The Icy Winter of 1876-1877

It has been bitterly cold here in Swain County for the past 7-10 days, so much so that many small streams in the area are completely frozen over in places, and the rivers appear to be on their way. I have been watching ice floes float down the Tuckasegee River for several days now. During this week, I was reminded of an account I had read in a family history book that pertained to a particularly cold winter in Swain County, and wanted to share it with my readers. I hope that you will enjoy this little sojourn into the past.

Ice on the Tuckasegee River at Governor's Island, 1/5/2018

Wendy Meyers

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The late John Reid Ashe (1908 - 1988) and his wife Wilma McHan Ashe (1914 - 2004) were prolific researchers, writers, and promoters of family and county history. In fact, one of the original driving forces for the Swain County Heritage Museum was Wilma Ashe, and it is very unfortunate that she did not live to see her dream come to fruition. The paternal side of John Ashe's family ran deep in the Judson area, and he wrote about his family and the history of the area in a very comprehensive book entitled "Ash-Ashe-Stillwell, A Genealogy and History". In the book, he records the story of the winter during which his grandparents, David (1856 - 1926) and Candace ([nee' Stillwell] 1862 - 1939) Ashe were married (they married on December 28, 1876).

David Reed and Candace (nee' Stillwell) Ashe

Source: Ash-Ashe-Stillwell

"Dave Ashe married Candace Stillwell in 1876. In those times the newlyweds usually lived with the parents of the groom until a 'Log Rolling' could be planned and a cabin of their own built. This winter turned out to be one of the coldest on record. All streams were frozen over solidly. Holes had to be cut in the ice daily to obtain water for survival."

Amos Ashe (note: father of David Ashe) had a roller mill powered by water. On sunny days all men pitched in and chipped ice from the millrace and the overshot wheel. Only a small amount of grain could be ground before it refroze and this was divided among those who needed it most. 

Amos Ashe Millrace, 1909

Source: Great Smoky Mountains National Park Archives and

Western Carolina University Special Collections

Amos Ashe Mill, 1909

Source: Great Smoky Mountains National Park Archives and 

Western Carolina University Special Collections

On their first trip home to visit her parents after they were married, they rode horses. They crossed the Little Tennessee River twice and 'Never a hoof broke through the ice'. Spring came early. Gardens and field crops were planted when the spring thaw came. Huge ice jams formed and backed water and ice floes into the fields and gardens. At that time, the streams were lined with virgin timber. This ice chipped the bark and wood from them and many of the huge trees were completely destroyed."

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Sources:

Ancestry.com

Ash-Ashe-Stillwell: A Genealogy and History by John Reid Ashe (Note: this book is available for viewing at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City)

Findagrave.com

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Archives

Swain County Marriage Register

Western Carolina University Special Collections

The Life and Tragic Death of Ben Enloe

Today, September 8th, 2016, marks 100 years since the death of Benjamin F. Enloe, a member of one of the most prominent families in Swain County during the 1800's and early- to mid- 1900's.

Ben Enloe, circa late 1890s/early 1900s

Source: Laura Taylor

Frequent readers here know of my fondness for the Judson area, because I grew up about a mile from there. One of the most wealthy families in Judson was headed by William Aesoph  'Ace' Enloe. Readers are likely familiar with the Abram Enloe family as being among the early settlers of the Oconalufty Valley, relocating there from Puzzle Creek in Rutherford County sometime after 1810. Ace, one of Abram's grandsons, was born in the Oconalufty area in 1847 and likely lived in that greater area until sometime in the 1890's. He married Margaret Clarinda Conner, with whom (according to the 1910 census), he had 12 children.

William Aesoph 'Ace' and Clarinda (Conner) Enloe

Source: Laura Taylor

Ben, one of the 'middle' children, was born on June 9th, 1879. During his childhood, Ben would have been expected to contribute heavily to the family's day-to-day work: helping in the garden, gathering firewood, hauling water from the spring, feeding the livestock, and similar activities. His responsibilities would have increased as he grew older. The census records note that he was literate so he almost certainly attended school; an 1890 newspaper article noted that the Oconalufty school ran for 5 months out of the year. The Enloes probably also attended church at either the Oconalufty Baptist Church or at the Hughes Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. Sometime in the late 1890's, Ace moved his family to the Judson area, purchasing the Amos Ashe property and mill. Ben probably had a role in running the mill prior to his departure from the area.

