VOL.I, N 0.27
Yancey Volunteers Fight
As 'Black Mountain Boys’
When the war between the
states broke out in 1861, divi
sion caused Yancey County to
become a microcosm of that
bitter struggle that found the
men going off to war and fami
lies fighting each other.
Although there were only
362 slaves in the whole Toe
Valley, • most of these being
in the southern part, Yancey
County nonetheless was involv
ed in slavery and had been
since 1840 when the first real
road was built here—from
burnsville to the crest of the
Blue Ridge.
The county's stake in sla
very lay in the fact that the
big cotton plantations of the
east bought heavily of Yanceyfc
livestock and grain for their
slaves. Between 1840 - 1860,
production of livestock in
creased enormously, and dro
vers took thousands of animals
down to the east.
Yancey, like most of the
other western counties voted
against secession, but when
it actually came the county
was divided sharply and bitter
ly on the issue. The pro-union
northern part of the county
clamored for and was made
into a county called Mitch
ell. The Southern part, Yan -
cey, remained with the South.
When war was declared Yan
cey County was among the first
to raise a volunteer company
for the Southern Army. The
Black Mountain Boys were or
ganized by Capt. John S. Mc-
Elroy and reported to Raleigh
where they were assigned to
Company C, 16th North Caro
lina Regiment. The Black
Mountain Boys proved them
selves, on the whole, as sturdy
and strong as the mountains
from whence they came.
According to the old record
of the Company kept by Wil
liam J. Byrd the men in the
company experienced many
hardships; clothing and food
were scarce, and the men beg
ged for tiny pieces of paper
from the record book to write
a few words to their families
(the repotted condition of the
old record book proved this
story).
The men fought McClel -
lan's army at Richmond and
during those seven days they
were thinned rapidly— some
dying in battle, some of their
wounds and fever, others were
taken prisoners, and many
were detached or transferred
to other companies. James
McClellan was the first ofthese
men to die in battle.
After the 12 months' enlist
ment had elapsed, some of the
volunteers grew tired of war.
and wished to return to the
mountains, and rather than be
conscripted into the Confeder
ate Army, joined the Federals
and fought against the cause
which they once upheld.
After Lee's surrender,the re
maining "Black Mount ainßoyV 1
- returned to their native hills,
to find that nJJegiance had also
waned at home. As the war
went on, economic distress and
division overtook the county.
had hidden in the mountains
and joined with draft dodgers
in guerilla bands. Theybrccght
t*. .«■! ... ...
THE YANCEY JOURNAL
’ ' . > 1 ■ -
terror to Yancey' County as they ,
came out of the mountains to
plunder-—raiding farms for
food and supplies.
Traces of the strife and divi
sion caused by the Civil War
are still apparent today in
clannish attitudes shown within
one county towards a neighbor
(Cont'd on page 2)
'Big Tom’ Wilson Leads Search For Professor Mitchell;
Body Found Near Waterfall Atop Famous Mountain Peak
(The following account ot
the search for Professor Mitch -
ell by Big Tom Wilson and his
party was written in 1903 , five
year prior to Big. Tom's death
on February 1, 1908 at the age
of 85. To our knowledge, this
version of the famous story has
never before been published.)
By Harold E. Johnston
Thomas D. Wilson, the vet
eran bear hunter, trapper, and
guide, of the Black Mountains,
familiarly known to his friends
and the public in general as
"Big Tom" Wilson, was bom
op the Toe (Indian name "Es -
tatoe") River in Yancey County,
N.C., December 1, 1825, a
region then almost an unbroken
wilderness. To the south and
east lay the Blue Ridge, separ
ating the head waters of the Toe
and Catawba Rivers; to the north
east the lofty Roan loomed up
in bold relief against the hori -
zon; to the north and northwest
stretched the peaks of the Great
Smoky Range, while on the west
and southwest the majestic
Pioneers Begin Forming, Culture
In Rugged Appalachian Mountains
Driving through and living
in the mountains of western
North Carolina could easily
prompt residents as well as
visitors to think about the deso
late ruggedness that must have
existed in this area centuries
£go.
