Dillard Deeds in Buncombe County

Transcription

Dillard Deeds In Buncombe County
Revised July 15, 2015
No known family tradition exists which tells us facts about John Dillard for
the some thirty-seven years (1789-1826) while he lived in Buncombe County,
North Carolina. This is to examine what facts are disclosed about this period from
the deed records of Buncombe County. This is also to examine facts about
whether or not various tracts of land owned by John Dillard of Rabun County and
his sons, Thomas Dillard, William Dillard, James Dillard and John Dillard, Jr.
were contiguous or close to each other. This is also to relate where these
properties were located in the modern world. Sons of Thomas Dillard, Jr. with the
same first names who were also in Buncombe County about the same time create
problems of identification.
Court minutes and census records are considered in substantiating what
information is disclosed in the deeds. Considered are the Gregories, Davises,
Barnards, McKinneys and Andersons, interrelated families going back into
Buncombe County and from whom Dillard branches descend. Little is known
about the Lee and Wood families into which sons of John Dillard married. The
within is more of an historical account than a traditionally prepared genealogical
account with a listing of names and descendants. Some genealogical details on
some of the principal families interrelated with the Dillards are, however,
mentioned.
Based on the writer’s 52 years of experience in reading real estate deeds,
recorded deeds of real estate often tell much more about what was going on in a
person’s life other than a description of the property conveyed.
The tradition that John Dillard of Rabun County was the same John Dillard
who lived in Buncombe County is proved by Deed Book 24 at Page 399 in the
Buncombe County Registry, where on October 26, 1826 John Dillard conveyed to
Adam Miller two tracts of land and in which the deed refers to John Dillard "of the
State of Georgia, County of Rabun" and identifies one of the parcels conveyed as
adjoining "the lands that the aforesaid John Dillard of Georgia formerly lived and
now occupied by William Pickens on the southside." With this documentation it is
proved that John Dillard of Rabun County is the same John Dillard who was in
Burke County, North Carolina as early as 1789 and afterwards in its progeny
County, Buncombe.
1
John Dillard had previously sold his first granted property in Buncombe
County to William Pickens on October 19, 1821 in Deed Book 19 at Page 358.
The Adam Miller deed recitation tells us this property was his home place. The
1821 date of this sale is evidence that John Dillard had pulled up roots at age 66
and moved to Rabun County, Georgia.
The fact that John Dillard of Rabun County was the John Dillard in
Buncombe County is further substantiated in the application of John Dillard for his
Revolutionary pension in which he stated he moved to Buncombe County after the
Revolution.1 However, the pension application supplies no details about his
activities in Buncombe County.
The facts shown in the deeds prove that John Dillard owned property in
Buncombe County, North Carolina as early as 1789 and as late as 1826. Court
minutes and the censuses prove he was active and a leader in the affairs of
Buncombe County during his residence. We do not know what level of education
John Dillard had, but the facts are evidence that he possessed and used leadership
qualifications.
F.A. Sondley, using early Buncombe County court minutes, documents that
John Dillard was one of the organizers of Buncombe County derived from Burke
County in 1791.2 Sondley's research is reported herein. Dr. Howard V. Jones read
the Buncombe County court minutes in the Mormon Church records in Salt Lake
City, Utah in 1994. Most of his work is reported herein.3
The Geographical Background
Burke and Rutherford Counties were the two large westernmost counties in
North Carolina. These counties originally extended to the present Tennessee,
Georgia and South Carolina borders. Burke County was formed in 1777 from
2.
National Pension File No. 31,649. A History of Buncombe County North Carolina, F.A.Sondley, Advocate
Printing Company, Asheville, N.C. (1930) reprinted, The Reprint Company Publishers, Spartanburg, S.C. (1977),
pages 458, 459, 463, 487, 637, 638 and 842.
3 The original of the Court Minutes are not available to the public in Buncombe County. The microfilm and
equipment for viewing makes it difficult to read them.
4
According to representatives of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History in Raleigh, North
Carolina, the last land grant by the state was in 1967. Records of land grants have recently been removed from the
Office of the Secretary of State and are now housed in North Carolina Archives and History.
5
. Burke County North Carolina Land Records 1779-1791, abstracted by Edith Warren Huggins, Southern
Historical Press (1985), page 94.
6
Abstracted Burke County Land Records, 1751 - 1809; 1778 and 1755 through 1821, which includes wills.
1784 to 1900 deed records, were for the most part destroyed by a court house fire.
2
Rowan County. Its county seat was Morgansboro, now Morganton, which was
established in 1784. All early Burke County court house records were destroyed
by fire. Land grants in Burke County preserved by the state in Raleigh, North
Carolina survive.4
In a land grant entered on October 22, 1789 in Burke County the State of
North Carolina conveyed to John Dillard 100 acres of land on the South Fork of
Rims Creek of the French Broad River "Beginning 1/2 mile above mouth of creek
and fork at mouth of small stream on a white oak, on the south side fork and
running up fork including said Dillard's improvement for complement."5
A land grant for the same 100 acres of land was issued by the State of North
Carolina for the second time on January 6, 1794 to John Dillard. It is filed in Deed
Book 2 at Page 67 in the Buncombe County Registry. This deed was the first of
John Dillard's several properties in Buncombe County.6 The deed and land warrant
shown in Dorinda Whitely’s project in Exhibit 4 shows that the land warrant called
for Flat Creek but the deed recited Rims Creek.7
The United States Census of 1790 for Burke County showed only one
Dillard, John Dillard, as the head of a household with three males under sixteen
years of age and five females, including the female head of a family, with no other
persons or slaves.8
In a deed dated November 28, 1796 the State of North Carolina granted to
distant territorial governor John Gray Blount 326,640 acres in Buncombe County
(known as the "Blount Grant") "within which bounds there are 13,735 acres
entered by persons whose names are hereto annexed since the date of said Blount
entries and by his permission, but as they are not yet surveyed this situation can not
be dehiveated".9 A lengthy list of persons "whose names are hereto annexed"
include John Dillard for 100 acres and Thomas Dillard (a son of Thomas Dillard,
7
Dorinda Whitley believes that Flat Creek was intended and was the correct creek. See the Dorinda Whitley
Project attached as Exhibit 4.
8.
1790 United States Census, Buncombe County, N.C., page 110. This census also shows William Gregory (7
males - 3 females) and John Gregory (1 male - 1 female) as heads of households in Burke County. A 1784-1787
State of North Carolina Census conducted in accordance with a 1784 statute published by the North Carolina
Department of Archives and History in 1965 shows a Thomas Dillard with a household consisting of one male and
one female.
9
Sondley, id. page 840.
3
Jr.) for 100 acres.10 The Blount Grant was later sold at public auction to pay for
past due property taxes. Blount was connected in land speculation.
People who signed the petitions for the Formation of Buncombe County are
considered “First Families of Old Buncombe.” Two petitions were submitted to
the North Carolina General Assembly in November 1790 to form Buncombe
County from Burke and Rutherford Counties in that “the local situation…..renders
it exceedingly difficult (in the winter season of the year) to attend the Court House
of said county as jurors, witnesses, etc.” Signatures to the September 25, 1790
petition included John Dillard, Thomas Dillard, James Love, William Grigory,
Benjamin Gregory, and Gabriel Elkins. Internet file <obcgs.com/ffob.htm> on
website of Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society.
Buncombe County was formed under an Act of the North Carolina House of
Commons on December 17, 1791.11 Buncombe County included territory up to the
present Tennessee and Georgia state lines. It included territory from the height of
the Appalachian Mountains northward and included all of western North Carolina
south of present Mitchell County, North Carolina. This area was so large that it
was called the "State of Buncombe."12 Buncombe County then bordered upon what
was later to become Rabun County, Georgia. Although a treaty ceding the territory
had been entered into with the Cherokee Nation, many Cherokees were still
actually living in or near this territory in 1791.13
Recall that John Dillard and his young family had traveled from Pittsylvania
County, Virginia to Washington County, North Carolina with his first cousin,
Thomas Dillard, Jr., to whom he was “bound out” as a child. William Gregory had
also been “bound out” to Thomas Dillard, Jr. in Pittsylvania County. Four Love
brothers and sister married four of the children of Thomas Dillard, Jr. A daughter
of William Gregory married William Dillard, a son of John Dillard.
Five years later the State of North Carolina ceded what is now the State of
Tennessee to the United States and Tennessee was admitted as a state in 1796.14
Tennessee was formerly Washington County, North Carolina and the short lived
“State of Franklin” where various Dillards, Loves and Gregorys lived prior to their
moving across the now state line into Burke a part of which later became
10
Sondley, id page 840.
12
The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Volume I, The Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society,
Hunter Publishing Company, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1981), page 17.
13
14
11
4
Buncombe County. It is suspected that this move may have been prompted
because the Loves were on the wrong side of the political fence with early
Tennessee leader and governor, John Sevier, and the Dillards were related to the
Loves.
Buncombe County Court Minutes; the 1800 Census
The very first county court for the new Buncombe County was opened on
April 16, 1792 at the home of Colonel William Davidson at a place now within the
present City of Asheville. "The Court proceeded to the election of a ranger and did
elect John Dillard and C."15 "John Dillard took the oath prescribed by law for the
qualification of public officers and the oath of office as Stray Master or Ranger".16
At that same term of court, John Dillard was summonsed to serve as a juror for the
succeeding term of court.17 At the July term of Court in 1792 William Gregory
was on the grand jury.18
It is reported that William Davidson's residence, the site of the opening
session of official proceedings of Buncombe County, was on the south bank of the
Swannanoa River, 100 to 200 yards west of present Biltmore Avenue in Asheville,
North Carolina.19
In 1780 the General Assembly of North Carolina enacted a statute granting
3,000 acres of vacant land "not fit for cultivation" for iron works as a bounty from
the State to any persons who "would build and carry on the same".20 At the
October term of court in 1792 John Dillard and others were ordered by the court to
be on a jury to view a piece of land "entered by Robert Love 21 and William
Trodway" to erect iron works and report thereon agreeably to the act of the
Assembly. Nothing appeared to have resulted from this iron works venture.22
At the April 1792 term of court it was ordered that a jury consisting of John
Dillard and others view and lay off a road from the Wagon Ford of Rims Creek to
join the road from the Turkey Cove to Robert Hunters on Lindsay Creek of Cane
15
Sondley, id. page 458, reporting the records of the Buncombe County Court from the April term of 1792 to the
April Term of 1795.
16
17
18
Buncombe County Court Proceedings, 1792-1796, pp. 8, 11 furnished by Dr. Howard V. Jones.
19
20
21
See footnote below for the children of Thomas Dillard, Jr. and Martha Webb Dillard.
22
5
River, the most advantageous and best according to law, "which jury is to meet the
fourth Monday of May at John Dillard's; William Brittain (who was a neighbor of
John Dillard) to attend and qualify said jury who are to report to July court."23
In the July session of 1792 the court ordered that John Dillard and Edmund
Palmer be a “jury to view and mark and lay out a road from the Wagon ford on
Rims Creek to the nearest and best way according to law to Austin Choates on Ivy
River who are to meet the third Monday in August at John Dillards” according to
Buncombe County Court minutes supplied by the late Lucile R. Johnson connected
with Isaiah Palmer research.24
In December 1792 and April 1793 John Dillard was a Commissioner in the
dispute to determine where the county seat of Buncombe County should be
located. It was provided in an act creating Buncombe County that a committee of
five persons be appointed for the selection of the site. A dispute arose between
two factions of Buncombe County residents on opposite sides of the Swannanoa
River, one faction pressing for the county seat to be north of Swannanoa, which is
now the center of Asheville, and the other faction demanding it to be at a place
south of Swannanoa River which later became known as the "Steam Saw Mill
Place" and which is now the southern part of the City of Asheville.25
On December 1, 1792, the North Carolina legislature enacted a statute
amending the act in which Buncombe County had been created reciting that "the
Commissioners appointed to fix the center and agree where the public buildings in
the County of Buncombe should be erected have failed to comply with the above
recited act, and the inhabitants of said County much injured thereby" and declaring
that Joshua Inglis, Archibald Neal, James Wilson, Augustine Shote, George Baker
and John Dillard, as well as William Morrison of Burke County be appointed
Commissioners in the place and stead of earlier Commissioners who had not
agreed on such a location.26
At the April term of the 1793 court the commissioners reported that they had
agreed on the location of the county seat and that the "courthouse should stand at a
big branch between the Indian graves and Swannanoa not exceeding or extending
more north than the Indian graves, the nearest and best situation to the fork of said
23
This writer does not have a book and page reference to these minutes found by Lucile Johnson. Her work is
reliable.
25
26
24
6
branch where the present Wagon Road crosses the same - the stocks and prison to
be convenient to the courthouse" signed by Phillip Hoodenpile, John Dillard,
George Baker, Austin Choten, William Morrison.27
The original county seat of Buncombe County was called Morristown. The
name was later changed to Asheville. The Indian graves above mentioned are said
to have been on what is now Patton Avenue of Asheville a few feet west of the
crossing of Lexington Avenue.28
Richard Copeland, Benjamin Dorton, John Bowers, David Roe, Dewey
Parham and John Dillard in a private petition to the North Carolina Legislature
requested compensation for their services as soldiers in the "late Continental
Army". This was before the North Carolina House and Senate on November 28
and 29, 1792, and was referred to committee without final disposition.29
At the January 1793 session of court it is reported that “the jury appointed to
view mark and lay off a road from the ford of Rims Creek to Austin Choates on
Ivy River report that a good convenient road can be made as follows, viz,
Beginning at the ford of Rims Creek and along the Old Bald Mountain Road
passing the house of John Dillard and along or near the ford, from thence on, or
near the old road to the end of little mountain, thence leaving the same to the right
hand taking down a ridge to the Little Ivy crossing the same from thence making
up a branch to the path leading from James Sams to Austin Choates and along said
path to Choates house. Ordered that Wm Griggory act as overseer to open and
clear out said road, the taxables on Rims Creek, Flat Creek, Big Ivy and Gabriels
Creek work upon said road.” Italics supplied.30
Robert Love was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace in January 1793,
Benjamin Gregory, a son of William Gregory, served on a road jury in July, 1793
and William Gregory served on a road jury and as a juror in 1794.31
William Gregory, Ben Gregory, John Gregory, William Gregory, Jr. and
27
28
This information was furnished by Lucile R. Johnson based upon Revolutionary War Claims Abstract from
DelnarTranscripts in Private Petitions to the North Carolina Legislature by Joe White Linn, Volume 4, No. 1, page
45 reported in the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, Volume 4, No. 4, page 40. This is additional proof
that John Dillard was in service in the Revolution, but he was not a member of the Continental Army.
