(gCRSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1937
THE WAYNESVILLE MOUNTAINEER
Page S
Iron Duff Township Is
The Home Or A Remark'
able Group Of People
. a ftiaraMoristire
Their n"J
nd Fecuuanircs um
Former Citizen
Youth Wins Race With Death
A (BEFORE
(By W C. Medford..)
on puff township emDiaces that
strin of hillv territory
uT.h lies generally speaking, between
Nathan's Creek township on the
st.parated from Crabtree by
1.0 river iron uuu -
te ' .. . ..,t.h, kovini
t of LraDiree wiiiji
P8'1 . a . it in 1K79 Look at
in tormeu -----
f Havwood county and you
i map " . .
ill gee tnat mis iui"if vur.v
, antral location; the geographical
.enter It IS DeiJfTcu ujr pv.nv, .
Lause of this an effort, was made
me tiftv years ago to get the court
Imus- located at 8 point in the upper
r northern end of Iron Duff,
The township gets its name from
Aaron McUun,. ..oimv
wttler;; but now we only have the
-Purl" part left to perpetuate the
name of this quaint old Scotchman . . .
' d aat is often erroneously written
small "d." This all came
,bout beau of the fact that when
application was made for a post ol
i'e there, asking that the name be
Aaron McDuff, the authorities at
Washington had the name put in the
directory as "Iron Duff" for some
reason or other, and it has never been
changed.
It is said that McDuff made him
Isef a log canoe on the banks of
Pigeon nve somewhere about Clyde;
then after launching his canoe put
all his belongings in it and pushed
down the river. He stopped his
canoe and got out some where between
the Downs branch and the Ueorge
Kincher place, lie built himself a
cabin about two miles westward near
the eastern slope of Coleman moun
;n nr. what is now Mrs. Ella Davis's
farm. Here he lived for awhile, later
removing and settling on the Downs
branch, what is now known as the
Bud Downs place.
Closely following McDuff came
Tby Davis and J ace b Kyle. Davis,
who lived near where E. D. Medford
now lives, was one of the first re
cruitinc officers of Haywood county
muster militia for the Civil War
Old citizens of the community used to
like to tell how Uncle" Toby sold off
the greater part of his land and
bought himself a suit of clothes, high
hat and a new gun to add dignity to
his office of "Colonel."' Then there
was Daniel Dotson, a bound boy of
Jacob Kyle's, Dotson later becoming
a lars'-e hind owner because if this
connection. '
Later came Andrew Ferguson, John
D. Howell, Kiley Medford, Jas. Mc
Elroy, Jake Dotson, Kiley Ferguson,
Jas. Crawford, Frank Davis, Samuel
Chambers and Jas. Murray, most of
whom have grandchildren or great
prandchildren living in the township.
though the cow was perfectly well
and hearty at the time of the sale,
sne iook sick and: aied in about ten
days. On hearing of his neighbor's
misfortune the farm took him an
other cow
"Here's you another cow," he said,
arid 1 won't have a cent in pay."
When asked whv hp HiH thi r.
markable thing, the man replied that
he had other cows, while his neighbor
i 11 . . i i ,
nau iosi me oniy cow ne naa.
Some say there has been two judg
ments taken vs. Iron Duff citizens
within the last 25 years, some say
one . . . but two or one, as the case
may be, is a remarkably clean record.
Deeds in trust and mortgages are
seldom given, since the people are
noted for their pay-as-you-go-disposition.
LAW-ABIDING
The township, of course, has not
been without its criminals nor its
crime, some of it of a very serious
nature.
But most of this crime dates back
decades ago, and for the ast 30 or 35
years the community has been re
markablye free from crime, excepting
two or three comparativey snort
periods.
One capital case is on record. But
so far as can be ascertained there
has never been a homicide committed
m Iron Duff township.
yv'::.
young "Bill" Roosevelt, son of Elliott
Roosevelt by his first marriage.
On December 30 the President and
First Lady will entertain about 400
young people at a dance for their
youngest son, John, and his fiance,
Anne Clark, of Boston.
Mr. and Mi?. Franklin D. Koose-
velt, Jr., also will be present althougn
they will spend Christmas day with
the latter's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
! Eugene du Font, near Wilmington,
' On the night before Christmas Mr.
Roosevelt will read Dickens' "Christ
mas Carol" in accordance with the
family custom. Stockings will b
opened in the President's bedroom
Christmas morning.
Blessed is the telephone girl, who
never expects the subscribers to be
polite.
:- ::s;.i'if:i;ife?s::'ii::;-;
HOSPITALITY
J. S. Davis. S. T. Brvson. Alec.
Massey. Jim Murray, Lebo Medford,
Jim Dotson, my father and others
used to say that they never turned a
traveler asking food and shelter away
from their door . . if they could pos-
sitively keep him.
While this record has probably not
been maintained, in toto, by their
children and grandchildren during the
intervening years, the community is
nevertheless, noted for its hospitality.
stricken with Infantile pralysi whll at work at Steven Point,
w AZ, iHrtroer 23 undergraduate football manager at Mar-
-how Helmer, top. just before be was put In the Iron "( ""
ST contorted with pain. and. below, hi. revived expression a. he
reined a new lease on life.
