Centennial Spotlight: A historiography of Avery County
Michael Hardy / (news@averyjournal.com)
Every week in 2011, The Avery Journal-Times is celebrating the 100th birthdays of Avery County and Banner Elk with a Centennial Spotlight compiled by members of the local community. This week, we continue to provide answers to the 100 questions about Avery County posed in our print editions in January and February.
Historiography is a hefty word that often refers to a body of historical work on a specialized topic. For this week, our “specialized topic” will be the volumes that deal specifically with Avery County: A historiography of Avery County.
Considering how young Avery County is (at a mere 100 years), the history of the county is fairly well documented, with just a few omissions.
While men like Andre Michaux described parts of the area when exploring in 1794, it was Shepherd Monroe Dugger who first picked up his pen and chronicled a piece of our past in his now-famous “The Balsam Groves of Grandfather Mountain,” released in 1892. The book was written as a part of a contest sponsored by Linville Improvement Company. Dugger's work came in second, but was still published. The winner of the contest, Maude Rittenhouse, was from Cairo, Ill., but her publication seems to have disappeared.
John Preston Arthur joined the chronicling process next, producing a history of early Watauga County in 1916. While Avery County had separated from Watauga four years prior to the publication of Arthur's book, the tome contains many references to our area, including information on the Bright settlement, Cranberry Iron Mines and the Banners of Banner Elk. Arthur's history of Watauga County was a sequel to his “Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913,” released in 1914. It was at this same time that the small booklets about the Roseboro community were published. These were authored by Edmund N. Joyner and printed in Lenoir starting in 1916.
We turn our attention back to Dugger, who had not abandoned his work on the county. In 1932, he released “War Trails of the Blue Ridge,” a book that explores most notably the battle of King's Mountain, the capture of Camp Vance near Morganton and the battle of Beech Mountain. All of these events passed through Avery County and involved local men.
It was near this same point in time that Horton Cooper set down and drafted his first version of “A History of Avery County and its People.” There is no date on the privately printed book, but Cooper, near the end, gives a list of county officials as of Nov. 1, 1937.
From the end of the 1930s through the end of the 1950s, there were few published histories of Avery County. There was a world war to fight, and a country to rebuild. The exception would be “Miracle in the Hills” by Dr. Mary Martin Sloop, detailing the life work of Dr. Sloop and her husband Dr. Eustace Sloop in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Around 1961, Joe Hartley released “Walking for Health and Traveling to Eternity, Combined with Singing on the Mountain.” About this same time, Thomas C. Chapman interviewed Arizona Hughes, and a delightful volume, entitled “Aunt Zona's Web,” was released in 1962. Of course, Aunt Arizona was a long-time, award-winning educator from Avery County. This was followed in 1964 with Horton Cooper's greatly revised “History of Avery County.”
Once again the pen of the historian fell quiet for a little more than a decade. It was the advent of our nation's bicentennial that spurred many to start recording our county's past. In 1974, a commission was created to commemorate not only our nation's history, but Avery County's history as well. The first “Avery County Heritage” book was published in 1976. There have been 10 volumes to date, containing essays on local churches and communities, family genealogies and, with volume IX in 2009, early obituaries. Also in 1976, Mallory Ferrell released “Tweetsie Country: The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad.” In 1976 came Leslie Banner Cottingham and Carol Lowe Timblin's “The Bard of Ottaray: The Life, Letters, and Documents of Shepherd Monroe Dugger.”
The decade of the 1980s brought a few more tomes. Margaret Tufts Neal released “And Set Aglow a Sacred Flame in 1983,” a biography of Lees-McRae College founder Edgar Tufts, and an early history of the school, hospital and Banner Elk. That same year, Bessie Willis Hoyt published “Come When the Timber Turns,” a book about life in the area.
