Locations in Davie County for the Boone FamilyLocations in
Davie County
For the Boone
Family
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— DAVIE COUNTY ENTERPRISE RECORD, THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1975
Daniel Boone. Marries Rebecca
squire. -Boone,
i by Gordon Tomlinson
It was 222 -years -ago, April 13,. 1753, ..Elisabeth Boone; born in February 1732
Squire Boone acquired his first tract of. in Berks County, Pa. married William
land in Davie. This was a 6404cre tract, Grant around 1751 or 1752, soon after
one -square mile, situated on. the "south arrival on in the Forks of the Yadkin.
side of Grant's otherwise Licking Grreek". William Grant was born in 1726 and died is
As is pointed out by James Wall in his January 1804 in Fayette County, Ky.
History of Davie County, this Grants Creek' . Elisabeth died Feb. 25, 1825, in. Ken-
today is known as Elisha Creek. It was tacky. They had 10 children.
known in the 1750's as Grants Creek, Mary .Boone, born in. November 1736,
am Bryan in Rowan County.
probably for William Grant, who married married Willi
Elizabeth Boone, Squire Boone's daughter, in 1754. After several years of residence in
and as Licking Creek for the salt licks on North Carolina where all their children
it. were born they moved to Kentucky and
This 640 -acre. tract was near where settled at Bryan's Station, which William
Elisha Creek joins Dutchman Creek. Bryan and his brother had founded. This
On December 29, 1753, Squire Boone settlement suffered many set backs due to
purchased another 640 -acre tract from Indian raids, so Mrs. Bryan (the former
Lord Granville. This tract was on Bear Mary Boone) did not go to Kentucky to live
Creek, about two miles west of Mocksville, until the fall of 1779.
and is the homesite of the late Mr. and George Boone, born January 1739, died
Mrs. George 'Evans. November 1820. He married around 1764
It is here near the broad bottoms of Bear to Ann or Nancy Linville who died March
Creek that Squire Boone is believed to 28, 1814. November, 1740,
have built his home in early 1754. In Wall's Edward Boone,
History of Davie County- the cabin is married Martha Bryan, daughter of
described by H. H. Helper, who was born Joseph and Alee Bryan, and a sister of
and reared there, as follows: Rebecca Bryan, who married Daniel
"It was one story, 18 by 22 feet in size, Boone, died in 1780 in Kentucky.
built of 12 by 18 inch faced logs. The roof Squire Boone, Jr., born Oct. 5, 1744, was
was on a .60 -degree slope, and there was married on August 8, 1765, to Jane Van
only one door. The entire house, including Cleve, who was born Oct. 16, 1749, and died
the roof shingles, was pegged together. March 10, 1829. This Squire Boone died in
The heavy plank door, hung on wood August 1815.
hinges, had about 18 handmade nails in it. Hannah Boone, born August 1746, and
The floor was of heavy oak boards adzed died in 1828, was married the first time to
smooth. The chimmey was seven feet John Stewart or Stuart, who disappeared
�- wide in front and six feet wide behind with on an expedition with Daniel Boone around
v a very deep fireplace and built of soap • 1770. She was married the second tiste to
stone rocks and wood chinked with mud. A Richard Pennington. She was a very small
smaller log building, 12 by 14 feet with a. child when her parents came to this area of
hard smooth dirt floor and built of round` North Carolina. Daniel and
a post oak logs, stood near the house. Squire After their marriage,
v Boone's house would have been typical of Rebecca Boone lived in a cabin in Squire
d the better frontier cabins of the mid- Boone's yard. Soon, however, they built a
cc 1700's." cabin oetheir own on Sugar Tree Creek
ti D Near the settlement of Squire Boone (known today as Sugar Creek, located
lived the family of Joseph Bryan. The betwee,US 158, Winston-Salem Highway,
Bryan family: had. preceeded the Boone and the'Farmington Road). Sugar Creek'
family into this area by about six years. empties into Cedar Creek.
Mary Boone, daughter of Squire and The site of' Daniel Boone's cabin is
Sarah, had married, William Bryan', a believed have been on the farm of Bryan
brother of Joseph Bryan --Both sons of Smith d`the Farmington community. A
Morgan Bryan. It was at the wedding of marker on the rock wall of the old Far -
his sister Mary and William Bryan that. mington school building said: "Daniel
Daniel Boone first sawhis future wife. She Boone used to live two and one-half miles
was Joseph Bryan's daughter, Rebecca. east of Farmington."
y This was in 1754 and Rebecca at that time Here a son, James, was born to them.
was only fifteen. Two years afterwards, another son _
lata, on August 14, 1786, whom they named Israel was Dorn.
Daniel Boone and Rebecca Bryan were At that time, Daniel's time was occupied
married. Squire Boone, in his capacity as by farming, weaving, and blacksmithing'
justice of the peace, read the service that with occasional trips with other wagoners
` made them man and wife. This : wedding to the coastal cities.
