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

Memorial Day - Remembering Corporal Everett Bates (1895 - 1918)

Two years ago, I published an article on the Tabor Cemetery. One of the graves I visited at the cemetery was that of Everett Robert Bates, a young Needmore-area farmer who died in World War I. Although all war deaths are tragic, his seems particularly so to me. Why? In addition to his youth and the impending birth of his first child at the time of his death, Everett died in the waning hours of the war, quite literally. He perished sometime between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918 - Armistice Day - the very day upon which the war ended. As Memorial Day is nigh, I felt that a remembrance of this brave young man was in order.

Everett Robert Bates (taken September 26, 1917)
Source: David DeHart

Everett Robert Bates was born in the Needmore section of Swain County on September 27, 1895, the fourth child (of at least 13) of William Jefferson and Sally Jane Levinia (nee' DeHart) Bates. Little is known of his young life but it may be assumed it was the typical life of a child of rural Swain County during that time. He likely attended either the Hightower School or the White Oak School as a youngster, as the 1910 census reveals him to have been able to both read and write, and probably attended one of the churches in the area - perhaps Maple Springs or Brush Creek. He appears to have farmed for a living during his brief adult life. In 1917, the 'Great War' in Europe came knocking upon the doors of the young men of Swain County and Everett was required to register for the draft. His draft card (dated June 5, 1917) reveals that at the time, he was single and working as a farmer for Charles Rastus Browning in the Needmore area. He married Lillie May Marr (1899 - 1978) just 3 months later on September 26th. 

Everett Bates draft registration card
Source: Ancestry.com and Fold3.com

Everett Bates and Lillie Marr (top row) on their wedding day (September 26, 1917).
Seated in this picture are Lillie's sister Nell and Everett's friend Columbus 'Lum' Winchester.
Source: David DeHart

It is almost certain that Everett and Lillie's marriage occurred when it did due to his being 'called up' for duty. For though he had tried to claim exemption from the draft due to disease, his number had been pulled and he left via train for Camp Jackson in South Carolina, just days later on October 2nd. He was enlisted in Company I of the 321st Infantry Unit (the 'Wildcats'), 81st Division of the U.S. Army. Over the next nine months at Camp Jackson, he actively trained for near-certain deployment to the Western Front in Europe. He appears to have had the chance to return home at least once during his training, as Lillie became pregnant in the spring of 1918 but on July 31, 1918 he embarked on the 'City of Glasgow' to go to Europe with his fellow soldiers, never to return alive. 

The 'City of Glasgow' - the ship which transported Everett Bates to Europe in 1918.
It was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Ireland one month later.
Source: wrecksite.eu

Everett Bates embarkation record
Source: Ancestry.com and Fold3.com

The activities of Everett's division during the three months prior to his death are recorded elsewhere (link below) and in the interest of saving space, I will not detail them here. However, we are exceptionally privileged to have access to the diary of another soldier in the 321st, who wrote in great detail about the events that transpired on the date of Everett's death at the Battle of Moranville in France. The full diary is located at this link, but I have excerpted small bits and pieces to provide the reader some idea of the awful realities that Everett faced on that last day of his earthly existence.

'About 5 o'clock (am) we walked around and looked at the sleeping company in their little shell holes, every one in a shell of his own. I wondered how many of them would be living at noon that day and I thought how hard it would be to arouse them from a peaceful sleep to go out to kill and be killed. At this time we called the men....the men rubbed their eyes and tightened their belts for there was no water to wash their faces or food to fill their stomachs. The men took it good naturedly and prepared to go over the top.....

The high explosive shells were falling just as though it was raining them from above....we could hear the continuous ring of M.G. (machine gun) fire and every now and then a man could be seen going to the rear carrying a bullet pierced arm or limping back on a leg that had been shot...nothing could stop us as long as life lasted for our orders were to take Attain or die trying. 

We were lost in a fog and wading water waist deep.....we rushed on for some distance and found that we were caught in a trap.....we fought there for some time in the marsh up to our waist and the coldest water I ever felt. We were in an awful fix in a trap sure from all sides and our men were being killed by the M.G. from the front and a box barrage from the rear......Our scouts were out in front of the front wave about 40 yards and the fog was so dense that we couldn't see them at all but we knew very well when they came in contact with the enemy for they opened up with what seemed us a thousand M.G. and a few 77s#'s which they shot whiz bangs point blank at us......

At seven minutes to eleven a runner came up to the Capt. out of breath and handed him an order. I had no idea what the order meant.....as soon as he read the order he called two runners and told them to go to the platoons and give them orders to cease firing at eleven o'clock. At 11 a.m. we ceased firing and the Germans jumped up, threw their rifles down and came running to meet us....We spent the rest of the day gathering up the dead and wounded of the field and they were plentiful. We hauled many loads of dead bodies up and buried them in a hole dug like a long ditch. The men were laid close together, side by side, and covered up...... 

