only imagine how much Henry must have wanted to be home with his loved ones, however, it’s unclear whether or not he was able to go home immediately. During his service he had been the victim of a mustard gas attack which damaged his already-weakened lungs. This rendered him far more susceptible to tuberculosis (TB), a scourge of WW I soldiers. The combination of constant battles in damp trenches, highly crowded living conditions, and malnutrition helped to provide an ample breeding ground for the disease. Approximately 15,000 US soldiers returned from the war with TB and unfortunately, Henry was among them.

Proactively recognizing the need for a hospital specifically for soldiers returning with TB, the US War Department commissioned the building of U.S.A. General Hospital 19 (also known at the time as Azalea Hospital) near Asheville, North Carolina. We now know the hospital complex, minus some of the original sections/wards, as the Veterans Administration Hospital in Oteen. The 350-acre campus housed 46 TB wards to treat these soldiers. Antibiotics had not yet been discovered and as such, fresh air, sunshine, and plenty of bed rest was the prescribed treatment for the disease. The hospital swiftly became the top treatment center in the US for respiratory disease in soldiers and veterans. As he returned from Europe with TB, it seems likely that Henry was first sent to this hospital in order to stabilize his disease before returning home to his family. Unlike other TB-afflicted veterans who died not long after returning, Henry was able to go home, at least for a time. He appears in the January 1920 census living back on the farm with his parents and brother Bob and farming. It must have been a bucolic time in his life after months of witnessing and experiencing the daily atrocities of the Western Front. Sadly, these happy times wouldn’t last for long.

Postcard of TB wards at USA General Hospital No. 19
Source: Asheville Archives: Construction begins on U.S.A. General Hospital No. 19 – Mountain Xpress

Soldiers and nurses on a sleeping porch at USA General Hospital No. 19 in Oteen
Source: Mrs. Walter L. Massie Collection of Jesse Morris Photographs

Henry appears to have re-entered the hospital in late December 1920 and was there for nearly a month. Over the next year, he bravely battled the TB that he had never managed to fully recover from. In late October 1921, he underwent surgery, possibly to collapse one of his lungs to allow it to rest and the lesions to heal. It was unsuccessful and the disease continued to progress, eventually invading his brain and leading to meningitis. Henry died in the hospital on December 17^th, 1921 – just about a week before Christmas.

TB Ward at USA General Hospital No. 19 (Christmas 1920),
as it would have appeared when Henry was admitted.
Source: Mrs. Walter L. Massie Collection of Jesse Morris Photographs 

Despite his parents having moved into the Almond area not long before his death, Henry was brought back to the cemetery on upper Indian Creek (known variously as the Queen, Laney, or Styles Cemetery) to be buried close to his old home. He lies there, buried with his sister, grandfather, uncle, aunt, cousins, and former neighbors and friends. His stately headstone is entitled “A Soldier Boy” and bears the words, “Gone but not forgotten. His toils are past. His work is done. He fought the fight. The victory won.”

Tombstone of Henry Wiggins, Upper Indian Creek Cemetery
(Known alternately as Queen, Laney, or Stiles Cemetery)
Photo by the author

Less than a year before his death, during a stay at the hospital and seemingly preparing for a return home, Henry sat down at a typewriter and wrote this poem. The original copy from which it is transcribed was discovered in his brother Bob’s Bible in 1981. It seems a fitting end to Henry’s chapter.

1-23-1921
USPHS Hosp. No. 60
Oteen, N. C.

O dear little flag in the window there
Hung with a tear and a woman’s prayer;
Child of Old Glory, born with a star
O, what a wonderful flag you are

Blue is your star in its field of white
Dipped in the red that was born of fight;
Born of the blood that our forebearers shed
To raise your mother the flag overhead

And now you’ve come in this frenzy day
To speak from a window to speak and say
I am the voice of a soldier son
Gone to be gone till the victory’s won

I am the flag of the service sir
The flag of his mother I speak for her
Who stands by my window and waits and fears
But hides from the others her unwept tears

I am the flag of the wives who wait
For the safe return of a marital mate
A mate gone forth where the war god thrives
To save from sacrifice other men’s wives

I am the flag of the sweethearts true
The often unthought of the sisters too
I am the flag of a mother’s son
And I won’t come down till the victory’s won.