•y
— DAVIE COUNTY ENTERPRISE RECORD, THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1975
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took place at Squire Boone's place on Bear
In the spring of 17s9 the Cherokee In -
dians raided the Yadkin and Catawba
Creek.
The of the other children of
valleys. Instigated by the French and also
record
Squire and Sarah Boone is as follows:
in New
influenced beynawell grounded fear that the d
English e4 • some day to posses
Samuel Boone, born in May 1728,
Britain Township, Bucks County, Pa.
themselves of Nhe tribal lands, thehe
Cherokees raided the valleys, destroy
married Sarah Day,a young Quakeress of
education, who is said to have taught her
to
crops, burned cabins, murdered settlers
and dragged wives and children into cruel
young brother-in-law, Daniel Boone,
read and write. Samuel Boone died in
captivity.
Fayette County, Kentucky, date unknown..
White settler fled to escape the carnage.
Many of the Boones ' "forted up" in Fort
Sarah Day Boone died around 1819 at the
home of her son-in-law, Leonard H.
Dobbs (Iredell County), which was
Bradley, in Missouri.
Johnathan Boone, born Dec. 6, 1730. He
besieged by the red warriors. Squire
Boone and his son, Daniel, took their
is said to have preceeded -his father into
to the Yadkin
families to safety in the east•
Squire and Sarah Boone left Davie
this area and migrated
River in Southern Davie County. He
County and went to Maryland until the
Indian wars were over. Their son, Squire,
.married Mary Carter, daughter of James
Carter. "Boon's Ford" is believed to
Jr., who had been learning the gunsmith
And blacksmith trade from Samuel Boone
-have been named for Johnathan. He died
in Pennsylvania, . had. moved with -the
around 1808.
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DAVIE COUNTY ENTERPRISE RECORD, THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1975
Settle In D
vie
aryland inset ; little _ �: • :. tract from his father for So- pounds)". This Atterbury Spraker; "Daniel Boone" by
District of Also, Daniel during this period may have was the Bear Creek Tract. Also, on the John gakeless; "On The Trail of Daniel
.r three years, been making trips -back into this area. On same date, Squire Boone sold. the Elisha Boone In North Carolina", by George H.
October,12,1759; while the Indian wars still Creek Tract to his son, Squire, Jr.
.ie and family raged* a deed shows him. buying 640 acres Next week we wily take up the end of the Maurice; "History of Davie County" by
and went to of land from his father (Squire. Boone) in Indian Wars and the return of Squire and James' .Wall; ' deeds, and other data
Fredicksburg:. Rowan .County. A' note- added to the. Sarah Boone to Davie County. compiled as a wagoner,. original deed -explains: (Information in the above obtained by -the late Mrs. Louise Utley and ,
ind hunting a "Daniel' Boone; 'Planter, bought this from: "The Boone Family", by Hazel myself)-
a
vie County Public libtafy
MOt; wile, NC
JOURNAL AND 8ENTINEL
Daniel Boone, His Parents Oir fm
By Jeanette Reid
'hill Mptln
MOCNSVILLE — If wood
'could talk, the 20 -inch -wide logs
In an old house on Bear Creek
near here would spin an Inter
esting tale.
They would certainly tell
about the house being the home
of Hinton Rowan Helper, who
Shocked the nation in 1857 with
his book, "The Impending Cit.
sis "
And the hand - hewn logs
might also tell about Daniel
Boone's parents living In the
cabin and Daniel himself living
there for short periods.
Local historians and geneal.
ogists are certain that Daniel's
parents one. owned and lived
on the land where We cabin
stands. It Is now enclosed as
part of a dwelling, with the
original Ings risible only under
a stairway.
Came to NX
When Daniel's parents, Squire
and Sarah Boone, came to
North Carolina about 1752, what
Is now Davie County was part
of Rowan County.
In Rowan County Deed Book
3, page 164, is recorded the sale
to Squire Boone Dec. 29, 1753,
of a tract beginning "on the
east aide of Bear Creek, run.
ring then west 80 chains to a
small Black Oak tree, then
north 80 chains to a Pine, east
60 chains to a Black Oak, then
to the beginning, containing in
whole 640 acres."
In Rowan County Deed Book
4, page 195, is recorded the sale
of the land to Daniel and Be.
becca Oct. 12, 1759. Ownership
of the property can be traced
right through to the lledper
family sed to the present own.
er, Mrs. George Evans.
Another Purchase
This doesn't mean Davie dds.
pules Davidson County's claim
to being at one time the home
of Daniel or his father. The
Rowan records also shoe that
Squire first purchased 640 acres
on the south side of Licking
Creek in Dgriisan County April
30. 1753. 0.11 <
Just why he purchased the
tract In Davie later the same
year and went to live on Bear
Creek Isn't known. Perhaps he
wanted to be near his nephew,
John Boone, who bought 630
acres on nearby Hunting Creek
the same month Squire bought
the
The enclosed log cabin portion of the Evans house is at left.