The Germans celebrated all night long by sending up flares and lights from the trenches and they were so glad they wouldn't sleep at all but we were perfectly willing to rest and sleep.'

Thomas 'Jack' Pinkney Shinn, Co. B, 321st Inf., 81st Div., U.S. Army 

Chaplain B.S. Vaughn presiding over the mass burial of the dead at Moranville on November 12, 1918. The graves are marked by small slabs of wood. Everett was one of the deceased soldiers for whom this service was given.
Source: https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2018/11/11/north-carolinians-respond-armistice-november-11-1918

Everett was originally interred among this sad line of deceased soldiers described by Jack Shinn. It is not known how his demise was conveyed to his wife and family, though it is almost certain they received the news via telegram. His death was announced in the Asheville Citizen-Times on December 10, 1918. 

'America's Honor List'
Source: Asheville Citizen Times, December 10, 1918

On February 27, 1919, Lillie gave birth to Everett's child, a son that she named after his father. Sadly, however, Everett Robert Bates Jr.'s life was to be cut tragically short as he died on January 1, 1921, of meningitis. Lillie, no doubt devastated by the loss of both her husband and son in such a short period of time, married James Floyd Cunningham just a few months later in March.

Everett Sr. remained in France until  July 1921, when his body was repatriated to the United States (unlike many of his comrades, whose bodies remain buried in foreign soil). He was interred in the Tabor Cemetery near the grave of his son. It is a peaceful and beautiful place for his eternal repose, in the mountains of home - far removed from the horrors of the battlefield upon which he died. 

Everett Bates repatriation documentation
Source: Fold3.com

Tombstone of Everett Robert Bates, Sr. (Tabor Cemetery)
Source: Felicia Mashburn on Findagrave.com

Sadly, for every Everett Bates, whose life is being honored in this article, there are millions more soldiers who were killed in action whose incomplete lives have been long-forgotten over time. Each of them was an Everett with their own story- full of life, with families and friends they loved and who loved them, with plans for a future that they would sadly never see come to fruition. As we celebrate Memorial Day on Monday, May 25th, I would encourage my readers to each take a moment to remember all those soldiers who gave their lives for the freedoms that we and our fellow men around the world enjoy and take for granted. May you each have a blessed holiday.

________________________________________

Notes to the reader: 

• For those interested in learning more, a full-text file of the book,  'The History of the 321st Infantry' may be found for free at this link. 
• The excellent movie, '1917', was released early this year. It won rave reviews for its depictions of the horrors of the Western Front during World War I - I highly recommend it. 

________________________________________

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Asheville Citizen-Times, December 10, 1918

David DeHart

Findagrave.com

Fold3.com

ncdcr.gov
Newspapers.com

wrecksite.eu

Swain County's World War 1 Dead - A Request

Cross at the grave of Private Fred Mathis
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial
Lorraine, France

Photo Credit: soilsister at Findagrave.com

Dear Readers:
The 100th anniversary of Swain County's active involvement in World War 1 overseas is upon us. Of the 22 Swain County soldiers who died during the "Great War", 14 died between September and November 1918. I think it's important to honor the enormous sacrifice made by these young men and I'd like to put together a couple of blog pieces (for fall publication) about them.

While I have most of the basic information on each of these soldiers (where they were from, date of birth, date and place of death, and cemetery), I do not have much additional information on the majority of them. That's where you and/or people you know come in. I would love to have pictures, letters, personal anecdotes, or any other additional information I can get that would bring them to life on this blog.

The names of Swain County's WW1 dead are as follows:

Barker, William Harvey
Bates, Everett
Cathey, Charles Clyde
Cochran, John Thomas
Franklin, Walter Isaac
Freeman, Caro (There is a good amount of information on Caro on his findagrave.com page as well as in the Swain County Heritage book, but I'd love more.)
Kalonaheskie, Joe
Kincaid, James William
Leatherwood, James L
Mashburn, Earnest Loyd
Mason, William
Mathis, Fred
Moore, Grady C
Queen, James Robert
Shuler, Finley
Shuler, William
Stephenson, William Berry
Styles, Andy
Turner, Floyd C
Wiggins, John W
Winchester, Benjamin Harrison
Youngdeer, Steve

If you or a family member/acquaintance are in possession of any material you'd like to see used to honor these brave soldiers, please get in touch with me in either the comments section (please include your email address), via email at oldeswain@gmail.com, or via the Facebook page. You will be credited as the source of the material when the blog is published.

Thank you for your consideration!

Best,
Wendy