What kind of people did it
take to tame this wild new land
and start the settlement? that
now exist in the valleys and
hillsides of Yancey County?' -f
The natives Americans, In
dians, had been here for cen
turies, but the history of ' the ifi
white settlement of the Ap
palachian Mountains began in
the late 18th and early 19th
HISTORY EDITION
We would like to express our appreciation to the
businesses and industries in Yancey County and else
where whose names appear on the following pages. With
out their support, our History Edition would not have
Black Mountains, monarchs of
the Great Appalachian System,
proudly lifted their shaggy heads
to the skies. From the tope of
the mountains to the banks of
the rivers stretched the forests
unbroken, save where an occa
sional settler had penetrated the
wilderness, made a small clear
ing and erected thereon his hum
ble home.
The streams abounded in fish,
the forests were full of game of
various kinds, and in his youth
Big Tom roved the forests chas- .
ing the bear and deer, or wan
dered along the mountain streans
seeking tp allure the wary trout
from their hsrunts in the cool
depths of the pools.
This life in the wilds deve -
loped him, as he grew from boy
hood to manhood, into a figure
tall, straight, lithe, rawboned
and sinewy, possessing a rugged
constitution, and he acquired
Jn his rovings a knowledge of
woodcraft such as few men ever
possess.
At the age of twenty seven
centuries. Natives of Scotland,
Ireland, England and Germany
came to the unspoiled beauty
and freedom of this New Land
to escape conditions existing
in their homelands.
By 1800, land along the
coast had been settled, forcing
new arrivals to move further
west., Elsewhere, the frontier
was pushed steadily westward,
but here where the mountains
fo&ied a natural barrier, set
tlers stayed for generations, per
petuating a pioneer culture they
I learned from their forefathers. ““
Yancey County has eight val
leys and numerous coves, and
here these early inhabitants
'!• t - *
y
O ?VUKCxItf fy* KCetf fctcvut
J m
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5,1972
(in 1852) he married a m.M. n
named Niagara Ray, who was -
bom and reared in the vicinity
of his home. Os this union nine
children have been bom, six of
whom are living and reside in
the neighborhood of where the
old man now lives.
In 1853 he moved up near
the head waters of the Cane Ri
ver in Yancey County, settling
at the foot of the Black Moun
tains, on the north side, on what
is now known as the Murchison
boundary, close to where hjs
son, Dolph, now lives, arri many
years later moved down the
river two or three miles to the
place he now lives.
The country growing more
and more thickly settled, fish
and game grew scarcer year by
year, but up to a few years ago
Big Tom still followed his fa
vorite pursuits of hunting and
trapping until infirmities inci
dent to age, compelled him to
relinquish the pleasure of the
chase.
During his life one hundred
found solitude in them for al
most a century. ‘t—- —
Those who stayed to tackle
the rugged mountains, cleared
land for farming. Orchards and
fields soon became common -
place in the valleys and on
steep hillsides. Moat of the
communities were isolated firm
each other by the ruggedness of
the mountains and by difficulty
in traveling the distance be
tween settlements.
By the 1820's there were
enough settlers "even in the
most Isolated areas for schools
and churches. Communities
rapidly grew up in these areas.
(Cont'd on page 2)
been possible. We are also grateful to those who have
contributed to this edition with pictures and stories
from long ago. We are proud to publish The Yancey
Journal's first History Edition.
and fourteen bears, besides a
number of deer and smaller
game have fallen victims to
his skill.
During the Civil War o f
1861-65 Big Tom served in the
Confederate Army as chief mu
sician of the brigade comman
ded by Gen. Robert B, Vance,
and sometimes now, at the age
of almost four-score years, as
he recalls the memories d those
stirring scenes of strife,he rea
ches up on the mantel of his
humble -fireside, takes there
from his old fife, places it to
his lips, and the listener hears
once again the martial strains
that cheered the Boys in Gray
to battle or the mournful notes
I •
X_ ' ojllr-r
--“Big Tom" Wilson, Loafer Os The Search
Ik " A
of the dirge -sounded for those
who had fallen in conflict or
succumbed to diseases in the
camp*, as their bodies were
laid to rest
"'Neath the sod and the dew,
Awaiting the judgment day."