(Wrote by Henry Wiggins on Sunday night after supper
When nothing else to do.  Goodby to all friends at Oteen.
Goodnight dear sweetheart.)

(Note from blog author: transcribed verbatim.)

Wishing all of you a blessed Memorial Day.

____________________________________________

Sources: 

Ancestry.com
Google Maps
“History 60^th 119^th Infantry, 60^th Brigade, 30^th Division: operations in Belgium and France, 1917-1919” by C.B. Conway and George A. Shuford. 1920; Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.
Mountainx.com article: “Asheville Archives: Construction begins on U.S.A. General Hospital No. 19” by Thomas Calder, October 23, 1918.
Mrs. Walter L. Massie Collection of Jesse Morris Photographs, UNC-Asheville
Oldfrontline.co.uk
OpenParksNetwork.com
Research and writing of Oscar Eugene Queen
Research and writing of Don Casada
Thehistorypress.co.uk

·   

The "Ela Hotel"

High on the Thomas Divide, a long ridge overlooking the Indian Creek drainage, lies the foundation of a home that has for over a century been referred to as the “Ela Hotel”. Interestingly it never was an advertised hotel, and its owner was a woman by the name of Beatrice Ely (not Ela, though the Ela community is not terribly far away from it as the crow flies).

The remains of the Beatrice Ely Read home on Thomas Divide
Source: Don Casada

Beatrice Jolls was born in Nebraska in 1885, the daughter of jeweler Frank Jolls and his wife Ida (nee’ Abbott). By 1892 the family had moved to Chautauqua County, New York. In 1905 she married civil engineer Walter Shipman Ely and in 1906, her only child, Dorothy, was born. The Ely's lived in New York for a time before moving to Birmingham, Alabama. I do not know how she became acquainted with these mountains, but a September 1913 article in the Birmingham News noted that she had just returned from spending six weeks in the “Balsam Mountains” of North Carolina.

Beatrice and Dorothy Ely at an unknown location in the mountains (1914)
Source: Carolyn Lee, granddaughter of Beatrice Ely Read and daughter of Dorothy.

In August 1915, she bought 10.5 acres on Thomas Divide, adjoining the lands of William Cope, Joe Queen, and Andy Wiggins. Shortly thereafter, John Elander Davis, Joe Queen, John Wiggins, and another man, identified only as “Mr. Shuler”, began construction on her cabin and barn. In her 1929 correspondence with the North Carolina Park Commission during property acquisitions for the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), she estimated that she spent over $4000 in building the home and barn (> $115,000 in today’s currency).  Acquisition records describe her property as a “mountain camp” and indicate that the home was large and had 5 rooms, ceilings, stone fireplaces, and wide front porches (seen in the picture of the home). It was crafted of virgin timber. As the home was built on a ridge with no natural source of water nearby, a large rainwater cistern provided needed water, which was piped into the home. She appears to have intended for the cabin to be her summer home and also used for lodging purposes, perhaps for summer visitors to the mountains.

The Ely home (1937)
Source: GSMNP Archives

The Ely family had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, by 1916 and Beatrice was still living there as late as April 1918. However, she and Walter divorced in 1919 and she appears to have taken Dorothy to live with her in Swain County for a time. The 1920 census records her living as a boarder in the home of neighbors Wilmot and Emmie Hartzog, short-lived “transplants” from the Greenwood, South Carolina area. The reason she was living with them is unknown but perhaps the cabin was not warm enough for the mountain winters, which were much colder 100+ years ago than they are now.

