* IE Wm Ski" '"^^ElH|m|| |mi si
■ 9 Bk 9 m 9BK ■ ■ ■ ■ ■AB ■■ ■_ ■" SB- ;
I I H Blp ■ ■ IkH |a| b Bi ■ ■§ BK
• Ell U %gl |2 Li 2
■ ■ il Wm E^E
11 Wi I* I®
• «*.- * .
“DAN BOONE CItLED
3.y- BAR HEAR”
:WtT~ TT* •?“ —--a 7* —L*s—‘ -I :j
When Dan Boone spent a half
hotjr cutting with his hunting knife,
the above words on the bark of a
tree in East Tenn., he did not know
that a descender* of his, 150 years
later would fix a printing press so
it would turn out the same words
1000 times faster.
* Judging by the number of articles
on the Boone family one sees from
time to time in papers , and copied
from one to another,, it would seem
this subject is popular and that the”
Boones, especially our two black'
smiths of Burnsville, Kelsey and his
son Daniel, are getting their full
share of free advertising. Any
reader of American history has al
ready concluded from what he has
heard and been taught in school,
that this is an interesting
not because they are Boones resid
ent and being in Western North
Carolina, but because they are dir
ect descendents of the noted back
woodsman, Dan Boone of Kentucky.
This paper has published much
matter pertaining to the early and
late history of the Southern Moun
tains and their lore during the many
years it has appeared, but nothing
heretofore on the Boone family.
We should apologize, for not doing
so, since the editor has always from
infancy been more or less associat
edwith the local Boone family. Our
readers no dcubt, often read of the
great ingenuity of Dan Boone and
his father Kelse in metal wodc.
They are in fact geniuses in such
work ai'd the entire world seems to
~be finding it out. Few however,
know that they are 'very expert
mechanics and have done work on
almost every type of machinery
used in the souths
It is concerning their art of re
pairing printing presses of which
we desire in this connection to write
If our readers could visit our plant
we could show parts on nearly
every press and other machines
to*hich were made by Dan Bocyie or
ivally repair "work
-s*The Boones have Been blacksmiths
from time immemorial. Many
times during the past twenty-five
years when some important part
about the big press on which this
paper is being printed or some of
. .the smaller presses have broken or|
worn out and it looked like an or-,
der for the factory, we would go to |
Dan or Kelse and let them take a
look at the trouble. About 99
times out of 100 they went to work
and soon had the machine working
again with a part even at times
better than the original one.
And the Boones have always
patronized our job shop when in
need of any printed matter and our ]
files show that their orders have
been steady if not large.
The Grit, Atlanta Constitution,
North Carolina Magazine, The Up
lift and others have recently pub
lished articles on the Boone Family
and some have had pictures of
them. C. Z. Mast, writer of one
of the articles claims to be a rela
tive of the family dwells much on
the beauties of the mountains of
Watauga county and the town of
Boone which he says was named
for the family and built by bird
work. Mbst towns are.
Massey's article tells us nothing
more than the ordinary histories
which no doubt arc in your library
(% and in which you may read of the
noted frontiersman, Daniel Boone
s who is six generations back from
•5 our Daniel and Wade who hammer
out imitation “colonial ironware
in their Burnsville forge as does
their father Kelse at his forge at
Burnsville at the junction of the
Mt. Mitchell highway. These hist
ories tell us, not of the Yancey
County Boones that this article will
dwell upon, butTtttfb the pioneer
—Daniel was born in Bucks County,
Pa., in 1746, later coming to North
Carolina, perhaps along with the
Edwards "people, which at that time
seemed tp be a great haven a* a
hunting ground for those who like
.Daniel, wanted more "elbow room.’
Boone himself wrote a journal
which furnishes the history writers
with most of their materials. We
learn he married a Tar Heel girl, as
mbst of us have. Settled in the
Valley of the Yadkin; went y>
Kentucky, returned to N. C. in
1771, sold his farm and took i»ck
-five families to Ky. in 1773. In
Powell’s Valley he was joined by
40 more adventurers who helped
r - - T"
him, fight Indians a few days lateF
<vhen he lost his oldest son. Re
treated to Qinch River in 1774.
• Done surveying work for Gov.
Dunmore of Virginia to falls of
1 Ohio River. Next duty was a
I member of the council of the Cher
' okee Indians in 1775- when they
; ceded all their lands south of the
, Kentucky River. Rescued three
! flM®. on e of them his daughter, who
| had been kidnapped by the Indians,
lan incident which supplied Cooper
I I with a leading idea in his tale, “Last
11 of the Mohicans.” 1778 commenc
jed making salt for the colonists in
,Ky. and Va. Captured and adopt
-1 ed by Indians, taken to Chilicothe.
