© 2010

The Forebears of Al Logan Slagle Unresolved Questions

Narrative by Brenda S. Wyckoff

i

© 2010

The Forebears of Al Logan Slagle

Unresolved Questions

ii

© 2010

Dedication

This book is written with deep gratitude to Al Logan Slagle for his decades of

service, to our parents, Al and Eunice Slagle, for their constant support and

sacrifice, and to our elders and ancestors for their courage and perseverance, that

we might survive and thrive, and that we might pass on the very best of their

strengths and the precious gleanings from the lessons gained through their

experiences. This is their story.

It is our wish that each succeeding generation would continue to strive to the

utmost of their potential, so that they can best serve their families, their

communities, and all who would be in need of their unique contributions.

I invite everyone to write their own narrative about their branch of the family.

Add your own vignettes and family stories. Include your most cherished family

traditions. Save the best inspirations and insights to pass on to your children.

Otherwise, they may miss the richest and most profound gifts from their

ancestors.

iii

© 2010

Contributions

Through this manuscript we acknowledge Al Logan Slagle for his lifetime of

service to Native Americans, and we celebrate the extensive notes he left behind.

All of the drawings that appear on the cover and that are included in this work

were created at various times in his life by Al Logan Slagle.

We owe special thanks to Camilla Sciore for agreeing to be a reader of the

many initial drafts of these narratives, to Al and Eunice Slagle for their inputs

regarding information details and the final presentation of this material, to Jarvis

Ball, Cindy Darcy, and Sam Reese for being readers of a working draft, to Hank

Wyckoff for his technical assistance in getting this manuscript into copy-ready

format, and to Ralph Roberts for his professional counsel and encouragement in

getting these histories published.

Those wishing to receive a copy of the genealogy manuscript and the

research notes will donate twenty-five dollars or more to either the Olivia Allison

Scholarship Fund, at Brevard College (828-884-8218, GivetoBC@brevard.edu or

mail check to: One Brevard College Drive, Brevard, NC 28712) or the Al Logan

Slagle Native American Scholarship Fund, at Warren Wilson College (828-771-

2088, give@warren-wilson.edu, or mail check to: Warren Wilson College Fund,

Campus Box 6376, Warren Wilson College, P.O. Box 9000, Asheville, NC 28815).

* In order to receive a CD of the manuscript, donors must specifically name

one of these scholarship funds.

Upon receipt of the designated donation, the college will notify the author

of the narrative, and a CD containing all five family narratives, the complete

documentation of the research upon which the narratives are based, and Al Logan

Slagle’s own writings and reflections on his family’s genealogy will be sent to the

donor.

iv

© 2010

Table of Contents

pages

Legacies Revisited v-vi

Al Logan’s Pedigree Chart vii

Al Logan’s Quest viii-xix

Book 1 - The Slagle Family: Ancient Legacies and Forged Links

Book 2 - The Davis Family: Betrayals Among the Ashes and Dust

Book 3 - The Allison Family: Hidden Here

Book 4 - The Ball Family: Crosscurrents and Heirlooms

Book 5 - The Freeman Family: Mysteries, Secrets, and a Denied Legacy

v

© 2010

Legacies Revisited

People seek information about their ancestors for a myriad of

reasons. Some want to know about medical history. Youth

often hunger for identity. Others, overwhelmed by the pace

and flood of our contemporary world, long for community. A

few want to resolve and finally put to rest old, haunting

questions. Although Al Logan Slagle focused his career,

indeed his life force, on one aspect of our family heritage,

drawing by Al Logan Slagle that of returning what is rightfully due to those who have

been unjustly served, I believe that his genealogical research uncovered much

more: the vast legacies left to us by our array of ancestors. As you will note in “Al

Logan’s Quest,” his purpose was to answer a question that had haunted both of

our childhoods and imprinted our adult lives. The impetus for completing this

effort is to allow healing to begin by finding the positive legacy that he and I may

have lost sight of at points in our youth.

“Al Logan’s Quest” was one of the last pieces he wrote before his death on

December 1, 2002. In the opening essay, he is very clear about his motivation for

revisiting the master’s thesis research he had undertaken in 1977. Al Logan’s

notes show that in 1993 he returned to those original notes to revise and update

his information with new data. Finally, in 2002, he gathered his notes one last

time to include information from a number of databases that had been digitized

and made more accessible. Al Logan’s research in the appendices is as he left it to

us.

vi

© 2010

Part of my intention for this work is to complete the research process begun by

my brother. In picking up his project, I have updated and cross-checked sources,

as he had intended to do. Errors may surface as data continues to be added and

corrections made to our sources. That said, this is the most accurate information

available to us on the histories of our ancestors. Any errors in the subsequent

research or text are my own.

I share Al Logan’s hope that his original intentions will be realized and that old

hauntings and deep grievances from our past will be put to rest before the

passing of our generation. To paraphrase Rainer Maria Rilke:

May we be patient toward all that is unresolved in our hearts. Try to love

the questions. Do not look for the answers that cannot be given because

you would not be able to live them. Love the questions now, and perhaps

one day you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant

day to the answers.