Writing about Avery County's people and places blossomed in the 1990s, and continues unabated into the 2010s. In 1992, Howard E. Covington Jr. released a book about Linville, and Martha Pyatte wrote about Coach Pyatte. This was followed in 1994 by the first volume (of many) of Lloyd Bailey's “Heritage of the Toe River Valley” series. Louise Rosson Carney released a book on Beech Haven Camp for Girls in Banner Elk in 1996. Mary Gilmer released books on Grandfather Home for Children in 1997, and area hospitals in 1999. Journalist Miles Tager wrote on Grandfather Mountain that same year.
In 2000 came Scotty Wiseman's autobiography, along with Ralph Lentz's “W. R. Trivette, Appalachian Picture Man;” Will Saunder's “A Brief History of Land Harbor” in 2002; Claudia McGough's history of Childsville in 2003; and soon thereafter, Johnny Graybeal's series, “Along the ET&WNC.” Becky Alghrary has released two volumes of interviews with local people: “Mountain Magnolias” (2002) and “Hemlocks & Magnolias” (2005). Michael C. Hardy's pictorial history, simply entitled “Avery County,” was released in 2005, followed by a collection of essays, “Remembering Avery County,” in 2007. There are also two volumes of photographs of the Banner Elk area, and one of Beech Mountain. The year 2008 brought about Fran Vance Clemons's “View From My Porch: A Look Back at Plumtree,” and Michael Hardy and Jimmie Daniel's volume “Families, Friends, and Felons: Growing Up in the Avery County Jail.” In 2009, Judy Jones Ward released “Sara's Song: A Journey Through Dark Ridge, Avery County.” Just recently, Marc McClure and Sylvia Hahn released “Banner Elk: A Guide to the Town and its Historic Places.”
This list does not include every work, nor even the many wonderful books that draw on Avery County's history in a variety of creative ways. Not mentioned are Gloria Houston's award-winning children's books, Sharyn McCrumb's historical novels, nor the countless family histories, genealogies and cemetery books. Even so, with such a list, there are still topics that need to be covered. There is no history of Newland, Cranberry, Elk Park or Linville Falls, nor of Crossnore. And, surprisingly, no good scholarly history of Avery County. Those projects, and countless others, await the pen of the historian.
Historiography is a hefty word that often refers to a body of historical work on a specialized topic. For this week, our “specialized topic” will be the volumes that deal specifically with Avery County: A historiography of Avery County.
Considering how young Avery County is (at a mere 100 years), the history of the county is fairly well documented, with just a few omissions.
While men like Andre Michaux described parts of the area when exploring in 1794, it was Shepherd Monroe Dugger who first picked up his pen and chronicled a piece of our past in his now-famous “The Balsam Groves of Grandfather Mountain,” released in 1892. The book was written as a part of a contest sponsored by Linville Improvement Company. Dugger's work came in second, but was still published. The winner of the contest, Maude Rittenhouse, was from Cairo, Ill., but her publication seems to have disappeared.
John Preston Arthur joined the chronicling process next, producing a history of early Watauga County in 1916. While Avery County had separated from Watauga four years prior to the publication of Arthur's book, the tome contains many references to our area, including information on the Bright settlement, Cranberry Iron Mines and the Banners of Banner Elk. Arthur's history of Watauga County was a sequel to his “Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913,” released in 1914. It was at this same time that the small booklets about the Roseboro community were published. These were authored by Edmund N. Joyner and printed in Lenoir starting in 1916.
We turn our attention back to Dugger, who had not abandoned his work on the county. In 1932, he released “War Trails of the Blue Ridge,” a book that explores most notably the battle of King's Mountain, the capture of Camp Vance near Morganton and the battle of Beech Mountain. All of these events passed through Avery County and involved local men.
It was near this same point in time that Horton Cooper set down and drafted his first version of “A History of Avery County and its People.” There is no date on the privately printed book, but Cooper, near the end, gives a list of county officials as of Nov. 1, 1937.