28
30
31
Buncombe County Court minutes supplied by the late Lucile R. Johnson.
1792-1796 Minutes, id., pp. 24, 38, 46, 50 and 51 researched by Howard V. Jones.
7
James Love were on a road crew in April 1794.32
In 1800, the total population for Buncombe County was 5,812 persons
within an area of some 624 square miles. 33 Total white males consisted of 2,775,
total white females, 2,659 and slaves, 347.34 The 1800 Federal Census of
Buncombe County, North Carolina listed John Dillard as the head of the household
consisting of one male over 45 years of age (which substantiates his birth date as
1755 instead of 1760) with one female over age 45. It also listed three males ages
16 through 26 and one male 10 years of age or below. It also listed one female 10
years of age or below and two females ages 10 through 16 with no slaves.35 This
accounts for his three daughters whose names are known.
Thomas Dillard, a son of Thomas Dillard, Jr., was also reported in the 1800
census as the head of a household age 26 to 45 owning two slaves with one male
and three females under ten years of age and with one female between the ages of
26 and 45. No other Dillards except John and Thomas are reported in Buncombe
County in the 1800 census.
In April 1804 Thomas Love, John Dillard and Jacob Beylor were appointed
to serve on a jury to elect the county sheriff.36
In State v. William Dillard in October 1804 William Dillard (a son of John
Dillard of Rabun County) was ordered to pay Betsy Hunter the sum of fifteen
pounds a year for three years as allowance for caring and support of a "base born
female child".37
The 1798-1812 Buncombe Court Minutes, id., at pages 282, 256 and 267
recite that Fanny Gregory (second wife of William Gregory) and John Dillard
entered bond and obtained court permission to administer the estate of William
Gregory deceased. Personal property was set off to the widow in July 1805. John
Dillard as administrator returned sales of this estate to the court.
John Dillard was on a jury in April 1805 to lay off the portion of the widow
of Denny Gash.38 John Dillard "Senr" in 1807 served as a juror and returned to the
32
Minutes, 1792-1796, id., p. 52 researched by Howard V. Jones.
Sondley, id/ page 827.
34
1800 U.S. Census of Buncombe County, North Carolina, page 166.
35
Id., page 166.
36
Buncombe County Court Proceedings, 1798-1812, p. 116.
37
Court Minutes, 1798-1812, id., p. 208.
38
Minutes, 1798-1812, id., p. 239.
33
8
court his list of stray animals from 1806 to 1807. John Dillard in April 1807 was
among the electors of Robert Love as registrar. John Dillard was named as an
executor of the will of Benjamin Gregory in July 1807. In 1808 John Dillard was
on a commission to set the county tax levy.39
John Dillard, Jr. was ordered to attend the July 1808 court session.40 At this
same term of court, "John Dillard, Esq." and William Dillard were witnesses in the
case of John Butherie (this is probably "John Gutherie" a neighbor of John Dillard)
v. Thomas Reviss. Minutes, id., p. 405. In April 1809, John Dillard, "Jnr." and
James Gregory were summonsed as jurors, and John Dillard collected taxes in
Captain Hughey's company.41
John Dillard gave a ranger's report to the court in April 1809 and 1813.
Minutes, id., pages 447, 531-532. The 1809 report included an $11.00 fine against
John Dillard, Jr. for one steer. These minutes also record that Robert Love resigned
as registrar in 1809, that James Gregory, John Gregory, William Gregory and
Gabriel Elkins (probable son in law of Thomas Dillard, Jr. and later John Dillard)
42
served on juries in 1809, 1810 and 1811 at pages 452, 462, 463 and 506.
Fire damaged public records in Buncombe County in both 1830 and 1865
leaving no estate records remaining in that county prior to 1815. Marriage records
in Buncombe County were started only after 1842.43 In addition to early court
minutes, land grants records and deed records in Buncombe County today survive.
The Land Grant System
The land grant system which existed at this time in Buncombe County,
North Carolina followed the 1777 Acts of the North Carolina Legislature which set
up local and centralized offices for the disposition of state owned real estate which
had never been conveyed. Entry offices were located in each county. Grants were
made by the Governor. Centralized records were kept in the office of the Secretary
of State.
39
Court Minutes, 1798-1812, id., pp. 321, 338, 343, 352.
Court Minutes, 1798-1812, id., p. 396.
41
Court Minutes, id., pp 446 and 447.
42
Gabriel Elkins married a daughter of Thomas Dillard, Jr. of Washington County as his first wife. His second wife
is a believed daughter of John Dillard not based on strong proof.
43
Report from Archivist Kim Anderson of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History in Raleigh,
North Carolina. Warrants and plats of the land grants mentioned are available in the North Carolina Department of
Archives and History.
40
9
A property would be "entered" or physically located, and a warrant for this
property would be obtained in the county entry office upon payment of a warrant
fee. A survey would be made of the property entered and sent to the state. A grant
would be prepared and executed by the Governor with one original sent out to the
purchaser and another original retained for filing with the Secretary of State. The
purchaser was required by law to file his land grant in the local county. This
requirement appears to have been widely ignored. The last land grant in North
Carolina was made in 1962. The duplicate land grants recorded in the office of the
Secretary of State are no longer maintained in that office but have been transferred
to the North Carolina Department of Archives and History in Raleigh, North
Carolina.44 As pointed out by Dorinda Whitley in Exhibit 4 the date of “entry”
shown on the warrant is the most significant date for proof of when a person was
physically present on the land.
John Dillard Land Grants and Deeds at Flat Creek
Two problems in the research and study of John Dillard’s deeds and grants
in Buncombe County at Flat Creek have been troubling to this writer. First, were
the lands of John Dillard and his sons contiguous45 to each other? Secondly where
were these lands located in reference to modern geographical landmarks?
The research of Dorinda Whitley in the four volume Early Northeast
Buncombe County, N. C. Land Records, Book Partners a division of H. F. Group,
2014, now available through the Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society in
Asheville, North Carolina (herein referred to as “Whitley Project” for ease of
reference) sheds much light on the above two questions. That is the reason why
the within has been revised.
The methodology used by Whitley in the project involving some 7,000 early
grants and deeds in the area over a ten year period is described in her Exhibit 4
attached. Whitley provided to this writer with her meticulous research from the
book on the John Dillard properties a paper entitled “Early Dillard Holdings in
Buncombe County, North Carolina.” This research included detailed diagrams
attached hereto in Exhibit 4 which she obtained from her DeedMapper database.
1789 Original Deed (Tract A below). The earliest John Dillard of Rabun
44
This information was furnished by Russell Koontz of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History.
There is no direct genealogical proof, such as a Bible, will or deed, that William, Thomas, John, Jr. and James
were the sons of Rabun John Dillard. The contiguity of their lands in Buncombe County is important circumstantial
proof of their father- son relationship.
45
10
County grant is found is Land Grant Number 153 in Burke County shortly before
Buncombe County was organized. This grant was “entered” on October 22, 1789.
It was for 100 acres on the south fork of Flat Creek of the French Broad River
beginning one-half mile above the mouth of the creek and fork at the mouth of a
small stream on a white oak. This was the same property subsequently granted for
the second time by the State of North Carolina to John Dillard on January 6, 1794
as Grant No. 21 except that the property was described as located in Buncombe
County. This grant is recorded in the Buncombe County Registry in Deed Book 2
at page 67. This deed was executed by the Governor of North Carolina while
Fayetteville was then the state capitol.46
The October 13, 1826 deed recorded in Deed Book 24 at Page 399 from
John Dillard to Adam Miller where John Dillard sold adjoining property to Adam
Miller identifies this 100 acres with an adjoining 100 acre property as "including
the plantation whereon John Dillard, Jr., settled joining the lands at the aforesaid
John Dillard of Georgia owned, formerly lived and now occupied by William
Pickens on the south side"47
Surveyor Robert Logan's plat of this original one hundred acres is filed with
the Secretary of State of North Carolina as Grant No. 21 issued January 6, 1794,
Entry No. 143, Entered August 22, 1789 (Book 82, Page 121). It describes that
the 1789 grant was transected by "Rims Creek". William Brittain (a neighbor of
John Dillard) and John Chambers were chain bearers for the surveyor of the
required survey. Rims Creek is depicted as transecting the original one hundred
acres.
Rims Creek was mentioned in the place of the meeting of the jury on which
John Dillard served in the laying out of a road. This is the only Dillard property
which called the creek Rims. All other deeds refer to Flat Creek. Rims (Reems)
Creek is a separate tributary of French Broad River according to Buncombe
County maps. This survey seemed to use the name Rims when it should have
referred to Flat Creek. Flat Creek is believed to be correct based on the Dorinda
Whitley project shown in Exhibit 4.
The 1797 “Wagon Road” Tract (Tract B below), Grant No. 299: The
second grant from the State of North Carolina to John Dillard dated July 10, 1797
conveys for a consideration of 50 shillings for every 100 acres another 100 acres
46
47
Deed Book 2, Page 67, Buncombe County, North Carolina, the date of recording on which was omitted.
Deed Book 24, Page 399, Buncombe County Register of Deeds.
11
on the waters of Flat Creek "lying on the south of his old survey, including the fork
of the wagon road."48 This 1797 grant could have lied south of and touched the
red oak corner of the 1789 North Carolina Grant #21 which was the home place of
John Dillard. It with more certainty touches on the northwest Tract C later on
owned by John Dillard, Jr. and James Gregory..
Grant No. 299 filed in the office of the Secretary of State of North Carolina
for the "Wagon Road Tract" issued July 10, 1797 as Entry No. 357, entered May 4,
1796 (Secretary of State Grant Book 91, Page 605) appears to have been surveyed
by Robert Love who signed the certificate "R. Love, D.S."49 This grant to John
Dillard describes that this 100 acres was "on the wagon road." It was transected by
Ballinger's Branch leading into the waters of Flat Creek. John Dillard, Sr. and
John Dillard, Jr. are described as "chain bearers" in the survey.
The 1808 Sixty Acre Tract (Tract E). A third land grant from the State of
North Carolina to John Dillard dated March 28, 1808 conveys a tract of land
containing 60 acres on the south fork of Flat Creek, "beginning on his Hickory
north corner by William Dillard's house on Strother's line".50 The longest line in
this odd double triangle shaped tract, S 30 W 235 poles, extends “along Dillard’s
line” and to “a stake on “Dillard’s line.” This odd, double triangular shaped 60
acre grant refers to adjoining property owners William Brittain and John Strother.
The grant survey of this 60 acre tract filed with the Secretary of State of
North Carolina as Grant No. 1644 indicates that the surveyor was John Patton as
certified to Zachariah Candler on September 15, 1804. The chain bearers were
listed as John Dillard and William Dillard.51
It is troubling in that this grant cannot in accordance with its literal courses
and distances be placed within the metes and bounds descriptions of the other
believed contiguous tracts shown in the plotting diagrams shown below as Exhibits
1-3. The Dorinda Whitley Project concludes that the 60 acre tract was contiguous
to Tracts A and B, except for numerous gaps and overlaps between these three
tracts.52
`
48
Deed Book 4, Page 347, Buncombe County Register of Deeds on which the date of recording is not disclosed.
See footnote below.
50
Deed Book 3, Page 463, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, North Carolina. The recording date is omitted.
51
Grant No. 1644 Secretary of State of North Carolina issued November 27, 1807, Entry No. 10876, entered
November 8, 1806, Book 123, Page 41.
52
The details of these gaps and overlaps have been omitted for the sake of brevity. They provided surveying
problems to the owners of this property after John Dillard sold them. Attempts were later made to correct them.
49
12
Bailey’s Mill Tract Grant #1867. A grant from the State of North Carolina
to John Dillard dated November 30, 1810, recorded October 31, 1811 conveys 100
acres on the south side of Flat Creek adjoining William Garrison, Bailey's (Baly's)
Mill, James Garrison and Thomas Garrison.53 This "Bailey Mill Tract" is difficult
to locate, but the property survey on file with the Secretary of State of North
Carolina in Book 124, Page 425 (Grant No. 1867 issued November 30, 1810,
entered April 6, 1808) describes this 100 acres as lying on a creek flowing into Flat
Creek. John Patton was the surveyor of this grant which was certified to Zachariah
Candler on November 6, 1810.
Chain bearers were listed and William Baly (Bailey) and George Revis. The
original entry into this tract was described as having been made by Joseph Henry
on April 6, 1808.
This property does not appear to adjoin other property owned by John
Dillard of Rabun County at Flat Creek. The Dorinda Whitely Project agrees with
this conclusion. John Dillard owned this tract only a few months.
John Dillard, Jr. and James Gregory Tract (Tract C below). The last property
which John Dillard acquired at Flat Creek was by a deed from Zachariah Candler
dated April 1, 1820 in which John Dillard is designated as "John Dillard, Sr." and
was conveyed two 100 acre tracts of land "including the plantation whereon John
Dillard, Jr., settled joining the said land that the aforesaid John Dillard, Sr., does
now live on the south side of one tract" and the "other tract was granted to James
Gregory and John Dillard, Jr., containing 100 acres adjoining the above land on the
west and running with the lines of each tract."54
Buncombe County Registry Deed Book E at Page 74 dated March 4, 1812,
recorded December 8, 1812 55 is where John Dillard, Jr., and James Gregory "both
of the State of Kentucky and County of Knox" conveyed to Zachariah Candler
these two identical tracts of land on the south fork of Flat Creek "joining the lands
of the said John Dillard, Jr. sold to Joseph Hughey on the north side" and "joining
the land that the said James Gregory sold to Chisolme Griffith on the south side".
This deed mentions John Dillard, Jr., and James Gregory had respectively acquired
this property by grants from the state.56 This deed was witnessed by William
53
Deed Book D, Page 83, Buncombe County Register of Deeds.
Deed Book 14, Page 250, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, dated April 1, 1820, recorded October 3, 1827.
55
Deed Book E, Page 74, Buncombe County Register of Deeds.
56
This grant to John Dillard, Jr. is not indexed in Buncombe County. The deed from John Dillard, Jr. to Joseph
Hughey is not indexed in Buncombe County.
54
13
Dillard.
There is little doubt that the 100 acre tract conveyed by James Gregory and
John Dillard, Jr., to Zachariah Candler which, in turn was subsequently conveyed
to John Dillard, Sr., adjoins the westernmost boundary of John Dillard's 1789 home
place grant (N. C. Grant No. 21) and the northern side of his 1797 "Wagon Road"
grant (Tract B.)57 The plat of this property filed with the Secretary of State of
North Carolina in Book 124, Page 437 confirms this location and confirms that
John Dillard, Jr. and James Gregory did receive title to this property as a land grant
from the State of North Carolina.58 John Patton was the surveyor and John Dillard
and James Gregory were the chain bearers.