Brenda Slagle Wyckoff

Tucson, Arizona, 2010

vii

© 2010

viii

© 2010

Al Logan’s Quest

My mother, Eunice Glenn (nee' Ball) Slagle ,was born on 27 October 1923 in Township 7,

Little Pine Creek Community, near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina, in the mountainous

lands bordering Tennessee, through which the French Broad River threads. My father, Albert Glenn

Slagle, was born 14 August 1925, about six miles from where my mother was born. They married

21 December 1944 at the Baptist Seminary near Marshall, North Carolina. They reside at 6410

North Camino Abbey, Tucson, Arizona, 85718. Between 15 May 1977 and 21 June 1977, my mother

and I visited her family in North Carolina, to gather oral traditions by taping interviews and taking

photographs with family, former neighbors, and old friends.

We traveled by Greyhound bus from Glendale, California to Asheville, North Carolina, where

we obtained a car and proceeded to visit our sources, located primarily in the western counties of

North Carolina (Cherokee, Haywood, Buncombe, Transylvania, and Madison counties), with

cameras, tape recorder, and notebooks in hand. We stayed with various relatives, including my

remaining grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and were able to transcribe or photocopy entries from

family Bibles, letters, original and ancient legal documents, an array of publications, and family

photographs.

During this 1977 visit we also were fortunate enough to visit with a keeper of family

history, my mother's cousin through a maternal line, the late Mary Jane McCrary of Brevard,

Transylvania County, North Carolina, 28712 (born 24 May 1896, died 11 August 1987) who later

was helpful in finding answers for our questions regarding that certain family tradition of interest

here. According to notes taken from a telephone conversation with my mother shortly after Mrs.

McCrary's death, and to the Social Security Death Index, Mrs. McCrary served on the governing

boards of several local historical societies and museums. In addition, she had personally recorded

some of the oldest oral family historical accounts relating to my mother's maternal and paternal

lineages, and had accumulated a formidable collection of original documents, including letters,

legal documents, maps, local histories, family histories, family Bibles, and other items relating to

the lineages of her own and many other families in her area. Mrs. McCrary recalled my maternal

ix

© 2010

grandmother well (Cora Lee [Leigh] Olivia Ball [ nee' Allison], born 15 March 1876, Brevard,

Transylvania County, North Carolina, died 31 July 1938, Little Pine Creek Community, Township 7,

near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina, according to her headstone at Dry Pond Cemetery,

Little Pine Creek Community, Township 7, near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina.

We embarked on this trip anticipating that this would probably be our only chance

to gather oral testimonies while many sources remained alive, able, and willing to share their

recollections. My mother later said this trip was the equivalent of her "Trip to Bountiful" because it

was probably going to be her last visit home before too much would be lost for "home" to be

recognizable, and for the long journey to be rewarding and bearable. During the visit I particularly

recall watching my mother pick up rocks and other small objects from the ground in the yard of her

parents’ last home together, and finally dropping them wordlessly, with a sense of finality.

During the course of her youth my mother had casually jotted down a few

recollections she had obtained from her older relations, but these were random, and after many

years sometimes obscure in their meaning. Before moving to Tucson in 1965, however, she

burned most of her letters and notes, consistent with an unfortunate custom she shared with

many of her family. My mother thought this return visit was potentially crucial in that it might

provide the opportunity to check and possibly corroborate the oral traditions she recollected, tie

up loose ends, and help her make sense of things. Since some of her most important and painful

recollections involved internal family conflicts, including various legal disputes that had occurred

over the past two centuries, we particularly hoped to discover whether these old stories were true.

My mother was especially interested in investigating stories handed down through

her paternal lineages, particularly those concerning her grandmother, Mary Freeman Ball (born 13

April 1841, died 27 January 1936, according to her headstone in the Ball Cemetery, on Bailey's

Branch, near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina.) She feared there was little chance of

finding corroboration for a number of family traditions, partly owing to the destruction of

courthouses and records in Madison and neighboring counties during and after the Civil War, and

partly to other losses of documents over the past two centuries. Some of these stories were

important to my mother's family because they appeared to explain as nothing else could certain

lasting frictions best described as long-standing feuds among branches of her paternal lines, as

x

© 2010

well as why relationships with some of her father's known blood kin were strained, and in some

instances, irreparably broken. Because my mother had heard some of the family traditions

decades earlier, during childhood, and from elderly relatives who at times may have been suffering

diminished capacity or loss of memory, and had sometimes heard these stories repeated in

resentment and anger, complete with accusations of murder and witchcraft, she wanted to find

some sort of closure based on better evidence than raw and undocumented oral accounts. The

sources of official record are listed within the appendices by family, and organized by timelines.

Family Traditions of Al Logan Slagle's Ball and Freeman (Maternal) Family Lines

One of the most painful oral recollections relevant to the various longstanding family feuds

that my mother recalled from her youth had to do with a protracted legal dispute involving

members of my mother's family in the 1860s and 1870s. The conflict involved the division of the

estate of her paternal grandfather, Jarius Jay Ball (born 15 November 1847, Township 7, Marshall,

Madison County, North Carolina, died intestate 8 January 1889). During our trip in 1977, my

mother told me that she had picked up bits and pieces about the "trouble" while eavesdropping on

verbal sparring matches among relatives, as well as from her father, Logan Ball (born 30 March

1885, died 5 August 1951, according to his headstone in Dry Pond Cemetery, Township 7, Little

Pine Creek Community, near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina), from her paternal

grandmother, Mary Freeman Ball, and from various aunts, uncles, and cousins. To the best of my

mother's recollection, her close relatives alleged that this series of events set an ominous

precedent for individual comportment regarding the disposition of estates in the Freeman and Ball

families to the present date, resulting in breaches in the family that have never healed, even after

some 110 years, and that in order to avoid public brawls among the family, people weren't even

supposed to discuss it among themselves.