Escapes in time to save Boones
-1 borough from an Indian and Frencß
attack. Loses his land through
weak titles, goes to Missouri and
loses his wife. Returns to Ken
tucky to live with his son Nathan
where he dies at 84. In the Indian
i idea, the great hunger had gone to
the hunting grounds of the warriors
above where his spirit would be
eternally happy, when the stars
would cease to give them light.
It is with the local Boone family
that we now choose to deal briefly.
At a later date we propose to con
tinue this article with some first
hand matter which we intend to get
Mr. Kelse Boone to furnish us. At
present space and time will not per
mit more than a short summary.
The early Boones just before and
perhaps after they arrived in North
Carolina were said to have been
neighbors to the Lincolns who must
have directed them or had them fol
low to Linnvile Creek in Virginia.
The Lincoln homes and graveyards
are nearby. On Boones Creek in
Tennessee not many years ago stood
: a tree on which was., carved in the
long ago, perhaps about the 1780’s
■ just after the Indians had killed .his
sons, and his brother and four of
them had captured him from which
, he made his escape by throwing
snuff into their eyes: s
; “D BOON CILLED BAR HEAR"
This hunt must have ocqured
while Dan was going to North Car
olina after the Indians had defeated
jhim and caused his family to return
, there or while he was taking TfigTiT
i back to Kentucky. But Mr. Mast,
in the Uplift, says this “bear tree”
: was near the “rude cabin in which
Daniel Boone was born and on the
farm of his father here in Berks
■ County, Pa." Mr. Mast must have
'been mistaken for there are yet
' many persons in Tennessee who saw i
| the tree there—or else these may
'have been two trees so inscribed by
Dan’s jack knife* which we doubt.
However, Mast does give us a bit i
of unknown history when he con- !
eludes, “It may not be generally
known that Kit Carson, the famous :
; western scout and explorer, was a i
. grandson of Daniel Boone* so carry- ■
ing exploration and blood farther ]
; 'on. Boone led the way across the ]
Appalachians; Crockett across the i
Mississippi to Texas, 'And Carson i
across the Rockies.” <
When the editor of the Broad- i
caster's grandfather came to Yancey i
County from Forsythe in 1848, he <
found many of the Boone family al- i
ready here. Jerry Boone, Knox i
Boone, Samuel Boone and several j
others whose names Kelse will give
' us for the end of this story. Even j
at that time or as late as the ‘6o's '
and 70’s there was a Dan Boone
here. He went Jjter to Mississippi ,
as did several others of the family, ]
; Crumly Boone, Saxtur Boone, Jane j
Boone. We remember Jane return- 1
:ed to Yancey around 1900. She t
: had married a Mr. Cuffey Gray and <
, they had some grown up sons. Gray 1
• claimed that he had made good as a 1
1 1 punier of cotton and had with him j
. several" hundred dollars in cash |
; which was stolen from him by a i
: man in Mine Fork Valley. Gray ,
returned wkH,his family penniless
rto Mississippi. Nelson Boone, ]
1 father of Kelse, seemed -to have ;
• beeli the giant of the family.. The j
, writer remembers him as a man ;
i that must have weighed 250 or 300 ;
: lbs. It %ts a mighty sledge that he j
: could vOield at his anvil. Only a
. small number of- runts may be <
: found in the Boone family. * 1
There were some pretty bad ac
| tors in the Boone family in the old
\en days: During the 70's there l
: weire two Tom Boones ,bosh under
l death sentences for murder at same.
: time. One of them was convicted
, and condemned to hang fSr the kill-1
i ing of an unde of the editor, whose
; * name was Sam Butner, ihoik 1876-7
i 'This Tom made his escape from the
r' jail and was never apprehended.
[ Just a few years ago he died in Tex
v \ ' J
I ' , ,
jas, and the facts in this csss are in
teresting »n the extreme. A lawyer
riie trial aid conviction had mar
ried j and upon his escape, had left
his wife and one young child who
never heard of hirii until the lawyer
came. Boone had died wealthy
arid had sent all Kis money to,, his
‘ heirs herey his land going to his
Texas heirs. The most wonderful
part of the story was, that JBoone
had given on his death bed the full
and truthful details of the killing of
Butner in which it was claimed that
Ed Boone had done the killing and
not. he. Ed was dead so the incid
ent was ended.
