A cemetery known to be located in the Follies region of Etowah, but not located for decades, was recently found and the historical Sitton-Gillespie cemetery in Mills River has a new monument noting its significance to the county’s history.
Follies cemetery
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On a ridgeline above the Follies valley, where the Seven Falls development is being built, a cemetery was located and photographed recently.
“One of the cemeteries has been found,” said Rodney Orr, a descendant of Farley John Orr, one of the original pioneers who settled in the Follies region.
Residents who grew up in the region knew two cemeteries and the lone grave of Matilda’s Folly were located in and near the valley.
When a committee from the Henderson County Genealogical Society attempted to locate the cemeteries for the book Henderson County N.C. Cemeteries, the cemeteries and graves could not be found. They are listed in the book as being in the area.
Orr, who grew up in the valley and spent many years hunting and fishing in the region, remembered seeing two cemeteries along the ridgeline many years ago.
“All had foot and head stones,” he said.
One of the cemeteries was located along a trail that runs up the ridgeline.
“The old trail out of the valley must have been used to come up here and bury these people,” Orr said.
The cemetery has been disturbed and vandalized. Eleven grave stones were counted. Three are still upright. Two of the graves were dug up in acts of vandalism.
Head and foot stones are scattered around the site.
“The other, larger cemetery was at the top of the ridge,” Orr said. “There were 18 graves the first time I saw it about 35 years ago.”
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From GPS coordinates, the cemeteries appear to be located on property listed in the Henderson County tax office as belonging to the Shepherd Family Limited Partnership. Research through the state records show this partnership as being dissolved. Principal ownership is listed as an address on Underhill Road. Attempts to contact persons at this address were unsuccessful.
Today, a large tree is down on the spot of the larger cemetery and no evidence of stones could be seen.
“There are also two Indian caves in the Follies,” Orr said. “They were big.”
Residents living in the Follies used to visit the waterfalls, have picnics and enjoy the beauty of the region, Orr said.
“There’s a lot of history here the developers don’t know about,” he said.
Developers of Seven Falls say any cemeteries on the property slated for development will be protected. It is known that the Thomas-Fletcher Cemetery, containing the grave of the first sheriff of Henderson County, is in the area to be developed.
“There will be no impact on the cemeteries,” said Phil Werz, director of public relations for the Goss Agency, representing Private Mountain Communities, developers for Seven Falls. “They won’t be disturbed. In fact, they will be cleaned and protected. In every instance a grave or cemetery is located, every precaution will be taken to protect and preserve.”
The lone grave of Matilda’s Folly has not yet been located. Pioneer Farley John Orr owned a female slave named Matilda. The story is told that Matilda fell in love with a Cherokee Indian. The couple would meet in secret. Matilda gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Matilda’s Folly.
Matilda’s Folly, a midwife and herbal healer, never married. She was 97 when she died and buried in her yard under a large white oak tree.
“Before she died, she had a marker made for the head of her grave,” Frank FitzSimons Jr. wrote in the book From the Banks of the Oklawaha. “It was a slab of gray granite that was chiselled from the side of Jeter Mountain. The top of the marker was cut with four slanting teeth which gave the tombstone the appearance of being topped with saw teeth.”
FitzSimons states in his book that he saw this gravestone and a sketch was drawn that is depicted in his book.
A large stone and granite monument designating the Sitton-Gillespie Cemetery as the burial place of Philip Sitton, pioneer iron maker, and Mathew Gillespie, maker of the legendary Gillespie rifles, will be dedicated July 4 in honor of family historian Bert Sitton Jr.
Sitton, who also volunteers at the Henderson County Genealogical Society, has spent years researching the history of the families.
“Bert has single handedly taken on the role of helping us preserve and enjoy our heritage,” wrote Betty Ann Elmore of Morganton.
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The cemetery off South Mills River Road contains the graves of about 100 descendants of Philip Sitton and Mathew Gillespie.
The first Gillespie in the region, John, settled near Rosman prior to 1800. He established a gun shop where the Gillespie rifles were made.
“The rifles were muzzle loaders,” Sitton said. “Each gun, being handmade, had to have bullets made to its specific requirements.”
Pioneer Philip Sitton settled in the late 1700s on 3,000 acres of land on both sides of the South Mills River. He began operating an iron forge. This mountain where the iron forge was located is now known as Forge Mountain.
Using the iron forged by the Sitton family, “blacksmiths soon began turning out axes, hatchets, drawing-knives, chisels, augers, horseshoes, horseshoe nails, bolts, nuts and even pocketknives,” Sitton said.
“Most of the ore was mined at the headwaters of Boyleston Creek near Little Mountain and Sitton Creek, and hauled up and across Forge Mountain, and down to the forge on South Mills River, where sufficient water power was available,” he said.
During the making of the iron, the molten ore settled into a nest and the “slag” remained on top.
“Pieces of this slag can be found there to this day,” Sitton said. “And the earth is still black from the blacksmith shop which adjoined the iron furnace or forge.”
The Gillespie family was using this iron to make the rifles. Mathew Gillespie, son of John, fell in love with a Sitton daughter, Elizabeth. After the couple married in 1810, Mathew Gillespie built a gun shop near the iron forge. Each of the couple’s sons became gun makers.
“The Gillespie rifle was long of barrel, slender and graceful of stock,” Sitton said. “No two were identical. Many were ornamented with inlays of brass, German silver or even coin silver.”
When men from Henderson County went to fight in the Civil War, many were carrying Gillespie rifles. Some of these rifles may be in Civil War museums or yet undiscovered on Civil War battlefields, experts say.
The Gillespie long rifle is now a collector’s item. One can be seen at the Pioneer Museum at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One on display at the Vance Birthplace State Historic Site was stolen several years ago. Another Gillespie rifle, reputed to have been owned by Daniel Boone, is said to be in a museum at Harrodsburg, Ky.
“A Gillespie rifle today is worth in excess of $2,000, some going for over $5,000,” Sitton said.
When: July 4, meet about 10:45 a.m. at Mills River Baptist Church on South Mills River Road Ceremony: 11 a.m. at cemetery Speaker: George Jones, a founder of the Henderson County Genealogical Society and History Center A covered-dish lunch follows at the church. Cemeteries maintained by trusts Persons and families maintaining historical and family cemeteries through donations and trusts can contact [email protected] with name of cemetery, contact person and mailing address for donations, for a list to be published in the future. Persons or families wanting a cemetery placed on the county’s Adopt-A-Cemetery list or interested in erecting a historical marker supplied by the county can contact Jay Jackson at 693-4261 or Toby Linville at the Henderson County Planning Department.
Sitton-Gillespie monument dedication
Source: https://t-tees.com
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