Charleston Township census showing Beatrice and Dorothy living with the Hartzogs (Jan 31st, 1920)
Source: Ancestry.com

The Hartzog (originally Randall) home on Thomas Divide (1937)
Source: openparksnetwork.com

Almost nothing is known of Beatrice and Dorothy’s time in Swain County. In a 1969 interview, former Indian Creek resident Henry Davis recalled, “I went around there and she played records for us. When they had a song about if you don’t like th’ red, white and blue, and don’t, something about th’ hand that’s feeding you, don’t bite the hand that’s feedin’ you, or something of that sort.” (This song is “Don’t Bite the Hand That’s Feeding You”, a popular World War I song produced in 1915 which you can hear at this YouTube link.) Pictures provided by her granddaughter, Carolyn Lee, show that she entertained guests at the cabin. It’s possible that Dorothy may have attended the Indian Creek school for a time, and she and her mother may have attended the Indian Creek church at some point, but their names do not appear among the rolls of its members.

Beatrice Ely demonstrating her shooting prowess in front of the cabin. 
Source: Carolyn Lee

Dorothy with dog (1915). At some point 1914/1915, she had a
significant febrile illness that necessitated the cutting of her hair,
hence the reason it is short. (Apologies for the resolution; this
is as good as it can be made.)
Source: Carolyn Lee

By 1921, Beatrice had moved to Spartanburg and in 1923 she married prominent druggist George Cuthbert Reed. However, she kept her mountain home and spent summers there until at least 1925, after which time she was no longer able to visit. During the acquisition of her Swain County home and land for the creation of the GSMNP, she and the North Carolina Park Commission engaged in a series of letters, disagreeing over what was a fair price for the property, but ultimately settled on $1500. In her last correspondence with the North Carolina Park Commission on November 25th, 1929, she stated, “For many reasons, I regretted exceedingly the necessity of disposing of this property, however, realizing all the circumstances around it, I am reconciled to it…..” There can be no doubt that her time in Swain County was happy and having to leave it behind never to return was a bitter pill to swallow.

Agreement to the NC Park Commission's appraised amount.
The purchase was completed in mid-December 1929.
Source: NC Park Commission records at the NC Archives
(Researched and provided by Don Casada)

In her later years, Beatrice was a member of the Spartanburg American Legion Auxiliary, attended Spartanburg First Presbyterian Church, and taught Bible classes. She and George lived happily together for over 40 years until his death in 1964; she passed away in1967 and Dorothy followed in 1982.

Beatrice Read, circa mid-to-late 1930's. 
Source: Carolyn Lee

George Cuthbert Read, circa 1945
Source: Carolyn Lee

What drew this enterprising and daring, high-society woman to the rugged and remote mountains of Swain County? We will almost certainly never know. However, I am grateful that a part of her legacy remains here, preserved in perpetuity in the land of her beloved mountain home, and in the enduring mystique of the “Ela Hotel”.   

The remains of the Beatrice Ely Read home on Thomas Divide, looking toward the front porch.
Source: Don Casada

_____________________________________________

Sources:

• Ancestry.com
• Carolyn Lee, granddaughter of Beatrice Ely Read and daughter of Dorothy Ely Edwards (Note: I am much indebted to her for her willingness to share her family's picture heirlooms and stories)
• Don Casada
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park Archives
• North Carolina Park Commission Records (North Carolina Archives)
• Open Parks Network
• Swain County Register of Deeds, Book 42, pages 109-110
• The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), September 1^st, 1913
• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), April 19^th, 1918
• The Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC), December 19^th, 1921
• The Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC), January 3^rd, 1967
• The State (Columbia, SC) January 27^th, 1929

Remembering Nellie Martin, A Cherokee Woman from Deep Creek (Part 1 of 2)

This blog entry is a 2-part article published simultaneously, but to fully appreciate and understand the one you must read the other (and vice versa). My research buddy, Don Casada, and I teamed up to write about one of our favorite projects thus far - the placement of a cenotaph for Nellie Martin, a Cherokee woman who lived and died in the Deep Creek/Indian Creek area. We have spent countless hours in the research and writing of these pieces, revising many times, but the resulting articles are ones which we hope will honor Nellie's legacy and the legacy of other Cherokee who inhabited the area but are "known only to God". I wrote this article, which is focused primarily on what is known about Nellie and her family. 