Ed Boone,"'himself was rather a
noted character. He was a son of
Jerry Boone,. : • His brothers were,
Sul, Mack, Crum, all of whom were
blacksmiths and* wagor.makers as
was their father. There were 3
sisters, one of whom, Lucretia, mar
ried Henry'Butner, another uncle of
die Other Yancey county
families that intermarried with the
Boones were the Ramseys, McMa
hans, Parrots, McAllisters, Rays
and Wilsons, Woodfins, etc. But
it was of Ed Boone that we started
mention. He killed a man in the
early 70’s about the time that both
Big Tom and Little Temp Boone
were under indictment for murder
But it so happened that Ed made
his escape from arrest and went to
the wilds of Virginia, so called at
that time, though now being an
enlightened center of industry—
Gate City, i (called Estelville when
Ed was there). There was at the
time a reward for Ed’s apprehen
sion and there was a very active and
shrewd young man living on Jacks
Creek by name of Dock Hampton.
In some way Dock got word of Ed’s
whereabouts and took with him k
man by name of Woodfin, a brother
of the man Ed had killed. When
these two officers‘arrived, at Estel
ville they soon found Ed at one of
hose big two story log houses so
common then. They had little
difficulty in putting him under ar
rest, having arrived very unexpect
edly. They had Ed handcuffed in
the lower room, when suddenly his
friends in some way attracted the
attention of the officers and Ed
sprang quickly the stairs and
joined others already there.
Hampton started up but at the
head of the stairs he met a number
of bullets "coming his way and he
made a hasty rolling retreat. He
lay for a long that on his back un
trarr and fired shots through the
loft at every sound. Woodfin had
ran from the house in a fright.
Hampton, too,' had to leave the pre
mises later when about out of shells
for his pistol, leaving Ed and his
force in possession. ' "T? ~
Several years later Ed showed
the writer the handcuffs he had on
when he tan off. He said his
friends had quite a task in filing
them off—and they showed, the
marks of the file. Ed then made a
key to unlock them and repaired
them and they remain still in the
family 'as a souviner. i The pistol
too. It was a 32 cal. old style re
volver. Ed said he cairied it in a
large bill book in a hteast pocket.
He said when he got up sta »*s he
used his teeth in, pulling the pistol
from the bill book and then he
could shoot very well with it down
through the loft floor and fired each
time at die spot where he would see
one of Hampton’s bullets pierce
the floor. Ed showed us marks on
the pistol handles he said were
made by his teeth.
Some years later Ed came' in and
surrendered to the authorities and
was acquitted. .: -
The Boone family of Yancey
county are one of , the oldest and
most of them have been respectable
people. It seemed however, that
they were inclined in the early days
to dominate their neighbors to some
extent. They were said to be over
bearing and treacherous, much of
this nature may have been adapted i
from tfie Indians with whom the
first Dsktuel and his companions of
the wilderness associated and help
ed to fill the family and the country j
with their traditions of trickery and j
horror. They are a family of
musical ability; nearly 111 of them
like their fun and their dram. They I
are not a people of great educational
attainments, most of them are, as!
present-day spelling shows little im
provement over that of their illus
trious ancestor, Dan on ( his Boone
I
-Ibe said of their shortcomings of the
r -noneer—days- are now ..among
t he,county’s foremost peace abiding,
f ndustrfoUs honest' But
- they are apparently a dwindling
t >eople and have not kept pace in
> r timbers with their "neighbors,
r Neither ar£ they jx long-lived peo
r pie, few of them reaching the age
i cf Dan I-—B4.
| dan aniTwade^::
1 —ph T'nr
.
4 1 Hr
“ALL THE BOONES, are black
miths,” said Kelse Boone, at his
hop in Burnsville, N* C. “Old
DanieJ in the story book is noted
for hunting, but he was the first
blacksmith in these~hiHs. There’s
his iron still to be found in these
cabins.”
“My daddy, Nelse, was a good
one. My granddaddy, Jim Boone,
iad a shop right here. - Here are
iOme of his piedSs—a hoe and mat
tock. Jim’s daddy, Squire Boone,
was born in Kentucky but moved to
ft this country and went tri blackr
smithing. He learned it from his
laddy, who was the original Dan’l
Boone.”
•...“I've been blacksmithing all my
life. My four boys are black
, smiths. Dan'l is the fanciest. I
. lsed to have a shop with Dan’l arid
[ Wade, hut they went' over to
I Spruce Pine and opened up on
their own. I run my shop now
» alone. The young ’uns has got to
- get out on their own.
