County Home Housed the Aged and Infirm

Main house at the Transylvania County Home, 1917-1943.

Transylvania County has a long history of helping provide for those who are unable to care for themselves.  Early minutes of the Transylvania Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions state that the Sheriff was responsible for collecting “poor tax” to be distributed by the wardens of the poor.

Beginning in 1888 there are references to a “Poor House”, “County Home” and “Home for the aged and infirm” in the minutes of the Transylvania County Commissioners.  All refer to the same institution.  On February 9, 1888 the county purchased S.J. Tinsley’s 80-acre farm located west of Brevard for the purpose of housing those in need.  Housing consisted of four one-room cabins with fireplaces and a caretaker’s cabin. 

The minutes also contain records of purchases of food and supplies, caretaker contracts, occasional audits and references to individual inmates.  The last caretaker of this property was W. A. Brown who received $7 per month, per pauper.  Brown provided firewood, food and minimal maintenance. 

In 1917 the county sold this property and moved the County Home a few mi

les further west.  It was located across the old highway from Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church.  There was more space here to house those in need.   The main house had eleven bedrooms.  A second house had five bedrooms and two smaller houses had four and two bedrooms. 

In the late 1930s and early 1940s Transylvania County was operating in a financial deficit.  In an effort to reduce expenses and generated revenue the County Home was closed and the property sold.  On September 7, 1943 Charles R. Ziegler purchased it for $15,000.

In 1977 Hwy 64 was widen and realigned between Brevard and Rosman.  It cut through the property that had once been the County Home.  Today only one of the original buildings and some graves remain.

Marker at Cathey's Creek Baptist Church Cemetery

The pauper’s cemetery originally belonged to the county.  It was on the northern side of the property near the Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.  On September 16, 1933 the county deeded the cemetery to the church for $1.00. 

The Cathey’s Creek Community Center recently erected a monument in memory of the people from the County Home buried in the cemetery.  They hav

e also compiled a new book with information about everyone buried at Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church.  They hope to have the book complete and available soon.

To learn more about the County Home visit the library blog at nchistoryroom.blogspot.com or check out Ed Comer’s booklet, Transylvania County Home History available at the library.

Aerial photo showing layout of County Home in Selica Community, 1917-1943.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.

Exploring the Origins of Selica

Leaving Brevard and heading west on Southern Railway in the early 1900s there were three stops before Rosman.  It was 4.4 miles to Selica, 2.7 miles more to Cherryfield, an additional mile to Calvert and finally 1.6 miles to Rosman.  These were brief stops for passengers to get on and off and for mail delivery. 

The mail service to Selica began on August 2, 1901.  It was discontinued with mail delivery transferred to Brevard on May 31, 1928.

More than a hundred years earlier the first settlers were moving into the area, which became known as Cathey’s Creek.  As families came to the area there was soon a need for church services.  There has been much debate regarding the exact date of the first Baptist services in what is today Transylvania County.  However, Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church has established April 17, 1813 as its founding date.  Elder Benjamin King served as their leader at that first service.  In 1822 he officially became the church pastor, a position he had until 1840.

Flume from Cagle Mountain to Selica

Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church proudly boosts of being the “Mother of Baptist Churches” in Transylvania County.   As settlers spread further into the valleys and mountains of the area they formed churches closer to their own communities.  These early churches included New Prospect Baptist (1820), Blue Ridge Baptist (1836), East Fork Baptist (1840) and Macedonia Baptist (1844).

The earliest school in Cathey’s Creek was a subscription school near the church.  In 1908 it joined with Glady Branch School to form Selica School.  Selica was one of the new, modern schools built shortly after T.C. Henderson became School Superintendent.  Selica School closed in 1957 when Transylvania County Schools consolidated.  Today the old Selica School serves as the Cathey’s Creek Community Center.

On September 19, 1909 the Sylvan Valley News reported that the newly created New York, North Carolina Land and Lumber Company would build a flume six miles long, from the head of Cathey’s Creek on Cagle Mountain to the Selica depot.  It took nearly a year to complete.  On September 2, 1910 it was reported that the Cagle Mountain Flume was completed a few weeks ago and the railroad switch is completed and nine freight cars were places by the side of the flume to transport logs.