________________________________

Back in 2011, when Don Casada and I first started our historical research on home sites in the Swain County portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we made a couple of trips to the park's archives, which at the time were located in a basement of the park headquarters at Sugarlands. Annette Hartigan, the archivist at the time (now retired) was an enthusiastic supporter of our research and was always well prepared for our visits with items she thought we might find of interest. 

Figure WM1: The two cabins at the Bumgarner place, approximately 1.7 miles from the Turnaround. According to park records, the smaller cabin was built by Indians. It is likely very similar to Nellie's cabin at the Turnaround. (Source: Open Parks Network)

On one such trip, she pulled out several field notebooks kept by Charles Souder Grossman (Figure WM2), an architect who, during the 1930s and 1940s, worked with historian Hiram Wilburn to document the homes and artifacts left behind by former residents of lands that became the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We found many exceptionally interesting facts amongst his notes, but one entry in particular stood out, for it detailed a conversation Grossman had with Will Jenkins, who lived in a home across the last bridge on Deep Creek at the current intersection of the Deep Creek Trail and the Loop Trail. 

Figure WM2: Charles Souder Grossman.
(Source: Open Parks Network)

I have included a picture of the first page of the relevant notes below (Figure WM3), but they are not particularly easy to read and I have provided a verbatim transcription below, courtesy of Don.

 “Litha Baumgarner Place – Originaly called Junie Wank Place (Indian).  Litha still living on Lands Creek with nephew.  Litha now about 80 yrs old. (Note: this is incorrect – the Junie Wank place was well-documented in deeds to have been located on what we know as Juney Whank Branch.)

Lived there with her father Ephraim Baumgarner.  New house built about 38 years ago.  Pounding mill Litha’s son built pounding mill.  40 years ago stood at Will Jenkins place. 

Also an Indian Cabin stood at Turn Around (Nellie Martin Place) on Deep Creek Cabin built of round log. Chimney lined with stone & mud outside with small poles at bottom with smaller poles & split poles at the top of chimney.  Cabin about 12’ x 14’.  As a rule Indian cabins were smaller than the White cabins.  Had 1 window in lower side opposite the creek (west).  Door in upper side (east).  Chimney in north end of building.  Stood just below two big apple trees which are still standing.  Floor of rough lumber.  Got it from a little saw mill on Indian Creek.  Nellie died and was buried near the cabin.  She had her crib keys in her pocket and was buried with them.  The crib door was never opened but a new door was cut in the other end.  Crib stood below house of split chest logs about 8’ x 5’.

Will Jenkins place built by George Jenkins his Daddy about 30 years ago.  Originally the Corntassle Place (Indian.

Went to Nellie Martin Place with Mr. Jenkins & was shown site of Indian Cabin & crib also Nellie Martins grave.

Across the bridge from the Jenkins Place and on the ridge known locally as graveyard ridge Mr. Jenkins showed me 7 or 8 Indian graves.”

Figure WM3: May 14, 1937 notes on Nellie Martin captured by Charles Grossman. This is one of three pages from which the above transcription is taken. (Source: GSMNP archives)

 Nellie is largely an enigma, with what we know about her being bits and pieces gleaned from Cherokee Rolls and US Census records. She was born somewhere between 1842 – 1845 and was the daughter of Oo nu naga ar mar u (Cherokee last name Chu-chu, English last name Martin) and his wife Sorgiu nie glug hi (English name Nancy Martin), both of whom were born in the remote Turtletown area of Polk County, Tennessee. Nellie’s place of birth is not known for certain, but per their Guion-Miller applications (see the sources for a link to a great  overview of the Cherokee enrollment records mentioned in this article), her brother Suate was born in 1846 on Indian Creek (Figure WM4), as was his brother George (born in 1858). Therefore, even if she was not born there, she most certainly grew up on Indian Creek. (Side note: I was absolutely elated to find out that the Martins had lived on Indian Creek as the names of its Native American settlers have proved elusive. Their documented residence there also supports the long-rumored origin of the name of the nearby Martins Gap, through which runs the trail of the same name that connects the Deep Creek and Indian Creek trails.)