By my mother's time, more than 40 years after the litigation involving Jarius Jay Ball’s

estate, other than apparent acrimony over the litigation itself, the reasons for the feud were

increasingly obscure. While few participants in the litigation were still living by the 1940s, those

who were involved in the core dispute claimed to recall the basis for the long-standing breach. The

family vow of silence supposedly explained why, as late as the 1960s, certain biologically related

xi

© 2010

children in the local schools sometimes never learned until adulthood that the reason their

parents forbade them to associate with one another was because of an ancient property dispute.

Even so, it was public knowledge that cousins within the immediate families despised one another.

According to my mother's eye-witness account, a distant Ball cousin named Mrs. Ken Lissenbee (a

reporter for the Marshall News-Record, the newspaper for Madison County, North Carolina)

interviewed Mary Freeman Ball for two days in 1934, but my mother said she had seen her

grandmother retrieve the interview notes and burn them.

My mother had long ago concluded that the oral traditions of her father's family were not

entirely reliable, including in particular the stories relating to the feud over her grandfather's

estate, not only because the stories had become muddled as they passed from one speaker to

another, but because the tellers apparently had their own ulterior motives for recalling, filtering,

and passing on the material. Some aspects had probably been blown out of proportion and details

blurred or implausible, while other pertinent details had become lost in "fits" of forgetfulness,

"selective amnesia," concealment, or intentional falsehood. My mother recalled that her mother

refused to explain certain uncomfortable or embarrassing matters relating to these events on

which she did not feel qualified to speak, by saying, "I can't tell you any more, I left about that

time."

An additional problem was that while many of the incidents described had occurred many

years before, the elderly persons who recounted them to my mother had described certain events

as if they had happened yesterday. She recalled being startled as a youngster upon learning that

distant relations whom she had always heard talked about in familiar terms, and whom she had

expected to meet any day, had died over 50 years before she was born. Still, my mother believed

that part of the point of probing into family history was to help resolve or at least explain problems

in families, to heal breaches, or to make it possible for families to move on with their lives, so it

would be worthwhile to get to the bottom of this story about the estate litigation that appeared to

be behind the family feud. She also believed that perhaps one of our best possible sources for

leads, if not actual documentation, was Mary Jane McCrary (supra).

Even though she had no direct knowledge of the litigation over Jarius Jay Ball's estate, Mrs.

McCrary, a contemporary of my maternal grandparents, used her network of contacts and

xii

© 2010

accumulated years of expertise to provide us with some direction and support in our process of

selecting interviewees, recording information, and independently checking and assessing the

validity of information accumulated from our oral interviews. For example, while it is not a matter

immediately relevant to the particular family tradition of interest here, Mrs. McCrary was able to

find copies of records in her collection supporting the inference that my mother's parents' families

had known each other for at least 50 years before my grandparents were born, and that contrary

to the notions of some relatives, my maternal grandparents probably at least knew of each other

long before they met in person, and were married.

We had hoped to someday to make copies of these documents, but were unable to do

so before Mrs. McCrary's death. A lost opportunity. Still, since the events in question involving

the litigation over Jerius Jay Ball's estate occurred when my maternal grandfather was only

about six years old, and so many contemporary witnesses were deceased or silent, it appeared

to be only remotely possible that we might find documents or written accounts that would

make sense of the story. We contemplated eventually committing verifiable facts to print in a

written family history, therefore we wanted to take care that sources were credible and

validated.

We knew that Mary Freeman Ball had grown up in the Bear Creek Community, near

Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina. One source, the 1850 US Decennial Census for

Buncombe County, North Carolina, showed that at age seven she was living at the home of

her parents, Aaron Pinkney “Pink” Freeman and Tempe' Freeman. She married Jarius Jay Ball

on 15 January 1867. They had six children, all born in Township 7, Marshall, Madison County,

North Carolina. Between 9 June and 14 June 1977 my mother and I interviewed Nettie

Freeman Ball at her home near Freeman Gap, Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina.

Nettie Freeman Ball (born 5 March 1895, died June 1987) was the great-niece of Mary

Freeman Ball, through the line of Mary Freeman Ball's brother Seth. Nettie recalled from her

family's stories that the feud in the Ball and Freeman families began in earnest after the

death of Jerius Jay Ball which according to his engraved marble headstone, was on 8 January

1889. (The gravestone that formerly marked his grave at the Ball Cemetery, at Bailey's Branch,

near Marshall, North Carolina, was vandalized and was replaced in the 1970s. The original

xiii

© 2010

headstone was placed in the custody of my maternal uncle, Jack Ball, of Little Pine Community,

near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina.) There were many lawsuits over estates in the

Ball and Freeman families thereafter, and Nettie Ball confided to us that the lawsuits were the

reason relatives still refused to speak to each other at church or on the street. People had

taken sides, there had been threats and acts of violence, and people were reticent even to

discuss these local property battles.