The Enloe Mill in Judson, circa 1910

Source: Great Smoky Mountains National Park archives

The Enloe Mill in Judson, circa 1909

Source: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ben had left Swain County by 1900, as the census that year showed him working as a coal miner in one of the 8 coal mines near Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Virginia. By 1910, Ben had left the coal mines and moved much closer to home, living in Asheville and working for the Southern Railway as a fireman. Also called a stoker, the fireman's job was to shovel the coal that powered the steam engines. The job required close coordination with the engineer in order to ensure that the engine was adequately powered for all operations, stoking the fire higher when more power was needed, and making sure that the train didn't explode. Often firemen worked as apprentices to the engineers and were sometimes allowed to operate the powerful locomotives under their supervision.

Engineer and Fireman/Stoker on a tourist steam locomotive in Colorado

Source: The Durango Herald

By the time he was 37 in September of 1916, Ben was an engineer for the railroad, responsible for managing the very complex steam boiler and controlling the speed of the train, a massive vehicle that could weigh thousands of tons when considering the engine and cars. The engineer had to know the location of signals, curves, crossings, and changes in uphill or downhill grade along his route in order to safely control the train. The job was a good one, earning Ben, a lifelong bachelor with no family to support, a comfortable salary.

A Southern Railway freight train near Black Mountain, circa early 1900s

Source: Alibaba.com

On the night of September 8th, 1916, Ben was backing a work train in toward the Biltmore train station, likely getting ready to head to his home. Unbeknownst to him, freight train #172, pulling several loaded coal cars, was having difficulty ascending Buena Vista hill 3.5 miles distant from Biltmore. The engineer of the freight train realized that it was not sufficiently powered to make the full ascent and attempted to avert derailment by pulling the engine itself just off the track, leaving the coal cars on the track with their brakes set.  Unfortunately, the brakes did not hold and the train began to hurtle backwards toward Asheville, picking up a great degree of speed along the way despite the valiant attempts of brakeman N.G. McGalliard to reset the brakes.

Coming into view of Ben Enloe's work train, which was situated on a small bridge at the Fairview rail crossing, McGalliard realized that disaster was imminent and jumped clear in the nick of time. Unfortunately though, Ben and his flagman Erwin Pitts did not escape in time and were instantly killed upon the collision of the trains. Pitts' body, buried under tons of coal, was found rather quickly. However, Ben's badly scalded and mangled body, found buried underneath both the work train's engine and the coal, was not recovered until the following afternoon despite what were described as frantic efforts to find him. The wreckage of the trains was spread over a good distance along the track, and the work engine was said to be torn up such that it looked as if it was made of cardboard.

A coal train wreck, circa early 1900s

Source: Norfolk and Western Historical Society

Ben Enloe's death certificate

Source: Ancestry.com

Some of Ben's family arrived in Asheville on September 9th in order to accompany his body back to Swain County, where funeral services were held the next day. A cemetery committee chaired by D.K. Collins provided a burial plot for him in the Bryson City cemetery. Two days later, Ace purchased the plot and additional space for other family members to be buried in as they passed away.
Probate records indicate that Ben had $500 (almost $11,000 in today's currency) to his name at the time of his death. His father, Ace, was the recipient of Ben's entire estate.

Signature of Ace Enloe on Ben Enloe's Probate Record

Source: Ancestry.com

Over the years, Ace and Clarinda, along with some of Ben's brothers and nephews, joined their brother and son in eternal repose in the family plot, a peaceful place with a beautiful view of the mountains. For those interested in visiting, the plot lies a short distance behind the cemetery's angel and in line with the Everett family graves. And if you do choose to visit, spare a moment to reflect on the young man buried here, cut down in the prime of his life in such a tragic manner.

Tombstone of Ben Enloe in the Bryson City Cemetery

Source: Don Casada

I would like to recognize the significant contributions of Laura Taylor to this blog. Laura, a great-niece of Ben Enloe, has contributed significant family history and numerous photographs of the Enloe family that bring this blog entry, and especially Ben Enloe, to life.

