Stories from the Smith-McDowell House (Asheville, NC)

 Stories from the Smith-McDowell House

In 2021, this immersive exhibit was on display in recreated rooms throughout the 1840s Smith-McDowell House and on its grounds.

In this virtual version, you can view the halls, stairwells, rooms, and grounds, and meet many of the people who walked these same pathways over a century ago and whose stories represent a microcosm of the history of Western North Carolina.

Stories from the Smith-McDowell House

Welcome 

Just a few miles north of George Vanderbilt's grand Biltmore Estate is a different kind of mansion–one that was nearly 50 years old when Vanderbilt's crew began construction in 1895. This house is now home to the Western North Carolina Historical Association.

In the 1840s, James McConnell Smith, who was rumored to be the first white child born west of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina, broke ground on a large brick country house on his property overlooking the confluence of the Swannanoa and French Broad rivers–just one tract of the more than 30,000 acres in the county he would eventually own.

Smith paid few people to build his house or run his many businesses. Rather he purchased people, whom he would enslave, to perform the work. By the 1840s, when this house was being constructed, Smith held at least 70 people captive.

Once the house was complete, the Smiths used the property as a vacation destination from their main residence in Asheville, about two miles away. The house only became a full-time residence for a family when James's daughter, Sarah, and her husband, William McDowell, purchased the house at auction in 1857 from her brother's estate. The McDowells continued to hold people captive on the property, which contained numerous outbuildings, including at least six "slave houses," until April 1865 when freedom finally came to people enslaved in Asheville.

The McDowells lived in the house until 1881, when, in debt after the Civil War, they sold the property. From that date on, the house saw a rotating series of occupants resulting in periods of grand renovations and serious neglect, that have added new chapters to the history that it holds.

Photograph: The McDowell Family outside their family home, 1875.

Yanceyville Telephone System: 1936

 Did Yanceyville have "dial system" telephone service before Danville?

Rise in Number of Telephones Business Index

Next to Postoffice receipts as an index to community business conditions the telephone company's volume of business is regarded as important. J. M. H. Morgan, local manager for the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone company reports that 60 new telephones have been put in since the first of the year bringing the total number in Danville up to 5,196.

Of interest here is the fact that telephones in Yanceyville, NC, are being run directly from the Danville exchange through the dial system and without the necessity of going through an exchange at Yanceyville.

But officials of the company have stated that this does not mean the adoption of the dial system in Danville at any time in the immediate future. The Yanceyville situation was found to be more economically administered by installing the dialing system insofar as it relates to the telephones in the Caswell County seat.

The Bee (Danville, VA), 18 June 1936.

The Yanceyville Whiskey Fight: 1905

The Yanceyville Whiskey Fight: 1905

The Democrat says that petitions are being circulated in Yanceyville against the establishment of the dispensary, and that the ladies generally are signing it. The report of Chairman Bailey, which was adopted by the temperance convention last week, only favors dispensaries in towns of 4,000 or more, and then as a step to prohibition. He says:

"It is timely to make a declaration relative to the dispensary. I am sure of your applause when I say that we should declare that our aim is prohibition and nothing short of it. I have a higher aim, however, and that is the permanent cure of the drink evil. I believe in prohibition as the best remedy in rural districts and small towns. But I must believe in the dispensary or some other restraining and regulating substitute as a temporary step in towns of 4,000 population or more. And I have been forced to this belief by the history of prohibition in the United States. In a word, I advocate the dispensary as a step towards prohibition when experience has indicated that the step from high license to prohibition cannot be satisfactorily taken."

When the Yanceyville dispensary fight is carried down to Raleigh it may be that the Anti-Saloon League will take a hand against its establishment. Certainly it will if it is consistent with the report and views of Chairman Bailey, for Yanceyville is already a prohibition town, and with a population of probably less than 200.

The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, NC), 24 January 1905. 

Japanese Airplane Crashes in Caswell County: 1945

 Japanese Airplane Crashes in Caswell County: 1945

The airplane that crashed 1945 in Caswell County is called a Tony. It was German-inspired and came after the better-known Zero. It also went by the designation Kawasaki Ki-61 Hein: single-seat, single-seat monoplane fighter/interceptor first produced by Japan in 1943. It was faster than the Zero, had a higher service ceiling, but was not as maneuverable. 

The one that crashed in Caswell County had serial number: C/N 263. It was found by US forces abandoned at Tuluvu Airfield, Cape Gloucester, Papua New Guinea, on 26 December 1943. Because it was intact, in 1944 the US brought it back to the US to examine/study. During January 1945, C/N 263, after having been painted with US livery for test purposes, was painted back in pseudo-Japanese markings and evaluated against the Wildcat, Corsair, Hellcat, Tigercat and Bearcat, but the tests were suspended when bearing metal was found in the engine oil.

The aircraft crashed at Yanceyville, North Carolina on 2 July 1945, and was written off. I have been unable to determine why the airplane was flying over Caswell County.

The attached photograph most likely is the way the airplane appeared when it crashed in Caswell County. Also attached is a photograph of the airplane as it was found in Papua New Guinea.

Thanks to Curtis Rogers for sharing this story. He also provided the following:

"I was there on 2 July 1945. I saw the whole thing. The volunteer fire chief [Johnny] Harwood lived next door to us in front of the Baptist church.  We followed him down to the site where the Tony had just landed wheels up. We were the first on the scene. The pilot had gotten out of the plane and was smoking a cigarette. Shortly thereafter, a P38 circled the scene. That plane was escorting the Tony to its destination.