According to my mother's recollections, corroborated in our conversations with Nettie

Freeman Ball during the 1977 visit, Nettie recalled as a young girl hearing from her parents that

Jerius Jay Ball evidently died of pneumonia, which set in as a complication of malaria, after he

became ill from exposure while repairing a barn on one of the family farms. Nettie recalled that

his daughter, Julia Ball Cook (born 6 June 1870, died 21 August 1954), claimed that same property

in the ensuing estate litigation, about three years before Nettie's birth. Nettie recounted that as a

"granny woman" and traditional curer, Mary Freeman Ball was not able to dress or otherwise tend

to or touch her husband’s or any other human remains. She did not attend his funeral at the Ball

Cemetery on Bailey's Branch, near Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina, and since she could

not personally enter cemeteries, Mary Freeman Ball ordered that a shelter be built over Jerius Jay

Ball's grave. (This information is consistent with recollections gathered in interviews with my

mother's surviving siblings, Mary Sue Ball Edney, Jack Ball, and Viola Ball Ramsey in May 1977, and

with Garland Ball in June 1977. (Garland Ball was born 10 December 1900, died 26 April 1988. Viola

Ball Ramsey was born 24 April 1911, died 15 May 1986. Mary Sue Ball Edney was born 25

December 1914 and died 23 December 1985.)

Because Nettie Ball and Garland Ball were approximate contemporaries of Mary Freeman

Ball and her daughters, born within the time span when the facts behind the reasons for the Ball-

Freeman family feud were fresh and raw in everyone's memories, we were inclined to give

credence to their recollections. Nettie Ball and Garland Ball, in particular, remembered they heard

directly from the principal parties involved in the lawsuit that following the death of Jerius Jay Ball,

Mary Freeman Ball ran the Ball farm. It was said that despite the fact that she suffered badly from

symptoms of menopause, she plowed the fields in coveralls “like a man” and did the work that

needed to be done to keep the farm going for her three younger children.

xiv

© 2010

Based on the May and June 1977 recollections of contemporaries who witnessed the effects

of these events, in particular Nettie Ball and Garland Ball, it is clear that Mary Freeman Ball's adult

daughters, Julia Ball Cook (supra) and Matilda Ball Wilson (born 27 May 1869, died 11 February

1949), and their spouses, knowing full well that the precipitous division of the property would

cause great harm to their siblings and their mother, sued their mother for their inheritance in 1892.

Because she was illiterate and could not afford legal counsel, Mary Freeman Ball reportedly

appeared in court in pro se, and lost this unreported case involving Jarius Jay Ball's estate.

While there has never been disagreement among the family that Julia Cook and Matilda

Wilson were the daughters of Mary Freeman Ball, and several recollected that they sued their

mother for property, the details were somewhat sketchy. For example, the extent of involvement

of other interested parties in the settlement of Jarius Jay Ball's estate, including creditors or taxing

authorities, remains obscure. The conclusions of my relatives remained somewhat speculative, and

provided little clarification as to the unending resentment and rancor stemming, from the feud

among the families involved.

During the week of 11 June 1977 my mother and I visited the Madison County courthouse

several times, planning to search for records relating to the Jarius Jay Ball estate case. We had

difficulty gaining access to the records, however due to alleged heavy traffic in the records office

and then the closure of the records office apparently due staffing problems. While these issues did

not seem extraordinary, upon our second visit to the County records office, there was noticeable

resistance to my inquiries and requests to search records relating to the settlement of the Jarius

Jay Ball estate. However, I was able to locate some records in Asheville, North Carolina, at the Pack

Memorial Library on Patton Avenue. There were a number of conveyances of record to and from

Jerius Ball in old Buncombe County, dated after the county was subdivided, creating Henderson,

Madison, Yancey, and other counties. These records are contained in Grantor-Grantee & Grantee-

Grantor Indices, BUNCOMBE COUNTY DEEDS, Pack Memorial Library, Archives, Asheville, North

Carolina. Most of the documents listed his name as "JAIRUS." Madison County separated from

Buncombe County before the 1890s, when the litigation occurred, so these records did not help to

shed light on the controversy over Jarius Jay Ball's estate.

While we were talking to my mother's brother, Jack Ball, on or about 11 June 1977, he

xv

© 2010

recalled having heard of a privately-published work by James Hubert Freeman (one of the Freeman

cousins) and his wife, Judy Kibby Freeman. Mary Jane McCrary happened to have one extra copy,

and she gave it to me, hoping this book could lead to some answers. The Freeman Ancestors of

America: the Family History, A Genealogical History (Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North

Carolina, privately published, James Hubert Freeman, Judith Kibby Freeman, 1975, p. 87) provided

considerable documentation concerning the relationships between Jerius Jay and Mary Freeman

Ball and their offspring and other kin (at pp. 54, ff.) While the book (p. 56, ff.) offers a plausible

reason for believing that the storied 1892 estate litigation took place, it does not provide a

definitive account of the legal dispute. (James Hubert Freeman was born 29 December 1926, and

died 30 June 1988, according to the Social Security Death Index, corroborated by his own individual

history entry at p. 84 of their The Freeman Ancestors of America: the Family History, A Genealogical

History; and Judith Kibby Freeman, dates unknown.)

On14 June 1977, while my mother and I were meeting with Nettie Freeman Ball at her

home, we learned from her that her son, Richard Ball, had a set of land records and other legal

documents that had formerly belonged to Mary Freeman Ball. We learned that at the time of

Mary’s death, these papers were discovered in a small, hand whittled, aged white oak box (approx.