Figure WM4: First page of Suate Martin's claim for Eastern Cherokee nation enrollment (part of the Guion-Miller Roll), dated February 3, 1908. It is important to note that the Cherokee spelling of the Martin family's names varied considerably by the Roll being taken. (Source: Fold3.com, Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909, Record #15711)

Nellie appears to have been one of at least seven children (Figure WM12), several of whom died as teens or young adults. Nellie does appear to have had some schooling and learned to read and write at some point, perhaps having received some schooling from her parents (the Indian Creek School was not established until the early 1870s and would very likely not have educated Indian children). At some point she married, as the Hester Roll of 1884 records her as being a widow (Figure WM5); the name of her husband is unknown as no marriage record was able to be located. We also do not know if she had children. The 1880 census (Figure WM6) records a boy, Jonas Martin, in the household who may have been her son. However, he appears to have died before the Hester Roll was taken as he does not appear in conjunction with her record or that of either of her surviving brothers.

Figure WM5: 1884 Hester Roll - entry for Nellie (solitary line on top) and her brother George and his wife (bottom). (Source: National Archives, Image M1773-09-013)

Figure WM6: 1880 Census showing the George Martin household. (Source: Ancestry.com)

On May 23, 1878, Nellie acquired, courtesy of Thaddeus Dillard Bryson, a 100-acre tract adjoining the Jenkins land; this land contains what we now know as the Turnaround. This transaction was made on the same day on which he acquired the Bryson Place, at which she (and almost certainly other members of the family) had been living. These transactions are better detailed in Don’s article. The fact that the land was deeded to her suggests that her husband may have been deceased by this time. The reason for T.D. Bryson’s kind gesture is unknown, however, the 1880 census (Figure WM6), taken two years later, paints a sad picture of the family:

• The family was headed by the unmarried George, age 20
• Nellie was reported to be an “idiot” and “insane”; perhaps suffering from a mental illness or a neurological disorder affecting her brain (for those interested, here is an interesting article on the categorization of such individuals in this particular census)
• Her elderly mother Nancy is also listed as being an “idiot”. In light of Nancy’s advanced age, senile dementia is a not implausible reason for having been assigned this classification.
• Jonas Martin is a 6 year old child in a household in which the women may have been unable to care for him.

The land granted to Nellie was much further downstream of the Bryson Place and closer to assistance should the family have needed it. T.D. Bryson was known to have been a generous community benefactor and may well have chosen to provide for what he saw as a family in significant distress. 

Grossman’s records show that after receiving this gift, the Martins built (at minimum) a small cabin and corn crib and also planted apple trees that were still standing in 1937, when Grossman talked with Will Jenkins. They likely farmed the land in the Turnaround (Figure WM7), some of the very little relatively flat and arable land in the area.

Figure WM7: The Deep Creek Turnaround as it looked in 1937. This picture was likely taken from very close to the Hunnicutt home, which Don and I believe to have been the prior site of the Martins' home. (Source: Open Parks Network)

By the time the Hester Roll was taken in 1884, Nancy (and likely Jonas) had passed away; Nellie joined them in death soon thereafter. She was buried near her cabin, likely on the ridge that terminates just before one reaches the Turnaround (known in later deeds as Indian Grave Ridge – see the discussion on this in Don’s article). On August 31, 1885, Suate and George, her brothers and heirs, sold her land for $200 to William P. Shuler, and moved away from Deep Creek and Indian Creek, leaving only their surname on a remote gap to record their former lives there.

 It was Don’s and my strong feeling that as Nellie’s burial was well-documented, we should somehow mark her grave. We have done so, with the Park Service’s permission, for other individuals whose gravesite locations were passed down by family members over the years, and felt that the evidence in this case for a stone was very strong. Armed with the notes from Grossman and deeds proving that Nellie had owned property in the area, we approached Heath Bailey who was then the Park’s archaeologist to see if the Park Service would agree to allow us to place a stone bearing a cenotaph for Nellie if we (Don, Frank March [a fellow park researcher], and I) purchased it. Approval was granted on June 19, 2018, and on October 23 of the same year, the stone was placed by Don and Frank in the middle of the Turnaround. Though almost certainly not the location of her actual grave (see Don’s piece for a detailed discussion of this), it is a fitting location for it, so that people can observe it and ponder the lady whom it memorializes.