Logs 20 Inches Wide to storage area.
Squire's daughter, mauled Jo
seph Bryan's brother, and at
the wedding Daniel first saw
his future wife, Rebecca. She
was Bryan's daughter.
. They were married two years
later and lived for a time N a
cabin in Squire's yard, accord.
Ing to the records. They soon
built a cabin of their own on
nearby Sugar Creek balloons
U. S. 158 and Farmington Road.
atatl rrolm
Two arms, Joseph and Israel,
mere horn here.
The spring Indian raids in
1759 sent Daniel and Squire
scurrying north with their feml-
lies. Daniel bought Squire's
property in late 1759, and by
the end of 18760 the Indian
threats were over and Daniel
returned with his family.
In the spring of 1762 Squire
and Sarah, Ahen 66 and 62 re-
spectively, returned from Mary -
Isn't.
Records show Sgnfre and
Sarah lived on Bear Creek att-
er their refit". Squire died In
1765 at the age or 60, and Sarah
lived with her daughter Mary
until bar death In 1777. Both
are hurled in Joppa Cemetery
about a mile from the existing
log cabin. Their tombstones are
now encased In concrete be-
cause sight -seers were chipping
them away for souvenirs.
In TIM Daniel sold his Is
SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 22, 10
vie Land Reyuf
Insta�
er's former propperly to Aaron Air^
Van Cleave, whaae da.ghteq Roa,
Jane, married Squire Boone Jr. Ing'
The Davie properly was neat N
said to John Dick, then to l
cob Helper (then 'period lia-
el-
fer), then to helper's son, Dan.
iel.
Daniel Helper'' <nn, tlinlnn,
shocked the notion as a Snnlh
ern writer who allnckrd sUn-
ery. Itis honk, "Thr hn PrnrliuF
Crisis of Ibe Soulh: Ilmv to
Meet Its' reporledly sold sry
real million copies. It was used
to great effect. according In:
the Encyclopedia .Americana,
by the Republican party in the
elections of 1860.
filch q'. N-fler mol A. R.'
Newsome, in Ihrir hfslnev of
North Carolina, said ilrlm'r.'
"denounced slave masters ani:
'lords of the lash' and sm,rht,
In prose by ron,parilivi, sla-'
Itddrs, user) in on Indole ondi'
unschniarty m:nmrr. 111M sloe.I
cry had rencrd the Grath In Inc
fnr behind Iha North in
Neallh."
Land Again Sold
The helpers sold the proper
'.y on Bear Creek to John and
Lewis Mulilcan In IBM, and
..gorge Evans, a native of Eng
and, bought the land In 1921.
Evans, now deceased, was man.
ager of the N. C. Slate farm
and was Davie Counly farm
,gent.
Mrs. Evans, who still lives in
he house, show, visitors the
hick walla where The wide Ines
,are been enclosed. The origi.
,al log cabin had three roim.s
n the first finer and one large
-oom upstatrs.
Various occupants, Including
he Evanses when they had a
it of children at home,
ldded to the original structure
n front, at the side, nod at the
-ear. The Evmtses also cul ad-
filional upstairs windows.
hits. Evans uses [lie space
under the slairwav inhere the
age still show for pantry.
"I don't know any more much
shout the house than anyone
else," she said, "but there car.
ably are lots of people Inter.
!sled In It."
DAVIE C-0. PUI313C 013RAB,Y
MOCKSWLLF, NO
Bethlehem Church Cemetery
Levi G. Smith January 241 1817- Jan. 12 1888
GQw9 Smith 1873- 1940
Mary C. Smith 1873- 1912.
Mr. Bryan Smith says:
The old Levi GQ Smiths house originally stood 1/4 mid north of the
present Bryan smith house,
Bryan Omith' s house is located in the forks of Jugar creek.
George Ivo Smith bought the lot he lives on from his -brother Charles.
S:ee plat in egister of Feeds office, showing division of estate of
Levi GQ Smith's land.
The traditional Rebecca Boone cabin site is near Byran Smith's house.
Levi Go Smithmarried first, a McMahan
If Nor. ByranSmith has his land owners correctly lined up, t e Boone
cabin of tradition, was on land of Levi G. Smith.
question: "here did Levi GQ Smith aquire said land? S- Z�, A��.
-Ra,4-Ar. L L 1 Cy
t
Dave Co. Public Library
mocksOle, rq. G.
1�d
EASTERN COTTONWOOD TREE
Populus deltoides
The Eastern Cottonwood Tree at Boones Cave Park is
approximately 200 years old. It is almost 16 feet in
circumference, and is 164 feet tall. The crown spread is 104
feet wide. The cottonwood at Boones Cave is the largest
one on record in the state of North Carolina. The trail to the
cottonwood is I mile round trip from start to finish. It runs
through a wetlands area of the park and can sometimes be
wet and slippery
The cottonwood tree is in the same family as Willows.