7" wide by 5" high by 11" long), stone polished to a warm patina, and fitted with a matching sliding

lid, that had been on the shelf above her bed. Nettie believed that these records supported the

stories about how the old feud began, even though she could not recall that they included any

correspondence or probate records relating to the Jerius Jay Ball estate dispute itself. Nettie's son,

Richard Ball said that he stole the box from Mary Freeman Ball's bedroom while the rest of the

family was attending Mary’s funeral, and that he never admitted it to anyone except his mother,

until that June day in 1977. Richard Ball had feared, for nearly 40 years, and probably not without

justification, that if any of the Ball and/or Freeman relations outside his immediate household ever

learned of the theft, they would retaliate, even though the properties whose ownership was at

stake in the probate case had long been sold and the assets scattered.

Richard Ball came to his mother's house and met with us shortly after we began this

conversation with Nettie. He brought out the old wooden box in question and admitted his theft to

us. Richard allowed me to borrow the documents so that I could carefully unfold them, place them

xvi

© 2010

in acid free mylar folders, and make copies for the family. We were so happy to be able to make

copies of these documents, simply for historical reasons, that there were no harsh words over the

matter between my mother, her siblings, and Richard Ball. The documents we found in the old

white oak box related to the tenure and disposition of State of North Carolina land grants to Mary

Freeman Ball's ancestors, particularly Aaron Pinkney Freeman (born March 1812 in Madison

County, North Carolina, died July 1894 in Madison County, North Carolina) and his brother Daniel

E. Freeman (born 1803 in Madison County, North Carolina, died September 1873 in Madison

County, North Carolina.) These land grants included the so-called Bear Creek farm, Copper Mine,

Blowhole, and other properties to which her husband Jarius Jay Ball gained title and control during

their marriage. As a result of litigation with her daughters, Mary Freeman Ball ultimately lost all title

to certain of these properties, such as the farm on Bear Creek, where Jarius Jay Ball contracted his

final illness. These legal instruments also referred to various transactions relating to properties

belonging to the Ball and Freeman families, dating from the 1850s to the 1930s, including the

family properties that were divided as a result of the Jarius Jay Ball estate litigation.

By providing some closure at least to the members of the Ball and Freeman family who

shared in that summer's talks about family history, the disclosure and sharing of information made

it possible for my close kin to lay the matter to rest, even if the sharing did not entirely heal some

of the old frictions in the family. The next day we discovered a set of handwritten receipts that

showed that my great-grandmother Mary Freeman Ball paid court costs of about $45 upon the

resolution of the lawsuit over Jerius Jay Ball's estate. Based on the cache of documents that

Richard Ball had preserved and shared with us, my mother and her siblings concluded, probably

correctly, that the suite of litigation over the Jerius Jay Ball estate, and its sequelae (some of which

James and Judith Freeman reported on as discreetly as possible in The Freeman Ancestors of

America: the Family History, A Genealogical History, pp. 58-64) remained controversial in the

county, even 85 years afterwards, particularly in view of ensuing bitter litigation relating to the

estates and properties of other closely related members of the Ball and Freeman families.

A mysterious fire in 1986, which apparently started one night in the records room,

destroyed part of the main level of the Madison County courthouse. We never pursued the matter

xvii

© 2010

of reviewing and transcribing or copying the records there relating to Jarius Jay Ball's estate because

the events and discoveries the family had made and the information we had shared precluded the

need to proceed further. In order to keep peace in the family, we decided not to pursue the review

of transcripts and to let the matter rest.

Conclusions

We have concluded that there is good reason to believe that the dispute over the Jerius

Jay Ball estate involving Mary Freeman Ball and her older daughters at least in part explains why

there was never a full reconciliation between Mary Freeman Ball, her two older daughters, and

their descendants. We are finally resolved that more likely than not, the long-standing frictions in

the Ball and Freeman lineages probably stemmed at least in part from jealousies, competition, and

litigation over property, including but not limited to the Jarius Jay Ball estate. These frictions will

remain as long as the memories linger among descendants of the Logan, Julia, and Matilda Ball

lineages, and as long as people continue to reignite them by probing the old wounds. What remains

less certain is the contributing role of in-laws, particularly the spouses of Mary Freeman Ball's

daughters, in instigating the immediate division of the Jerius Jay Ball estate in 1892. That outside

involvement may have started the feud, thereby depriving Mary Freeman Ball of even a life estate

in certain properties that she had inherited and owned when single, and over which Jerius Jay Ball

gained title and control upon their marriage on 15 January 1867. The inequitable effect of North

Carolina law was to deprive her and her younger children of a secure means for subsistence for at

least ten years after the litigation ended. Evidently due in at least in part to the limited

productivity of the land remaining to her, including that which she held as a life estate and not as

her own separate property, records indicate that between 1893 and 1912 she had to go to great

lengths to avoid tax sales of her properties.

More than anything else, I learned from these experiences that closure is ambiguous, and

that exposing curiosity about family history, particularly with regard to contentious issues, can

involve some risk and yield mixed blessings. During the trip my mother experienced some closure

regarding that harsh probate and other estate battles that have raged in the Ball and Freeman

families since 1890, and following the trip, she decided not to resurrect any of these and similar,

xviii

© 2010

more recent contentious issues by visiting family in Western North Carolina again. Although

relatives, including Richard Ball and his brother Alan Ball, travel on vacation and stop in Tucson to

visit my parents, and despite the fact that my parents own adjacent cemetery plots in Brevard,

Transylvania County, North Carolina, and plan to be buried there, since the death of my elder aunts

in the 1980s, my mother decided never to return "home," and she did not return to North Carolina,

during her lifetime.