Figure WM8: The likely location of Nellie's burial on Indian Grave Ridge just above the Turnaround, where Marion and Columbus Hunnicutt are known to be buried. Susan Casada is standing at their graves and I am standing where the Hunnicutt home was known to be (some of the foundation stones are still there) and where we believe the Martin cabin to have been located. A detailed map of the Turnaround area is shown in Figure DC 13 in Don's piece. (Photo credit: Don Casada)

I would encourage interested readers to visit Nellie’s cenotaph (Figure WM9). The Turnaround is located approximately 2.1 miles from the gate at the main Deep Creek trailhead, by following the main Deep Creek Trail. The stone is located in the middle, approximately two-thirds of the way to the far end of the Turnaround in the middle and is visible from the trail (more easily visible in winter).

Figure WM9: Nellie Martin's cenotaph. The "Chis-e-li" spelling of her Cherokee name was pulled from the final deed transferring ownership of the Martin place at the Turnaround to Pate Shuler. 
(Photo by the author)

Over our lifetimes, Don and I have been at the Turnaround hundreds of times – never knowing, until 2011, the fascinating history that lay just fifty feet away from us. Of all the historical work I have done, the work associated with memorializing Nellie Martin ranks exceptionally high on my list. While the white settlers of the Deep Creek section of the park are relatively well-documented, quite the opposite is true for the Native Americans who lived in the area prior to that time. Evidence of their existence there has come only in the form of a few found arrowheads and pipes, a couple of graves on Indian Creek that are believed to have Cherokee-language inscriptions on them (Figure WM10), references to home places such as the June Whank and Corn Tassel places, maps of reserves taken out in conjunction with the 1819 Cherokee cession treaty, and interviews with descendants of the original white settlers who had told their grandchildren that Indians were living on the creek at the time they moved there. The research we have conducted to give personhood to an individual who has, heretofore, resided only in a few census roll lines, represents an important step in establishing a far more complete human history of Deep Creek.

Figure WM10: Gravestone with what are believed to be Cherokee language engravings; Parris Cemetery on Indian Creek. (Photo credit: Don Casada)

Postscript: In his notes, Grossman remarks that he was taken to see seven or eight Indian graves across the bridge from the Jenkins Place. The misnamed “Wiggins 2” graveyard (see Figure DC8 in Don’s piece) continues to be maintained by the Park Service and today only five stones remain (two of which appear to be footstones) (Figure WM11). The graves are oriented between thirty and fifty degrees off an East-West orientation, which further supports the oral tradition that these are Indian graves. The identities of the individuals buried there are not known. Corn Tassel was known to have lived at what later became the Jenkins Place so these graves may belong to members of his family. However, given Nellie and her family’s close proximity to this cemetery at some point (at least some of the family having moved over the mountain from Indian Creek), one wonders if any of these graves might belong to members of the Martin family (Figure WM12). We will almost certainly never know. (Note: If you wish to visit this cemetery, the trail takes off to the left up a mountain just before you reach the last bridge on the Deep Creek Trail. It is an arduous climb of about one-tenth a mile.)

Figure WM11: The Indian Cemetery on Deep Creek near the Will Jenkins homeplace (above the last bridge on Deep Creek). (Photo by the author)

Figure WM12: Second page of Suate Martin's claim for Eastern Cherokee nation enrollment (part of the Guion-Miller Roll) showing his siblings. Ironically, Nellie does not appear to be listed. (Source: Fold3.com, Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909, Record #15711)

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Sources:
Ancestry.com
Fold3.com
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Archives
Individual Contributors: Don Casada, Annette Hartigan, Mike Aday, Frank March, Heath Bailey, Susan Casada, Jim Casada
National Archives and Records Administration (Mullay Roll [1848] Siler Roll [1851], Chapman Roll [1852], Swetland Roll [1869], Hester Roll [1884]. An excellent description of what was collected by the various rolls can be found at this link: Eastern Cherokee Census Rolls, 1835-1884 (archives.gov)
Open Parks Network.org
Swain County Register of Deeds