They are huge trees of riverbanks, floodplains and wetland
areas. It is a fast growing tree. It can grow as much as 5 feet
tall and 1 inch around in a year.
THE CAVE, AT BOONES CAVE
The cave here at the park is rumored to be the cave that
Daniel Boone and his family lived in when they first
arrived in North Carolina. There was a group of 25, both
relatives and neighbors. The Boone family consisted of
Squire -Boone and his wife,(Daniel Boones parents) and
their 10 children, one of which was 15 year old Daniel. The
rest were neighbors and friends who decided -to follow the
_ . Boones to bigger and better places to live. It took approx. a
year to build cabins for the families. And during that time
they reportedly all lived together in a cave along the
Yadkin River. The cave at Boones Cave Park is thought to
be the cave they lived in because it is in the correct area,
and it is the only cave known, that is large enough for 25
people.
The cave is approx. 140 feet long. It gets smaller as you go
back, down to only about 4 inches. There has been a rumor
that there are 7 rooms in the cave,that is false. What you
see, is what there is. There are a couple of thoughts as to
how the cave was formed, 2 of which are, that the cave is
the result of an airbubble in the lava flow from a volcano
eruption, (there is proof of a volcano in Churchland) and
the second is that the river once flowed much deeper, and
the cave was under water, and the water flow etched out the
cave. I am sure there are other thoughts also.
The cave stays about 74 degrees years round. There fore it
is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
There are no bats or snakes in the cave, only lizards and
frogs. The temperature is not suitable for bats and snakes.
LOIS FOSTER looks over the site where, according to stories passed down through the years,
Daniel Boone had a cabin. The site is on her land on the east side of Beaver Creek, near Beaver
Creek Road and her home. This land has been in the Foster family since before the Civil War.
(Staff Photo)
Squatters, Hunters Like Boone
Left Few Signs For Historians
Jerry Cashion said he has no
doubt that Daniel Boone once
stayed in the area that later be-
came Wilkes County, but there
isn't enough evidence of it to
merit the placement of state his-
torical markers.
Cashion, research supervisor
with the N.C. Department of Ar-
chives and History, said calls
about Boone's residences in
North Carolina (including re-
quests for state historical
land in Davidson County to the
state on the premise that it was
the site of a Daniel Boone cabin,
Cashion said.
The man who sued lost his
case for the same reason there is
only one state historical marker
for a Boone homesite. That
reason, Cashion said, is that
"Boone squatted everywhere he
went," leaving no records of land
ownership. "A hunter doesn't
leave many, records.", ,:_,,,,, . .
deed or contemporary records
showing something happened or
e)dsted at a past time, he said.
Even if there is an acceptable
documentation, a site proposed
for a historical marker must have
statewide historical significance,
Cashion said.
Historical markers are ap-
proved for about one out of every
four proposed, Cashion said. The
ironsignscost about $1,300, but
there are other costs related to
about two -dozen questions. that ". t:ounry, wnere. _there _ are aeea Decisions on whether sttes are
come tomyofficeyear afteryear,.7 records showing Boone owned approved for signs ,aren't based
land. But even -these records -
he said. on the avaffabillty of money be
.The" N.C.'Historical'"commis- ;'dont.prove. that Boone livedon:::causethe placementofsigns,can_;
Sion was even sued in the 1960s the land, Cashion said. be delayed until later _budget '
by'a man who -wanted to donate ',,Proper. documentation is,a .years Cashion said
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But, Wall says, in his histo• "for most of 13 years," is a manhood, he acquired in Da-
ty, "there are no known deed different story, vie County the experience, for-
records to prove ownership by In Chapter Two of the his- titude, courage, endurance,. i
Squire Boone or Daniel Boone resourcefulness, and expertise
of any land in the present Da- tory he hopes will be published with the rifle which enabled
in October, Wall concludes:
W" him to succeed in his great
Davie,
where Daniel lived "From boyhood through undertaking,"
Page 1 of 1
Doris Frye
From: ELSIE BRANTLEY [ELSIEBRANTLEY0563@msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 5:45 PM
To: doris.frye@co.davie.nc.us
Subject: Daniel Boone cabin
Recently, I inquired about the location and present owners of the land where Daniel Boone's
cabin was located. You informed me that there was nothing left standing of the cabin but the
well used by the Boone's. Is it possible that you could give me the names and number of the
present owners of the cabin site. I would still like to visit the property and see the well and
where the cabin stood. Thank you so much for your time. If you cannot give out their name or
number, please provide an e-mail or ask that they e-mail me. Sincerely, Mike Brantley
0
Davie County Public Ubrary
' Mocksville, NG
cr-r
q
6/18/2002
The late Miss Flossie Martin, researcher of Davie County history and genealogy
for more than a half century; Andrew Lagle, who, using some 1500 deeds and grants,
prepared a scale map of some 450 of the earliest county landholdings; the late Howell
Boone, direct descendant of John Boone and an -authority on the history of the entire
Boone family; and I, James Wall, researcher and author of The History of Davie
County, have all been of the opinion that, while there are no known extant records to
prove the exact house site of Daniel and Rebecca in northeastern Davie County, the site
was in the fork of Sugar or Sugartree Creek on land claimed by the Morgan Bryan family,
Rebecca's family.
