Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical and Biographical Part 5

"John Jack, when young, was of a gay and festive disposition. After he joined the church, he sobered down to great calmness and evenness. He was always exceedingly neat in his person, courteous in his manners, and kind and charitable to the poor. He bore through life, the character of an earnest, honest, and upright man of business, was an Elder of the Presbyterian Church, and a good Christian."

He died on the 28th of September, 1837, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He had the following children: 1. Robert Y.; 2. Carlton T.; 3. James R.; 4. John; 5. Margaret; 6. Juliette M.; 7. John G., and 8.

Edward W. Jack. The last named son is now (1876) the only one of the family living. Robert Y. Jack settled in Winchester, Va., and engaged in merchandising. In the war of 1812, he raised a company which was stationed at Craney Island, and partic.i.p.ated in the battle at that place.

Robert Y. Jack died near Charleston, Jefferson county, Va., in 1834, leaving an only child, Frances Rebecca, who married Thomas J. Manning, of the U.S. Navy. They both died previous to the late Confederate war, leaving three sons: 1. Charles J.; 2. George Upshur, and 3. Frank Jack Manning. Each one of these brave youths joined the Confederate army, all under the age of eighteen years. George Upshur was killed in the cavalry charge under General Stewart at Brandy Station. Frank Jack was shot through the body, but recovered of his severe wound and continued in the army. They all three served under General (Stonewall) Jackson, through his campaigns, and after his death, under General Early.

John G. Jack settled in Louisville, Ky., and died there, leaving three daughters and one son, Robert Bruce Jack.

Edward W. Jack, youngest son of John Jack, of Romney, now lives near Salem, Roanoke county, Va., in the quiet fruition of all that pertains to an honorable _bachelor's_ life. All the members of this family have sustained exemplary characters, and now occupy fair and eminent positions in society.

Charity Jack, eldest daughter of Patrick Jack, of Charlotte, married Dr. Cornelius Dysart, a distinguished physician and surgeon of the Revolutionary army. The Dysart family, at that time, resided in Mecklenburg county. Dr. Dysart is said to have built the first house on the "Irwin corner," a.s.sisted by his brother-in-law, Captain Jack, who owned the lot until his removal to Georgia, shortly after the war.

Dr. Dysart died comparatively young, leaving a widow and two children, James and Robert Dysart, who settled in Georgia. Of their subsequent history little is known. Jane (or "Jean,") Jack, second daughter of Patrick Jack, married William Barnett, son of John Barnett and Ann Spratt, of Scotch-Irish descent. The name Spratt is generally spelled "Sprot," or "Sproat," in the old records. Thomas Spratt is said to have been the _first person_ who crossed the Yadkin river, _with wheels_; and his daughter Ann the _first child_ born in the beautiful champaign country between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers. He first intended to settle on Rocky River (now in Cabarrus county), but Indian disturbances occurring there near the time of his arrival, induced him to select a home in the vicinity of the place which afterward became the "town of Charlotte." At his humble dwelling, one mile and a half south of Charlotte, was held the _first Court_ of Mecklenburg county.

Abraham Alexander, the Chairman of the Mecklenburg Convention of the 20th of May, 1775, and Colonel Thomas Polk, its "herald of freedom" on the same occasion, were then prominent and influential members of this primitive body of county magistrates. Near the residence of Thomas Spratt is one of the oldest private burial grounds in the county, in which his mortal remains repose. Here are found the grave-stones of several members of the Spratt, Barnett and Jack families, who intermarried; also those of the Binghams, McKnights, and a few others.

On the head-stone of Mary Barnett, wife of William Barnett, it is recorded, she died on the 4th of October, 1764, aged forty-five years.

A hickory tree, ten or twelve inches in diameter, is now growing on this grave, casting around its beneficent shade. The primitive forest growth, once partially cut down, is here fast a.s.suming its original sway, and peacefully overshadowing the mortal remains of these early sleepers in this ancient graveyard.

The descendants of William Barnett and Jane Jack were: 1. Annie Barnett, married James Jack, third son of Captain James Jack, of Mecklenburg memory, whose genealogy has been previously given. 2.

Samuel Barnett, married, 1st, Eliza Joyner; descendants: 1. Jane Barnett, married A.S. Wingfield. 2. Sarah J. Barnett, married Alexander Pope, Sen. Descendants of Samuel Barnett (second marriage) and Elizabeth Worsham were: 1. Samuel Barnett (Was.h.i.+ngton, Ga.), married Elizabeth A. Stone. Descendants: 1. Annie Barnett, married Rev. William S. Bean. 2. Frank W. 3. Samuel (Davidson College.) 4.

Osborne S. 5. Edward A. 6. Hattie A.; and 7. Susan Barnett.

The descendants of John Jack and Mary Barnett were: 1. Ann Jack, married Moses Wiley. 2. Mary A. Jack, married John J. Barnett. 3. Dr.

