Keeping Warm at Rocky Point Ferry

All of the books in the 'Little House' series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder are undoubtedly some of my all-time favorites, which I still pull out to re-read to this day.  Some of my favorite 'scenes' from these books describe the times when Pa would play his fiddle on cold winter nights, having his girls dance to warm themselves before retreating to their icy bedrooms.

I thought you'd enjoy a similar scene from the Rocky Point Ferry, which provided passage across the Little Tennessee River from Graham County to Swain County before the impounding of Cheoah Lake in 1919.  Enjoy!

 

Crossing the Little Tennessee River on the Rocky Point Ferry
Source: www.grahamcounty.net

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"Nearly one mile below the mouth of Twenty Mile creek is Rocky Point ferry, presided over by that philosopher and musician, who is known far and near as Chris Linn. Chris lives just above the ferry, in a log cabin containing an entire room. The logs afford some resistance to the winds of winter that howl up and down the river, but the spaces between them afford none, and the wind goes shrieking through that cabin in a way to freeze the marrow in the bones of anyone but Chris Linn and his interesting family. Instead of allowing their marrow to freeze, they pile on the logs in the wide fireplace, and huddling around, let her howl. There are six or 7 children, the oldest being a beautiful girl of fifteen summers…There is no superabundance of clothing, even during summer, but that makes ‘no differ’ to Chris and his family. There is just one possible fly in the ointment of their contentment, and that is the breaking of fiddle and banjo strings. If those strings never broke the even tenor of their way would be uninterrupted. But banjo and fiddle strings will snap at times, and with them snaps happiness at that home. While the strings hold true and strong, the winds may howl and the river rage, but Chris with his fiddle and Miss Julia with her banjo defy them both with ‘jig chunes’ that would make an elephant dance for joy.  As Chris fiddles and Julia strums, the children dance before the fire, and ‘joy is unconfined’. The puncheon floor rocks and sags, the shadows play hide and seek with the ruddy firelight upon the cabin wall and the midnights of winter often find the inmates cutting the pigeon-wing and flinging the double shuffle with hearts as free as salvation."

'Bud Wuntz' in The Morning Post (Raleigh, NC), 16 August 1903

Chris and Matilda Mary Julia (nee' Farley') Lynn (probably circa 1910-1925)
Source: "Remembered Lives: A Narrative History of Our Family" by Duane Oliver

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Notes to the reader who is interested in exploring further:

1.  Christopher (1860-1925) and Matilda Mary Julia 'Tilda' (nee' Farley) (1869 - 1946) Linn/Lynn lived in Graham County, where they operated the remote ferry for many years. Despite living in Graham County, they received their mail at the post office across the river in Fairfax, Swain County. They were the parents of at least 8 children (6 boys and 2 girls), and of these, at least two of their sons, Boyd and 'Gard' worked as loggers for the Ritter Lumber Company.

2. ' Bud Wuntz' was the pen name (for the newspaper) for John Preston Arthur (1851-1916), the author of "Western North Carolina, a History (1730-1913)" (available for free on Google Books, or $0.99 on Kindle), and "A History of Watauga County, North Carolina: with Sketches of Prominent Families" (also available for $0.99 on Kindle).

3. Please reach out to me directly via email if you'd like to read more about the Linn/Lynn family than I have included here.  I have the article in PDF form and will gladly send it along.

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Sources:

Graham County history at http://www.grahamcounty.net/gchistory/04-townofrobbinsville/townofrobbinsville.htm.

"Remembered Lives: A Narrative History of Our Family" by Duane Oliver.  Copyright 1993.

The Morning Post (Raleigh, NC), 16 August 1903 on https://www.newspapers.com/.

Old Needmore in Fall

Before I get to today's blog entry, I wanted to share an update on a previous entry. Shortly after posting last month's blog, I was able to get in touch with Larry Stallcup, who is a genealogist extraordinaire for the Stallcup family.  Larry informed me that the picture of Almarine Stallcup that I had located was actually only one half of a picture, and that the individual in the other half was in fact Pansy.  Furthermore, the picture had been taken on Pansy's wedding day.  I was thrilled that Larry generously shared it with me and allowed me to post it on the blog.  You may see the updated picture here.