The Bryans claimed and owned several thousand acres in this part of the county
and a homesite there for her young family would have been near her family members.
This would have been to her advantage since Daniel was away hunting and exploring for
long periods of time.
I fust visited the site in the late 1960s while researching for the Davie County
history volume. (I mentioned the tradition in this book.) It was then owned by the
Bryant Smith family. Mrs. Smith told me that when they built a small frame house and
moved there about 1900 they used rock from a former house site to line the dug well still
there in the 1980s when I was there again. She said there was a tradition that these rocks
had been used for the foundation and chimney base of the Daniel and Rebecca Boone
cabin.
Dr. James McGuire, a knowledgeable local historian, told his granddaughter, Jane
McGuire, that when he visited the site in the mid -1880s he found only some rocks from a
former homesite said then to have been the homesite of Daniel and Rebecca Boone.
In the mid-1980s Howell Boone, an authoritative Boone family historian, and I
visited the site and made pictures and slides. I have a few of these slides in our library
History Room . Perhaps these could be copied should you wish to see them.
The site is, I believe, in the same Smith family ownership though I do not know
them. It is not maintained for visitation.
In my opinion the tradition that this site is a former homesite of Daniel and
Rebecca Boone for several years between 1757 and 1766 is very strong, but to my
knowledge there are no records to authenticate the oral accounts that been been told for
more than a century.
Davis CountY Pwb"c Ubrary
MO&SNot K
The late Miss Flossie Martin, researcher of Davie County history and genealogy
for more than a half century; Andrew Lagle, who, using some 1500 deeds and grants,
prepared a scale map of some 450 of the earliest county landholdings; the late Howell
Boone, direct descendant of John Boone and an authority on the history of the entire
Boone family; and I, James Wall, researcher and author of The History of Davie
County, have all been of the opinion that, while there are no known extant records to
prove the exact house site of Daniel and Rebecca in northeastern Davie County, the site
was in the fork of Sugar or Sugartree Creek on land claimed by the Morgan Bryan family,
Rebecca's family.
The Bryans claimed and owned several thousand acres in this part of the county
and a homesite there for her young family would have been near her family members.
This would have been to her advantage since Daniel was away hunting and exploring for
long periods of time.
I first visited the site in the late 1960s while researching for the Davie County
history volume. (I mentioned the tradition in this book.) It was then owned by the
Bryant Smith family. Mrs. Smith told me that when they built a small frame house and
moved there about 1900 they used rock from a former house site to line the dug well still
there in the 1980s when I was there again. She said there was a tradition that these rocks
had been used for the foundation and chimney base of the Daniel and Rebecca Boone
cabin.
Dr. James McGuire, a knowledgeable local historian, told his granddaughter, Jane
McGuire, that when he visited the site in the mid -1880s he found only some rocks from a
former homesite said then to have been the homesite of Daniel and Rebecca Boone.
In the mid-1980s Howell Boone, an authoritative Boone family historian, and I
visited the site and made pictures and slides. I have a few of these slides in our library
History Room. Perhaps these could be copied should you wish to see them.
The site is, I believe, in the same Smith family ownership though I do not know
them. It is not maintained for visitation.
In my opinion the tradition that this site is a former homesite of Daniel and
Rebecca Boone for several years between 1757 and 1766 is very strong, but to my
knowledge there are no records to authenticate the oral accounts that been been told for
more than a century.
emly pwic IArary
Mock94189 "C
The late Miss Flossie Martin, researcher of Davie County history and genealogy
for more than a half century; Andrew Lagle, who, using some 1500 deeds and grants,
prepared a scale map of soma 450 of the earliest county landholdings; the late Howell
Boone, direct descendant of John Boone and an authority on the history of the entire
Boone family; and I, James Wall, researcher and author of The History of Davie
County, have all been of the opinion that, while there are no known extant records to
prove the exact house site of Daniel and Rebecca in northeastern Davie County, the site
was in the fork of Sugar or Sugartree Creek on land claimed by the Morgan Bryan family,
Rebecca's family.
The Bryans claimed and owned several thousand acres in this part of the county
and a homesite there for her young family would have been near her family members.
This would have been to her advantage since Daniel was away hunting and exploring for'
long periods of time.
I first visited the site in the late 1960s while researching for the Davie County
history volume. (I mentioned the tradition in this book.) It was then owned by the
Bryant Smith family. Mrs. Smith told me that when they built a small frame house and
moved there about 1900 they used rock from a former house site to line the dug well still
there in the 1980s when I was there again. She said there was a tradition that these rocks
had been used for the foundation and chimney base of the Daniel and Rebecca Boone
cabin.