Thomas Jack. 4. John Jack. 5. Samuel Jack, married Annie Leslie. 6.

Susan Jack, married Alexander Bowie, formerly Chancellor of Alabama.

The descendants of Moses Wiley and Ann Jack were: 1. Leroy M. Wiley.

2. Mary Wiley, married Thomas Baxter. 3. Thomas Wiley. 4. Eliza Wiley, married Mr. Carnes. 5. Sarah Ann, married John R. Hays. 6. Laird Wiley; and 7. Jack Wiley.

The descendants of Susan Barnett and George W. Smart were five children, of whom only two arrived at the years of maturity, Albert W.

and Thomas B. Smart.

George W. Smart represented Mecklenburg county in the House of Commons in 1805, and again in 1808. He died in May, 1810. Mrs. Smart survived her husband many years, and was one of the _remarkable women_ of her age. She was long known and highly esteemed in Mecklenburg and surrounding country for her general intelligence, ardent piety, and retentive memories of Revolutionary events. At the great gathering of delegates and people in Charlotte, on the 20th of May, 1775, she was present (then thirteen years old), and still retained a distinct recollection of some of the thrilling scenes of that memorable occasion, not the least of which was "the throwing up of hats," in the universal outburst of applause, when the resolutions of independence were read by Colonel Thomas Polk, from the Court-house steps.

She died on the 28th of November, 1851, aged ninety years, and is buried, with other members of the family, in a private cemetery on her own farm, nine miles from Charlotte, on the Camden road. It should be stated, the grandfather of L.M. Wiley and others, (John Jack) was _a cousin_ and not a brother, as some have supposed, of Capt. James Jack, of Charlotte.

Our prescribed limits forbid a more extended genealogical, notice of the Barnett family and their collateral connections, many of whom performed a conspicuous part in the Revolutionary War. Capt. William Barnett was a bold, energetic officer, and was frequently engaged, with his brothers, and other ardent spirits of Mecklenburg, in that species of partisan warfare which struck terror into the Tory ranks, checked their atrocities, and gave celebrity to the das.h.i.+ng exploits of Col. Sumpter and his brave a.s.sociates.

Mary Jack, third daughter of Patrick Jack, of Charlotte, married Captain Robert Alexander, of Lincoln county, who emigrated from Pennsylvania to North Carolina about 1760. He commanded a company during the Revolution, in the Cherokee expedition, under General Rutherford; acted for several years as Commissary, and performed other minor, but important trusts for the county. He was one of the early band of patriots who met at Newbern on the 25th of August, 1774, and again attended the Convention at Hillsboro, on the 21st of August, 1775. After the war, he settled on his farm, one mile northwest of Tuckasege Ford, on the Catawba River. His residence was long a general stopping-place for travelers, and painted red--hence, it was widely known as the "Red House Place."

He was elected to the State Legislature consecutively from 1781 to 1787; and acted, for many years, as one of the magistrates of the county, showing the general acceptance with which his services were held. He died in 1813, aged about seventy years, and is buried in Goshen graveyard, Gaston county, N.C. His descendants by the first wife, Mary Jack, were: 1. Margaret, married Judge Samuel Lowrie; 2.

Lillis, married Capt. James Martin; 3. Robert W., married Louisa Moore; 4. Mary, married, 1st. James J. Scott, and 2nd. General John Moore; 5. Annie, married John Sumter, (nephew of Gen. Sumter.) His descendants by the second wife, Margaret Reily, were: 1. Eliza 2.

Evaline; 3. Amanda, married Dr. J.C. Rudisill, of Lincolnton.

Descendants of Judge Lowrie and Margaret Alexander were: 1. Mary, married Dr. David R. Dunlap, of Charlotte; 2. Eliza, died unmarried; 3. Margaret, do.; 4. Lillis, married B. Oates; 5. Robert B., married Ann Sloan; 6. Samuel, married Mary Johnson.

Margaret Jack, fourth daughter of Patrick Jack, married Samuel Wilson, of Mecklenburg. (For his descendants, see "Genealogy of Samuel Wilson, Sr.")

Lillis Jack, the fifth and youngest daughter of Patrick Jack, married Joseph Nicholson. He left the State, and is reported as having a family of six children, but of their subsequent history little is known.

Colonel Patrick Jack, a brave and meritorious officer under the Colonial Government, and during the Revolutionary war, was the son of Charles Jack, who lived on the Conococheague river, near Chambersburg, Pa., and was probably the brother of Patrick Jack, of Charlotte, N.C., whose family history has just been given.