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Sources:
Alibaba.com
Ancestry.com
Don Casada
http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/exhibition_9_8.html
Laura Taylor
The Asheville Citizen-Times, September 9, 1916
The Charlotte Observer, September 11, 1916
The Durango Herald
The High Point Enterprise, September 11, 1916
The Tennessean, September 1, 1890
Western Carolina University Special Collections

A Hazel Creek Shopping Trip

Upon the death of my great-grandparents, John and Edna Alderdyce, in the late 1970's, my mother (the family genealogist) came into the possession of a very old ledger that had been passed down through the family. The ledger had been owned by a man named John Butterfield, who had owned and operated a mill in Brooklyn, Michigan and was a record of his transactions with many of the folk living in the area between 1841 and 1844. Deciding that the ledger should go back to its home state, Mom photographed it in its entirety and then donated it to the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan in recent years. Both of us get a great deal of pleasure at the thought of Brooklyn-area researchers finding the names of relatives and their transactions in that book.

We in Swain County are fortunate in that a descendant of a Hazel Creek settler in the early 1900's had a similar thought. 


Louis Hampton with Children
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and
WCU Special Collections)

Louis Ashville Hampton was married to Laura M. Proctor, a great-grandchild of Moses and Patience Proctor, around 1905. It was a second marriage for both, to which they each brought children. They settled in the area of Hazel Creek near its horseshoe bend and counted among their neighbors and friends many of Laura's extended family and the yet to be published author, Horace Kephart.


 A few weeks ago, I had lunch with sisters Alatha (Russell) Cantrell and Dolores (Russell) Price, who are great-grandchildren of Louis and Laura. Alatha, who is her family's genealogist, brought materials pertaining to her great-grandparents, a portion of which relate to the subject of this week's blog post. A few years ago, one of the Hamptons' descendants decided that some family materials in his possession should be retained in an archival facility in the mountains. These materials were donated to Western Carolina University's Hunter Library, and are housed in the special collections area. Among the items in the collection are a 1909 letter from Kephart to Louis, some envelopes, postcards, and some receipts. But the true prize of the collection is a ledger covering the period of time from 1903 until 1949.

Laura (Proctor) Hampton (1877 - 1918)
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell)

Louis Hampton's records from 1903 - 1913 are of particular interest to Swain Countians, for they provide a one-of-a-kind glance into shopping on Hazel Creek close to the turn of the 20th century. During this time period, the majority of the food consumed by the family was grown at home and/or hunted. However, certain commodities had to be purchased that could not be obtained in any other manner. Louis Hampton went literally all over the upper Hazel Creek area in order to purchase what he needed.

My good friend, Don Casada, has put in thousands of hours on the ground and sifting through old deeds in a quest to map and assign ownership and/or tenancy to as many of the old homesites as possible, on Swain County lands which are now park-owned. Knowing that he'd done a great deal of work on Hazel Creek already, I asked him to create a map of some of the sites and individuals mentioned in the ledger in order to visualize their locations relative to one another. This excellent aid is shown below.  In a day and age in which we can complete the majority of our shopping within a one-mile radius of town (at least in Bryson City), the distances which Louis had to travel to work and to obtain some of the necessities of life (by foot and horse, no less) are quite enlightening.  For a relative idea of distance, Don has noted that it was 4.5 miles by road from Louis Hampton's home to George A. Brooks' home. 


A map of the Hazel Creek area, showing key locations noted in Louis Hampton's ledger
(Courtesy Don Casada)

Louis Hampton appears to have worked in some capacity for the much-contested Everett / Adams / Westfeldt mine on Sugar Fork.  The mine operated for a number of years in the late 1800's but was closed in 1901 due to litigation between past and current owners.   As it did not re-open until the 1920's, by which time Louis Hampton had left Hazel Creek, what he was doing for work is unknown.  As one of his records states that he essentially house-sat for W.S. Adams, it is probable that he served as a caretaker.  The North Carolina Mining Company, noted as being the payor in the picture below, bought the mine from Adams, who was, interestingly enough, its president.  The $25 per month that he received from the North Carolina Mining Company appears to have been his primary source of income, though he notes payment for odd jobs in other areas of the ledger.  In looking through his records, this amount, though seemingly small to us today (it would have been equivalent to about $450 a month), appears to have provided for the basic needs of the family.

Given that Horace Kephart lived in one of the abandoned workers' cabins at the mine when he arrived on Hazel Creek, the friendship between the two men was likely begun here.

