Jacob Evans – US Navy

This past Sunday afternoon, I took a little ride here in Avery County. I was researching something and got distracted by a couple of cemeteries. One of them was the Fall Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, also known as the Fall Creek Graveyard. In this cemetery, I found the grave marker for Jacob Evans. There was a marker (one of the flat bronze type, stating that he had served in the United States Navy during the war. I did some digging this morning and found Evans in the Navy Survivor Certificates. He has an interesting story. Evans was born in 1847 in Surry County, North Carolina. In 1865, he was living in West Virginia and working on a steamboat. On March 1, 1865, he enlisted in the United States Navy in Cairo, Illinois. He served aboard the USS Nymph, Forest Rose, and Red Rover. He was in and out of the hospital while in service, for a variety of reasons, including diarrhea, lame foot, fever, cough, and influenza. Evans was issued a medical discharge September 1, 1865. Evans moved around quite a bit after the war. He was married for the first time in 1870 in Surry County. His first wife was dead by 1900. In 1906, Evans was living in Cranberry (then in Mitchell County). In 1909, he had relocated to Sullivan County, Tennessee. In 1911, Evans married Jane Greer in Elizabethton, Tennessee. They returned to Elk Park, now in Avery County, to live. In 1913, Evans was in the Soldiers Home in Washington County, Tennessee. Evans soon put in for a transfer and, in 1918, was in Montgomery County, Ohio, in another Soldiers Home. It is that year that he applied for and was granted a divorce, which was granted by a Montgomery County, Ohio, judge. The divorce was based upon the idea (fact) that Mrs. Evans was not fulfilling her responsibilities as a wife, even though it was Jacob Evans that left and removed himself several hundred miles away. When a month Mrs. Evans later was informed that she was no longer married, she wrote the pension office, stating that this was the first time she has heard of it, and that Jacob had abandoned her months beforehand and she had not heard from him. Of course, this is only part of the story. The rest is probably lost. In 1921, Jacob Evans returned to Johnson County, Tennessee, and in 1924, was back in Avery County. He required a nurse, who was Robert Church. Evans died at the home of Robert Church in 1926.

Avery County CW Round Table Tonight

Not much going on here in the western part of the Tar Heel State. We’ve had some beautiful weather the past week, but it is raining today (and tomorrow). For the first time in a long time, I am blogless– I really don’t have much going on. I’ve kind of been “on vacation” as of late. When I go “on vacation” I read broadly and spend a great deal of time outside.

I had the chance on this past Saturday to participate in a living history here in Avery County for our local home school group. We worked with about 75 kids and parents (and a few people that just stopped by). We set up six different stations that the groups rotated through. These stations included: the war in the mountains, common soldiers, weapons, cooking, children’s lives, and care packages. We all had a great time, and were asked a lot of great questions. I absolutely love this type of hands-on programming.

Tonight, I am participating in a Avery County and the Civil War program at the local library. I’ve been a part of this type of program for th epast three or four years in Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, Watauga, and Caldwell Counties. Basically, we sit around in a circle, and for two to three hours, talk about the war, both locally and nationally. While I facilitate the program, I am always learning something. If your historical society, SCV camp, or UDC chapter would like to host this type of program, please drop me a note – I would love to help.

Yes, I am “working” on my next project, but I’m not ready to announce what it is. I’m really just doing some reading and taking a few notes. I’m also working on a couple of article queries. No, I’m not sure when I’ll really start writing seriously again. I’m still “on vacation.”

The photo is our group of interpreters from this past Saturday.

News and notes...

A lot going on this week, both in the news and with me (see previous entry). Here is what I found on my weekly crawl through the news.

There is a new monument to Confederate soldiers in Weldon. Check out information regarding it and the war-time hospital in this article in the Salisbury Post.

The Statesville Record and Landmark has an article about resources available at the Public Library in Statesville. Check it out here.

Information regarding the skirmish at Deep Creek (Swain County), and effort to place a historical marker at the site, may be found here.

The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources has announced that advanced tickets are available for the 145th anniversary of the battle of Bentonville. Learn more here.

There is some great information on Dr. Edward Warren, a North Carolina born doctor who wrote "An epitome of practical surgery, for field and hospital (1st Edition. Richmond, Va., West & Johnston, 1863)," one of the most widely used guides used during the war by Southerners. You can read more here.