Appendix

1. THE HEADSTONE OF JERIUS JAY BALL. Jerius Jay BALL was born 15 November 1847, Township

7, Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina, who died intestate on 8 January 1889. His dates of

birth and death are recorded on his engraved marble headstone, formerly attached to his grave at

the BALL Cemetery, Bailey's Branch, near Marshall, North Carolina, which was found upended at

some distance from his grave, vandalized, and was replaced in 1974. The original headstone now

is in the custody of my maternal uncle, Jack BALL, 4512 Little Pine Rd, Marshall NC 28753 (828)

649-2528, Little Pine Community, near Marshall, Madison County. I learned about this displaced

gravestone from Madge Marlor BALL, Rt. 5, Box 25, Marshall, N. C., 28753, June 1977, and

Margaret ALLEN, Lee Lynn Farm, P. O. Box 36, Crossville, Tenn., 36855, 1977, and Nettie Freeman

BALL, at her home near Freeman Gap, Marshall, Madison Co., N. C., June 1977.

2. N. C. LAND GRANT DEED to my maternal great-grandfather, Aaron Pinkney FREEMAN. 100

acres. Dated 9 Dec. 1834, State of N. C. Grant No. 3220, recorded 6 December 1835, vol. 20, p. 33,

on Bailey's Branch, Buncombe County. The garnet mine produced corundum, and during the Civil

War, the U.S. expropriated the property for obtaining corundum for grinding canons until the

war's end. Today, the Little Pine Garnet Mine produces low-grade crystals of quartz, beryl,

emerald, garnet and ruby in a slippery grey schist, well known to rock hounds, who bought daily

mining licenses by the visit from my maternal first cousin, Jackie BALL, until he sold it in 1998.

xix

© 2010

Document in possession of my mother, Eunice Glenn Ball SLAGLE, 6410 North Camino Abbey,

Tucson, Arizona, 85741.

3. N. C. LAND GRANT DEED to my maternal great-grandmother, Tempe' FREEMAN: 80 acres.

Dated 30 September 1839, State of N. C. Grant No. 3783, recorded 12 February 1840, Vol. 22,

p. 51, on Little Pine Creek, Buncombe County, secured, by tradition, by proving competency, in

producing a bolt of hand woven linsey cloth.

xx

© 2010

xxi

© 2010

Forged Links and Ancient Legacies

First found: Saxony, Germany around

11th century. Names had occupational

meanings. Slagle means “hammer,”

indicating an occupation of mason or

smith.

Family motto: Do well

1

© 2010

2

© 2010

3

© 2010

The first ancestor of the Western North Carolina Slagle family in America may well

have been Johannes Christian Schlegel, born in Philadelphia in 1720. The ship’s

register of Bilander Townsend and other passenger laden vessels record the

arrival of German immigrants to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1720s and

1730s. Many of these immigrants settled in Germantown, a borough which today

is about seven miles from Philadelphia, and which was formally chartered by

William Penn in 1689. Some of those German families developed homesteads in

and around Lancaster and Richmond Townships, in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Land records indicate that once settled, many of these immigrants obtained

proprietary warrants for land, for which they paid taxes in pounds, the currency

of that time.

Many early German immigrants to Pennsylvania became farmers and owned

hundreds of acres of land. There are stone houses still standing and in good

condition today that were built in the late 1700s. Families often had eight or

more children, some of whom developed skills as carpenters or blacksmiths.

Others become brick layers or thrashers or

built and operated portable sawmills that

served the local farms. At that time, many

were members of the Lutheran Church and

tended to be Democratic in political

matters.

Christian Schlegel married Nancy Klabsaddle, The Battle of Germantown

in Lititz, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Among their children was Henry Slagle, who

was born in 1738 and married Elizabeth John Slagle in 1760. Records indicate that

4

© 2010

they moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania, where their son Henry was born in

1772.

The Revolutionary War was fought in and through the German settlements in

Pennsylvania, as the new nation struggled for survival and gained its

independence. We have no records of military service on the part of members of

the Slagle family, but one can conclude that anyone living in the area would have

been impacted by the “Battle of Germantown”. Family oral history does recount

that some of our ancestors may have been members of the Freemasons. By the

1780s, the colonial communities were well established, and many children of

immigrant families were interested in settling new land further west and south, at

the feet of the Appalachian Mountains. We know that in 1794, Henry Slagle

married Elnora Hellena Slagle, and that their son John was born in 1795, in

Germantown. Records indicate that John was one of those pioneers who moved

into the newly opened areas in what today comprise parts of the states of

Tennessee, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

Washington County, Tennessee marriage records show that on May 27, 1817,

John Slagle married Elizabeth Delaney in Flagpond, Washington County,

Tennessee. Birth records list the children of Elizabeth Delaney and John Slagle as:

Achsah Delaney (born June 17, 1814, North Carolina, died August 22, 1881,

Washington County, Tennessee), Jesse Jaryl Slagle (1820 – 1901), George Henry

Slagle (June 06, 1834), Elizabeth Slagle (1820 – 1834), Racheal Slagle (1829-1885),

Sarah Slagle (1832), and Peter Harrison Slagle (April 01, 1840- May 1922, Roane

5

© 2010

County, Tennessee). These records suggest that the family may have been in

Roane County when their youngest child was born, or they may have relocated to

Roane County in the 1830’s. Records also confirm that John was Elizabeth’s

second husband.

