Monday, April 27, 2015

Barn is Only Remaining Outbuilding

Barn, photo courtesy of Dan Bennett.
The barn is the only remaining outbuilding on the farm that Benjamin Allison, William Deaver and Carl & Mae Smith operated for 170 years on the Allison-Deaver property.  It was most likely constructed in the 1920s or 1930s on the foundation of a much older structure using a mix of old and new materials.

Evidence of 19TH century construction includes thick uncoarsed stone slabs on three sides of the foundation, a central timber dated to 1827 through dendrochronology and hand-hewn mortise and tenon joints with hardwood pegs.

Property-- The barn is approximately 150 feet northwest
 of the house and sits 16-18 feet below the grade of the house.  
Evidence of 20TH century construction includes machine-sawn studs and rafters for framing, thick poured concrete foundation along the east wall, concrete floors in the corn crib, stair room and open pen and manufactured rolled steel roofing.

The exterior of the barn is mainly open-slat design to allow for ventilation.  Some areas are more tightly enclosed, while the east side is an open equipment storage area. 

The interior consists of an 8 foot wide alleyway with double door access on both ends.  An open-slat corn crib with mesh lining and an open pen flank a stair room between the alleyway and the equipment storage area.  Three open-slat stalls, an enclosed storage room with plank flooring and one box stall are on the west side of the alleyway.

The stair room provides access to a large loft.  Large openings on the ends of the loft allowed for hay or straw to be hoisted into it via a pulley system.  This could be dropped through a hatch in the loft floor into the alleyway below as needed.

To the east of the barn is an in-ground silo used to store corn silage.  It was rock walls and tin roofing was used to cover it when in use.

Carl and Mae Smith owned the property for over 30 years from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s.  During their time at the Allison-Deaver House Mae Smith had flower gardens all around the house and down the bank behind the house.  She had a large vegetable garden in the flat area in front of the barn.  She kept all her canned goods, along with baskets of root vegetables and crocks in the cellar.  The Smith’s kept a cow and a pig at the barn and in the pasture.  There was a chicken coop east of the house near the edge of the pasture.

Weathervane, photo courtesy of Dan Bennett.
In 2002 a weathervane in the shape of a rooster with the date 1815 in its tail feathers was installed on the barn.  The weathervane was crafted by Irv Haines.  Weathervanes were once common on barns.  Used to indicate wind direction, they are mainly decorative today. 

The Allison-Deaver House is open on Saturdays (10-4) and Sundays (1-4) beginning May 16.  Groups are invited to contact the Transylvania County Historical Society at 884-5137 for special tours.
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.

Monday, April 20, 2015

William Deaver Purchases Land From Allison

William Deaver was born September 9, 1794.  As a teenager he was apprenticed to his grandfather, Andrew Miller, after the death of his parents.  He also inherited property in Tennessee from his father.  In 1830 he began purchasing property in the Davidson River area, including three tracts from Benjamin Allison.

He married Margaret Patton in 1833 and over the next 15 years the Deavers had seven children.   As the Deaver family grew so did the family home. 

Floor plan of the main floor of the home during the Deaver era. 
Plan drawn by Angela Patane.
Following a fire in the 1830s Deaver undertook repairs and soon enlarged the home to 2200 square feet, doubling its size.  A cellar was dug under the house, lowering the grade on the west side, and a stone foundation was laid beneath the entire house.

The original porch across the west side of the house was extended and enclosed on each end, creating two additional rooms with an open porch between them.  The east side porch was extended across the house on five stone piers.

Floor plan of the second floor of the Deaver home.  
Plan drawn by Angela Patane.
The final major alteration was the addition of a two-story porch on the east side.  When this porch was added, the roof of the house was also raised and extended to cover the porch.  A flight of external stairs joins the upper and lower levels of the porch.  The porch style and construction were influenced by South Carolina low country architecture and plantation owners who were building summer homes in this area.  The Boylston Turnpike had been relocated and now ran on the east side of the home.   The new, large double-porch now faced east and the nearby road.

Although exact dates of the additions and renovation are not known they occurred prior to the Civil War.

Deaver was a leader in the local community and amassed a large estate.  According to the 1860 U.S. Census Deaver’s real estate was valued at $18,000 and his personal property at $10,000.  Deaver also owner eight slaves, including a male and female in their 40s and six children.

William Deaver’s son, James was a Captain in the Confederate Army responsible for arresting armed Confederate deserters and Union supporters who were hiding in the mountains.  On February 24, 1865 an outlaw band looking to kill Captain James Deaver came to the Deaver home.  James was not there but William was shot and killed.
 