And, there is a new web site devoted to the life of Harriet Jacobs, put together by the Edenton-Chowan County Tourism Development Authority and developed with Historic Edenton State Historic Site. Check it out here.

Book signings and articles

Lots of news – An article that I wrote a couple of years back (while researching the book on Hanover Court House) on Federal general Irvin McDowell is in the current issue of America’s Civil War. The new issue should be hitting newsstands right about now. Also, I was recently interviewed for an article written by Sharyn McCrumb on Civil War re-enacting. The article is in the current issue of Blue Ridge Country. I saw one on a local newsstand on Saturday, and I encourage you to check it out.

I will be on the road some this week. I am speaking tomorrow night (Tuesday) in Raleigh at the Barbecue Lodge at 4600 Capital Boulevard. Dinner is at 6:30 pm. I plan to do a little research in the archives beforehand. On Thursday evening I’ll be in Barnardsville at the Big Ivy Community Center. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. I’ll also be participating in a living history this weekend here in Avery County. This event is for our local home school group.

I often comment that I try and take much of October off. I took a good deal of it off, but alas, October is over, and it is time to go back to work.

Book signing in Asheville

Folks – I received this email yesterday and thought I would pass it along.

Suzy Barile, descendant of Buncombe Co. native David Swain, will talk about her new book, Undaunted Heart: the True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, next Friday, Nov. 6 @ 7pm. It’s the story of Ella Swain, daughter of former NC governor and UNC president David Swain, who fell in love with and married the Union general whose troops occupied Chapel Hill at the end of the Civil War. Based on family letters, the book chronicles the challenges of rebuilding lives after the Civil War and the social history of the era. Please help spread the word about this event.

Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

We had a great time last night in Bakersville at our Mitchell County and the Civil War discussion. For those in the area, we are doing a similar program in Avery County on November 10 – 6:30 pm at the library in Newland.

One of our visitors last night brought up some questions about iron mines in the Confederacy during the war. Our friend believed that Cranberry ranked second behind the mines in Birmingham, Alabama, for production of iron ore during the war. From my research, I know that iron ore was mined in Cranberry during the war, but only on a small scale, the problem of transportation keeping it from being more productive. According to the family who operated the mine during the war, only one wagon load of ingots was transported a month to the railhead near Morganton.

So, this led me a round of research this morning into iron mines in North Carolina during the war. At the start of the war, there were more than 100 iron furnaces and bloomeries in the South.

I found a long list of localities that were mined in North Carolina during the war. These include, but are probably not limited to:

Bloomery Mine, Nash County
Ore Hill, Chatham County
A mine near Asheboro which produced some of the “most highly prized iron obtained during the war…”
Costner Mine – Lincoln County
Oremond Mine – Gaston County
Widow Bailey Place – Lincoln County
Rodgers Mine – Stokes County
William Ore Bank – Yadkin County
John A. Allen plantation near Mocksville.
Davidson River Iron Works – Henderson County.
Cranberry Iron mines – Mitchell (now Avery) County

So which ones were the largest? I’m not sure. I do know that the Bloomery Mine and the Ore Hill Mine were Confederate operations, meaning, they were run by the Confederate government to some extent. In October 1861, the Fayetteville Observer reported that the Ore Hill Mine was producing 15 tons per week. In 1857, the Cranberry Mines were producing 17 tons a year.

Just another forgotten aspect of a very large conflict.

News and notes....

Yes, I know, I just did this recently, but several things have come up that you might be interested in.

There will be a Mitchell County and the Civil War Round Table tonight at the Masonic Lodge in Bakersville. Starts at 6:30 pm and everyone is invited to attend.

There is some information on the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in a magazine called Sport Fishing. You can check it out here.

Information about a Tar Heel soldier who served in the 25th NCT and who might have owned a Henry rifle can be found here.

Zeb Vance gets a mention in a article about the Tenth Amendment, which you can read here.

The Gaston Gazette reports on the activities of writer and historian Mark Hughes, who has put together “The New Civil War Handbook.” Check it out here.

There is a upcoming living history at the site of the Fayetteville Arsenal this weekend. Learn more about the Arsenal and the event by clicking here.

This past weekend, there was a memorial service honoring Maj. James Riley, the officer who surrendered Fort Fisher. Check it out here. Andrew Duppstadt has more information on his blog, Civil War Navy, which you can find here.