The total of the above made John Dillard of Rabun County by 1820 the
owner of 560 acres of property in the Flat Creek section of Buncombe County,
North Carolina adjoining land owners Morris, William Brittain, John Strother,
James Dillard and, at one time, William Gregory, John Dillard, Jr. and Zachariah
Candler. The Dorinda Whitley project agrees with this conclusion with the caveat
that there were numerous overlaps and gaps between these tracts as shown in
Exhibit 4.
All of the above described John Dillard properties were contiguous except
for the 100 acre Bailey's Mill tract and are labeled Tracts A, B, and C in the
plotting diagram appearing as Exhibit 1 below. Contiguous to John Dillard’s three
tracts were the James Dillard tract shown as Tract D and the William Gregory tract
shown as Tract E.
Where Are the John Dillard lands located?
The beginning point refers to the point where Flat Creek flows into French
Broad River. Land Grant No. 153 to John Dillard “entered October 22, 1789” and
the description in the surveyor’s plat reads that “tract of land containing one
hundred acres lying and being in the County of Buncombe on the south fork of Flat
Creek the waters of French Broad about a half a mile above the forks.” (italics
supplied.) This is the only point on present Buncombe County maps where Flat
57
This location is confirmed by recitations in the description of Grant No. 1896 that the beginning corner was "a
dead white oak in Dillard's field at northeast corner of Dillard's line. . .running N. 42 poles to a red oak Dillard's
northwest corner (referring to John Dillard's 100 acres in the 1797 grant). . .thence N. 45 W. with Esquire Dillard's
line 172 poles to a stake at James Gregory (referring to John Dillard's 1789 home place tract)".
58
Grant No. 1896 to John Dillard and James Gregory issued December 11, 1810, entry No. 11565 on October 4,
1808. This is a tract upon which Joseph Henry had entered in 1808.
14
Creek empties into the French Broad River. Where were the “forks?”
The Whitley Project gives the modern location of the 100 acre North
Carolina Grant No. 21 to John Dillard just north of present Weaverville, North
Carolina a part of which is now Kentwood Acres subdivision. This 100 acre tract
is transected near the middle by existing U. S. Highway 26 leading from Asheville
to Johnson City, Tennessee. This location is shown on Whitley’s research in
Exhibit 4 attached. The “pine” corner now a stone of the the John Dillard Grant
No. 21 is today located between Tracts A and B of the Kenwood Acres subdivision
near Weaverville as shown in Buncombe County Plat Book 42 at page 11. The
back line of these two tracts appears to be one of the lines of the John Dillard Grant
No. 21.59
Dillard researchers want to know how the tracts owned by John Dillard of
Rabun County, and Thomas, William, John, Jr. and James Dillard at Flat Creek
relate to each other. That such tracts are contiguous would be circumstantial proof
that a father-son relationship existed between them because there is no direct
genealogical proof that Thomas, John, Jr. and William Dillard were the sons of
John Dillard of Rabun County.
There is no doubt that the tracts owned by John Dillard, John Dillard, Jr.
(with James Gregory), and James Dillard were contiguous to each other. There is
also no doubt that William Gregory (and his successors in title, his sons Benjamin
Gregory and John Gregory) were contiguous neighbors. There is little doubt that
the 105 acres property owned by William Dillard was nearby.
The Thomas Dillard three tracts without doubt were more remotely nearby.
The circumstantial evidence presented by the location of the property
conveyed by the Buncombe County, North Carolina deeds is convincing for an
affirmative answer that Thomas, John, Jr., William and James Dillard were the
sons of John Dillard of Rabun County. This was unknown until recent years to the
Rabun County Dillards, who relying upon Ritchie's work and the Revolutionary
pension proceedings of John Dillard after his death, were erroneously convinced
that John Dillard of Rabun County had only three children.
59
Research of the Dorinda Whitley Project in bring the title to the John Dillard property down to date into its
present owners. For the sake of brevity not all of this exhaustive research has been included in Exhibit 4.
15
John Dillard’s Deeds for Property not in the Flat Creek Area;
Deeds of John Dillard, the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr.
John Dillard owned other parcels of land in Buncombe County not adjoining
the Flat Creek lands. John Dillard and William Hunter acquired a 150 acre tract
from the State of North Carolina on the main ridge between Sandy Marsh and
Turkey Creek on December 23, 1798.60 This land was sold by John Dillard and
William Hunter to Joshua Freeman on November 19, 1801.61
Possibly three John Dillards resided in Buncombe County at the same time.
These were John Dillard of Rabun County, John Dillard, a son of Thomas Dillard,
Jr. born in 1783, and John Love Dillard, the son of Thomas Dillard, III.
Three deeds from 1809 to 1812 could be those of John Dillard, youngest son
of Thomas Dillard, Jr. who following other Thomas Dillard, Jr. family members
moved into Buncombe County from Washington County, Tennessee. John Dillard,
the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr. was on the 1830 Macon County, North Carolina
census.62 He was on the Gilmer County, Georgia census in 1840. He migrated to
Gilmer County, Georgia sometime between 1830 and 1840. Based upon the
locations of the property conveyed as some distance from the Flat Creek
community and a slightly later time period, it is believed that the following three
deeds were those of John Dillard, the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr.:
On November 3, 1809, Jamestown Hatcher for a consideration of $50.00
sold to John Dillard 100 acres on the Ivy River at the mouth of Bull Creek which
included "a small improvement made by Charles Clayton" 63 This property is
believed to be located in the "Big Ivy Section" of Buncombe County which is north
of the present town of Barnardsville, North Carolina and east of the Flat Creek
area. Josiah Ballenger also sold to John Dillard fifty acres on both sides of the Ivy
River which included an old mill on November 3, 1809.64 The Dorinda Whitley
Project shows this tract located far removed from Flat Creek as Item 37, Map 47 of
her book cited in Exhibit 4.
John Longmire, High Sheriff of Buncombe County, in an execution sale
against Gabriel Keith and Basil B. Edmondson sold to John Dillard a tract
60
Deed Book 7, Page 350, Buncombe County Register of Deeds with an unspecified recording date. There were no
witnesses to this deed. Joshua Freeman was earlier mentioned in Buncombe County Court minutes.
62
Information from Howard V. Jones.
63
Deed Book C, Page 152, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded February 28, 1811.
64
Deed Book C, Page 239, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded on February 16, 1811.
61
16
containing 260 acres in the Big Ivy section of Buncombe County by a deed dated
January 20, 1812.65
This John Dillard sold to Jonathan Guthrie on October 27, 1820 the 260
acres he had acquired from the Sheriff of Buncombe County in 1812 in which deed
the property was more fully described as located on the waters of the Big Ivy River
and White Oak Mountain.66 There is no disposition shown of record of the 100
acre tract and the 50 acres tract on the Ivy River, both acquired in 1809.67
The above three deeds and the 1820 sale of one of them could, however,
have been investments of John Dillard of Rabun County which were never owned
by John Dillard, the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr. Conclusions herein are based on
probabilities in that no proved details to discern the difference can be found.
John Dillard Land Sales at Flat Creek
On April 20, 1811, John Dillard of Rabun County sold to a neighbor,
Zachariah Candler, for $150.00 the 100 acres tract at Flat Creek which had been
acquired by grant in 1797 and which included the fork of a wagon road (referred to
above as the “Wagon Road Tract”). This deed was witnessed by James Dillard.68
A few months later on October 8, 1811, John Dillard sold to adjoining property
owner William Bailey the 100 acres at Flat Creek for which he had received a
grant dated November 30, 1810 in Deed Book D at Page 100.69
The deed from John Dillard to William Pickens dated October 19, 1821 sold
the original 1789 grant of 100 acres at Flat Creek and the adjoining 60 acres
acquired in the 1807 grant for a consideration of $320.00. 70 This deed is
significant in that it indicates that by 1821 John Dillard had departed to Rabun
County, Georgia.
The deed dated October 13, 1826 from John Dillard to Adam Miller
conveyed all of the remaining property owned by John Dillard at Flat Creek in
Buncombe County. It clearly recites that John Dillard had already become a
65
Deed Book E, Page 245, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded December 8, 1812.
Deed Book 13, Page 87, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded on July 2, 1823.
67
The Buncombe County Grantor and Grantee Deed indices appeared to have been recopied from earlier indices and
contain errors. It is possible that not all early deeds are shown on these indices in the recopying process.
68
Deed Book 11, Page 373, Buncombe County Registry recorded August 27, 1819.
69
Deed Book D, Page 100, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded November 25, 1811.
70
Deed Book 19, Page 358, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded February 23, 1835.
66
17
resident of Rabun County, Georgia by 1826.71 The Adam Miller deed covered the
100 acre tract crossing Ballenger's Branch and a wagon road which John Dillard
had acquired by a 1797 grant, which he later sold to Zachariah Candler on April
20, 1811 in Deed Book 11, Page 373 and which he reacquired from Zachariah
Candler on April 1, 1820 in Deed Book 14, Page 250. The Adam Miller deed also
covered the 100 acres formerly owned by John Dillard, Jr. and James Gregory
which John Dillard had purchased from Zachariah Candler.
James Dillard Deed
James Dillard had only one deed in Buncombe County. On May 5, 1814
James Dillard (who based on gravestone date of birth of December, 1792, would
have been twenty-two years of age) purchased from John Strother, 100 acres at
Flat Creek on the waters of the French Broad River in Buncombe County, North
Carolina "beginning on a white oak about 40 poles from John Dillard's line on the
south side of said Creek".72 This deed recites that the land was originally a part of
the John Gray Blount grant sold by James Hughey, High Sheriff of Buncombe
County to John Strother for county taxes due for the year 1796.73
The deed was signed by Robert Love, attorney in fact for John Strother, who
was a non-resident land speculator.74 John Strother had given Robert Love his
power of attorney on March 8, 1808 filed in the Buncombe County Registry in
Deed Book B at Page 2. What happened to this 100 acres tract of land when James
Dillard went to Rabun County about 1821 is unknown in that there is no indexed
record of the sale of this tract of land by James Dillard.
The James Dillard property is easily located northeast of the 100 acre 1789
original home place of John Dillard with the James Dillard tract's longest
parallelogram lines of "North 45 East" tying into the same course and distance
which was the shorter side of the John Dillard 1789 tract. The Dorinda Whitley
project in Exhibit 4 states that Joseph M. Edmonds sold the James Dillard land to
William R. Chambers in 1860 in Buncombe County Deed Book 51 at page 515,
and that a significant overlap existed in the James Dillard description. No deed was
found where Edmonds purchased this property.
71
Deed Book H, Page 254, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded December 22, 1816
No other deeds in Buncombe County, North Carolina are indexed in the name of James Dillard as a Grantee. The
deed from Jamestown Hatcher to John Dillard recorded in Deed Book C, Page 252 on February 28, 1811 is
erroneously indexed in the name of James Dillard.
74
Information about John Strother is from notes of the late Lucile R. Johnson.
72
18
John Strother was the land surveyor who surveyed the North CarolinaTennessee state line. Beginning May, 1799, a survey of the boundary line between
Tennessee and North Carolina was started "beginning at Pond Mountain on the
Virginia line, the survey was made to Paint Rock on the French Broad River. John
Strother, who was the surveyor in charge, kept a day-to-day diary and a field book
filled with notes of this wilderness experience. He writes of numerous times when
the chain bearers and markers had to hack their way through rough laurel
(rhododendron) thickets, or slicks." Robert Love participated in this survey party
at Greasy Cove in Tennessee according to John Strother's diary of June 18, 1799.
Greasy Cove in Unicoi County, Pat Alderman, 1975, the Overmountain Press,
Johnson City, Tennessee, pages 6 and 7. John Strother was a large scale land
investor in North Carolina, Georgia, and elsewhere who is alleged to have resided
in Beaufort County, North Carolina with business connections with Territorial
Governor John Blount Gray.75
It is reported in Tyler's Quarterly that a Robert Strother married an Elizabeth
Dillard in Culpeper County, Virginia according to the late Lucile R. Johnson, a
Dillard genealogist. It has not been proved to date how this Elizabeth Dillard
Strother ties into other Virginia Dillards. She could have been a daughter of John
Dillard who lived and died in Culpeper County, Virginia and an uncle of John
Dillard of Rabun County. How Robert Strother and John Strother were related is
unknown.
John Dillard, Jr. Deed
Only one deed is indexed of record in Buncombe County for John Dillard,
Jr., by that specific name and that is the deed dated March 4, 1812 where John
Dillard, Jr. and James Gregory, both then of Knox County, Kentucky, sold to
Zachariah Candler lands adjoining the John Dillard original home place.76 This
deed mentions a deed in which John Dillard, Jr., had sold to Joseph Hughey "on
the north side" adjoining land that James Gregory had sold to Chisolme Griffith on
the south side. No record can be found on the indices of Buncombe County of the
Joseph Hughey deed.
Deed Book E at Page 74 recites that the same land sold by John Dillard, Jr.
and James Gregory to Zachariah Candler was granted to them by the State of North
Carolina. This land was later acquired by John Dillard of Rabun County from
75
76
Id.
Deed Book E, Page 74, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, recorded May 15, 1812.
19
Zachariah Candler. This land as shown in the plotting diagram in Exhibit 1 clearly
adjoined property covered by early John Dillard grants, except for possible
overlaps and gaps.
The wife of John Dillard, Jr. was Rhoda Lee who was also from Buncombe
County, North Carolina. James Gregory, who eventually resided in Indiana, also
married a Lee who is suspected but not proved to have been a sister of Rhoda
Lee.77 Dillard researchers have not been able to accurately reconstruct who
comprised the Lee family.
It is reported that John Dillard, Jr., after migrating to Knox County,
Kentucky with his brother, William Dillard78 later settled in Monroe County,
Tennessee and thereafter moved to Cass County, Georgia where he resided until
his death.79 A suit to clear title to his Monroe County, Tennessee property was
brought against his heirs after his death.80 John Dillard, Jr. acquired acreage in
Cass County, Georgia along the Coosawatee River. He was buried on this property
at a place known as Trimmier Bluff overlooking that river. The unmarked graves
were visible until a few years ago when a newer owner of the property built a road
over the graves.81
William Dillard Deed
William Dillard, according to reports of his numerous descendants was born
on May 1, 1782 which would make his place of birth Pittsylvania County,
77
Letter from Howard V. Jones dated May 13, 1995.