P FOR A (J I FT THAT WILL LAST, INVEST
I IN SOMETHING FOR THE U
I HOME... A
ll We Buetrest French Doors, Hardwood J
Enough for the history.
The main purpose of this story is
to tell of the characteristics of the
Irim Duff people, the unique and dis
tnctive place which the township occu
pies, in the county if hot in the whole
state, and to mention some of their
Peculiarities.
INDKI'ENDENCE
Iron Duff is wholly a farming and
Mock-raising community; there are
approximately sixty farms, lew ol
them very small and none very large.
The tenant farmers ot the towns-hip
tan be counted on the fingers ot
Wie hand. They have had only one
w two persons to go up as county
ards, and have had fewer persons on
relief per capita than any other town
ship of the county. The citizens gen
irally look after; their own needy it
eed arises.
.They pay as they go more than any
Place I know of. All this, together
ith a spirit ot co-operation, has made
them as independent a community as
m win find
A vrrv rw
'he Lflitor of this paper mentions
Mitorially) is the fact that the towh
fhJP has its 1936 taxes paid up 100
Pr cent.
PECULIARITIES
And now we come to what might
be called peculiar characteristics of
the Iron Duff people: ,
First. A tendency to stick togeth
er . . there is seldom a division
down there, no matter what the prop
osition is.
Second. Averseness to insurance
in all forms. If there is a single life
insurance nolicv in force there we
have not been able to ascertain who
the holder is. And I doubt if there is
any one carrying fire insurance.
Third. The people of Iron Duff
are slow to break with the customs
of their fathers. Attend a. church
service there today and on entering
you will see the ladies sitting to youi
vi.i-ht and the men to vour left, al-
I v .
most as exclusively so as tney aid ..hi
years ago.
PR)GKESS1VEN?:SS
But with all their conservation as
concerns speculation, insurance, etc.,
the people ol Iron Dull are generally
progressive. This is especially true
as regard new and progressive meth
eds in farming, -i. e. once they aie
convinced the method is ot practicable
value. From the county agent'.
office we learn that no community has
co-operated better with the larm pio
grams (luring the last lew yeais.
Thi towrship has the distinction
of hnvir.g one of the area demonstra
tion pioject. thue being only eleven
.vueh in the state. I his is in co-opei -ation
with the federal government
(T V A ) and state extension ser
vice, and is called the Iron Dufl Va
it ic aUn the onlv town-
Lei iii'.j . ... .... ..
ship to have had conducted a town
ship farm tour. All the farmers ot
the township are co-operating in this
except lour or five.
Roosevelts Plan
Series Of Christ
mas Festivities
Christmas festivities i i-.e wniU'
House this year Will come in twos
two family dinners, two parties for
young people and two Christmas trees,
One of the dinners will be at the
luncheon hour, when grandchildren
of the President and Mrs. Roosevelt
will attend. The other will be Christ
mas night for the grown-ups. There
will be a children's party December
27. Little Sara Roosevelt, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. James nuu.-.evelt,
will share honors with her cousin,
Oll A GIFT THAT WILL LAST, INVEST
IN SOMETHING FOR THE
HOME...
We suKfrest French Doors, Hardwood
Floors, Cabinets, Cupboards, New Inter
ior, or a Iain( Job.
, . s E E
Junaluska Supply Co.
JERKY LI NEK, Owner
Phone 26'J-J 1-ike Junaluska
s
very note-worthy thing (which
'Honestly and neighborli
ness '
'.ICentlv n fnrmor of thi frimtmi-
".V- S)l hie nntAkkn.
CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY
Although comparatively small m
area and population, Iron Duff, never
theless, has contnbuu-d quite a num
ber of professional men, county offi
cials, legislators, etc., as 1 allocs:
One state senator.
Three representatives.
Two sheriffs.
Three county commissiontis.
One eoun-y auditor
Two countv road supervisors.
Five doctors of medicine.
.One destist.
Two druggists.
One preacher. .
AKo n.any public 'tK I teach r-
Al- and pood i armors.
.-
i '. . .-.-
ICheckth o)
trad,n)Yr present cor
KCheck the (ow
Poyments
RESULT.
fr"' be AHEAD Wl
CHEVROLET
"4, ' r
a
e k
h Decide Now...
hy That next Lhnstmas you aiiu'u. '-"'v --
ij a home of your own. n
g We have some desirable buiIdin-Mtcsa ell .is -ome
houses that might be just what ou want.
See Ts For Real -Estate, Rentals and Insurance jSj
I L. N. DAVIS & CO.
tV Insurance - Real Estate Rentals -
PHONE 77 -: MAIN STREET
:wfl
ill frM
team a&snii mm
.
en
..lAj'- ,mWijWii pmii m nil
S v :,: ' .
..'X a-a mm I, ,ui Mm in ii hi i mill - ' --" - n unm imf" - " 1
On Matter D lux modolt only. CHEVROLET MOTOR DIVISION
G.n.ra Moron Solet Corporation, DETROIT, MICHIGAN
- - .ii.ifLiitti3l iM.tX&J
Phone 75
EVR0LET CO.
SALES AND SERVICE Waynesville, N. C-
I IS.