Big Tom first came into pro
minence in 1857 as the leader
of the party of searchers that
found the body of Prof. Elisha
Mitchell (for whom Mitchell's
Peak is named) who had lost
his life in the wilds of the Black
Mountains attempting to prove
that he had been the first per
son to measure the altitude of
the highest peak east of the
Rocky Mountains. From that
time to the present, Big Tom
Series Os 'Firsts’ Reveal
Start Os Yancey History
(The following is part of an
article which appeared in the
Asheville Citizen Times, De
cember 10, 1933 and was writ
ten by a Yancey County resi -
dent, Annie Wray—now Annie
Wray Bennett)
Burnsville, December 9
The first court in Yancey
County was held at Caney Ri
ver church in 1834, under the
has been one of the most noted
figures of the western section
of the State, and many acre the
travelers that have visited him
in his mountain home to hear
the story of how he found Mitch
ell's body, and listen to the
narrative of some of his adven
tures in the chase of lire black
bear, Nor was any trip to
Mitchell's Peak complete un
less Big Tom was the guide.
Up to ten or twelve years
ago Big Tom would generally
make two or three visits to
Asheville each year, making
the journey, twenty-seven miles
each way, afoot, and his pover
(Cont'd on page 4)
Dempsey’s Fists
Outlawed Here
Pittsburgh, Pa. Press. Oct. 2 3.1949
Down in the mountains of
North Carolina there is a place
called Burnsville—hometown of
Nathan Dempsey, grandfather
of the famous Jack.
Many tales are told tourists
of Nathan's might. He was a
blacksmith who weighed 250
pounds and stood six feet, six
inches. He was a wrestler,
weight-lifter and handy with
his fists.
Once a balky mule exaspera
ted the mighty Nathan so he just
threw the critter out of his
shop. One day, so foe story
goes he sort of lost his temper
when eight toudy mountaineers
jumped on him in a free for all.
At the end of foe melee all
eight were out cold.
And next day town council
passed an ordinance stating that
hereafter Nathan Dempsey
should not strike a man with his
closed fist. It (Dempsey's clos
ed fist) war classified legally
as "a deadly weapon. "
' / , L :
10 c
provision of the act which re
quired that the county seat
should be within five miles of
the home of James Greenlee,
this church being one mile from
Greenlee's home.
D. Angel was made sheriff
pro tem, Amos L. Ray, clerk
of the superior court, Joseph B.
Ray, register of deeds and Bur
gess S. Gaither was appointed
county attorney. The first
senator from the new county
was Thomas Baker and William
Blalock was elected the first
representative.
The first person convicted
in the county was the first clerk
of the superior court who was
found guilty of a minor offense,
but the first sheriff met with
worse luck. He was convicted
of murder in the first degree
and was hanged!
The first fines paid in Yan
cey County were paid in a joint
indictment against Rueben
. Keith and S* Byrd who were
fined one gallon of cider each,
which was pc Id into court.
Among the first white set
tlers in Yancey was Thornes
Ray,,;Sr., who settled in the
Galley and traded
a horse and gun to the Indians
for a large tract of land lying
in that section. Among later
settlers were: M. P. Penland,
Samuel Flemming, Johnßailey,
Bacchus Smith, Thomas Young
tne Griffiths, the Silvers, who
settled in the Bolens Creek sec
tion, and the Byrds who settled
in the northeastern part of the
county.
The nearest markets for the
early settlers were at Charlestn,
S.C., Saltville, Va. and Bal
timore, Md. The pioneer set
tlers made trips to these ports
in ox-carts and wagons.
The first general merchants
in Burnsville were M. P. Penland,
Thomas Young, Samuel Flem
ming, R.B. Johnson, Joe Mason,
John Roberts, Jackson Brown
and Captain W. M. Moore.
There were several boot and
harness shops. The bar tooths
were operated by J. L.Hyatt Sr,
Sheriff N.M. Wilson, and "Etad"
Johnson. There were four
blacksmith shops all operated
by Boones, who are direct de
scendants of Daniel Boone.
Travelers coming to Burns
ville had the choice of four
inns. These were operated by
J. L. Hyatt,Sr., M. P. Penland,
S.D, Poore, and the Williams
brothers.
Tanning hides was one of
the chief industries at that time.
Ready-made clothes were al
most unheard of and the four
seamstresses were kept bury.
These were! Miss Mary Jane
Mclntosh, Mrs. James McCan
less and Mrs. McAlister, and
Lucinda Griffith, a negro who
owned the first sewing machine
that was brought into Yancey
County.
The county did not have a
a line was built from Burnsville
to Green Mountain, a distance
of 15 miles. Green Mountain