Deaver family at the “Old Deaver House”.
By 1878, Deaver’s son William E. owned the house and property.  His daughters, William and Margaret’s granddaughters, lived in the house until 1938.  Three generations of the Deaver family called the house home.  It was sold to Carl and Mae Smith in 1952. 

Although electricity, heating and air conditioning have been added, the house is basically preserved as it was in 1865.  The Transylvania County Historical Society restored the home and maintains it as an example of mountain-crafted architecture and as a gift to present and future generations.  The House is open on Saturdays (10-4) and Sundays (1-4) from May 16 through October, 2015.

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.





Monday, April 13, 2015

Allison Purchased Property in 1813

Sketch of the west facing side of Benjamin Allison’s home.
The Allison-Deaver House reflects the lives of two men and two builders—Benjamin Allison and William Deaver—and the evolution of a house over two centuries.  This week’s column takes a look at the house during the Allison era. 

Benjamin Allison was born in the 1770s in Maryland.  He moved to the Old Fort area of Western North Carolina with his extended family in the 1780s.  Allison married Margaret Wood around 1793. 


As previously mentioned Benjamin Allison purchased property along Ben Davidson’s River in what was Buncombe County in 1813.

Allison built an 1100 square foot wood frame house in the Federal-style.  The house had three-rooms on both the first and second floors, central doors, between two windows on the main floor  and two windows on the second floor on both the west and east sides.

Floor plan of the main floor of the original south-side of the home.  
Plan drawn by Angela Patane.
Today the smallest room on the main floor retains the original beaded sheathing and original window surround.  Other original elements within the house include the second-floor joists, exterior beaded weatherboarding, and a pattern board at the cornice of the southwest corner.

Evidence shows there were one-story porches on both sides of the house.  The west side porch was larger though.  Originally the property on the west side was at the level of the porch.  The house would have faced the Boylston Turnpike.  The old roadbed is still visible to the west.

Floor plan of the second floor of the Allison home.  
Plan drawn by Angela Patane.
The Allison’s lived in the home for about 15 years.  Here they raised a large family, at least ten children survived to adulthood.  As adults several of the Allison children moved west into a part of Haywood County that is today Jackson County.  Benjamin and Margaret joined them in 1830 when Allison sold the property to William    
     Deaver.

     Next week Picturing the Past will feature
     the expansion of the home during the
     Deaver era.

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.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Archaeological Dig Helped Date Deaver House

"Old Deaver House" purchased by the
Transylvania County Historical Society in 1987.
In 1987 the “Old Deaver House” was to be torn down to make way for development when a group of people interested in saving the local landmark formed the Transylvania County Historical Society and bought the house, barn and nearly four acres.

Initially it was believed the house had been built by William Deaver in the 1830s.  However clues found in deed research, the house’s architecture, an archaeological dig and a dendrochronology study showed that it is actually much older.

Benjamin Allison purchased 250 acres on both sides of Benjamin Davidson’s River from James Patton and Andrew Erwin in 1813.  The property had originally been purchased from the State of North Carolina by Waightstill Avery in 1798, later sold to Edward Johnston, then to Patton and Erwin in 1803.  It was this property that William Deaver purchased from Allison in 1830.

The deed between Allison and Deaver reads, ”including the house where said Allison now lives and including all the lands contained in said tract of two hundred fifty acres granted to Waighstill Avery on both sides of Davidson’s River except such part as the said Benjamin Allison did convey to John Davis.”

Architects estimated that the south side of home had been constructed in the early 1800s and the north side added between 1835 and 1845.

In 1990 Ruth Wetmore led an archaeological dig aimed at learning more about the home and any outbuildings that would have been located nearby.  The primary area of focus was beneath the north side addition.  This area would have been the yard for the original part of the house. 

A variety of small items, lost or discarded over time, were unearthed during the dig.  These included pieces of broken glass and dishes, old nails, shoes, combs, and buttons (including one from a Civil War Confederate uniform).

The item that revealed the best information for dating the addition to the house was a piece of an ironstone platter with the trademark of James Edwards of Staffordshire, England.  The trademark dated the piece from 1842-1850.  The location of that piece aided in determining that the north side of the home was built after 1842. 

A dendrochronology study was conducted in 1998.   Core samples from wooden timbers were compared to a catalogue of dated samples.  By identifying near identical growth patterns it was determined that the timbers had been cut in 1814.  This evidence was used to date the house to 1815.

The Transylvania County Historical Society will be celebrating the Allison-Deaver House’s 200 years throughout the summer.  It is the oldest standing frame house in Western North Carolina and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 


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.