Hezekiah Alexander Gudger (1849-1917)

Hezekiah Alexander Gudger (1849-1917) of Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Born in Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina 27 May 1849. Son of Joseph Jackson Gudger and Sarah Emaline (Barnard) Gudger; married 10 August 1875 Jennie Hardy Smith (1854-1943); brother of James Madison Gudger, Jr.; uncle of Katherine Gudger Langley.

Republican. Lawyer. Member of North Carolina House of Representatives 1873-1876; member of North Carolina Senate 1885; candidate for Presidential Elector for North Carolina, 1896; U.S. Consul General in Panama, 1897-1905; Justice, Canal Zone Supreme Court 1905-14; Chief Justice, 1909-1914. Methodist.

Member, Freemasons. Died in Beaverdam, Buncombe County, North Carolina 22 September 1917 (age 68 years, 118 days). Interment at Riverside Cemetery, Asheville, North Carolina.

Allen Turner Davidson(1819-1905)

Allen Turner Davidson (1819-1905)

In the group photograph Jefferson Davis is in the center, with Allen Turner Davidson to the left. Click on photograph for a larger image.

Allen Turner Davidson (9 May 1819 - 24 January 1905), lawyer, Confederate congressman, and member of the Council of State, was born in Haywood County, the son of William Mitchell, a Burke County farmer, and Betsy Vance Davidson. His grandfather was Major was Major William Davidson, an officer in the American Revolution. Captain David Vance, also an officer in the Revolution, was his maternal grandfather. Both men fought as patriots. Young Davidson's mother was the aunt of Zebulon B. Vance. He was educated in the "old fields" schools of Haywood County and at Waynesboro Academy.

At the age of twenty, Davidson began working in his father's general store. The following year he was commissioned a colonel in the state militia. Shortly thereafter he began to study law under Michael Francis. In 1843, while still a student, he was appointed clerk and master of equity for Haywood County, an office from which he resigned in the spring of 1846. On 1 January 1845, he was admitted to the North Carolina bar and moved to Murphy to begin his law practice as a solicitor for Cherokee County.

North Carolina 60th Infantry Regiment (Civil War)

The North Carolina 60th Infantry Regiment was organized at Greenville, Tennessee, during the summer of 1862 by adding four companies to the 6th North Carolina State Infantry Battalion. The men were recruited in Asheville and the four counties of Madison, Buncombe, and Polk, and a small number were from Tennessee. The The 60th fought at Murfreesboro , served in Mississippi, then participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Bentonville . It lost 3 killed, 65 wounded, and 11 missing at Murfreesboro, and in January, 1863, had 276 men present for duty. The unit reported 8 killed, 36 wounded , and 16 missing of the 150 engaged at Chickamauga, totalled 106 men and 59 arms in December, 1863, and mustered a force of 106 in January, 1865. Few surrendered in April. Assigned to Preston's, Stovall's, Reynolds', Brown's and Reynolds' Consolidated, and Palmer's Brigade. Officers included: Colonels Washington M. Hardy and Joseph A. McDowell; Lieutenant Colonels William H. Deaver, J.M. Ray, and James T. Weaver; and Majors James T. Huff and William W. McDowell.

The 60th was formed by the increasing of the 6th NC Infantry Battalion to a regiment in 1862. The regiment was in the Department of East Tennessee in 62 and the Army of Middle Tennessee. Latter in 62 they were with the Army of Tennessee. Breckingridge’s Division of the Department of the West and Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana and 2nd Corps of the Army of Tennessee in 63. In late 63 they served in Stevenson’s Division, 1 Corps and 2nd Corps of the Army of Tennessee until April of 65. In was in their service with Stevenson’s Division that they were consolidated with the 58th and designated as the 58th Infantry Regiment Consolidated at Smithfield, NC.

Asheville was not always known as peaceful, elegant or especially inviting. This mountain city became a vital Confederate military center during the Civil War. The first company of soldiers west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Buncombe Rifles, carried a flag made from the silk dresses of town belles when it marched on April 18, 1861. Seven of the 10 companies comprising the 60th North Carolina Regiment were Buncombe men.

"The Buncombe Farmers," Company E, 60th Regiment N.C. Troops
"The Buncombe Guards," Company F, 16th Regiment N.C. Troops (6th Regiment N.C. Volunteers)
"The Buncombe Life Guards," Company H, 29th Regiment N.C. Troops
"The Buncombe Light Artillery," Company A, 60th Regiment N.C. Troops
"The Buncombe Rangers," Company G, 9th Regiment N.C. State Troops (1st Regiment N.C. Cavalry)
"The Buncombe Riflemen," Company E, 1st Regiment N.C. Volunteers
"The Buncombe Rifles," Company E, 1st Regiment N.C. Volunteers
"The Buncombe Sharp Shooters," Company F, 16th Regiment N.C. Troops (6th Regiment N.C. Volunteers)

Fort McDowell

EARLY FORT IS DESCRIBED

Dr. J. M. Spainhour's description of Fort McDowell in his writing of the story of Lydia Burchfield, is of interest. Fort McDowell, according the Spainhour, was located on the bottom lands of the Catawba River, a mile and three quarters from where the town of Morganton now stands. He says,

"The fort was a stockade, and had been erected in 1756-57 when the Indians had threatened the white settlers and was constructed of logs 25 feet long; the logs were halved and the edges trimmed to fit the one it joined. A ditch five feet deep was dug in the ground and the timbers standing erected with the flat side, but were securely fastened together by cross pieces, and the lower ends securely packed in the ground.

John Erwin Patton Smith (1834-1921)

John Erwin Patton Smith (1834-1921)

Among the prominent citizens of Ellijay District of Gilmer County, Georgia, was John Erwin Patton Smith. J.E.P. was born 21 April 1834 near Swannanoa, Buncombe County, North Carolina. He was a son of Daniel Smith, Junior (1798-1866) and Margaret Isabella McRee (1801-1885), youngest daughter of the noted Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Dr. James McRee (1752-1840) and Rachel Cruser (1761-1856). J.E.P. was a grandson of Captain Daniel Smith (1757-1824), a well known Indian fighter and North Carolina militia officer during the Revolutionary War, and Mary McConnell Davidson (1762-1842). J.E.P.'s father moved the family to Gilmer County about 1844, settling northeast of Ellijay near Turniptown. Here J.E.P. was a farmer like his father.

All about Dynamic Views for Readers

All about Dynamic Views for Readers

A Souvenir Directory to the Land of the Sky (1898)

A Souvenir Directory to the Land of the Sky, T. M. Barker, Jr. (1898)

To view the book, click on the above link.