Information from unpublished biography of John Dillard, Jr. by Mrs. Janelle Knight furnished June 4, 1992.
79
Information from Gladys Chilton, Vance Dillard and Howard V. Jones. See also A Reminiscent History of the
Ozark Region, Chicago: Goodspeed Bros., 1894, p. 491.
80
Monroe County, Tennessee Records, 1820-1870, Volume I, compiled by Reba Bayless Boyer, 1969 citing Deed
Book 0, Page 135 from William Dillard, Elijah Dillard, Reuben Campbell, Joseph Bowman, Jesse Fuqua, William
W. Haskins and Joseph B. McSpadden all of Cass County, Georgia and Evin Campbell of Polk County, Tennessee
as heirs of John Dillard, deceased to Carter Hudgings of Monroe County, Tennessee.
81
Edith Dillard McSpadden, (a daughter of John Dillard, Jr. and his wife, Rhoda Lee Dillard), was born in
Tennessee on October 1, 1827 and died in Carter County, Missouri. Other children of John Dillard, Jr. and Rhoda
Lee Dillard were Elijah Dillard (born Sept. 23, 1802, died November 1, 1856 in Gordon County, Georgia), William
Dillard (born November 10, 1805, died October 17, 1878 in Gordon County, Georgia), Sarah Dillard (born April 26,
1810 in Kentucky, married Evin Campbell, died March 18, 1870 in Polk County, Tennessee), Mary Dillard (twin
sister of Sarah, born April 26, 1810 married Reuben Campbell, died 1853 in Gordon County, Georgia), Fanny
Dillard (born 1815 in Knox County, Kentucky, married Josiah Bowman), Charlotte Dillard (married William W.
Haskins), Nancy Jane Dillard (born 1824 in Monroe County, Tennessee, married William Goodis) and Cynthia
Dillard (born about 1827, married Jesse Fuqua). Descendants of this family have migrated as far as Oregon and
Missouri. John Dillard, Jr. died in Cass County, Georgia prior to 1847. Gordon County was formed from Cass and
Floyd Counties in 1850, and Rhoda Lee Dillard died in that county 25 years later. Source: Delores Allen of La
Grande, Oregon in a letter to Miriam Dillard Klar dated July 18, 1986 and biographical information of Janelle
Padgett Knight provided June 4, 1992.
78
20
Virginia. William Dillard, who is also known as William F. Dillard, married Sarah
Gregory, a daughter of next door neighbor William Gregory who has special
connections with John Dillard of Rabun County.
Court minutes above cited prove that Fannie Gregory was the second wife of
William Gregory. Sarah Gregory, the wife of William Dillard, was one of the
children of William Gregory by his second wife, Fanny Gregory.
105 acres owned by William Dillard was purchased by William Dillard from
Beverly Gregory, a son of William Gregory, in Deed Book C at Page 255 on
August 16, 1810 which was recorded on March 14, 1811. Beverly Gregory was
his brother in law.
While the poor description of this 105 acres tract to William Dillard leaves
many unanswered questions, there are enough references to surrounding properties
for this deed to make some sense. The lines in this deed have indefinite courses
and distances and are recited to be "conditional lines." This indicates the 105 acre
tract was a part of a larger tract not all of the lines of when had been surveyed
when the deed was prepared. A very important call in this deed is for a white oak
corner on Benjamin Gregory’s land.
The 1812 deed where William Dillard sold this 105 acre property to Guthrie
helps clarify where it was located. On August 15, 1812 William Dillard conveyed
to Andrew Guthrie this 105 acres "beginning on a Hickory in William Gregory's
old line" and running to a "forked white oak Benjamin Gregory's line". Another
call was for John Guthrie's line. No derivation for this property was indicated in
the deed. One of the witnesses to this deed was John Dillard.82
The deed in which Beverly Gregory obtained this land prior to conveying it
to William Dillard is not clear. The Buncombe County deed indices show only one
deed coming into Beverly Gregory and that is a deed from John Gregory and
others quitclaiming to Beverly Gregory 100 acres which was a gift from his father,
William Gregory, who died before delivery of the deed. This deed is dated
December 11, 1806 recorded on August 19, 1807 in Deed Book A at Page 311. It
contains no legal description of the property conveyed. This 100 acres could have
been the same as the 105 acres. On the other hand, the deed into Beverly Gregory
for the 105 acres from his father, William Gregory, could have been lost or
destroyed before ever being recorded. What is certain is that Beverly Gregory did
82
Deed Book E, Page 201, recorded November 17, 1812, Buncombe County Registry.
21
claim ownership of this 105 acre tract in his act of deeding the same to William
Dillard.
A conclusion which is certain is that the courses and distances of the 105
acres purchased by William Dillard indicate without doubt that it was a part of the
200 acre tract obtained by William Gregory in Grant No. 433 on May 20, 1796
recorded in Buncombe County Deed Book 4 at page 456. This is shown on the
plotting diagram in Exhibit 2 in the shaded area. Just what part of the 200 acre tract
was conveyed as the 105 acres is not certain.
The 1808 grant for sixty acres from the State of North Carolina to John
Dillard calls for a point described as a “hickory north corner by William Dillard's
house on Strother's line.”83 This 1808 grant also calls for its longest line along the
property of “Dillard” to “Dillard’s corner.” This deed creates problems as to what
its language means. Does this mean John Dillard’s corner or William Dillard’s
corner?
The 1808 sixty acre grant courses of “S 30 W” and “N 60 W” do not fit it
with the courses of other tracts in the plotting of other properties owned by John
Dillard, William Gregory, James Dillard and John Dillard, Jr.
No deed can be found in 1808 or earlier conveying property at this specific
location to William Dillard. The Dorinda Whitley Project plots and locates the
William Dillard lands as nearby but not contiguous to any of the lands of John
Dillard as seen in Exhibit 4. Whitley position is contrary to what the writer first
believed about where this property was located.
William Dillard organized a company for service in the War of 1812. By
1837 he had become a resident of Greene County, Missouri where he purchased a
claim and became a successful farmer. After the Civil War he cast his influence on
the side of the Republican party. He died about 1877 at the advanced age of 95
years at which time he was the oldest man in the county.84
83
Deed Book 3, Page 376, Buncombe County Registry.
84
Descendants of William F. Dillard consist of Mary Love Dillard who married Horace Snow and migrated to
California; Stephen Morgan Dillard who moved west with his family to Kansas, California and finally Lane County,
Oregon; Samuel Dillard, a minister; John McCord Dillard, a Presbyterian minister who was in the California gold
rush and who finally settled in Dillard, Oregon where he organized the Presbyterian Church, a private school and
was the town's first postmaster; Elizabeth Candace Dillard who married William M. Maddy and resided in Polk
County, Missouri; Robert D. Dillard who lived and died in Greene County, Missouri; Frances Dillard who married
David C. Price and died at an early age in Greene County, Missouri; James Dillard who died in Tennessee;
Amanda J. Dillard who married Albert A. Smith and lived in Polk and Douglas Counties, Missouri; Cynthia
22
Deeds to William Gregory and his Sons
The location of the William Dillard property is dependent on the correct
location of the property of William Gregory and his sons because it was from them
that William Dillard acquired his property. Recall that William Gregory was
"bound out" to Thomas Dillard, Jr. in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, traveled with
Thomas Dillard, Jr. and John Dillard of Rabun County to Greasy Cove in
Washington County, North Carolina (Tennessee) and emigrated across the state
line to settle at Flat Creek in Buncombe County, North Carolina near John
Dillard.85 His daughter, Sarah, married William Dillard.
The earliest known land owned by William Gregory at Flat Creek was
conveyed under Grant No. 1578 from the State of North Carolina for 200 acres
dated November 28, 1792 recorded in Deed Book S1-2 at Page 70. The 1790
Burke County census places William Gregory, with three males over 16, four
males under 16 and three females "next door" to John Dillard.86
The dates of the deeds, the numbers of the grant and the 1790 census
indicate that he came into Burke later Buncombe County very shortly after John
Dillard. From the "N 45 W" and "S 45 W" courses, and the location of this tract on
both sides of Flat Creek, (with this creek being in the same position as in the
property covered by the John Dillard grants), and considering the calls to John
Roberts land in both the John Dillard and William Gregory deeds, this 200 acre
property was located on the northeastern side of John Dillard's original home place
However, neither the John Dillard deed nor the William Gregory deed calls for
Caroline Dillard who married James Monroe Breedlove and resided in Webster and Douglas Counties, Missouri;
George Anderson Dillard who resided in Greene County, Missouri; William Smith Dillard who, though involved in
the California gold rush returned to Missouri; and Sarah V. Dillard who married Joshua Smith and resided in
Greene County, Missouri. William F. Dillard is buried with his wife Sarah Gregory Dillard in Greene County,
Missouri in Danforth Cemetery. History of Greene County Missouri, (St. Louis: Western Historical Company
1883), pgs. 714-715, Genealogical Records of Oregon Pioneer Families, (Oregon Historical Society Library,
Portland, Oregon), pgs. 134-136, and Shirley Clayton, Pioneer Stories, unpublished manuscript in Dillard, Oregon;
information furnished by Howard V. Jones, a William F. Dillard descendant.
83
.William Gregory, whose father may have been Philemon Gregory possibly of Halifax County (parent county of
Pittsylvania County ) or Culpeper County, Virginia was born circa 1745-50 and married Sarah (Sally) Graves who
died soon after the family moved to Washington County (Tennessee). Children of this marriage were Benjamin
Gregory, John Gregory, Thomas Gregory, William Gregory, Beverly Gregory and James Gregory. Children of his
second wife, Fanny Gregory, were Robert Gregory and Sarah Gregory. Source: unpublished notes of Howard V.
Jones under "Gregory G-1, December 3, 1990", pages 1-5, citing Halifax County Court Orders III (1759-62), page 5
and Logan Esarey, The Pioneers of Morgan County, (Indiana), page 248 containing a biographical data on William
Gregory, Jr.
86
Howard V. Jones, Gregory data, id., page 3.
23
each other as adjoining property owners. The above 200 acre deed is plotted in
Exhibits 1 and 2 showing John Dillard’s adjoining tracts of land at Flat Creek.
They appear contiguous.
The Dorinda Whitley Project agrees with this location for the William
Gregory property as evidenced by Exhibit 4 attached hereto.
William Gregory conveyed one half of this same 200 acre property to his
son Benjamin Gregory on April 22, 1800 in Deed Book 5 at Page 156. No specific
description is contained in this deed except to recite that it was one-half of the 200
acres which had been earlier granted to William Gregory. This deed recited that
the other one-half had been given to his son, John Gregory. No recorded deed into
John Gregory for this gift is indexed.
Other William Gregory land grants from the State of North Carolina are for
150 acres dated January 4, 1792 in Deed Book 1 at Page 193, for 100 acres dated
January 19, 1795 in Deed Book 4 at Page 457 (which recites James Love as an
owner on the south side), and for 200 acres dated August 31, 1798 in Deed Book 4
at Page 456 (Grant No. 433). A plotting of these three properties as shown in
Exhibit 2 indicates that they probably adjoined each other and Grant No. 1578
dated 1792. The Dorinda Whitley Project seems to agree with this conclusion.
The quitclaim deed to Beverly Gregory in 1806 proves that William Gregory
was then deceased. Buncombe County estate records at this time were destroyed
by fire and no longer exist. Esarey, id, page 248, states that William Gregory was
a Methodist preacher, but no known facts exist to substantiate this claim.87
Also indexed in Buncombe County are a number of grants and deeds to John
Gregory at Flat Creek between 1795 and 1810, including a deed from John
Strother and a deed from the Sheriff of Buncombe County.88 These are located by
the Dorinda Whitley Project as nearby.
A number of Benjamin Gregory, the oldest son of William Gregory, land
87
Howard V. Jones Gregory data, id
Deed Book D, Page 211 from the State of North Carolina in 1810 not recorded until 1913 for 200 acres on Warm
Springs Road (Grant No. 1899); Deed Book H, Page 14 from the Sheriff of Buncombe County for 95 acres at Flat
Creek in 1810 not indexed until 1915; Deed Book H, Page 33 from the State of North Carolina in 1808 for 100 acres
at Flat Creek (Grant No. 1780); Deed Book 3, Page 361 from John Strother for 40 acres at Flat Creek dated 1799;
Deed Book S1-2, Page 376 for 100 acres at Flat Creek from the State of North Carolina dated 1795 (Grant No. 106);
Deed Book S2-2, Page 376 for 100 acres at Flat Creek dated 1795 (Grant No. 106 was apparently recorded twice).
88
24
grants and deeds appear in Buncombe County between 1795 and 1800.89 Many of
these were for property at Flat Creek, but others were for property fronting on the
French Broad River and Warm Springs Road believed to be elsewhere. The Flat
Creek deeds, like the Thomas Dillard (son of John) deeds, call for John Roberts as
an adjoining property owner. The grant for 200 acres recorded in Deed Book 4,
Page 454 calls for William Gregory as the adjoining property owner along a line
"N 45 E 54 poles" which would tie this tract in as probably contiguous to William
Gregory's property. Dorinda Whitley shows the Benjamin Gregory lands north of
William Gregory’s Grant No. 433 dated 1796 with a substantial gap existing
between these two properties.
Three deeds connected with the administration of the Estate of Benjamin
Gregory, deceased are mentioned in that John Dillard served as an executor of this
estate.
John Dillard and John Gregory, as Executors of Benjamin Gregory,
deceased, for $30.50 conveyed to Zachariah Candler 100 acres on the waters of
Flat Creek which this deed recites was originally granted to Benjamin Gregory by
the State of North Carolina as Grant Number 560. The date of this deed is June 2,
1808. It was recorded on July 3, 1810 in Deed Book C, Page 58. No adjoining
landowners are recited.
A second deed dated November 16, 1816 from John Dillard and John
Gregory as "Administrators of Benjamin Gregory, deceased" conveyed to
Zachariah Candler for a $100.00 consideration property on the northern side of Flat
Creek and "on the north side of a path and branch that leads Solomon McJohnson's
to said Benjamin Gregory's outhouse, it being the northeast corner of a fifty acres
that the said Benjamin Gregory allotted to his widow, Eady Gregory" containing
150 acres, more or less and "being the east part of a tract of land originally granted
to the said Benjamin Gregory for 200 acres". This deed was witnessed by Obediah
Dickerson (a surveyor) and James Dillard.90
The third deed was from John Dillard and John Gregory as "Executors of
Benjamin Gregory, deceased" in consideration of the sum of $12.00 to Zachariah
Candler for property "on the waters of Flat Creek John Davidson's branch, a small
distance above where the old Warm Spring Road crosses the same" conveying fifty
acres and is recited as being a part of the land originally granted to Benjamin
89
Land Grants from 1795 to 1800 are included in Deed Book 4, Pages 453, 454, 455 and 457, Deed Book 5, Pages
79 and Deed Book S1-2, Page 68 and Deed Book S-2, Page 68.