Military documents reveal that in 1847,

John Slagle served as a soldier with

General Scott, in the war with Mexico,

and that he was with Scott when they

took Mexico City. He received a military

pension for his lifetime, and interestingly

General Scott’s troops taking Mexico City enough, a Mrs. J. Adams received the

balance of his pension following his death in 1880. Death records show that John

died and was buried in Roane County, Tennessee. Elizabeth and most of their

children died in or were brought back to be buried in Washington County,

Tennessee. These details raise questions that could inspire further research. Had

John perhaps taken a loan from Mrs. Adams?

Their son Jesse Jaryl Slagle grew up and remained in Flagpond, Tennessee. He

married Margaret Onks, and they had thirteen children, including their sixth son,

Jesse Jaryl II, who was to become the ancestor of the Western North Carolina

Slagle families. Margaret Onks Slagle was buried in Marvin's Chapel Methodist

Cemetery, in Washington County, Tennessee, which suggests that she may have

been a Methodist. Her husband, Jesse Jaryl, Sr., was a farmer and a cooper by

trade. Since the coopering trade is often passed down through a family, it may

6

© 2010

have been that he learned some of his coopering skills from his father, John, who

would have been a valuable member of his unit during his military service

because his skill would have been important in repairing wagon wheels or other

metal equipment during the fighting in Mexico. However, this is merely

speculation. Another point of conjecture is that John’s DNA may be the source of

our family’s irrepressible tinkering spirit.

We have very little information about the life of

Jesse Jaryl II or his wife Mattie. Jesse was born in

Washington County, Tennessee in either 1851 or

1853, near Flagpond. He grew up, married

Martha “Mattie” Ann Shaw on March 23, 1878,

and died in Flagpond, Tennessee in 1940. Their

son James Henry Slagle was born in Jewell Hill,

North Carolina on February 19, 1879. Jewel Hill

was a community on the old stock road, today

known as Walnut Creek, and records show that

...Mattie and Jesse Jaryl … their home continued to be in Flagpond, so one is

left to wonder why James Henry was born at Jewel Hill.

During the 1860s, the Civil War raged through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, and both the Union and Confederacy alternately headquartered Cooper-The cooper craft required a great deal of spatial ability, metallurgic intelligence and physical strength. The tools, craft skills, and artistry of the trade were often handed down through a family, for generations. It was the coopers who built everything from flour barrels to gunpowder casks. They also produced containers for shipping as well as for storing liquids such as wine or milk. Coopers also made staves and hoops for such common items as wooden wagon wheels, barrels, and churns.

7

© 2010

at Flagpond, Tennessee. Battles were actually fought in the front yards of family

homes, and the fighting they witnessed as children may well have affected both

Jesse Jaryl II and his wife throughout their lives. The only story handed down is

that Uncle Henry Slagle “traded shots” with a Union soldier during the Civil War,

and that the enemy's bullet lodged in Uncle Henry’s (Confederate) musket.

Too young to have performed any act that would have

noted them in history, Jesse Jaryl II and Mattie’s

childhoods were probably consumed with survival.

During the war, families in the area depended on their

farms and hunting for basic sustenance, and they were

left on their own to endure the war years. They had to

defend themselves against raids from soldiers from

both sides who often went in search of ready food,

The Flagpond Baptist Church rampaged for enemies who might be hiding in a family

barn or cellar, or looted for what they could find, and terrorized hapless victims

who lived in their path. Threat of disease during epidemics also drove many

people out of the towns and deeper into the safety of the countryside, in hopes

that they might avoid the risk of exposure.

Young James Henry in turn, spent his youth surrounded by the conflict and

turmoil of the Reconstruction Era. We have no information about his life, what

his family did during these years, or how they may have been impacted by

The Baptist Church in Tennessee, founded in 1843, served as the school and the source of education for some rural families. The Baptist and Presbyterian churches were also the only congregations that would include “Negroes”.

8

© 2010

events around them. Sometime between the lifetimes of his Grandmother

Margaret and the 1900s, the family converted from the Methodist Church to the

Baptist Church. One reason for the family’s conversion may have been the shift

within the community from the original German Methodist tradition to the then

more contemporary southern Baptist culture.

In the Reconstruction era, social life for many families revolved around Sunday at

church. Since rural farming families left their farms and their work for a few short

hours each week, families often brought their Sunday dinner to church and

shared a meal with other family and friends

whom they might only see on Sunday. They

would spend the morning in services, followed

by Sunday School Bible study, and then end the

day sharing a dinner, before heading home.

James Henry Slagle married Elizabeth “Lizzie”

Mozelle, who was also born at Jewel Hill, in

Madison County, North Carolina. He was a

blacksmith and a sharecropper. His youngest

daughter Eula likes to tell the story that her

James Henry, Jesse, Enoch Reese, Al brothers, Lloyd, Jesse, and George would

collect the “nibs” that dropped on the ground when their father clipped off nail

heads to remove a worn shoe from a horse’s hoof. They all had homemade bean

THE North Carolina Stock Road was the road that passed through Weaverville, Jupiter, Jewel Hill and through Shelton Laurel in Madison into Tennessee in the 1830’s.

9

© 2010

shooters, and they converted those nail “nibs” to “bullets” for hunting squirrels.

When it is cooked just right, squirrel meat is as sweet and tender as chicken.

James Henry seemed to have inherited the family coopering talents. He is said to

have saved or collected old scrap metal, worn out saws and such that he would

later refashion into hoes and hand tools for the farm.