Symington Home

So, how did the Cathey’s Creek community come to be known as Selica?  In 1881 Col. William Symington bought land along Cathey’s Creek and the French Broad River.  He named his farm Tselica, a Cherokee word for sparkling or whispering waters.  Around 1900, after Col. Symington’s death, the whole area became known as Selica—the silent T initial letter being dropped.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.

Transylvania Tornadoes

Only three tornadoes have been officially recorded in Transylvania County since they began keeping records in 1950.

April 3, 1974 3:00 pm,  F1--Moderate Tornado, 73-112 mph winds

January 10, 1975 8:30 pm, F2--Significant Tornado, 113-157 mph winds

June 20, 1984 1:00 pm, F0--Gale Tornado, 40-72 mph winds

Transylvania County Slave Owners, 1862

According to the Transylvania County, Board of Tax Listing from May 3, 1862 there were 414 slaves owned by 70 families in the county.  Most of these families owned only 1 or 2 slaves.  There were 12 families with 10 or more slaves.

Brevard Company (town)
25--McKeown Johnstone
16--J.A. Gadsden
11--J.W. Killian
  6--B.C. Lankford
  4--A.D.B. Allison
  4--W.P. Poor
  3--Jonathan King
  2--Elizar Patton
  2--Wm. Wilson, Jr.
  1--Matthew Wilson
                                                                                 
Catheys Creek Company (township) 
37--Francis Withers Johnstone
36--W.C. Kilgore
12--O.L. Erwin
  8--G.W. Galloway
  8--P.L. Horry
  6--William Duckworth
  5--Giles Glazener, Sr.
  4--Sarah Johnstone
  3--Squire Morgan
  1--H.E. Hull
  1--Rebecca King
  1--Robert Whitmire

Cedar Mountain Company (township)
3--Micjah Thomas
2--C.C. Orr
1--C.B. Griffom
1--Baylas Tinsley

Davidson River Company (township)
14--W.C. Johnstone
  7--William Deaver
  6--T.E. Frazier
  5--E.B. Clayton
  5--John Clayton
  2--T.B. Clarkson
  2--S.S. Lyday
  2--Straub Young
  1--A.J. Lyday
  1--J.E. Mackey
  1--Luke Osteen
  1--Charles & Eli Patton
  1--W.D. Perry
  1--John H. Phillips
  1--J.R. Pressley
  1--A.E. Reese

East Fork Company (township)
21--Hume, Robert H.
 9--J.J. Chillom Estate
 9--D.P. Johnstone
 8--J.H. Elliott
 5--H.R. Rutledge
 4--B.T. Aiken (Akins)
 3--J.E. Duckworth
 3--Wm. Mull
 1--A.J. Cisson
 1--W. Sadler
 1--J.A. Shatart

Eastatoe Company (township)
 5--Jonathan Zachary
 3--William Whitmire
 1--J.R. Gillespie
 1--T.G. Henson
 1--Henry Lyon

 Glouster Company (township)
 No recorder ownership

Little River Company (township)
 21--Francis Allison
 18--Joshua Ward
 13--Leander Sams Gash
 10--Carey M. Whitten
  8--Jeremiah Osborne
  5--P.C. Orr
  3--J. P. Jordan
  2--J.S. Sims
  1--J.L. Haddon
  1--Joseph Jordan
  1--Rebecca Lyday
  1--Mary Slagle

Prominent Citizens Owned Glen Cannon

Williamson Creek was named for Richard Williamson, who was granted 500 acres of land on January 7, 1794 along both sides of the French Broad River tributary.

In 1853 McKewn Johnstone, son of a wealthy rice planter from Charleston, purchased about 1300 acres along the creek and the French Broad River.  McKewn was a brother to Francis and William Johnstone who also owned large amounts of property along the French Broad River.

Johnstone hired Albert Cannon to manage the clearing of the land using slave labor.  An 1862 Transylvania County Board of Tax Listing records the Johnstones among the largest slave holders in the county.  Francis owned 37 slaves, McKewn, 25 and William, 14.