Dr. James McGuire, a knowledgeable local historian, told his granddaughter, Jane
McGuire, that when he visited the site in the mid -1880s he found only some rocks from a
.former homesite said then to have been the homesite of Daniel and Rebecca Boone.
In the mid-1980s Howell Boone, an authoritative Boone family historian; and I
visited the site and made pictures and slides. I have a few of these slides in our library
History Room . Perhaps these could be copied should you wish to see them.
The site is, I believe, in the same Smith family ownership though I do not know
them. It is not maintained for visitation.
In my opinion the tradition that this site is a former homesite of Daniel and
Rebecca Boone for several years between 1757 and 1766 is very strong, but to my
knowledge there are no records to authenticate the oral accounts that been been told for
more than a century.
Ovid County Nblic L OWY
MO&svilie, NE
OA°l
0
EDITH MARIE CARTER of the Ferguson community stands where she ana.mally U1.1 [via
Daniel Boone had a cabin. She is on a knoll on the north side of the Yadkin River, a few thousand
feet downstream from the mouth of Beaver Creek. Mrs. Carter's father, the late Thomas Ferguson,
worked hard for recognition of this and one other spot on Beaver Creek as Boone cabin sites.
staff photo)
cient beech tree is near the Yadkin at the right.
Though Documentation Lacking,
Some Don't
3
Doubt Boone Sites
By JULE HUBI3ARD
State officials never agreed to put up highway
r historical markers indicating locations of Daniel
a Boone's three cabins in Wilkes County because of
a lack of land records and other documentary
y evidence.
And efforts to establish an interstate motor trail
1 with signs to show Boone's route from Wilkes to
f Kentucky in the 1760s and early -1770s, havent
1 reached fruition.
' Nevertheless, there are people in Wilkes who
can take inquirers to two of the sites where they
say Boone lived.
The third site was near the mouth of Lewis Fork
r, ,k and Holmans Ford across the Yadkln_River.
J.W. Spainhour,. a dentist and amateur ar-
chaelogist in Lenoir.
Spainhour Letter
Spainhour, in a letter he wrote that year to his-
torian L Lyman
istorian.Lyman C. Draper, said he visited "the
Daniel Boone localities in Wilkes County`' in Sep-
a�.:.Mr 7 RR7. .
Spainhour wrote that remains of the Boone
cabin near Holman's Ford indicated it was 16-
feet-by-l&feet, built of round logs, chinked and
daubed with doors on each side. one looking east
and the other west. The cabin had a chimney an
its south side facing the Yadkin River, he wrote.
The cabin was on the slope of a'hill about 40
feet above the level bottomland of the Yadkin. "in
full view of about a thousand as8fie botto
lands. A fine spring of fesh. pure spring
r is
situated about 50 yards west of the homeplace,
and is known as Boone's spring:' .Spainhour
wrote.
In addition to other description about the
cabin's location, Spainhour wrote thatthe hill on
.._y.s.:...ti,.,..friwiwar fame stoodisto the
Hamby site waslocated last year by a team o ar-
chaelogists working for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
Ferguson's Affidavit
The late Thomas Ferguson, a patriarchal resi-
dent of the Ferguson community who died in _1959
(Continued on Page 2) -
A2 The Journal -Patriot. North Wilkesboro, N. C., Fet
Ifo
Boo e
1 .!y
(Continued From Page 1)
at age 101, worked for broad
recognition of the two Boone
cabin sites near his home,
several miles 'west of the
Holman's Ford site.
In a notorized affidavit written
and signed by Ferguson in 1953
and published in George H.
Maurice's "Daniel Boone in North
Carolina," Ferguson swore to the
authenticity of the cabin sites.`
Ferguson said he frequently
heard his father, Lindsay Fer-
guson, and his uncle, Jesse Fer-
guson, say they had known many
older residents who had seen and
talked with Daniel Boone and
members of his family.
According to the affidavit,
those older residents clearly
stated Daniel Boone had I a
residence on the east side of
Beaver Creek, about a mile from
its mouth at the Yadkin, and that
a spring near this cabin site was
known as Daniel Boone Spring.
The .affidavit says the other
cabin was about a mile away, on
a prominent* knoll on the north
side of the Yadkin River a short
distance downstream from the
mouth of Beaver Creek.
At the date the. affidavit was
written, chimney stones and
other evidence of the two cabins
remained. "... I have seen these
evidences myself and have been
told by my father and uncle and
they in turn by -their father and
other older residents that these
were the exact locations of
Boone's 'residences during his
sojourn in this part of the state,"
the affidavit states. .
Other older residents of the
Ferguson community, both living
and those who died in recent f
years, were told by their elders
that Boone lived in cabins at the
two sites.
Site On Foster Farm
Mrs: Lois Foster, who owns the '
_ . ;pasture about a mite from the
mouth :=oU-1 aver Creek . *Bert .
