Edmund Sam’s Gun
Edmund Sams first made his home on the western side of the French Broad River, near Smith’s Bridge at Gaston’s place. During his early years, Sams was an Indian fighter. There is the story of once while in search of some Indian depredators, he was passing the woods with a single companion, his friend and […]
Jarrett’s Ferry on the French Broad River
For many years John Jarrett was a resident of Buncombe County. In later life, he lived on the western bank of the French Broad River at the place where the old Smith Bridge once stood (now a concrete bridge) near Asheville. There had never been a bridge across the river to Asheville, so when John […]
The Great Wagon Road
The Great Wagon Road of the 1700s: Scots, Germans, Swiss The Courageous Settlers of the Blue Ridge Mountains: Those who settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains were a cross-lot of poor people from the Lowlands of the Palatinate along the Rhineland in Germany, persecuted protestants from Switzerland, Austria, and Europe, and the Highlanders who suffered […]
Orton Plantation
Orton Plantation In 1725, the Lord Proprietors granted Colonel Maurice Moore 1,500 acres of land where he established Brunswick Town, North Carolina in June of 1726. Colonel Maurice Moore had seven brothers and four sisters. One of his brothers, Roger Moore built Orton Plantation using some of the lands that were granted to Colonel Maurice. […]
Brunswick Town and Fort Anderson
The Ruins of Brunswick Town, a Colonial North Carolina Settlement, and Fort Anderson The town was named after Brunswick-Lüneburg, a German territory ruled by Great Britain’s reigning King George I. Brunswick Town was an active and popular town for North Carolina settlers from 1720 to 1780. But the area was first occupied by Native American […]
Wilmington, a Port for Irish and French Huguenots
By Jeannette Holland Austin In the early pioneer days of North Carolina, Wilmington was a small port, mostly seasonable. Its history dates back to 1739 when it was incorporated and named after Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington. Its location on the Cape Fear River supported immigrants from Europe. Typically, Scotch-Irish, Irish, and French Huguenots. […]
The Story of Captain John Smith
Captain John Smith, a Revolutionary War Soldier, Rifleman, and Patriot, was born in 1740 in North Carolina, according to McCall’s Roster of the Revolution. He died Wilkes Co., Ga. 1-1795. (LWT dated 1794) Wife, Sarah Acree.According to the lands which were ceded by the Creeks in Wilkes County, Captain Smith came from North Carolina bringing […]
Wooden Houses in America
Did you know that houses with wooden frames or skeletons were built in North Carolina long before the log houses? Framed houses represent a tradition of building dating from medieval times which the colonists brought from Europe.The earliest framed houses in the South have disappeared almost without a trace yet scholars may form general ideas […]
Drowning Bear
Qualla Town in Cherokee, North Carolina. When the Cherokees were invited to remove west of the Mississippi in 1809, Drowning Bear, chief of the Qualla Indians, petitioned President Jefferson that he might be permitted to remain with his followers, among his native mountains, and his prayer was granted. He was eminently a peaceful chief and […]
North Carolina: Moravian Ancestors
Proprietors of the Wachovia Tract: MoraviansWachovia was the name used to designate a large tract of land in the northern Piedmont of North Carolina purchased by the Moravians, or the Unity of Brethren, from John Lord Carteret, Earl Granville, in 1752. It was settled by the Moravians. There were six villages established by the Moravians […]