90
Deed Book 11, Page 369, Buncombe County Registry recorded August 25, 1819.
25
Gregory by the State of North Carolina.91
Thomas Dillard Deeds
(a) Thomas the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr.
Several deeds to and from Thomas Dillard in Buncombe County are more
difficult to identify in that we have two Thomas Dillards. Thomas Dillard, the
oldest son of John Dillard of Rabun County was in Buncombe County and was
probably the first son to leave home to settle in Arkansas. Another Thomas Dillard
was a son of Thomas Dillard, Jr., and Martha Webb Dillard, who originally resided
in Washington County, North Carolina.92 This Thomas Dillard is alleged to have
been born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, between 1765 and 1774. He married
Dorcas Love and died in 1827 in Haywood County, North Carolina.93 The 1800
North Carolina census tracked the ownership in this Thomas Dillard of two slaves
devised to him by his father.94
Thomas Dillard the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr. was shown on the
Washington County, Tennessee Tax Records as owning 100 acres and one slave in
1792, and as owning 100 acres and two slaves in 1796 and 1797. On February 10,
1796 Thomas Dillard sold to his brother-in-law, Robert Love, 400 acres of land in
Washington County, Tennessee at the foot of Buffaloe Mountain “being devised
by Thomas Dillard, deceased, to the said Thomas and John Dillard” filed in
Washington County, Tennessee in Deed Book VI at Page 110. Witnesses to this
deed were his mother, Martha Dillard, and his brother in law, Charles Hutchins.
A deed into Thomas Dillard from David Hinton dated April, 1795 is
91
Deed Book 13, Page 213, Buncombe County Registry dated November 13, 1817 recorded July 15, 1824.
Albert Steven McLean, The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Volume I, p. 196. Will of Thomas Dillard, Jr.,
Will Book D, Pages 3, 4 and 5 (1784) Washington County, Tennessee, devising Negroes Ben and Usley to his son
Thomas Dillard along with his real estate to his sons Thomas and John.
93
The children of Thomas Dillard, Jr. (died 1784 or 1785) and Martha Webb Dillard of Washington County (now
Tennessee) are: Elizabeth Dillard, who married Lt. Charles Hutchings; Benjamin Dillard who married Ann Ward
Lynch, widow of Christopher Lynch; Winnesophia Dillard who married James Love; Mary Ann Dillard who
married Robert Love; Thomas Dillard III who married Dorcas Love; Stacy Dillard who married Gabriel Elkins;
Martha Dillard who married Thomas Love; Ann Dillard who was never married; John Dillard who married a Sarah
(last name unknown) and Rebecca Dillard who married Joseph Byler. James, Robert and Thomas Love were
brothers from Augusta County, Virginia and Dorcas Love was most likely their first cousin. As the young people
married and started families these Dillards and the Loves started moving over into Buncombe County, North
Carolina. Miriam Dillard Klar, "The Dillards of Western North Carolina", Dillard Annual, Volume 2, January,
1993.
94
1800 Census Buncombe County, North Carolina.
92
26
recorded in Buncombe County.95 This deed was for 100 acres on the Bald
Mountain Fork of Ivy River "including the improvements upon which John Street
did live". This deed was witnessed by Robert Love.96 As noted above, the "Big
Ivy" community lies east of the Flat Creek community in Buncombe County,
North Carolina. If this Thomas Dillard was of age in 1795 it is very unlikely that
he was a son of John Dillard of Rabun County. This deed is probably the deed of
Thomas the son of Thomas Dillard, Jr. The location of the property and the
witnesses to the deed substantiate this conclusion. The four deeds which are
hereinafter described, which seem to be in the same general location and within the
time frame of from 1795 through 1802, with recorded sales of this property in the
same time frame, for the same reasons appear to be those of Thomas Dillard, the
son of Thomas Dillard, Jr.
Another 100 acres on the Bald Mountain Fork of the Ivy River was
conveyed by a grant from the State of North Carolina to Thomas Dillard dated
August 11, 1795.97
David Hinton, on July 14, 1798 conveyed to Thomas Dillard a tract of land
containing 100 acres "near the head of the Little Ivy" which had been granted to
David Hinton in 1794.98 This deed was witnessed by Thomas Love and George
McCray.99
On July 10, 1799 John Strother conveyed to Thomas Dillard fifty acres on
the left hand fork of the Bald Mountain Creek of Ivy River "known by the name of
Dillard's Branch."100 This deed recited that John Strother had acquired the property
as a part of the John Gray Blount grant sold at the 1796 tax sale.
Iziah Palmer on August 27, 1802 conveyed to Thomas Dillard a 100 acre
tract on the waters of Pilborns Branch and Ivy River adjoining Edmond Palmer,
Savage Littleton and the Ivy River with an adjoining tract of thirty acres.101
Witnesses to this deed were John Dillard and William Gregory. Thomas Dillard,
the son of John Dillard, would have been 22 years old at the date of this deed. This
95
Deed Book 3, Page 3, Buncombe County Registry with an unspecified filing date.
Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Vol. I, Albert Stevens McLean, p. 196.
97
Deed Book 4, Page 219, Buncombe County Registry with an unspecified recording date.
98
Deed Book 4, Page 192, Buncombe County Registry with an unspecified recording date.
99
Thomas Love was a brother of Robert Love who had married Martha Dillard, a daughter of Thomas Dillard, Jr.
Robert Love was the founder of Waynesville, North Carolina. Albert Steven McLean, The Heritage of Old
Buncombe County, Volume I, id., p. 196.
100
Deed Book 3, Page 218, Buncombe County Registry, recorded on an unspecified date.
101
Deed Book 8, Page 238, Buncombe County Registry recorded April 1, 1804.
96
27
deed was proved in open court on the oath of John Dillard. These witnesses tend
to indicate that this could have been a deed to Thomas Dillard, the son of John
Dillard. Property in this vicinity that is, “Phyburn’s Branch and the Ivy” was
conveyed by Squire Wood (the same person as Esquire Wood) to Samuel
McKinney on March 20, 1803 in Deed Book 7 at Page 333. Thomas Dillard was a
witness to this deed. This “Squire” Wood was the brother in law of Thomas
Dillard, the son of John Dillard.
On August 25, 1804 Thomas Dillard sold to Thomas Cody the tracts of 100
acres and thirty acres which had purchased from Iziah Palmer on August 27,
1802.102 Thomas Dillard sold the August 11, 1795 grant for 100 acres to George
McRay on July 14, 1798 in Deed Book 4, Page 200. This deed was witnessed by
Thomas Love and David Greer.
What happened to the remaining 100 acre tract and the fifty acre tract in the
Ivy River or "Big Ivy Community" of Buncombe County is unknown in that the
indices of Buncombe County do not reflect any conveyance of this property from
Thomas Dillard.
The Dorinda Whitley project locates these Thomas Dillard properties as on
Map No. 26 on the headwaters of Little Ivy Creek. This location is several miles
north from Map 52 where the lands of John Dillard of Rabun County were located.
Early Northeast Buncombe County, NC Land Records, id., Volume 4, Map 26 at
pages 91-92.
(b) Thomas the son of John Dillard
Beginning in 1806 and continuing through 1810, another grouping of deeds
to a Thomas Dillard appears covering property at Flat Creek in Buncombe County.
These appear to be the deeds of Thomas Dillard, the son of John Dillard of Rabun
County. The witnesses, the property location and the dates of the deeds are the
distinguishing features of these deeds from the deeds of Thomas Dillard, the son of
Thomas Dillard, Jr.
Baxter Davis103 (probably Baxter Davis, Jr.) by deed dated March 15, 1806
recorded in the Buncombe County Registry in Deed Book 7 at Page 650 conveyed
102
Deed Book A, Page 23, Buncombe County Registry with an unspecified recording date.
Lucile R. Johnson reports that Elizabeth Vaughn, a daughter of Thomas Vaughn of Pittsylvania County,
Virginia, the father of Ruth Vaughn who married John Dillard of Rabun County, married a Davis.
103
28
to the brother of his wife, Thomas Dillard, in consideration of the sum of $80.00 a
100 acre tract of land, the same being a part of 200 acres "that William Welch
conveyed to S. Davis beginning on the John Roberts' corner on Flat Creek."104
This deed was witnessed by William Dillard. This property is a parallelogram
transected by Flat Creek with courses on two sides being "North 60 East" and on
the other two sides as "North 30 West". Baxter Davis, Jr. married Sara Dillard, a
daughter of John Dillard of Rabun County.105
A October 25, 1807 grant from the State of North Carolina to Thomas
Dillard and Esquire Woods (Thomas married his probable sister, Mary Ann Woods
conveyed sixty acres on Flat Creek beginning at a white Oak on Chambers' line on
the north side of the creek near Welch, thence runs south four chains to Strother's
corner, a white Oak, thence South 30 East with said line crossing the Creek".106 A
survey of this Land Grant No. 1578 "entered April 22, 1805" issued December 5,
1806 exists as a part of the original records of the Secretary of State of North
Carolina. "John Roberts of Flat Creek" and Thomas Dillard are listed as the chain
bearers for surveyor John Patton. Flat Creek clearly transects this property. A
common line "S 30 E" and transecting Flat Creek places this property as
contiguous to the 100 acres conveyed by Baxter Davis to Thomas Dillard on
March 15, 1806 in Deed Book 7, Page 650.
Another grant from the State of North Carolina to Thomas Dillard dated
March 27, 1808 conveyed fifty acres on the north fork of Flat Creek beginning at
John Roberts’ line to "Strother's line in his field" and South 30 East with Roberts
line to the beginning corner.107 It was first believed that this fifty acre grant could
be contiguous to the 60 acre tract acquired by John Dillard of Rabun County on
exactly the same date through a common line "West 127 poles" compared to John
Dillard's deed call of "East 120 poles". The land grant survey of this property
shows that it is Grant No. 1658 issued November 27, 1807 "entered November 8,
1806". Baxter Davis and "Tom" Dillard were the chain bearers for surveyor John
Patton.
Thomas Dillard sold to William Chambers his 100 acre tract, the fifty acre
and the sixty acre tract above described by deed dated August 15, 1810, recorded
104 Deed Book 7, Page 650, Buncombe County Registry recorded March 18, 1806.
105 The name and identification of this daughter of John Dillard was discovered only in recent years when Dr.
Howard V. Jones and other Dillard researchers attending the Dillard Reunion exchanged information which brought
the underlying facts to the surface.
104
Deed Book 3, Page 396, Buncombe County Registry marked "entered April 22, 1803", signed by the Governor
of North Carolina at Raleigh on October 25, 1807 recorded October 25, 1807.
107
Deed Book 3, Page 461, Buncombe County Registry recorded on an unspecified date
29
on June 12, 1838 in Deed Book 21, Page 242. This sale accounted for all tracts of
land in the Flat Creek area owned by Thomas Dillard the son of John Dillard. This
deed confirmed by recitation that the fifty acre tract and the 100 acre tract adjoined
each other (notwithstanding that the common line connecting the 100 acre tract to
the 50 acre tract is some thirty degrees different).
. No representation was made in this deed as to this Thomas’s 60 acre tract
that it adjoined his other two tracts. Because of recitations to the Welch line and a
common line of "S 30 E", it is believed that the 60 acres adjoined the 100 acres.
All three Thomas Dillard tracts appeared contiguous to each other. A plotting
diagram of these tracts given as proof of this conclusion is given in Exhibit 3
below.
The Dorinda Whitley Project shown in Exhibit 4 agrees that all three of
these Thomas Dillard tracts touched each other. The location of these three tracts
are shown on a one of her diagrams which show the John Dillard of Rabun County
property nearby but several properties away. The hypothesis of this writer shown
in Exhibit 3 that these tracts could have adjoined the 60 acre odd shaped triangular
land grant owned by John Dillard appears to be in error.108
The Buncombe County Register of Deeds indexes a deed from Thomas
Dillard to Andrew Cole recorded May 19, 1809 for 250 acres at Flat Creek
recorded in Deed Book B at Page 152, but no such deed appears of record in this
deed book and page. What property, if any, was conveyed remains unknown
Thomas Dillard was a party to one other deed not connected with the above
three properties. On January 20, 1808 in Deed Book B, Page 152, Mary Wood and
William Wood conveyed to Matthew Cole 250 acres on the south side of Flat
Creek. In a certificate attached to this deed, William Wood, Thomas St. Claire,
James Wood, Mason Wood, Elizabeth Wood, Mary Wood, Vinson Wood, Tempy
Wood and Thomas Dillard "relinquished, give over and quit any claim or pretense
of any right or title or expectation of profit from the within mentioned land".109
Thomas Dillard, a son of John, had married Mary Ann Wood. An interest in the
estate of Mary Ann Wood’s father was possibly being quitclaimed. Except for the
information in the above deed Dillard researchers have not be able to date to fully
research who were the members of the Wood family.
108
Dorinda Whitley after plotting the Thomas Dillard lands located them on standardized maps based upon the
location of several other property owners who did adjoin Thomas Dillard.
109
Deed Book B, Page 152, filed May 19, 1809 in Buncombe County Registry
30
If the departure into Arkansas of Thomas Dillard the son of John Dillard of
Rabun County is evidenced by the deeds, his date of departure would have been
1810. Based on this same assumption, the date of departure of John Dillard, Jr.,
along with James Gregory to Knox County, Kentucky from the sale of 100 acres to
Zachariah Candler in Deed Book E, Page 74 would be 1812.
Arkansas descendants of Thomas Dillard until recent years could not trace
their origins beyond Arkansas.110 It was found that John V. Dillard, a son of
Thomas Dillard, was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina as shown on his
service records when he enlisted in the mounted rangers of Independence County,
Arkansas and later died in service in the Indian Nation.111 This information
resulted in the search of Buncombe County deed and other public records when it
was concluded that Thomas Dillard was the son of John Dillard of Rabun County,
Georgia. To complicate tracing of Dillards in Arkansas, Virginia cousins of
Thomas Dillard also migrated to northeastern Arkansas.112 More remote South
Carolina cousins from Laurens District migrated into southeastern Arkansas.