From the end of the 1930s through the end of the 1950s, there were few published histories of Avery County. There was a world war to fight, and a country to rebuild. The exception would be “Miracle in the Hills” by Dr. Mary Martin Sloop, detailing the life work of Dr. Sloop and her husband Dr. Eustace Sloop in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Around 1961, Joe Hartley released “Walking for Health and Traveling to Eternity, Combined with Singing on the Mountain.” About this same time, Thomas C. Chapman interviewed Arizona Hughes, and a delightful volume, entitled “Aunt Zona's Web,” was released in 1962. Of course, Aunt Arizona was a long-time, award-winning educator from Avery County. This was followed in 1964 with Horton Cooper's greatly revised “History of Avery County.”
Once again the pen of the historian fell quiet for a little more than a decade. It was the advent of our nation's bicentennial that spurred many to start recording our county's past. In 1974, a commission was created to commemorate not only our nation's history, but Avery County's history as well. The first “Avery County Heritage” book was published in 1976. There have been 10 volumes to date, containing essays on local churches and communities, family genealogies and, with volume IX in 2009, early obituaries. Also in 1976, Mallory Ferrell released “Tweetsie Country: The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad.” In 1976 came Leslie Banner Cottingham and Carol Lowe Timblin's “The Bard of Ottaray: The Life, Letters, and Documents of Shepherd Monroe Dugger.”
The decade of the 1980s brought a few more tomes. Margaret Tufts Neal released “And Set Aglow a Sacred Flame in 1983,” a biography of Lees-McRae College founder Edgar Tufts, and an early history of the school, hospital and Banner Elk. That same year, Bessie Willis Hoyt published “Come When the Timber Turns,” a book about life in the area.
Writing about Avery County's people and places blossomed in the 1990s, and continues unabated into the 2010s. In 1992, Howard E. Covington Jr. released a book about Linville, and Martha Pyatte wrote about Coach Pyatte. This was followed in 1994 by the first volume (of many) of Lloyd Bailey's “Heritage of the Toe River Valley” series. Louise Rosson Carney released a book on Beech Haven Camp for Girls in Banner Elk in 1996. Mary Gilmer released books on Grandfather Home for Children in 1997, and area hospitals in 1999. Journalist Miles Tager wrote on Grandfather Mountain that same year.
In 2000 came Scotty Wiseman's autobiography, along with Ralph Lentz's “W. R. Trivette, Appalachian Picture Man;” Will Saunder's “A Brief History of Land Harbor” in 2002; Claudia McGough's history of Childsville in 2003; and soon thereafter, Johnny Graybeal's series, “Along the ET&WNC.” Becky Alghrary has released two volumes of interviews with local people: “Mountain Magnolias” (2002) and “Hemlocks & Magnolias” (2005). Michael C. Hardy's pictorial history, simply entitled “Avery County,” was released in 2005, followed by a collection of essays, “Remembering Avery County,” in 2007. There are also two volumes of photographs of the Banner Elk area, and one of Beech Mountain. The year 2008 brought about Fran Vance Clemons's “View From My Porch: A Look Back at Plumtree,” and Michael Hardy and Jimmie Daniel's volume “Families, Friends, and Felons: Growing Up in the Avery County Jail.” In 2009, Judy Jones Ward released “Sara's Song: A Journey Through Dark Ridge, Avery County.” Just recently, Marc McClure and Sylvia Hahn released “Banner Elk: A Guide to the Town and its Historic Places.”
This list does not include every work, nor even the many wonderful books that draw on Avery County's history in a variety of creative ways. Not mentioned are Gloria Houston's award-winning children's books, Sharyn McCrumb's historical novels, nor the countless family histories, genealogies and cemetery books. Even so, with such a list, there are still topics that need to be covered. There is no history of Newland, Cranberry, Elk Park or Linville Falls, nor of Crossnore. And, surprisingly, no good scholarly history of Avery County. Those projects, and countless others, await the pen of the historian.
Additional Images
);)
);)
);)