Upper Glen Cannon Falls

The property included a double waterfall separated by a hundred yards of rapids flowing through a glen lined with hemlock and rhododendron.  The falls were later named Glen Cannon for Albert Cannon.  Cannon served as Commissioner of Agriculture for North Carolina for many years.  He was also a shareholder with the French Broad Steam Boat Company and the ill-fated Mountain Lily.

McKewn and Martha Cannon Webb Johnstone were living in Transylvania County with their three sons when the Civil War broke out.  According to Mary Jane McCrary, “In order to safeguard the women and the children at home, McKewn Johnstone, Sr. was put on patrol duty by the Confederate Army.  Often he led raids into the mountains.”  There is no record of him serving in the Confederate Army though.  Following the war the Johnstones moved to Spartanburg. 

William Andrew, McKewn and Martha’s oldest son, remained on the Glen Cannon property.  He lived there until 1905 when it was sold to Levi S. Clough, a Pennsylvania lumberman and farmer.

Irving J. Rueter, automotive executive and founder of the Janirve Foundation, owned the property from 1939-1944. 

Following the Rueter’s the property was owned by E.C. and Jennie C. Langston until 1951. At that time members of the Romfh family purchased it. On August 6, 1964, Elmer and Frances Gooden registered an indenture for R.H. Burns, Trustee to facilitate the sale of the property.

On March 1, 1965 a group of investors established the Glenn Cannon Land Company, Inc. and purchased the 1300 acres for a golf course and residential community.  The golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool and clubhouse were constructed on 125 acres. 

Over the years the surrounding property has been developed with homes.  Today there are about 280 residences in Glen Cannon. 

For the most part the property has remaind intact since McKewn Johnstone purchased it in 1853.

Much of this information came from Ann Hoeke’s “Glen Cannon History” available at the library.  Hoeke researched and wrote a history of the Glen Cannon property during Transylvania County’s Sesquicentennial in 2011. 

Glen Cannon Falls Farm, 1951

Glen Cannon Falls Farm, 1951

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.

French Broad River Is World's Third Oldest

The French Broad River is the third oldest river in the world—trailing closely behind the Nile in Egypt and the New in northwest North Carolina, western Virginia and West Virginia.  The river is actually older that mountains through which it flows.

The French Broad River officially begins north of Rosman where the North and West forks come together. Soon they are joined by the Middle and East forks.   Tributaries in Transylvania County include Cathey’s Creek, Carson Creek, Hogsed Creek, King Creek, Williamson Creek, Davidson River and Little River.

Although the river originates only about 70 miles from the North Carolina – Tennessee state line it flows in a semicircle for 213 miles before it joins the Holston River to create the Tennessee River near Knoxville.  Eventually the waters from Balsam Grove are carried into the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

As the Cherokee travelled through what is today Transylvania County from their mountain settlements to South Carolina they walked along the banks of French Broad River through Transylvania County.  The Cherokee called the river “Agiqua” or Long Man, and its many tributaries the “Chattering Children.”  From Asheville on downstream it was known as Tahkeyostee, meaning “where they race” for the many fast moving rapids.

French Broad River photo by R. Henry Scadin, ca. 1900-1910.

The name French Broad originates with the early white explorers, trappers and traders in the region.  Apparently there were two “Broad” rivers in western North Carolina.  The other Broad River begins in what is today Buncombe County and flows through Rutherford, Polk and Cleveland counties.  That “Broad” river flowed into an area controlled by the English while our “Broad” river flowed into French controlled territory.  Therefore, we had the “English” Broad (now known as just the Broad) and the French Broad.

On June 23, 1874 the US Congress authorized the Corps of Army Engineers to survey the French Broad River from Brevard to the Buncombe County line. They built jetties in hopes of creating a navigable river channel.  A set of the 1878 Corp of Engineers maps is available to view at the library.

The Mountain Lily, owned by the French Broad Steamboat Line, travelled between King's Bridge in Henderson County and Wilson's Bridge in Transylvania County in the early 1880s. The Mountain Lily's run ended when a heavy rain storm torn her away from her moorings and whisked her down-river to pile up on a sand bar near King’s Bridge.