Baxter Davis, Jr. and Sarah Dillard Davis
Baxter Davis, Sr., the father of Baxter Davis, Jr. who married Sarah Dillard,
a daughter of John Dillard, is shown in 1782 on personal property tax rolls in
Montgomery County, Virginia. The Baxter Davis family was in Greasy Cove with
110
Thomas Dillard and his wife, Mary Ann Wood, had eight children and settled in Independence County,
Arkansas where he died on January 17, 1835 at about 55 years of age. His children consisted of a daughter whose
name is unknown who married Jonathan Wideman, Nancy Dillard who married a Cothran, William M. Dillard who
married a Clarinda (last name unknown), John V. Dillard who died of cholera on August 15, 1833 at Fort Gibson in
the Indian Nation (Oklahoma), Elizabeth Ann Dillard who married Benjamin Franklin Ball and died on August 9,
1849, Mary Dillard who married John Bunion Cason, Thomas Dillard who married Mary Ann Day and another
unknown daughter. Many of Thomas' children and their children served in the Civil War on both the Union and the
Confederate sides. A large contingency of Thomas Dillard descendants now reside in Arkansas. The Will of
Thomas Dillard was proved on January 18, 1835 in Will Book A, Page 15 in Independence County, Arkansas in
which he verbally devised under the laws of that state his property to his wife, Mary Ann, for life, with remainder to
his "boys". Source: research of Lucile R. Johnson, a Thomas Dillard of Arkansas descendant.
111
James L. Morgan in Arkansas Volunteers 1836-1837, Newport, Arkansas, 1984, at page 69: "Roster of Capt.
Jesse Bean Company of Mounted Rangers U.S. Army 1832-1833 lists Dillard, John, Pvt. 24, born N.C., Buncombe
Co, farmer. Enlisted August 25, 1832, Batesville, Independence Co., Arkansas, by Lt. King. Died August 15, 1833,
Fort Gibson, of cholera". Provided by Lucile R. Johnson.
112
Lucile R. Johnson has researched that George Stovall Dillard, (a possible grandson of Thomas Dillard, Sr., of
Pittsylvania County, Virginia) and his sons of Henry County, Virginia were shown on the 1835 and 1836
Independence County, Arkansas tax rolls. A John Penn Dillard, also related to this Virginia family, born in Bedford
County, Virginia is recorded in 1830 in Crawford County, Arkansas. This is a possible indication that the
Buncombe County and Arkansas Dillards were after many years maintaining contacts with their Virginia cousins. A
group of Dillards descended from Samuel Dillard of Laurens District, South Carolina a son of George Dillard of
Culpeper County, Virginia. This group emigrated to southeastern Arkansas. One member of this group of Dillards
was the founder of the Dillard’s department stores (Dillard’s, Inc.)
31
the Dillards, Gregories and Loves.113 Listed along with Baxter Davis on
Washington County, North Carolina voters registration lists in 1786 was William
Davis and Thomas Davis. Baxter Davis was listed on the 1790 Burke County,
North Carolina census with three males over sixteen, six males under sixteen and
one female. He is not listed on the 1800 Buncombe County census in that he had
moved to Kentucky.
Baxter Davis, Jr., is shown on the 1800 Buncombe County census. Deeds
between 1801 and 1810 in Buncombe County are probably those of Baxter Davis,
Jr. In Deed Book IV at Page 654 James Bobbit conveyed to Baxter Davis 150
acres of land on Flat Creek. Baxter Davis also purchased additional acreage on
Flat Creek in Buncombe County in Deed Book IV at page 637, in Deed X at Page
170, in Deed Book VII at pages 525 and 650 of the Buncombe County Registry.114
The Dorinda Whitley project shows in a diagram in Exhibit 4 that Baxter Davis in
1803 obtained Land Grant 1382 from the state, which property was contiguous on
the north to the property owned by Thomas Dillard, son of John Dillard (which he
in 1806 had obtained from Baxter Davis, Jr.) Dorinda Whitley reports that this
property is subject to overlaps from early conveyances of adjoining property
owners.
Baxter Davis, Jr. sold off properties by deeds from 1806 through 1810 in
Deed Book VII at Page 650, Deed Book D at Page 105, Deed Book C at Page 103,
Deed III at Page 461, and others.
It is said that Baxter Davis, Jr. and Sarah Dillard Davis moved to Pulaski
County, Kentucky about 1815. Sarah Dillard Davis died as a widow at age 80 in
1858 in Wayne County, Kentucky.115 Children of Baxter Davis, Jr., who died
about 1819, and Sarah Dillard Davis included Ruth Davis Flynn, Sarah Davis,
Eliza Davis, Andrew Jackson Davis, Margaret Davis and Robert Davis.116
Henry Dryman, Jr. and Elizabeth Dillard Dryman
Henry Dryman, Jr. married Elizabeth Dillard, a daughter of John Dillard of
Rabun County, in Buncombe County, North Carolina where both resided. Henry
Dryman, Jr. was conveyed 80 acres on Lee’s Mill road of Buncombe County by
Henry Dryman, Sr. on May 23, 1807 by deed filed in the Buncombe County
114
115
116
Deed references are from notes of Howard V. Jones.
References on the Davises are from notes of Howard V. Jones.
Notes of the late Lucile R. Johnson and Howard V. Jones.
32
Registry in Deed Book A at Page 327, 30 acres on the French Broad River by his
father, Henry Dryman, Sr. on May 23, 1807 by deed filed in Deed Book A at Page
297, and 37 acres on the Lee’s Mill Road by deed of Nathan Smith dated July 22,
1806 filed in Deed Book A at Page 322.117 The descriptions in these deeds seem to
be for properties substantially removed from the Flat Creek area of Buncombe
County. Henry Dryman, Jr. was a witness to the deed where Thomas Dillard sold
out to William Chambers in 1810.
Henry Dryman, Jr. sold out most of his property in 1823 as evidenced by
deeds filed in the Buncombe County Registry to Henry Brookshear for 211 acres
on Smiths Mill Creek recorded in Deed Book 13 at Page 430, to David Vertal for
the 80 acre tract and the 37 acre tract above mentioned filed in Deed Book 12 at
Pages 158 and 302.118
Henry Dryman was shown on the 1810 Buncombe County census with one
male 26-45, two females under 10 and one female 26-45. Both Henry Dryman, Jr.
and his father were shown on the 1830 Macon County, North Carolina census.119
The Drymans appeared to have left Buncombe County with John Dillard,
James Dillard and Mary Rebecca Dickerson to settle in the Rabun County, Georgia
area between 1821 and 1823. The Drymans, however, did not settle in Rabun
County, Georgia but settled a few miles north of the Dillard, Georgia in Macon
County, North Carolina.
Henry Dryman, Jr. and Elizabeth Dillard Dryman had the following
children: John D. Dryman who married Rachel McConnell, William Dryman who
married Polly Penland, Elizabeth Dryman, Elvira Dryman who married Martain
Norton, Dorcas A. Dryman who married Martin L. Long, Charles S. Dryman,
James Dryman, Jane Dryman and Virgil Dryman.120
The 1810 and 1820 Censuses
It is interesting how the facts about the Dillards disclosed in the deeds are
reinforced by census records. The 1810 census for Buncombe County lists John
117
Notes of the late Lucile R. Johnson citing James E. Wooly, Buncombe County North Carolina Index to
Deeds, 1783-1850, Southern Historical Press, Greenville, S. C. 1983.
118
Id.
119
Notes of the late Lucile R. Johnson.
121
Notes of the late Lucile R. Johnson citing Records of Old Macon County, North Carolina 1829-1850, Clearfield
Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1991 at page 103 for parties to a judgment enforcement proceedings against the
heirs of Henry Dryman, Jr., deceased, resulting in the sale of his land in 1841.
33
Dillard over age 45 as having in his household one male ages 16 through 26 years
of age, one female 45 years of age or older, and two females, one under age 10,
and one 16 through 26 years of age.121 Three older sons listed on earlier censuses
are no longer there.
The 1810 census for Buncombe County lists a Thomas Dillard with a wife
ages 26 through 45 and with two sons and two daughters under ten years of age.
The 1810 census shows for the first time William Dillard with a wife ages
26 through 45, with two sons under 10 years of age and one daughter. Another
female is shown in William Dillard's household as over 45 years of age.122
Further shown in the 1810 Federal Census in Buncombe County is John
Dillard, Jr., age 26 to 45, with a wife ages 16 through 26, with two sons under ten
years of age and no daughters. 123
No other Dillards in Buncombe County are shown in the 1810 census. Also
shown as heads of households in Buncombe County are Eda Gregory, Elizabeth
Gregory, James Gregory, John Gregory and Robert Gregory.124
In the 1820 census of Buncombe County, three households consisting of
Thomas, William, and John, Jr., have disappeared leaving only John Dillard with
one female in the household over age 45, one male age 10 through 16, one male
ages 16 through 18, and one ages 16 through 26, and one female ages 10 through
16. Two parties in the household were reported as engaged in agriculture.125 No
Barnards or Gregorys were reported as living in Buncombe County in the 1820
census.
Luke Barnard
Sarah Barnard, the wife of James Dillard, was also from Buncombe County,
North Carolina. Several Rabun County censuses record that Sally Barnard Dillard
was born in South Carolina. Her father was Luke Barnard who was commissioned
121
1810 U.S. Census, Buncombe County, N.C., page 92.
Id., page 92.
123
Id.
124
Id., pages 78, 79, 80, 82, 92 and 94.
125
1820 U.S. Census, Buncombe County, North Carolina at page 92. Ritchie reports that Obediah Terry Dickerson
lived on his father-in-law, John Dillard's farm, and it is possible some of the children shown in the 1820 Census in
John Dillard’s household were John Dillard's Dickerson grandchildren.
122
34
a justice of the Rabun County Inferior Court on April 19, 1820.126 While he was
in Rabun County dispossessing Cherokee Indians from their private reservations as
early as 1821, he probably never permanently lived in Rabun County. He did
reside just over the line in adjoining Macon County, North Carolina where he was
a land owner and substantially involved in the affairs of that county.
The 1790 South Carolina census records a "Luke Barret" in Ninety Six
District, Edgefield County, South Carolina with no family. At this time, Luke
Barnard would have been about twenty years old.127 Later censuses state that Luke
Barnard was born in South Carolina. In 1791 Luke Barnard was mentioned as an
adjoining property owner in two deeds in Pendleton District, South Carolina (now
Pickens County.) That is where Sarah Barnard Dillard was probably born.
The records indicate a number of Barnards in Buncombe County. Sondley
reports that a Jacob (also known as Job or Joseph) Barnard was on a jury to lay off
a road from Ballard Mountain Road "and the best way to Captain Barnard's on
Blush Creek" at the April term of court in 1794.128 The 1810 census of Buncombe
County lists Job Barnard as the head of a household age 26 to 45 with eight
children. The Barnard community still exists near Marshall, North Carolina. It
should not be confused with later established Barnardsville lying east of Flat Creek
which took its name from Joseph Swain Barnard, (1803-1884) an alleged son of
Job Barnard.129
Luke Barnard is listed on the 1800 census for Buncombe County at page 160
where his name was spelled "Barnett". He is also listed under his correct name in
the 1810 Buncombe County census at page 78 after which he does not appear on
censuses in Buncombe County. Indexing of early North Carolina censuses are
confusing in that another Luke Barnard resided in distant coastal Carrituck County,
North Carolina and is mistakenly shown as residing in Buncombe County.
According to the research of the late Margaret W. Haile, Job Barnard lived
in the "Barnard area" in what is now Madison County, North Carolina near the
present town of Marshall.130 Mrs. Haile comments that "a good guess" but not
genealogically proved would be that Job Barnard and Luke Barnard were older and
126
Ritchie, Sketches of Rabun County History, p. 244.
The name Barnard is repeatedly interchanged with "Barnet" and "Barnett". This has also happened when this
name has been used as a first name for Dillards.
128
Sondley, id., page 725.
129
The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Volume I, Id., page 113.
130
Letter from Margaret W. Haile to Frances Hebert dated April 14, 1985 supplied by Sara L.Buckmaster along
with other Barnard materials.
127
35
younger brothers.131 The Dorinda Whitley projects lists early grants of Job Barnard
on Map No. 32 which is just north of Marshall, North Carolina near the waters of
the French Broad River in Early Northeast Buncombe County, N.C. Land Records,
id., Volume 4 at page 117.
Luke Barnard purchased 175 acres and 200 acres on April 10, 1807 from
Samuel Wilson and Benjamin Bryant by deeds recorded with the Buncombe
County Registry in Deed Book B at Pages 125 and 145 recorded respectively on
April 26, 1809 and on May 13, 1809. Both tracts were on the Caney River
adjoining Greenlee, Horton, the "Big Road" and Bryant. Luke Barnard sold this
property was in 1812 and 1816132 in what might have been readiness to emigrate
into Rabun County, Georgia and Macon County, North Carolina.
The Dorinda Whitley Project shows the Luke Barnard property west of
Burnsville, North Carolina (some distance removed from the Flat Creek area) as
Item Nos. 3167, 3168, 3325 and 3319 on Map 18 at page 61 of Volume 4 of Early
Northeast Buncombe County, N.C. Land Records, id.
The Barnard land owned by Job Barnard, a station or stock stand (which
included an inn or tavern which served food and alcohol) on the French Broad
River near what is now the town of Marshall, is referred to as Barnard's Station or
Inn in Bishop Asbury's Travel Journal in 1804.133 The present town of Marshall,
North Carolina lies a few miles north of the present Flat Creek community where
John Dillard of Rabun County resided.
A 60 to 70 year old Luke Barnet was finally listed on the Macon County
North Carolina census of 1840 with a wife of the same age and as a slave owner
with two younger persons in the household.134
Luke Barnard was last shown on the 1850 Union County, Georgia census at
age 80 as born in South Carolina living in the household of his granddaughter,
131
Frances Herbert in correspondence dated July 7, 1993 states that Job Barnard of Buncombe County (also known
as Joseph Barnard), who was born about 1769, who married Mary Polly Inman and who was mentioned by Margaret
Haile, named one of his children Luke. Luke Barnard and Job Barnard resided in Pickens County, South Carolina
at the same time according to deed records.
132
Deed Books G, Page 86 dated March 3, 1812 to Samuel Wilson, Deed Book G, Page 93 dated March 4, 1812
also to Samuel Wilson and Deed Book 11, Page 472 dated October 28, 1816 to Joseph Shepherd. Witnesses were
William Scott, Samuel Wilson and William Wilson. Mentioned in these deeds were calls to "Rye Branch" and
Hinton Creek.
133
The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Volume I, Section 222, Hunter Publishing Company, Winston-Salem,
North Carolina published by the Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society in 1981.
134
Data supplied by Frances Hebert.