Boone supposedly had a cabin,
said she was always told that
Boone stayed with relatives who .
owned the cabin, instead of
owning it himself. _
Mrsr Foster, 75; lives in an 87 -
year -old farmhouse nearby that
her late husband, Edward
Foster, inherited from his father.
the land that -the cabin site is on
has been in her late husband's `
family since before the Civil War.
Mrs. Foster_ said her mother,
-'Loula Triplett, used to'talk about
nearby Daniel Boone Spring'
before her death at age 94. "My
mother said there used to be a
gourd there and everybody would
get a drink of water with it. If we
did that now they'd say we would
get germs and get sick," she said
with a smile.
The spring was covered up by
dirt in an excavation operation
during the early -1970s, she said.
Chimney rocks that stood at the
cabin site were hauled away by
tenant farmers before that, she
added.
Using information from an in-
terview with Col. James M. Isbell,
who had seen the Boone cabin on
the east side of Beaver Creek
during his boyhood, John Pres-
ton Arthur described the site in
1914 in his "History of Western
North Carolina: "The Boone
house was in a little swamp and
eanebreak surrounding the point
of. a ridge. The swamp was in the
shape of a horse-shoe, with the
point of the ridge projecting into'
it. The foundations of the chim-
ney are still there and the cabin
itself has not been gone more
than 52 years." .
Site On Wolfe Farm
The Boone cabin site near the
mouth of Beaver Creek also is in
a pasture. According to local
legend, Boone moved to the
promontory here because of the
risk of floods where he was living
along Beaver Creek. A small
stream called Stillhouse Branch
flows by the base of the hill and
into the Yadkin.
The site near the mouth of
Beaver belongs to Mrs. Betty Rae
Wolfe of Ferguson::This land has
a
�about 1950 and before that was `
in the McEwen . family.. '-Much i
longer ago, it was in the Ferguson
Dr. Spainhour wrote in his let-
ter to Draper in 1888 that Boone
also had camps near the. mouth
of Elk Creek, near Deep Gap, on
Boone's Fork of Warrior Creek in
Boomer,` at Boone's Gap in the
Brushy Mountains and a few,
miles below Wilkesboro on the .
Yadkin.
Spainhour wrote that "it is
said that Boone was the first
white man to pass through"
Boon's Gap, and that Iocal resi-
dents said three Indians killed by
Boone. in the gap were buried
there by other Indians.
Presence Is Confirmed
The presence of Boone and his
family in what later became
Wilkes in the 1760s and early
1770s is confirmed in Boone's
autobiography. It was from
Boone's home or homes here that
he traveled to Kentucky, and
finally settled in that state.
According to research by
writer Mary A. Hancock, Boone
and his wife, Rebecca Bryan
Boone and children, first settled
near Holman's Ford in the
mid -1760s.
They came here from what
today is Davie County, possibly
following Hunting Creek or
crossing the Brushy Mountains
at Boone's Gap near Boomer.
Early records indicate that
Boone's Gap was an important - -
passage through the Brushy
Mountains, • although -today no
more than a four-wheel drive
trail passes through the gap.
Around 1810, men were ap-.
pointed by the county to Jay off a
road "from widow Bogle's across ;
the Brushy Mountain at Boon's
Gap, the best and nearest way to f
Holman's Ford on the Yadkin;" ,
Milo information is from Judge
Johnson J. Hayes' "Me".Land of
" Wilkes." . - .. .:
According to . Rowan County-.
records researched by Hayes,�„i
?. _.._ - _ k:._
was among the mien a
e Pp . ted._
do th
worts ,Wilkes was
pain_,
Rowan at this tlaie. = s Y:
,�.
A George fjoone, tienevea w rm -?
Daniel Boone's brother, had a
residence at the mouth.of Beaver
Creek and owned land along
Beaver Creek and Warrior Creek,
according to Rowan records..
Eward, Squire Jr.. and Jonathan
Boone, other•brothers of Daniel,
are believed to have ' lived in
Wilkes. pati : •r�.a
Rebecca B4,an, Boone"s wife,
.-was a member of a family that
remains active in Wilkes affairs
-to this day.
Leaving The Yadkin
In the winter of 1768-69, an .
Indian trader named John
Findley (often spelled Finley but
not the John Finley who is the
progenitor of North Wilkesboro's
Finleys) came to the Boone cabin
and eventually convinced Boone
that he needed to see the land
beyond the Blue Ridge and Cum-
berland mountains.
Boone led Findley and four
other men on an exploratory and
hunting trip to Kentucky in the
spring of 1769. Boone remained
in Kentucky two years.
Boone said in his autobiog-
raphy that he returned to his wife
and children on the upper Yad-
kin in March 1771, "being deter-
mined to bring them as soon as
possible, at the risk of my life and
fortune, to reside in Kentucky."
