A Mysterious Death on Noland Creek

When I was a child living on Sherrill Gap, we were less than a mile from the Lakeshore Drive (Road to Nowhere) entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On many a hot summer day, Mom and Dad would load us kids up and take us to Noland Creek to cool off in its cold, refreshing waters. Ever since those early days, Noland Creek has held a very special place in my heart and I still routinely hike there. Finding the newspaper article that inspired this blog only added to my intrigue with the creek. 

Regrettably, there was no solution to this mystery - but I hope you'll find the story interesting nonetheless.

Noland Creek, 04 September 2020
Source: Wendy Meyers

My brothers and I, first bridge on Noland Creek downstream from the parking area (20 May 1984) (Source: Margy Trehern)

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On a late October day in 1911, Jeff Woody, a resident of Noland Creek, went traipsing through the woods near Sassafras Knob on a search for chestnuts and instead stumbled across a scene that must have haunted him for the rest of his life.

For Jeff Woody found a body.

On November 2nd, 1911, the Asheville Gazette-News reported the following:

"Information has come here from Bryson City of the finding of a decomposed body of a man at Noland creek in Swain county the first of the week, by Jeff Woody, who was hunting chestnuts. The body was behind a log and was concealed by boards. Coroner Davis (Note: this would have been Dr. Robert Lee Davis) visited the place and gave it as his opinion that the man had been dead about a year. One of the arm bones was broken in two places. The theory of death is that he must have been murdered and boards placed over the body to conceal it. The clothing is said to be of good material, corduroy cap and trousers. In the pockets were found 65 cents, a key, and a razor."

USGS Mount Guyot Quad (1912), showing the Upper Noland Creek area.
Source: usgs.gov

The next day, the Asheville Citizen-Times further reported that:

"....It is believed that he was a mineralogist and was slain by someone who hid the body in such a manner that he believed it would be concealed forever. The place in the woods was not near a public road although the woods are hunted in quite frequently......It is recalled that about eight months ago a person clothed similarly to the body which has caused so much excitement here was a guest at one of the local hotels. He stated that he was in search of mineral lands and many people here believed that he came to his death immediately after leaving here. His name cannot be recalled. 
The fact that the clothes of the person who was found dead contained several gravels (NOTE: these were later determined to be quartz) would strengthen the belief that the dead man was a miner or mineralogist. The stranger who was here several months ago is remembered to have enquired about the way to the head of Noland's Creek.
The indications are that the man was camping in the woods in which he was found and the opinion is freely expressed that he was slain by his campmate, although no idea is entertained as to who committed the murder." - Asheville Citizen-Times, 03 November 1911

Picture of men in 1910 - the clothing the deceased individual was wearing was probably similar. (Source: gentlemansgazette.com)

As no local citizens were determined to be missing, the identity of the man was a mystery. Individuals in the Buncombe County area felt that the remains might belong to a former Confederate soldier by the name of John C. Hunter, who had disappeared from his home on Avery's Creek in May 1909. Various acquaintances indicated that he'd had his arm amputated above the elbow (and the skeleton found had broken arm bones), he'd last been seen in a corduroy coat, and he'd been carrying small stones in his pocket, which he said he'd picked up in some of the "western counties" on the chance that they might hold value. However, it made little sense as to why Mr. Hunter, then about 74 years of age, would be near this remote area of Swain County, a great distance from his home....particularly in 1911. 

Investigation into the presumed murder continued, and on January 28, 1912, Henry Dailey was arrested in Cherokee County in connection with it, after officials there had received instructions a few days earlier from an officer (presumably from Swain County) to arrest him on sight. After that, the trail of this mystery goes abruptly cold..... 

Asheville Gazette-News, 30 January 1912.
Source: newspapers.com

There are no further newspaper accounts of what happened after that, and no death certificate to indicate the manner of death. Our mysterious victim's final resting place is likewise unknown, but if his body was brought to Bryson City for autopsy, he may have been buried in one of the unmarked graves in the Bryson City Cemetery. Hope remains that some data regarding this case may reside in the NC State Archives, and if I'm ever able to locate any, I will update this article. 

The next time you're up on Noland Creek hiking, horseback riding, or attending Decoration Day, consider taking a moment as you travel the road to ponder the sad fate of a nameless stranger who walked that same peaceful road in 1910, likely in search of his fortune, and instead met a violent and untimely end in the surrounding woods. It's a tragic story.

Noland Creek Road, 04 September 2020
Source: Wendy Meyers

Postscript: Interestingly, another skeleton was found in Swain County less than a year later high up on Hazel Creek. This man was not believed to have been murdered but was felt to have died of hypothermia while crossing the mountains, going from Tennessee to Proctor, likely to work for Ritter Lumber (reported by The Raleigh Times on 20 July 1912).

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Sources:

Asheville Citizen-Times, 03 November 1911
Asheville Gazette-News, 02 November 1911
Asheville Gazette-News, 30 January 1912
Margy Trehern
The Raleigh Times, 20 July 1912
www.ancestry.com
www.gentlemansgazette.com
www.newspapers.com
www.usgs.gov