 

And now onto this week's posting.

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As Thanksgiving is right around the corner and thoughts of autumn seem to disappear the day afterward in favor of Christmas, I wanted to give fall one last salvo.  In October, my middle daughter and I took one of my favorite walks in the county - along the Little Tennessee River in the Needmore area.  In addition to its extraordinary physical beauty, this walk is extremely rich in human history that I have not yet explored in as great a depth as I would like to (but plan to).  This is essentially a photo essay but I will fit tidbits into captions as I am able.  I am indebted to Ed Ammons and David Dehart for sharing their historical knowledge of this beautiful place with me, so that I may pass it along to you.

The Little Tennessee River, viewed from the swinging bridge.

The swinging bridge, taken from the east side of the river.  Swain County resident Bill Burnett
grew up in a home that once stood adjacent to the bridge.

The road (beyond the gate) heading to the Burch McHan (1823-1895)/ (Doyle Hampton (1904 - 1977) place.

Sunlight shines through the fiery leaves of a sourwood tree.



One of several beautiful old fields along the road. 
The Doyle Hampton place sits slightly up the hill in the middle of this picture.

A hand-dovetailed log from a fallen outbuilding.

A bumblebee on one of the ubiquitous gentian plants blooming along the road. 



The chimney at the Doyle Hampton place, which remained standing until not many years ago.



The remains of an old barn at the Doyle Hampton place.

A grand old walnut marks a home site.

The tombstone of little Sarah Davis (01 June 1873 - 05 January 1874) in the original
Brush Creek Baptist Church cemetery.




Thistles in one of the old (still tended) fields along the road.



A rusted plow point harkens back to days when farmers plowed these fields with horses and mules and not tractors.

A maple leaf floats in the river.



A yucca marks an old home place near the confluence of Brush Creek and the river.



The Little Tennessee River, looking upstream. Ed Ammons shared with me a childhood recollection of crossing the river in an old flat-bottomed boat with a kerosene lantern on the way to a prayer meeting at Lon Dehart's.  His dog, Pooch, swam alongside.

For those who are interested, directions are as follows.  Turn left onto Needmore Road just before the junction of US19 (toward the Nantahala Gorge) and NC28 (toward Almond Boat Dock), and drive several miles.  After cresting the hill at the Maple Springs church, the road begins to head downhill toward the river and the parallels it for a way.  It then leaves the river for a brief distance then returns to parallel it.  Just before the road once again begins to head away from the river, you will see an old swinging bridge going across the river on the left.  Park in the small lot here, cross the bridge, and turn right to begin your walk.

I wish each of you a blessed Thanksgiving!

Departed this Life (October 1915)

Between working full-time and raising 3 children, it's often difficult for me to find the time to write lengthy blog entries. As such, and in order to keep putting out information on Swain County, I've thought long and hard about what types of articles would be of interest to my readers, but take me a little less time (don't worry - the longer articles will still come!).  Today's blog is an example of one thought I had, that of profiling individuals who died in Swain County during the current month, any number of years ago.  For this particular entry, I chose 100 years.  I'd love some reader feedback at the bottom; is this article type one you'd like to see continue?

I hope you'll enjoy learning about some of the interesting Swain County individuals who departed this life in October 1915.

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October 4th
William Franklin Garrett (born 1851), a 64 year-old lumber inspector at the time of his death, took his life by a shot to the head somewhere in the Oconlufty township.  He was born in the Jonathan Valley area of Haywood County, son of William Green Berry Garrett and Martha Jane Rodgers.  In 1877, he married Mollie Ophelia Thompson, and they had one known child: a daughter, Susan. He served as the postmaster of the Jonathan's Creek post office from1871 to 1877. He is buried in the Garrett Cemetery in Haywood County.  Click here for his Findagrave.com memorial.

Champion Lumber Mill at Smokemont, date unknown (This may or may not have been the logging operation with which William Garrett was associated).  (Source: WCU Digital Collections.)