36
Mary Polly Barnard (a child of Andrew Barnard), who resided there with her
husband, William M. Davis.135
The children of Luke Barnard and his wife (possibly named Marguerite)
include Margaret (Peggy) Barnard whose marriage to Josiah Young was recorded
in marriage records in Rabun County on January 27, 1821,136 her twin sister, Sarah
(Sally) Barnard who married James Dillard, Andrew Barnard of Cherokee County
in a part which later became Clay County, North Carolina, Elizabeth Barnard who
married Thomas B. Love,137 and Nancy Barnard who married Dr. John B. Carne.138
Surviving 1834 letters exchanged between the siblings of Luke Barnard proves the
existence of another son, John Barnard, who married Eleander Sisson. 2000
Dillard Annual, page 35.
The research of John T. Coleman set out in the 2000 Dillard Annual proves
that Luke Barnard and his son, John Barnard, were present in Rabun County in
1821 before the Dillards arrived in dispossessing Cherokee Indians from their
private reservations on the same four lots containing 1000 acres in Dillard, Georgia
which James Dillard purchased a few years later.
William McKinney and Charles McKinney
Another example of Buncombe County transplanted into Rabun County,
Georgia is the William McKinney family and its descendants who married into the
Hopper, Dickerson and Dillard families of Rabun County, all with roots in
Buncombe County. Ritchie, id., page 192 reports that William McKinney was one
of the first settlers of Rabun County in the Valley District at Betty's Creek between
1820 and 1830. He was married to Margaret Anderson McKinney. Both emigrated
from Buncombe County, North Carolina. McKinneys and Andersons are shown
on early deed and census records of Buncombe County and Rabun County,
Georgia.139
135
Correspondence from Frances Hebert, of Mission Viejo, California great, great granddaughter of Andrew
Barnard of Clay County, North Carolina dated June 23, 1993.
136
According to records of Mary Ritchie Dillard, wife of Zachary B. Dillard, Peggy Barnard Young was a twin
sister to Sarah (Sally) Barnard Dillard. See Ritchie, id., page 161, and early marriage records now in the Probate
Court for Rabun County, Georgia. Joshua Young was a son of Strawbridge Young and Martha Wilson Young and
was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina about 1796. Margaret Barnard Young's children included a Luke
Barnard Young.
137
Notes of Howard V. Jones, Dillard D-1 March 19, 1993, page 5. According to these notes, Elizabeth Barnard
was born on August 25, 1802 and was married on July 29, 1821.
138
Information supplied to Sara L. Buckmaster from Nancy Keith Wheaton of White River Junction, Vermont a
Young descendant.
139
These included William Mallett Anderson (born March 1, 1784) of the Little Ivy River section at Buncombe
County, North Carolina who married Martha Elkins and George Washington Anderson who moved away before
37
One of their daughters, Eliza (Betsy) Ann McKinney, married Albert Dillard
and another, Rachel Matilda McKinney, married John Barnett Dillard, both sons of
James Dillard and Sarah Barnard Dillard.140 Georgia McKinney, a granddaughter
of William McKinney and Margaret Anderson McKinney, married Hiram Dillard a
son of William F. Dillard of Rabun County who, in turn, was a son of James
Dillard and Sarah Barnard Dillard.141
William McKinney was born in February 13, 1799 in Buncombe County and
died on September 7, 1859 in Rabun County.142 "William McKenney" was shown
on the 1830 Rabun County census. He was also shown on the 1850 Rabun County
census as 52 years of age with a wife, age 48, both born in North Carolina with
children Rachel M., Charles L., William M., Doctor T. and Margaret C.
McKinney. A son, George Washington Anderson McKinney, was not listed in this
census.
William McKinney was a justice of the Rabun County Inferior Court in
1845. Margaret Elvira Anderson McKinney, his wife, who was born July 13,
1801 in Buncombe County and died October 25, 1893 (this was age 92),144 was
listed on the 1880 Rabun County census as living in the household of her daughter
and son-in-law, Leander Beavert, a former sheriff of Rabun County, age 50, and
his wife, Margaret E. McKinney Beavert, age 36. This was at the William
McKinney original residence on Betty's Creek used and in existence until 1937 as a
residence for the Burrell family after the deaths of the Beaverts and located in the
front of the present Dillard Elementary School.145
143
1817. The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Id., Volume I (1981), Hunter Publishing Company, Winston-Salem,
N.C., Section 211 and 212.
140
Ritchie, id., page 193.
141
142
Information from personal interview with Rose Burrell Norton of Rabun County, Georgia; Rabun County
Georgia and its People, Volume I, Walsworth Publishing, Waynesville, N.C., 1992, page 277. "The First White
Man Born in Rabun County", Nancy J. Cornell, North Georgia Journal of History, (unknown volume and date),
pages 353-356.
143
144
Nancy J. Cornell, id., page 355.
142
The children of William McKinney and Margaret Anderson McKinney as shown in the William McKinney
family bible now in the possession of Mrs. Norton passed down to her by Rom S. Burrell who took up the
McKinney and Beavert residence are: (1) George Washington Anderson McKinney, alleged to be the first white
child born in Rabun County on April 14, 1826 and died in Polk County, Georgia on July 26, 1901 (married Margaret
Ellis McClure on December 12, 1846), (2) Eliza Ann (Betsy) McKinney born November 10, 1828 and died
February 28, 1919 in Rabun County (married Albert G. Dillard on December 3, 1849), (3) Rachel Matilda
McKinney born June 3, 1831 and died in Rabun County on June 16, 1899, married John Barnett Dillard, (4) Charles
Lafayette McKinney born April 24, 1834 and died in Towns County, Georgia on an unknown date, married to
Lucinda Caroline Corn on November 9, 1854, (5) William Marshall McKinney, born January 16, 1837 who married
Nancy Kelly a daughter of John L. Kelly and moved away to Texas, (6) Doctor Tatum McKinney born February 10,
38
No property is found indexed in Buncombe County deeded to William
McKinney. He is shown as the head of a household on no Buncombe County
census. However, William McKinney was a witness in Buncombe County to a
1816 deed.
William McKinney on May 15, 1851 along with other heirs conveyed to
John McKinney of Buncombe County property in which he owned an undivided
interest which "fell" to him on the death of his father, Charles McKinney, of
Buncombe County in Deed Book 132 at Page 467 recorded on October 28, 1903.
It is not specified when Charles McKinney died. His wife is alleged to have been
Rachel Inman McKinney. This property was 250 acres on both sides of the Ivy
River in the Ivy River community of Buncombe County east of Flat Creek.
The property conveyed by William McKinney and others is the same 250
acres conveyed by John Anderson to Charles McKinney on January 25, 1816 in
Deed Book 11 at Page 73. This deed was witnessed by William McKinney (who
would have then been 17 years of age) and Thomas McKinney.
Charles McKinney was granted 150 acres on December 20, 1803 in Grant
No. 1298 from the State of North Carolina in Deed Book 3 at Page 289 which he
entered on December 15, 1801 which recites as adjoining property already owned
by McKinney. In Grant No. 1261 the State of North Carolina conveyed to Charles
McKinney 100 acres on Mud Creek "joining his own lands where he now lives"
entered October 27, 1801 recorded in Deed Book 3 at Page 290.
The Dorinda Whitley Project shows that Charles McKinney was granted and
deeded lands on the outskirts of the town of Barnardsville as Items 78, 130 and 389
on Map 49 at pages 204 and 205 of Volume 4.
Charles McKinney was listed on the 1820 Buncombe County, North
Carolina Census as over 45 years of age, with a female of the same age, with 8
males ranging in age from 0 through 26 and three females from ages 10 through 26
and one slave. He is also listed in the 1830 Buncombe County census with eight
sons and three daughters and one slave. In the 1840 Buncombe County census
Charles "McKinnie" is listed as between 70 and 80 years of age (that would make
1840 and died as a Confederate soldier in 1862 unmarried, and (7) Margaret Caroline McKinney, born March 17,
1843 and died in Rabun County, married to Capt. Leander M. Beavert, who had no children. See also Nancy J.
Cornell, id., page 355, 356.
39
the date of his birth no later than 1780) with one female between 60 and 70 and
with one other male between 20 to 30 years of age. Subsequent censuses do not
list Charles McKinney.
The heirs of Charles McKinney who executed the deed in Deed Book 132 at
Page 467 in 1851 leave many questions as to who is conveying what interest in the
property and why. Those who signed in the signature spaces were Joseph
McKinney, William McKinney (who this deed recites resided in Rabun County,
Georgia), Rosannah Ray (of Yancey County, North Carolina) , P. (Pierce) Roberts,
C.(Charles) M. Roberts, Levicey M. Williams, Jasper Hopper (of Rabun County,
Georgia), 146 Henry McKinney (Sr.) and Thomas McKinney. All were reciting in
the granting clause of the deed to be residents of Buncombe County, North
Carolina except William McKinney, Jasper Hopper and Rosannah Ray.
Following the description of the 250 acres it is recited that "the seven and
one tenth shares of the aforesaid land (viz) Joseph McKinney, William McKinney,
Rosannah Ray, Caroline Roberts (deceased), Henry McKinney. Sr., and one-half of
Thomas McKinney's and one-half of Florah Anderson's and all of Charles
McKinney's and Jasper Hopper's part and Levicy Williams's part and C. M.
Roberts part which fell to them by heirship from Charles McKinney deceased".
This deed could account for five possible sons, Joseph, 147 William, Henry, 148
Thomas and John McKinney149 and five possible daughters Rosannah Ray,
Caroline Roberts, Levicey Williams, Florah Anderson and unknown first name
Hopper. What happened to the other three sons listed on the 1820 and 1830
censuses and why there may be more daughters than is shown on the censuses is
unknown.
Fifty two years later on October 27, 1903, G. W. Whitte and George V. Cole
appeared before the Clerk of the Superior Court of Buncombe County and stated
on oath that they were familiar with the signatures of the witnesses, M. Greenwood
146
On the 1850 Rabun County Census Jasper Hopper was listed as a 30 year old farmer born in Tennessee married
to Ruth J. Hopper, age 30 born in North Carolina. He was a nephew of William McKinney then 52. Jasper Hopper's
wife, Ruth, was a daughter of Obediah Terry Dickerson. Ritchie, id., page 192. Jasper Hopper, according to
Ritchie, id., page 187, was the son of Samuel Hopper (whose wife's name is unknown) who came into Rabun
County from North Carolina and settled, like William McKinney, on Betty's Creek. Jasper Hopper served in 1838 in
the Florida War against the Seminole Indians. Ritchie, id., page 187.
147
A "Jos" McKinney is listed on the 1840 Buncombe County census as 30 to 40 years of age with three males ages
5-15 and 4 females ages under 5 to 14 with one female 20-30 years of age. On the 1850 Buncombe County census,
Joseph McKinney is listed at a farmer, age 48, married to Lydia, age 39, with ten children one of whom was named
Charles and another Flora.
148
Henry McKinnie at age 45 is listed on the 1850 Buncombe County census with a wife, also named Lydia, age 36
with five children from one to 17 years of age.
149
1850 Buncombe County census at page 235.
40
and Robert H. McKinney, both then deceased, in order that this deed could be
lawfully recorded.
James Anderson
Charles McKinney and Rachel Inman McKinney had four children who
married Andersons. They were William McKinney who married Margaret
Anderson, Flora McKinney who married John Anderson and Henry McKinney
who married Elizabeth Anderson as his first wife, and on her death Lydia
Anderson as his second wife.
The John Anderson who married Flora McKinney, a daughter of Charles
McKinney and Rachel Inman McKinney lived for awhile in Rabun County,
Georgia. John Anderson is shown on the 1830 census of Rabun County as up to
age 40 with a wife up to age 30 with another male in the household up to age 30
with one son up to age 10 and five daughters under ten years of age.150
According to Albert Stevens McLean, James Anderson of Scotch ancestry
who was born in Northern Ireland about 1740 emigrated to the United States
before the Revolutionary War in which he served with the Virginians in the
Continental Line.151 He was married to Lydia (Pattie) Mallett Anderson. In 1782
he and his family were in New Jersey, but two years later were living in Delaware.
By 1790 James Anderson had moved to Surry County, North Carolina where he is
listed on the 1790 census with nine males and three females. James Anderson
came into Buncombe County (in a part now Madison County) in 1795 and settled
on the Paint Fork of the Little Ivy River.
James Anderson is said by McLean to be one of the first Methodists to settle
west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and accumulated 700 acres of land on which he
was a farmer and stock raiser. His one and one-half story log home was
constructed with gun slots cut through logs to withstand attacks from the Cherokee
Indians still then in Buncombe County. His date of death is estimated as between
1810 and 1814.152
147
1830 Rabun County Census, The Heritage Center, Marietta, Georgia and unproved allegation of fact of Ena M.
Littrell.
151
The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society, Hunter Publishing
Company, Winston-Salem, N. C. (1981), Section 211.
152.
The Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Volume I, Albert Steven McLean, Hunter Publishing Company,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, (1981), Sections 211, 211A, 212; write up of Martha Gray on James Anderson in
Find A Grave Memorial No. 69194146. He is buried in Gabriel Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Madison County,
North Carolina with a grave stones showing a death date of 1814.
41
The Dorinda Whitley Project shows that James Anderson received a land
grant for 50 acres on Gabriels Creek in 1795 recorded in Buncombe County Deed
Book F at page 398, a deed for 100 acres in the same area in Deed Book 3 at page
199, a deed for 50 acres on the north side of the Paint Fork of Little Ivy Creek in
1799 recorded in Deed Book 5 at page 22 and a grant for property at the same
location recorded in Deed Book 8 at Page 28. These are shown on Map 42
northwest of Barnardsville near the Madison County line.
One of the "known children" of James Anderson and Lydia Mallett
Anderson, according to Albert Stevens McLean, id., was George Washington
Anderson who "moved away after 1817." Where he moved away has not been
determined but it is said to have been Tennessee. Margaret Anderson McKinney
named her first born son George Washington Anderson McKinney. The Minutes
of the Head of Tennessee Baptist Church dated March 17, 1860 state that the father
of Margaret Anderson McKinney was G. W. Anderson with a wife named
Elizabeth. These recitations were in a resolution memorializing the death of
William McKinney, who was a member of that church.
A George Anderson is named in the Dorinda Whitley Project in Vol. 1 as
being a grantee of a deed for 100 aces on the Big Ivy Creek in Buncombe County
Deed Book A at page 504 in 1806 and for another 100 acres at the same location in
Buncombe County Deed Book A at page 505 in 1896. He was the grantee for 69
acres and 100 acres on the north side of Big Ivy Creek in Buncombe County Deed
Book C at pages 69 and 75 in 1807. These tracts are mapped and located by
Dorinda Whitley on Maps 48 and 49 which area is near the Madison-Buncombe
County line near Democrat which is near Barnardsville. Whitley’s record shows
that the last recorded deed selling property from this George Anderson was in
1817.