Colonel Jack lived an active and adventurous life, and was born about 1730. He was much engaged, when a young man, in a.s.sisting to subdue the Indians in Pennsylvania, and commanded a company of Rangers, under Generals Braddock and Was.h.i.+ngton, in the Indian and French war of 1755. He also commanded a regiment, and partic.i.p.ated actively in the Revolutionary War. He was in the Cherokee country many years anterior to the Revolution.

He was at the ma.s.sacre of the garrison in Fort London, on the Tennessee River in 1760, and was one of three persons who survived, his life having been saved through the influence of the Indian chief, _Atta-kulla-kulla_, the "Little Carpenter." He had three children; Mary, Jane, and John Finley Jack. John was educated at d.i.c.kinson College, Carlisle, Pa. He studied law, and emigrated to Knoxville, then the capital of Tennessee, where he soon acquired eminence, and a lucrative practice in his profession. He afterward removed to Rutledge, in Grainger county, East Tennessee, where he a.s.sociated himself in the same profession with his brother-in-law, the late General John c.o.c.ke, a son of General William c.o.c.ke, one of the distinguished characters in the early history of Tennessee. He took a prominent part in the politics of the country, filled the offices of Circuit Clerk, State's Attorney, served several times in both branches of the Legislature, and was finally elected Circuit Judge, which position he held for many years. When the infirmities of old age impeded his activity and usefulness, he retired from public life to his plantation near Bean's Station, East Tennessee, where he ended his days.

He was a profound lawyer, a Judge of great purity of character, of remarkable discrimination and integrity of purpose, evinced through a long, useful, and honorable life. He was a hard student, possessed fine colloquial powers, and was a man of eminent learning and research.

Judge John F. Jack married Elizabeth, next to the youngest daughter of General William c.o.c.ke, previously mentioned, who was a Captain in the Revolutionary War, a companion of Daniel Boon from western North Carolina across the Alleghany mountains to the "wilderness of Kentucky," a prominent actor in the establishment of the "Frankland Government," one of the first Senators to Congress from the new State of Tennessee, and afterward, one of the Circuit Judges of that State.

He served in the Legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi. At the advanced age of sixty-five years, he volunteered in the war of 1812, and distinguished himself for his personal courage. He died on the 8th of August, 1828, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, universally lamented, and is buried in Columbus, Mississippi.

It has been previously stated that Col. Patrick Jack, the father of Judge John F. Jack, led an active and adventurous life. One of these adventures will be now narrated.

In Dr. Ramsey's "Annals of Tennessee," page 68, we have this record:

"A grant, signed Arthur Dobbs, Governor of North Carolina; William Beamer, Sen., Superintendent and Deputy Adjutant in and for the Cherokee Nation; and William Beamer, Jun., Interpreter; and the 'Little Carpenter,' half king of the Cherokee Nation of the over-hill towns; and Matthew Toole, Interpreter, made to Captain Patrick Jack, of the province of Pennsylvania, is recorded in the Register's office of Knox county, Tennessee. It purports to have been made at a council held at Tennessee River, on the 1st of March, 1757.

The consideration is four hundred dollars, and conveys to Capt. Jack _fifteen miles square_ south of the Tennessee river. The grant itself, confirmatory of the purchase by Jack, is dated at a general council, met at the Catawba River, on the 7th of May, 1762, and is witnessed by Nathaniel Alexander."

Upon this speculative transaction it is proper to make a few explanatory remarks. About 1750, East Tennessee was beginning to be settled by adventurous individuals, princ.i.p.ally from western North Carolina, south-western Virginia, and occasionally from more northern colonies. The Indians were still regarded as the rightful owners and proper "lords of the soil." At the date of the council held at the Tennessee River in 1757, only that portion of the country north of that stream had become spa.r.s.ely settled, but soon thereafter purchases of land were sometimes made directly from the Indian chiefs themselves, as in the above instance, and settlements of whites speedily followed. Matthew Toole, one of the parties named, had lived among the Cherokee Indians, and taken to "bed and board," as a wife, one of the swarthy damsels of that tribe--hence his qualification as interpreter. He lived on the eastern bank of the Catawba river, in Mecklenburg county, giving origin to the name of the ford which still bears his name. Nathaniel Alexander, the subscribing witness, was then an acting magistrate of the county, and a man of extensive influence.

Colonel Patrick Jack, the father of Judge John F. Jack, died in Chambersburg, Pa., on the 25th of January, 1821, aged ninety-one years. His daughter, Jane Stewart, died in 1853, also aged ninety-one years. His daughter Mary (never married) died on the 29th of May, 1862, aged eighty-five years.

The family of Judge John F. Jack consisted of eight children, of whom, at the present time (1876) only four are living, viz.: Martha Mariah (Mrs. Dr. Rhoton), of Morristown, East Tennessee; William Pinkney Jack, of Russelville, Ala.; John F. Jack, of West Point Mississippi, both worthy and eminent lawyers in their respective locations; and Sarah Anne (Mrs. Dr. Carriger), of Morristown, Tenn. Few persons, in the early history of East Tennessee, were held in as great estimation, and filled with universal acceptance as many important positions of public trust as Judge John F. Jack. The county seat of justice of Campbell county, Jacksboro, was named in his honor, and his descendants should hold in cherished remembrance his purity of life and unsullied integrity of character.