However, according to George
Maurice, Boone migrated no far-
ther west than five miles up the `
Yadkin to Beaver Creek in the .
next two years. j
"I sold my farm at Yadkin, and
what goods we could 'not carry
with us," Boone said in his
autobiography, "and on the 25th
of September 1773, we bade
farewell to our friends, and
proceeded on our journey to Ken-
tucky, in company with five other
families... "
Boone led the expedition "up
the Yadkin to the mouth of Elk .
Creek, up that stream past the
present village of Darby, thence
up and across the Blue Ridge,".. r
he said- in his autobiography.' .'
ever returning•to-the county tha
was to be created -and called '
y
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moasyme, NC
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181 West Church Street
Mocksville, N. C. 27028
July 11, 2000
Dear Gene,
Finally, after a very busy near three weeks, there is time to write a brief note and
say what a pleasure it was to have your group of Boone descendants visit us. We have
never assisted any group, even a local one, more interested, responsive, and appreciative.
We would enthusiastically say "Thank you for coming." We thought the briefing at the
church, the tour which Jane Simpson helped plan and participated in and the visit to the
history room at the library with Doris Frye, Glenna Lagle, and Nancy Wall Piston - and
the weather - all worked out well. We would welcome you or anyone interested to visit
again and to examine Howell Boone's collection and see if there is any new or
unpublished information in it.
Esther and I want to especially thank all of you for the beautiful silver tray. It is
larger than our other two and she likes the style of it. We will certainly use and enjoy it.
It was a most thoughtful way to say thank you. Thanks also for the card with everyone's
signature. We will file it with the Boone Collection to have a record of those who came.
Please convey our sincere thanks to all through your correspondence media and
invite any one interested to come to see the Boone material, Joppa Cemetery, and the
family home sites in our Davie County.
Cordially, Davie County
o"eksville; NC
P. S. The big 50th Anniversary celebration was a huge success. We have recovered to the
point of now getting the 51 st underway.
lam`' �..�. G� '%`lC✓�-� �'�"`�. w--
), X ---� —
'14
1
4-
4z
,
t_l
Ml
The late Miss Flossie Martin, researcher of Davie County history and genealogy
for more than a half century; Andrew Lagle, who, using some 1500 deeds and grants,
prepared a scale map of some 450 of the earliest county landholdings; the late Howell
Boone, direct descendant of John Boone and an authority on the history of the entire
Boone family; and I, James Nall, researcher and author of The History of Davie
County, have all been of the opinion that, while there are no known extant records to
prove the exact house site of Daniel and Rebecca in northeastern Davie County, the site
was in the fork of Sugar or Sugartree Creek on land claimed by the Morgan Bryan family,
Rebecca's family.
The Bryans claimed and owned several thousand acres in this part of the county
and a homesite there for her young family would have been near her family members.
This would have been to her advantage since Daniel was away hunting and exploring for
long periods of time.
I first visited the site in the late 1960s while researching for the Davie County
history volume. (I mentioned the tradition in this book.) It was then owned by the
Bryant Smith family. Mrs. Smith told me that when they built a small frame house and
moved there about 1900 they used rock from a former house site to line the dug well still
there in the 1980s when I was there again. She said there was a tradition that these rocks
had been used for the foundation and chimney base of the Daniel and Rebecca Boone
cabin.
Dr. James McGuire, a knowledgeable local historian, told his granddaughter, Jane
McGuire, that when he visited the site in the mid -1880s he found only some rocks from a
former homesite said then to have been the homesite of Daniel and Rebecca Boone.
In the mid-1980s Howell Boone, an authoritative Boone family historian, and I
visited the site and made pictures and slides. I have a few of these slides in our library
History Room. Perhaps these could be copied should you wish to see them.
The site is, I believe, in the same Smith family ownership though I do not know
them. It is not maintained forvisitation.
In my opinion the tradition that this site is a former homesite of Daniel and
Rebecca Boone for several years between 1757 and 1766 is very strong, but to my
knowledge there are no records to authenticate the oral accounts that been been told for
more than a century.
Davi® county Publit Ukdq
moccsOle, io ,
Thursday Afternoon • July 28. 1983
P Q n_iei Boone:
The Tar Heel Years
First of two parts
By TOM SIEG
Santinal 5411 Rlpariar
Cabin of Daniel and
Rebecca Boone Ar m�
Gee
DAVIE COUNTY
ourch�d,
9
19010
IPN
�l�Sha �P
Cl f
i eek,
Squire Boon +�
and Daniel Boone Squire Boone
John 8 �e y * Joppa�
Cemetery
ao 9°-P Mocksville
F
i x
j
�F
1 Jonathan Boone
i
�S
1
-p Santinal Map by Jim sbnlay
Mop shows Boone family land holdings in Davie County and the site of
Daniel and Rebecca Boone's cabin.
u
QAV1E CO. PUBII^, LIBFURRv
'/ 7-1 e Se Kt( N 0- � � l2 ; v, 5- a( �Irrdq IVIOCKSViLLE, NC