Another son was Robert Anderson who was a colonel in the state militia, a
member of the House of Representatives from Buncombe County in 1821 and who
sold his properties on the Big and Little Ivy Rivers and who moved to Tennessee.
Another son was James Anderson, Jr. (whose will dated April 6, 1834 is probated
in Yancey County, North Carolina) and Nathan Anderson (justice of the peace who
died after 1870 in Madison County, North Carolina). McLean, id., sections 211 and
211A.
Married to William Mallett Anderson, another son of James Anderson and
Lydia Mallett Anderson who was born March 1, 1784 of the Little Ivy River
42
section was Martha Elkins, a daughter of Gabriel Elkins and Stacy Dillard Elkins
(a daughter of Thomas Dillard, Jr. and Martha Webb Dillard). William Mallett
Anderson inherited and resided on his father's farm in Buncombe County. He
purchased the lands of his brother, George Washington Anderson, on the Big Ivy
River. McLean, id., Section 211 and 212.
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 1: Tracts A and B were granted to John Dillard. Tract A is the original 1789
grant which was his home place. Adjoining Tract D was owned by James Dillard. The
adjoining Tract E was granted to William Gregory. Tract C adjoining was owned by John
Dillard, Jr. and James Gregory which was later sold and reacquired by John Dillard.
43
Exhibit 2
Exhibit 2: plotting diagram of land grants to William Gregory, the shaded portion of
which was acquired by William Dillard, a son of John Dillard. The William Dillard
property based on calls in the deed description was first believed to be contiguous to the 60
acre land grant of John Dillard, Sr. (Tract E). The Dorinda Whitney Project locates the
lands of William Dillard nearby the lands of John Dillard, Sr., but not contiguous.
44
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 3: plotting diagram of Tracts F, G and H acquired by Thomas Dillard, a son of
John Dillard. Tract E is a 60 acre tract granted to John Dillard which it was first believed
was contiguous to Thomas Dillard. The Dorinda Whitley project locates the Thomas
Dillard property nearby but some distance away from the 60 acre tract and other property
owned by his father, John Dillard.
45
Exhibit 4
(the contents of this Exhibit are referred to above as the “Dorinda
Whitley Project”)
Early Dillard holdings in Buncombe County, North Carolina
with an emphasis on Flat Creek of French Broad River
prepared for
John M. Dillard
(a direct descendant of the John Dillard discussed in this research)
by
Dorinda Whitley
from
materials prepared for my book
Early Northeast Buncombe County, NC Land Records
Including portions of Madison & Yancey Counties
printed by BookPartners, a division of
the HF Group
2014
SOURCES
Maps in this study are based on the 1942 United States Geological Survey
“Weaverville” topographic map. The images included in this study were taken from
the maps used in Early Northeast Buncombe County, NC Land Records, which were
tracings of a large mosaic of USGS topographic quadrants. Some modifications (such
as moving a creek name for better legibility) were made for this project. For the book,
46
page-sized quadrants were created for indexing purposes. Most of the examples in this
study are from quadrants 52 and 56.
The street map is excerpted from the 4th edition of “Greater Asheville Area &
Buncombe County, North Carolina Street Guide Atlas,” produced by The miniTmap
Company, Knoxville TN (Maps 10 and 11).
The Buncombe County 2015 tax map prints were captured from
http://gis.buncombecounty.org/buncomap/Map_All.html.
References include but are not limited to those listed on pages 78 and 79 of Volume 1
of Early Northeast Buncombe County, NC Land Records.
The “processionings” (re-surveys) used to clarify some tract positioning are from
North Carolina Archives microfilm “Buncombe County Minutes, County Court 18191832” film C.013.30002. This film is mis-labeled. It actually includes court minutes
through 1854, with some gaps.
INTRODUCTION
During my research for the book Early Northeast Buncombe County, NC Land
Records, John M. Dillard very kindly shared his 35 pages of annotated research into
the Dillard family history and holdings on Flat Creek, north of Weaverville. At the
time (2005), Buncombe County’s online deeds only went back to 1925, so I found
myself venturing into family history websites to try to find clues about properties that
adjoined those of my ancestors. I found Mr. Dillard through the website
www.mgaulden.com. I also bought or rented the films of the original land entries,
deeds, and grants.
I spent 10 years working on what became a 4-volume book. It documents over 7,000
deeds and grants, and attempts to place them all geographically. (In the 9 months
since my book was published, I’ve found over two dozen errors, but nothing
significant relating to positioning. I will be publishing errata when I create the CD
with individual images of each grant and deed.)
Of course, with that many individual items, I was not able to “fine-tune” all locations.
Because the Dillard holdings were so central to those of my ancestors, I spent well
over 100 hours trying to make sense of the confusing and sometimes contradictory
descriptions of the parcels’ corners and lines. It’s no wonder that John and I were both
nearly defeated in our attempts to accurately position the Dillard holdings. In my case,
it became mandatory to research hundreds of other peoples’ deeds and grants in order
to get clues.
47
Some clues about terminology found in deeds and grants:
A Land Entry was a brief description of the land that a person was requesting the State
of North Carolina to grant to him (yes, it was almost invariably a man). The entries or
“locations” were written on scraps of paper and were handed in to the county’s Entry
Taker. They were supposed to be entered in the Entry Takers book in the order in
which they were received. If no one claimed a prior right to the property within 3
months, the Entry Taker would issue a warrant to the county surveyor, who was to
prepare 2 copies of the survey. Actually, this meant that at least 3 versions of the
survey would exist. There are the original notes taken at the time of the survey,
perhaps transcribed into the surveyor’s book. The 2 copies that were sent to the North
Carolina Secretary of State would be made from the surveyor’s notes, but not
necessarily drawn by the surveyor himself. There could be 3 or 4 transcriptions of the
survey. There are therefore at least 5 opportunities for transcription errors – when the
Entry Taker copies the location description into his book, when he writes the warrant
to the surveyor, and multiple opportunities as the surveys are performed and then
copied. Another significant difficulty: how much a handwritten “north” can look like
“south,” and “east” can look like “west.”
A Land Grant as returned to the applicant included the land warrant and one of the
two copies sent to the Secretary of State. If for some reason the grant was not issued,
both copies of the survey stayed with the Secretary of State. In some cases, when both
survey copies are still on file, it is obvious that both copies were not made by the same
person. There are even instances of the flow of a creek being drawn quite differently
on each copy.
When the location of a tract is described as being “on the waters of the French Broad”
it means the land is somewhere on a stream that eventually flows into the French
Broad River. If the description is “on the waters of Flat Creek of French Broad
River,” the land could be anywhere along either fork of that Flat Creek – but not Flat
Creek of Swannanoa River.
People very seldom bothered to update the descriptions of the lines and corners of
their properties when they conveyed the land to someone else. They didn’t update the
names of people who held adjacent properties, either. It’s not unusual to find a
reference to a long-dead person as if they still held property “next door.”
A far as the current project is concerned, you should know:
Materials accompanying this study include DeedMapper© prints of the several tracts
with their accompanying DeedMapper© “Metes and Bounds Language.” (The “Metes
and Bounds Language” is just an organized way of entering the description of the
48
property.) When the tract is a grant (or a survey for land that wasn’t granted), I used
the “Wit” line to list the Chain Bearers (CB)/Chain Carriers (CC) who helped the
surveyor measure the land. DeedMapper© is a product of Direct Line Software, and
was invaluable in mapping and repositioning tracts. The maps in this project were
produced by using the DeedMapper print facility, or by making Snagit© captures of
DeedMapper© images on my computer, and editing them with Adobe Photoshop©.
Dates shown for grants are the entry date (when available) because genealogy
researchers usually want the first date their ancestor may have set foot in the area.
Keep in mind that some people had agents to locate properties for them, but that does
not seem likely for the Dillards.
Lines in the text descriptions of the tracts such as “4John1809” are only there to
provide selection criteria to limit the number of tracts displayed.
It turns out that John Dillard’s grant #21 (where he lived) is bisected by the presentday US Highway 19 & 23 north of Weaverville. In fact, when William Pickens
divided Dillard’s #21, the dividing line was defined along “Dillard’s Spring Branch,”
which paralleled the highway. John Dillard’s grant #299 covered the north end of
Weaverville’s Main Street, including today’s US Post Office.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
During my research for the book Early Northeast Buncombe County, NC Land
Records, John M. Dillard very kindly shared his 35 pages of annotated research into
the Dillard family history and holdings on Flat Creek, north of Weaverville. At the
time (2005), Buncombe County’s online deeds only went back to 1925, so I found
myself venturing into family history websites to try to find clues about properties that
adjoined those of my ancestors. I found Mr. Dillard through the website
www.mgaulden.com. I also bought or rented the films of the original land entries,
deeds, and grants.
I spent 10 years working on what became a 4-volume book. It documents over 7,000
deeds and grants, and attempts to place them all geographically. (In the 9 months
since my book was published, I’ve found over two dozen errors, but nothing
significant relating to positioning. I will be publishing errata when I create the CD
with individual images of each grant and deed.)
Of course, with that many individual items, I was not able to “fine-tune” all locations.
Because the Dillard holdings were so central to those of my ancestors, I spent well
49
over 100 hours trying to make sense of the confusing and sometimes contradictory
descriptions of the parcels’ corners and lines. It’s no wonder that John and I were both
nearly defeated in our attempts to accurately position the Dillard holdings. In my case,
it became mandatory to research hundreds of other peoples’ deeds and grants in order
to get clues.
Some clues about terminology found in deeds and grants:
A Land Entry was a brief description of the land that a person was requesting the State
of North Carolina to grant to him (yes, it was almost invariably a man). The entries or
“locations” were written on scraps of paper and were handed in to the county’s Entry
Taker. They were supposed to be entered in the Entry Takers book in the order in
which they were received. If no one claimed a prior right to the property within 3
months, the Entry Taker would issue a warrant to the county surveyor, who was to
prepare 2 copies of the survey. Actually, this meant that at least 3 versions of the
survey would exist. There are the original notes taken at the time of the survey,
perhaps transcribed into the surveyor’s book. The 2 copies that were sent to the North
Carolina Secretary of State would be made from the surveyor’s notes, but not
necessarily drawn by the surveyor himself. There could be 3 or 4 transcriptions of the
survey. There are therefore at least 5 opportunities for transcription errors – when the
Entry Taker copies the location description into his book, when he writes the warrant
to the surveyor, and multiple opportunities as the surveys are performed and then
copied. Another significant difficulty: how much a handwritten “north” can look like
“south,” and “east” can look like “west.”
A Land Grant as returned to the applicant included the land warrant and one of the
two copies sent to the Secretary of State. If for some reason the grant was not issued,
both copies of the
survey stayed with the Secretary of State. In some cases, when both survey copies are
still on file, it is obvious that both copies were not made by the same person. There
are even instances of the flow of a creek being drawn quite differently on each copy.
When the location of a tract is described as being “on the waters of the French Broad”
it means the land is somewhere on a stream that eventually flows into the French
Broad River. If the description is “on the waters of Flat Creek of French Broad
River,” the land could be anywhere along either fork of that Flat Creek – but not Flat
Creek of Swannanoa River.
People very seldom bothered to update the descriptions of the lines and corners of
their properties when they conveyed the land to someone else. They didn’t update the
50
names of people who held adjacent properties, either. It’s not unusual to find a
reference to a long-dead person as if they still held property “next door.”
A far as the current project is concerned, you should know:
Materials accompanying this study include DeedMapper© prints of the several tracts
with their accompanying DeedMapper© “Metes and Bounds Language.” (The “Metes
and Bounds Language” is just an organized way of entering the description of the
property.) When the tract is a grant (or a survey for land that wasn’t granted), I used
the “Wit” line to list the Chain Bearers (CB)/Chain Carriers (CC) who helped the
surveyor measure the land. DeedMapper© is a product of Direct Line Software, and
was invaluable in mapping and repositioning tracts. The maps in this project were
produced by using the DeedMapper print facility, or by making Snagit© captures of
DeedMapper© images on my computer, and editing them with Adobe Photoshop©.
Dates shown for grants are the entry date (when available) because genealogy
researchers usually want the first date their ancestor may have set foot in the area.
Keep in mind that some people had agents to locate properties for them, but that does
not seem likely for the Dillards.
Lines in the text descriptions of the tracts such as “4John1809” are only there to
provide selection criteria to limit the number of tracts displayed.
It turns out that John Dillard’s grant #21 (where he lived) is bisected by the presentday US Highway 19 & 23 north of Weaverville. In fact, when William Pickens
divided Dillard’s #21, the dividing line was defined along “Dillard’s Spring Branch,”
which paralleled the highway. John Dillard’s grant #299 covered the north end of
Weaverville’s Main Street, including today’s US Post Office.
Contents
USGS 1942 “Weaverville” topographic quad – reduced sample
5
Full sized extract from 1942 USGS “Weaverville” quad for area
around John Dillard’s home tract
6
Warrant from John Dillard’s grant NC #21
7
Survey from John Dillard’s grant NC #21
8
Locations of earliest Buncombe County grants on the waters of
Flat Creek of French Broad, showing names and grant numbers
9-10
51
Earliest Dillard grants and deeds shown on topo map. Includes
only those holdings in the Weaverville area
11
Earliest Dillard grants and deeds shown on street map. Includes
only those holdings in the Weaverville area.
12
Illustration of grants that filled gaps between tracts that were
originally thought to share lines
13
Adam Eller’s 1868 deed to A. F. Eller that covered portions of
several early Dillard tracts in the Weaverville area
14
DeedMapper© print showing the calls for the 1868 Eller deed
15
Some of A. F. Eller’s deeds dividing his property, showing that
some, but not all, of the problem lines were adjusted
16
Early court-ordered surveys that provide clues for positioning of
Dillard deeds in the Weaverville area
17
Illustration of deeds and surveys that explain the positioning
chosen for the Dillard deeds in the Weaverville area
18
2015 Buncombe tax map showing remnants of John Dillard’s NC #21
19
Buncombe County plat book extract showing the “Dillard pine”
20153
153
Some Dorinda Whitley “Contents” have been omitted from this paper for the sake of brevity.
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
Original John Dillard Land Grant No. 22 plotted and located on a map
showing Weaverville, North Carolina
From Dorinda Whitley Project
59
60
61

Dillard Deeds in Buncombe County

Transcription

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