GENEALOGY OF SAMUEL WILSON, SEN.

Samuel Wilson, Sr., was one of the earliest settlers of Mecklenburg county, and the patriarchal ancestor of numerous descendants, who performed important civil and military services in the Revolutionary war. He emigrated from Pennsylvania about 1745, and purchased a large body of valuable lands in the bounds of Hopewell church, in Mecklenburg county. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and inherited the peculiar traits of that liberty-loving, people. He was married three times, and was the father of thirteen children. His first wife was Mary Winslow, a sister of Moses Winslow, one of the early and leading patriots of Rowan county, who died on the 1st of October, 1813, in the eighty-third year of his age, and is buried in the graveyard of Center Church.

Samuel Wilson, Sr., died on the 13th of March, 1778, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His children, by the first wife, were: 1. Mary; 2. Violet; 3. Samuel; 4. John. 5. Benjamin Wilson. Mary, the eldest daughter, married Ezekiel Polk, the father of Samuel Polk, and grandfather of James K. Polk, President of the United States in 1845.

Ezekiel Polk was a man of wealth and influence in Mecklenburg county preceding the Revolution, and owned a large body of the valuable lands in and around the present flouris.h.i.+ng village of Pineville. Samuel Polk inherited a portion of this land, lying in the "horse shoe bend"

of Little Sugar Creek, and immediately on the Camden road, over which Cornwallis marched with his army on his celebrated visit (the first and the last) to the "Hornet Nest" of America.

2. Violet Wilson married Major John Davidson, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.

3. Samuel Wilson, a soldier of the Revolution, married Hannah Knox, a daughter of Captain Patrick Knox, killed at the battle of Ramsour's Mill. He raised a large family, all of whom have pa.s.sed away, falling mostly as victims of consumption. His daughter Mary (or "Polly") married her cousin Benjamin Wilson, (son of David Wilson) who was killed by Nixon Curry, because he was to appear in court as a witness against him.

4. _Major David Wilson_, an ardent patriot, and one of the heroes under Colonel Locke at Ramsour's Mill, married Sallie McConnell, a sister of Mrs. General James White, the father of the Hon. Hugh Lawson White. (See sketch of his life, under "Iredell County.")

5. Mrs. Adaline McCoy, of Lincolnton, is a daughter, and worthy descendant of Moses Winslow Wilson, a son of Major David Wilson. John and Benjamin Wilson, the remaining sons of Samuel Wilson, Sr., by the first wife, never married.

6. After General Davidson was killed at Cowan's Ford, on the morning of the 1st of February, 1781, Major David Wilson, and Richard Barry, Esq, both of whom partic.i.p.ated in the skirmish at that place, secured the body of their beloved commander, and carried it to the residence of Samuel Wilson, Sr., to receive the usual preparatory attentions for burial. Mrs. Davidson, who resided about ten miles distant, in the vicinity of Center Church was immediately sent for; she came as hastily as possible in the afternoon, under the charge of George Templeton one of her neighbors, and received, on that solemn occasion, the heart-felt condolence and sympathy of numerous sorrowing friends and relatives. In consequence of this necessary delay, those true patriots and friends of the deceased (Wilson and Barry) moved with the body late in the evening of the same day, and committed it to the silent tomb, _by torchlight_, in Hopewell graveyard.

7. _Rebecca Wilson_, the youngest daughter by the first wife, married John Henderson. After the birth of two children, they set out from Mecklenburg, with the intention of moving to Tennessee, accompanied by a brother and sister of Henderson. On the way, while they were stopping for dinner, they were suddenly attacked by Indians. Henderson and his wife were killed. The brother and sister each seized a child and made their escape. The children were brought back to Mecklenburg county, and properly cared for by their relatives; but, after they grew up, and Indian outrages having subsided, they returned to Tennessee.

The second wife of Samuel Wilson, Sr., was a widow Potts. Having a feeble const.i.tution, she lived but a short time, leaving a daughter, named Margaret, who married John Davidson, an uncle of the late William Davidson, Esq., of Charlotte. After she was left a widow, she moved with her three children, Samuel Wilson, John (or "Jackey") and Mary Davidson, to Alabama, where a large number of her descendants may be now found in Bibb and adjoining counties of that State.

The children of Major John Davidson and Violet Wilson were:

1. Isabella Davidson married Gen. Joseph Graham, of Lincoln county, the father of the late Hon. William A. Graham and others.

2. Rebecca Davidson married Capt. Alexander Brevard, a brother of Dr.