As mentioned in a previous article in the 1930s and again in the 1960s the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) proposed “massive impoundments on the Upper French Broad and its tributaries”.  It was only through the efforts of a small but determine group, the Upper French Broad Defense Association, from Transylvania County that this did not happen. 

Today the French Broad River in Transylvania County is popular among recreational users for swimming, tubing, canoeing and kayaking.  There are public access points at Champion Park in Rosman, off Island Ford Rd., at Hap Simpson Park outside of Brevard, on Wilson Rd. in Pisgah Forest, off Crab Creek Rd. in Penrose and off Grove Bridge Rd. at Blantyre. There are also a couple of paddle-in campsites located along the river.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.

Visitors Established Episcopal Churches

When the wealthy Charleston area plantation owners and their families began spending summers in the mountains of western North Carolina they soon began holding church services.  Many of these families were members of Charleston’s Episcopal community.

The Rev. James Stuart Hanckel was born into a wealthy Episcopalian family in Charleston, SC in 1817.  His father was an Episcopal priest at Charleston’s historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for 45 years. 

The younger Hanckel, known as Stuart, was ordained as a priest in 1839.  He was assistant rector in his father’s church for many years before serving as rector at another historic Charleston church.

In the mid-1850s Hanckel, his wife and their eight children began spending summers in the North Carolina.  In 1856 they bought land from Francis Johnstone and built Chestnut Hill. 

On June 5, 1856 the first Episcopal service was held in a stable at Francis Johnstone’s Montclove farm.  The building was used to store equipment during the week but cleared out and cleaned on Saturday evening for Sunday services.  Hanckel officiated at this first service.

Plans were soon made to build a permanent church.  The group raised funds among themselves, as well as their family and friends at Flat Rock’s St. John’s-in-the-Wilderness and in Charleston’s Episcopal community.  Johnstone sold them twelve acres for 10¢ for a church and cemetery to be named St.-Paul’s-in-the-Valley. 

The church was officially consecrated on April 28, 1860.  Services were held during the summer months, May through October.  Hanckel was missioner for 12 years. 

The Hankels lived in Transylvania County throughout the Civil War.  In addition to serving St.-Paul’s-in-the-Valley, J. Stuart Hanckel also preached at Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist services in Transylvania and Henderson counties during the war years.

The Civil War brought unrest to Transylvania County and was particularly hard on these Charleston plantation owners.  Some lost everything and never returned to the mountains, others settled in Brevard when they did come back following the war.  Membership at St.-Paul’s-in-the-Valley shrank and evidently the few remaining members relocated to Brevard and re-established the church as St. Philip’s Episcopal Church.

In 2008 St. Philip’s Episcopal Church loaned the library two early ledgers for the purpose of scanning and preserving them.  The first book contains records from St.-Paul’s-in-the-Valley.  These records are mainly from 1856-1863 and include a list of families, communicants, baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials.  Baptism records date through 1879. 

The second book is the original St. Philip’s Parish Register.  These records begin in 1879 and continue through the mid-1940s.  An extensive index is also included.

Information in these records varies according to type of record.  Included are the date of the event, name, age, residence, place of birth, parents’ name and residence, cause of death, place of burial, sponsors or witnesses and attending clergy.  All of this information is invaluable to family researchers.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.

Photographs:  Top--There are no known photographs of St-Paul’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church.  This photo, courtesy of Ed Comer, shows the sign at the cemetery.

Bottom--St. Philip’s Episcopal Church consecrated, October 22, 1891, burned December 25, 1925.

Biltmore Beginnings

On this day in North Carolina History,

Biltmore House under construction

"George W. Vanderbilt, age 25, purchases the first of 661 parcels of land that will ultimately become his 125,000-acre Biltmore Estate. He is the youngest of the eight children of railroad tycoon William Henry Vanderbuilt, reputedly the world's richest man." (1888)

Source: Powell, L. (1996). On This Day in North Carolina History.Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair, Publisher.