"The propeller was donated to the town of Yanceyville and for many years was stored in the basement of the historic Caswell County Courthouse."

The airplane crashed/landed in a field where the Bartlett Yancey High School now stands.

Williamson v. Fels, Superior Court, Caswell County, NC, March 31, 1870

 Williamson v. Fels, Superior Court, Caswell County, NC, March 31, 1870

It appears George Williamson and W. E. Williamson (as guardians of some person) sued Lazarus Fels in Caswell County Superior Court in 1870. A summons was issued, but was ineffective because Fels was outside the jurisdiction. Thus, the court through Clerk of Court H. F. Brandon pursued notice through publication, which would legally suffice to place on notice a person outside the jurisdiction of the court.

The dispute was over the nonpayment of $300 "due the plaintiff for the hire of slaves." Thus, according to the complaint, Fels had hired enslaved people owned by the Williamsons (or the person for whom the Williamsons were appearing as guardians) and did not pay for the use of such enslaved people. Fels apparently still owned property in Caswell County, and through this legal proceeding the Williamsons would be able to attach the property and use it to satisfy the claim, presumably by having the court sell the property.

How the matter was resolved in not known. Also not known is the person (or persons) the Williamsons represented as guardians.

The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, NC), 31 March 1870.

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The plaintiffs may be brothers George Williamson, Jr. (1824-1893) and Weldon Edwards Williamson (1832-1901). The defendant is Lazarus Fels (1815-1894). H. F. Brandon is Henry Field Brandon (1831-1900).

The U.D.C. Chapter of Yanceyville Meets: Mrs. George Oldham Hostess at Interesting Meeting

The U.D.C. Chapter of Yanceyville Meets: Mrs. George Oldham Hostess at Interesting Meeting 

(Special to Daily News) Yanceyville, Feb, 26 [1919] -- Mrs. George W. Oldham was hostess to the U.D.C.'s Friday afternoon at her home on West Main Street. The president, Mrs. George A. Anderson, presided. The chaplain being absent, Mrs. Oldham opened the chapter with prayer. Much business was discussed, dues were paid in for the coming year. etc. Mrs. B. S. Graves read an attractive poem, "My Boy," written by Mrs. W. O. Spencer, of Winston-Salem, who has a son in service overseas. Mrs Spencer was born and reared in Yanceyville, and her clever writings are especially enjoyed in the town of her birth. The chapter adjourned to meet with Mrs. Anderson on March 21. The hostess served a salad course, coffee and mints. Attractive favors, in the form of miniature hatchets, were given the guests in honor of George Washington's birthday. The evening was concluded with a number of selections on the Victrola. The guests were: Mesdames George A. Anderson, B. S. Graves, T. J. Henderson, W. F. Fitch, E. F. Upchurch, J. W. Wiggins, H. S. Turner and T. J. Florance.

Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, NC), 27 Feb 1919.

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Mrs. Geeorge W. Oldham: Not identified, but lived on West Main Street in Yanceyville, NC. Possibilities:

1. Eula Kirkpatric Oldham (died 1941), wife of Reverend George Willis Oldham (1879-1964).

2. Mary Doherty Oldham, wife of George Washington Oldham.

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Mrs. George A. Anderson: Mary Elizabeth Slade Anderson (1873-1939), wife of George Andrew Andersson (1869-1945)

Mrs. B. S. Graves: Malvina F. Graves Graves (1870-1955), wife of Barzillai Shuford Graves (1854-1942).

Mrs. W. O. Spencer: Mary Graves Miles Kerr Spencer (1875-1965), wife od Dr. William Oliver Spencer, M.D. (1863-1938). The son in service referenced most likely is William Oliver Spencer, Jr. (1895-1975).

Mrs. T. J. Henderson: Alice Cleveland Slade Henderson (1884-1928), wife of Thomas Johnston Henderson (1883-1959).

Mrs. W. F. Fitch: Fannie Rebecca Moore Fitch (1881-1920), wife of William Franklin Fitch (1877-1956).

Mrs. E. F. Upchurch: Mary Constance Stroupe Upchurch (1882-1968), wife of Ernest Frederick Upchurch (1877-1960).

Mrs. J. W. Wiggins: Sallie Henry Womack Wiggins (1864-1929), wife of John William Wiggins, Jr. (1849-1923).

Mrs. H. S. Turner: Mollie A. Hatchett Turner (1869-1946), wife of Henry Stephen Turner (1868-1951).

Mrs. T. J. Florance: Nancy Kerr Lea Florance (1869-1939), wife of Thomas Jefferson Florance (1858-1926).

U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820

 U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820

Census Publishing’s staff started an enormous fill-in-the blanks project in 2003 when they began reconstructing missing decennial censuses for the early United States. Records in this database come from their efforts to both restore or re-create missing pieces of early censuses and actually create decennial “census” records for the years prior to 1790.

Census Publishing describes its method as a “two-phase approach”:

Information will be combined from many sources including, but not limited to: tax lists, legislative petitions, voter's lists, state and federal land records, military lists, etc., in order to construct the basic foundation of a list of potential heads of households.

Once the foundation is laid, the structure (members of the family, ages, birthplaces, etc.) will be built using records familiar to every genealogist such as probate, land, military, vital, and published histories and genealogies.

This database contains reconstructions for the following states (though the reconstruction is not necessarily complete for any entire state):

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia

Entries may include name, residence, age, gender, color/race, occupation, birthplace, whether a slave, and source information.

Source: Ancestry.com