> BY THE SWEAT OF THEIR
, BROWS—No smocksat the Boone
- in Spruce Pine, where Daniel
; Bonne have > mdertaken
iamsburg s iron. Like all the pre
vious generations of iron-making
Boones, Daniel and Wade know
that to make useful things from
hard metal requires a hot fire, a
keen eye and a stout arm.
r r .....
.rn'mdM I
M |
K. ;
■ lyflgigll
KELSE BOONE
Os Burnsville. There is another
Kelse of Erwin, Tenn.
to the writer of the Boone family!
of Yancey County, Kelse gives the
jiipt representatives as, Jerry whose
[children were: Tom, Dove, Mack,
hEdi Sul, father of Kelse at Erwin;
I Crum, Mary Jane, Lucretia, Sarah
I Ann. |
iCelse’s father was a brother to
[ferry. His sons were, Kelse, Doug-
Jerry, deceased.
JSam Boone and Jim Boone were
i interesting characters. Sam was a
Jldit of local humorist and many of
HB»jbkes are still heard .in the'
[county. It is said he could not read,
tho like most of the early Boones,
[he was proud and wished to con
[eeal his illiteracy. Once he; was
| waiting at a railroad station for a
[train and seeing seve raiof the pass-
Jengers buying papers, he bought
[one. He was holding it upside]
It'osyh pretending to be reading. A
l ady said, “Mr. Boone do
| any interesting news in your papr r
Jer?” His reply was, “yes, lady, I
J tee they’ve had a bad storm „ and j
[.wreck on the sea, as here is a ship
[turned up side, down.” , The lady
rjlooking saw it was the paper that’
;| w # up-side down, and said, "Mr. |
[side up.” *ph that’s no bother at
Jail to me ladv. as I reads from bot
►[torn to top just as ffksy as others
Jim Bobne once killed a man in
Burnsville by name of ir AJf .Keith.
- This murder was just on the r eve
of the -War between the States.
He was given a choice to volunteer
in the Southern army or stand trial
in court. Hg served in army
until—he riras killed in one of the
cathpaigns in West Tennessee and
died at Memphis, It was said that
the'evidence against Jim was rather
meager until a man by name of
Micah Ayers, Co, C, 29N.C, Inst.
C.S.A had a dream in which he
dreamed that the murder scene
passed before his eyes and he saw
Jim Boone use a certim Boone-,
made shop knife and kill Keith and
then run and hide die knife under a
small office "building then standing
in a row of others on the north
side of the town square. Sure
enough it was said, searching par
ties found the knife located just as
Ayers had dreamed, after winch
the evidence was so conclusive that
had not Jim joined the army he
would most certainly been convict
ed of the murdeh
ffiliS ■ ■——■—-■
“TWErat”
. THE LITTLE MOOKTIH*
i _ m
-William C. Finney, Columbus,
Ohio, sends the editor of the Post
the following article on the W. N.
& E T. (Narrow Gauge Railway)
which he took from the Ohio
State Journal of August 22,1938.
He says: Mr. V. G. Edwards, Ed
(tor Post, Spruce Pine, N. C*
Thought perhaps you’d be inter
ested in the following article.
Sorry to seethe Banner go down—
an editor’s life work. I am also
sending your brother, L. E. Ed
wards, Assistant Editor, Yancey
Record a copy as might be in
terested. Also the Columbus Dis
patch had the photostats of two
young women who killed a man
at Fairfield, Illinois*one girl from
Elizabethton, the other from
, Johnson City; but I suprcne you
know all about that. They accuse
each other. They shot him fc
degth, it is charged, and left hit
body nude; stripped him of ev
.-'rything, even his clothing, leav
I in* him in his home. I recognized
tneir faces as alleged “street hus
tjera, ’ ground Elizabethton and
the Soldier’s Home; they are in a
mess this time.
“Tweetsle” Runs
Errands in Town
Boone, N. C.—(A. P.)-The
mountain folk swear by “Tweet
sifi* *j a narrow guage railway
winding along among the coves
and crags on a66 mile route be
tween here and Johnson City,
Tenn.
The engineer has been on the
job 35 years, the conductor, 32
They think nothing of stopping
the train in front of a mile-high
cabin, picking up children and
delivering them safely to the
home of a relative down the track
while the conductor often stops
in town for an isolated farmer
Theft the train stops in front of a ,
farm home for the specific pur-1
pose of delivering a spool of
thread or length of wire.
The little train, with its huff,
puff locomotive will stop any
where any time. Its whistle,
ringing Ihrilly through the mou -
ntains is more of a greeting than
♦warning.