October 13th
Nancy (nee' Angel) Cunningham (born 1830), an 84 year-old widow, died of old age in the Almond area. She was born in Macon County and was the daughter of William Angel and Martha 'Pattie' Shepherd.  In 1856, she married James Mont Cunningham, with whom she had 4 known children:  William Avery, Robert Jefferson, Susannah, and Charles Thaddeus. Old deeds appear to indicate that the Cunninghams lived on the Little Tennessee River.  According to her death certificate, Nancy is buried in an unknown cemetery in the greater Ela area of Swain County.



Little Tennessee River in Swain County, 1937 - location unknown
(Source: WCU Digital Collections)

October 19th
Timmie Ross (both 17 Feb of the same year), a 7 month-old infant, died of 'pneumonia fever' at Stonery (near the location of the new Cherokee School on Big Cove Road).  He was born in Swain County and was the son of Adam 'Tewatley' Ross and Desdemonia Crowe.  At the time of his death, he had a sister, Katie.  Timmie is buried in an unmarked grave, in an unknown cemetery in the greater Big Cove area of Swain County.

Of tangential interest, Timmie's father was one of the Cherokee schooled for a time at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle Pennsylvania.  He ran away back to home in 1900, something he later came to regret as shown in the letter below.  Adam's file from the school may be viewed online here. 

Letter from Adam Ross to the Carlisle School (Source: Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center)

October 25th
Birch/Burch Messer (born 1893), a 22 year-old logger, died of bronchial pneumonia at Bushnell, attended by Dr. J.E.T. Welch, a prominent citizen of the area.  Birch was presumably born in the greater Dillsboro area of Jackson County and was the son of William Robert Messer and Nancy Avaline Parton.  He was single at the time of his death.  He is buried in the Locust Field Cemetery in Jackson County.  Click here for his Findagrave.com memorial.

Coming into Bushnell, 1938 (Source: NARA)

October 25th
William 'Bill' Wildcat/Wild Cat (born in the early 1840s), a 75 year-old farmer, died of unknown causes somewhere in the Oconalufty township. As I am not a Cherokee historian, I cannot be certain of his lineage.  However, by matching US Census Records with Indian Census Rolls, he appears to have been the individual shown in the screen capture below from the 1899 Census for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. If my supposition is correct, he was married to a woman named Rebecca, and had 3 children living with him at the time: daughters Arline and Stetsey, and son Palneola (as best I can make out).  He is buried at a cemetery in the Birdtown area, presumably the Wildcat-Ben Cemetery, in an unmarked grave.

Source: 1899 Census - Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on Ancestry.com

 October 28th
Pansy E. (nee' Case) Crisp (born 1895), a 20 year-old housewife, died of tuberculosis at Bryson City. Pansy was born in Swain County and was the daughter of Fidelia Gaston 'Jack' Case and Kansas Mary Jane Stallcup.  She was orphaned in 1905 upon the death of her mother (her father died in 1896), and was taken in to live with her maternal grandparents, Lucius Harvey and Maude Almarine Elizabeth Stallcup.  In 1913, she married Frederick Ira Crisp.  They had no known children together during their brief marriage. Pansy is buried at the Bryson City Cemetery.  Click here for her Findagrave.com memorial.



Maude Almarine (Hall) Stallcup (left), grandmother of Pansy (Case) Crisp (right) on Pansy's wedding day.
Source: Larry Stallcup

 

These are the only individuals whose deaths were recorded via death certificates for October 1915 in Swain County.  However, as death certificates had been in use for a short time only, more often than not, deaths often went unrecorded.  There can be no doubt that there were many other Swain Countians who died in October 1915, some whom we can discover through their headstones, and others who lie in unmarked graves, their identity lost to history.

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As always, I welcome and appreciate reader input.  Knowing of your interest in what I write enables me to remain enthusiastic about writing it!  Today, I'd love some reader feedback in the comments - is this article type one you'd like to see continue?

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Sources:
Ancestry.com
Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center
Findagrave.com
National Archives and Records Administration, TVA Files
Western Carolina University Digital Collections