Everett / Adams / Westfeldt Mine
(Kephart Collection,
WCU Special Collections)



One of the records detailing Hampton's monthly pay
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and WCU Special Collections)














Due to his employment at the mine on Sugar Fork, it seems only natural that Louis Hampton would have made many of his purchases at Granville Calhoun's store in Medlin.  This small settlement was located at the confluence of Sugar Fork and Hazel Creek and consisted primarily of this one store (in which the post office also resided) and a few nearby homes.  There are several accounts in the ledger providing transactions with the Calhoun store, but this one caught my eye for his purchase of 'jelley' for 35 cents.

 

Account with the Calhoun Store at Medlin
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and
WCU Special Collections)

The Calhoun Store at Medlin
(Kephart Collection, WCU Special Collections)

  The W.A. Franklin store, which was far down Hazel Creek toward Possum Hollow and near the Proctor School, also carried many of the necessities of life, from cloth to soap to coffee.  According to Duane Oliver's excellent book, 'Hazel Creek from Then till Now',  Franklin instituted a 'scrip' system for the convenience of his customers, allowing them to essentially charge their purchases.  Despite this added convenience, I think it's interesting to note here that the storekeepers on Hazel Creek seemed to keep their prices essentially the same with one another.   In this remote mountain wilderness, keeping the goodwill of all the folk living in the area would have been worth far more than the risks of engaging in a price war.



Account with the W.A. Franklin Store
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell  and WCU Special Collections)
 

He also visited the Bradshaw store prior to its acquisition by the Ritter Lumber Company in 1907.  Duane Oliver relates that Bradshaw's stocked cinnamon bark which was chewed by young folks on the creek.

Allen Welch, a cousin of Laura Hampton, provided not only meat, eggs and lard, but also some hauling that Louis Hampton required.



Allen Welch
(Courtesy of the book,
'Remembered Lives' by Duane Oliver)

Account with Allen Welch
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and
WCU Special Collections)

George Addison Brooks was a male midwife (he claims to have delivered over 300 babies in the area) and the ad-hoc dentist to whom one would go to have a tooth pulled with the pliers which hung on his wall.  He also appears to have able to provide an interesting assortment of goods, ranging from corn to suspenders and shoes.




Account with G.A. Brooks
(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and
WCU Special Collections )

George Addison Brooks
(Courtesy Swain County Heritage Book)

In 1904, Louis visited the Calhoun store on the day before Christmas.  He purchased candy, an orange and other goods.  One wonders who the treats were found by the next morning?  Was it one or more of his young children with ex-wife Charlotte Melvina Hall?  Or were they the young daughters of his soon-to-be new wife, Laura?



(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and WCU Special Collections)

The most poignant entry in the ledger, and my personal favorite, is recorded on 21 July 1913. 



(Courtesy Alatha Cantrell and WCU Special Collections)

Who was this baby for whom he bought flowers?  Was Laura delivered of a stillborn child or a child who lived only a few days?  Or were these for the deceased infant of a friend or family member? 

We will likely never know the answers to those questions, but what is certain is that the knowledge imparted by this ledger is priceless.  Simple though it may be, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the everyday commerce of a now-vanished community in Swain County at the turn of the 20th century.  

I hope you've enjoyed this shopping trip back in time.

Postscript:

A short time after the 1913 ledger entries, Louis, Laura and family moved east to work in the cotton mills of Gaston County....far from the hills of home.  Laura did not live long after the move, dying of renal and cardiac disease at the age of 40 in 1918.  Her death was likely precipitated by the birth of a son, James, the month before her death.  Sadly, little James did not make it and passed away one month after his mother.  Daughter Sarah Effie (the grandmother of Alatha and Dolores) lived to marry and have children but also predeceased her father, dying at 41 of cervical cancer.  His other children with both spouses outlived him.
 
At the age of 85, Louis Hampton departed this life to join his family.  He is buried in the Marlow Cemetery in Anderson County, Tennessee.

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Sources:
 - Alatha Cantrell and Dolores Price
 - Ancestry.com
 - Don Casada
 - Duane Oliver books "Hazel Creek from Then Till Now", and "Remembered Lives"
 - Hunter Library Special Collections, Western Carolina University:  Kephart Collection, and Louis Hampton Papers
 - Linda Banwarth
 - Margy Trehern
 - The Swain County Heritage Book