The formal name of this folksy
railroad is the Eastern Tennessee
& Western North Carolina Rail
way, hut you could not tell the
mountain people it is anything
but “Tweetsie,” the title, they
gave it 52\years ago.
The father of the two editors above
referred to has a diary in which there
is an entry concerning his first sight,
of the, W. N. & E. T. Rv. , ltssyg in
Bubstitncee: “Aug. 9, 1899 left home
near Burnsville equipped with a few
clothes and some rations in a valise,
crossed a mountain and joined a friend
on Fig Pen creek Proceeded on
foot toward Cranberry. H«-t toilsome
walking; difficulty in dousing River
at mouth of Cane Creek; saw Bakers
ville first time; gpent night at John •
Buchanan’s at Clarissy-Bnncb mines
3 miles above town. ~ \
i l’ IrnWrlMrllll Wi ll
“August 10. \nother hars days’ walk
ing over mountains and thru woods.
- .. " • ■.
Hard old boss by name of Winters.
Regular slave driver and most qf, hia
hands KegroeS antl fiaii ones. 80011,—
left and staHed a newtreck ofsVhiUea ■
Tennessee. The Tweetsie Trains”
were running regular with nice crews
who waved'at ua as we stood, aside in
the ditches for the train to pass. We
walked several trestles and thru 3
tunnels. We subsisted upon a little
bacon which we broiled dy the road_
side and ate with crackers and wash,
eddown with rfter ,.g|ter. We had a
little toT»aecobut no other luxuries as ...
we tramped down Doe Rivei Gorge--
one of the grandest in the riast.
At one place was an old time pound
ing mill, at another some folk*-were
selling liquor but We cotild afford none.
On the way we passed thru Elk Park
Creek, Mountain City, Allentown
and camped for the night in a corn
field at Elizabethton and next day
thru Johnson City and then on thru -
Cherokee, Garbers and then Embree
ville arriving very sore
Here I stayed one year. My friend
Noah Letterman left after three
months to marry. In a few yeafs be
moved to Erwin where he djed many
years ago. ”
Edwards Printing Co.,
Burnsville, N. C.
Dear Sirs:
Am sending you the names of
fifty or more business people and
firms for which please send me one
of your fountain pens.
I do not know the,type of letter
you desire for your Young Folks
Correspondence Club but J hope
this one will be printed. If not I
hope you will print this little poem
I have enclosed.
I am a young high-school gradu
ate and write poetry and short
stories and" songs. I have had
three of my poems and a song pub;
lished.
I have written abcut two-hundred
poems and twenty short-stories and
about fifteen songs' I also keep
scrap books and collect anything
, which appeals to me.
’ I-also like to do profiles of movie
. stars and paint and I have a fun-~
j ny ambition of being an aviatrix
j some day. I have rode in an air
-1 plane one time.
l Sincerely*
| Miss Edyth Dowell,
J B. T; Box 43,
. Shouns, Tennessee.
“I Want, to Build 4 House”
" J want, to biXilcLsuhause, ....
Inside'will He immaculate-fastidous
ness. nt v .
No matter il the pots are black or
blue, -- -a;
Each one will be .a looking-glass—
Each one will boost a mirror,
I want:' seme flowers, somt eommon
flowers;
Like funny, fuzzy weeds and things,
And a get) tian in the fall,
A brilliant poppy in the spring.
I want my little house to be—•
A shmiqg lovely place to see.
Miss Edyth Dowell,
R. 1, Box 43,
Shouns, Tenn. 1
BOYS—GIRLS—ESPECIALLY
GIRLS—WILL YOU WRITE
FOR PAY? HAVE YOU A
FOUNTAIN PEN?
I ,We need names. We have
[thousands of names on our mailing
lists, but we have not revised our
list for 5 years. Marty persons
whose names we have are now dead
or removed or gone into other
business. .
Will you Help us revise our list?
We don’t want you to write for
nothing. Still we have very little
money and very slow business.
But Oh, if you will just write us
some letters, they will help us get
more husincss—
And we .will just pay you until
you are satisfied. o
Wc have gome of the nicest
fountain ' pens to give away;—Yes,
and Mechanical Pencils,' Needle
Books, Bead Necklaces, Scissors,
Pocket Knives, Printed Envelopes,
Printed Letter Heads. “
Fill out the enclosed name and
addresg blank if one is enclosed with
this paper and for-as'fnany as -
more names of live business people
or firms, we. will send you one
Fountain Ppn or Mechanical Pen
cil, or your choice from above list.
If you will write a letter-for publi
cation in our Young Folks Corres
pondence Club, just being started •
LgO ~ Mrp u»;]| nrint it 4f it k 4