In 1945, Elizabeth died of liver cancer in Madison County, and in 1965, James

Henry died of renal failure, precipitated by arteriosclerosis. Their family home

near Weaverville, North Carolina was moved when the interstate highway went

through the original property. Eula Slagle Coates recalled that since the North

Carolina Slagles had relocated from Flagpond to Madison County, most are being

buried in North Carolina, and they had forgotten that there was a Slagle cemetery

in Flagpond, Tennessee. At one time, there was a large Slagle enclave living in

Washington County, Tennessee.

Jesse Josephus Slagle was born August 30, 1902, in what was then Faust, North

Carolina. He and his

brothers became

house painters and

carpenters, and they

worked together

building, renovating,

“Dad front porch reading” Jesse and Ledola and repairing houses.

10

© 2010

Jesse and Ledola’s grandson Sam Reese recalls that Jesse’s brother Glen was a

quintessential brick mason. “He could keep Papaw, Larry (Sam’s brother) and me

very busy mixing mud and carrying brick. I think he could lay a brick every ten

seconds. Skinny as a rail, he could hold up twelve inch cement blocks with one

hand and ease them down into the mud perfectly level as they settled into the

course below. I remember watching Uncle Glen in the receiving line at Papaw’s

funeral. He had one bad grip. I saw a lot of guys wince as he grabbed their hand.”

In 1924, Jesse married Ledola Davis, from Flagpond, and they settled near Mars

Hill until they bought their farm on Hayes's Run, near Marshall, North Carolina, in

Madison County, North Carolina. They had three children, Albert, Ila Slagle

Reese, and John, who was stillborn in 1941.

When Jesse was in his fifties, he graduated from Fruitland Baptist Seminary

Institute and became an ordained Southern Baptist Minister. A constant thinker

and reader himself, the son and grandchildren of Jesse followed his lead and

pursued higher education, earning master’s degrees and PhDs. Service and

education have become values in the family, and many of the children and

grandchildren have also inherited the coopering/carpentry penchant. Several of

them collect salvaged pieces of discarded objects and then use those parts to

repair or create other tools and work implements. One grandson, Sam Reese, has

continued the carpentry and building trade, while another grandson, Al Logan

Slagle, “saved everything,” and seven years after his passing, his sister was still

using his collections to rebuild everything from broken bird feeders to computers.

11

© 2010

A great-grandson, Rick Wyckoff, who was totally unaware of the family history of

coopering and metal work, is an artist who uses his metal forge to create some of

his art and repair damaged tools for the whole family.

Jesse’s son Albert, aka “Al,” was born August 14, 1925.

Voted most likely to succeed by his senior year high school

class, Al went on to prove them right. In 1941, he entered

college at Berea in Kentucky. His education was interrupted

by the entry of the United States into World War II.

Although he was actually younger than the required age of

...Al and Eunice marry.. 18, he enlisted in the United States Army. Al was eager to

serve his country, and he longed to fly in the air corps. However, while he was

serving stateside, Al was severely injured in a training accident, and underwent

eye surgery to save his sight. The injury destroyed his chances of flying, but he

recovered and returned to his unit in the Pacific. In December 1944, he and his

high school sweetheart, Eunice Ball, were married. A favorite family story is that

during World War II, Eunice worked in the offices of the War Department, and she

knew the day that the war was going to end, but she could not tell Al because the

information was classified. They both enjoyed her retelling the story of that

delightful secret. Following the war, Al was discharged with the rank of Corporal.

Once home, Al was accepted to the University of Illinois and used his GI bill to

earn a Bachelor of Science degree and become the first in his family to graduate

from college. In 1949, the family returned to North Carolina, and Al worked in the

12

© 2010

dairy industry, beginning with a job as a plant manager and eventually working his

way to office manager at Biltmore Dairies, in Asheville, North Carolina. In the

early 1950s, he was accepted to the University of North Carolina, Raleigh, where

he earned a Master’s Degree in plant management. While the family lived in

Asheville, Al joined the Asheville Toastmasters Club and often tried out his

opening jokes on his family, practicing his lines on them to see if his speeches

yielded the desired response. In 1965, when Biltmore Dairy decided to sell its milk

production company, the family chose that transition time as an opportunity to

move west, to Tucson, Arizona, and ultimately to Los Angeles, California, where Al

worked as production accounting manager for Knudsen Industries. There, he

became a member of the Kiwanis Club, and in addition to his other

responsibilities, participated in Kiwanis service work. Following his retirement in

1980, and their return to Tucson, Arizona, Al recalls their time in California as

some of his most satisfying and happy years.

In Tucson, he and Eunice settled into a routine of managing their rental properties

and encouraging their grandchildren to complete their education, start their

careers, and purchase homes. Al and Eunice also enjoyed hosting family and

friends from across the country who visited with them in Tucson and traveled

around to “see the sights” in Arizona.

In 1947, while they were at the University of Illinois, their daughter Brenda Slagle

was born. Al and Eunice were clear that their children would receive the best

education possible, and Brenda was fortunate to be able to attend excellent

13

© 2010

public elementary schools wherever they lived in North Carolina. When she was in

the eighth grade, she earned a scholarship to a college prep high school. The

pressure to maintain her scholarship for the four years of high school precluded

indulgence in “social distractions,” but Brenda enjoyed baby sitting on weekends,

working in Honor Society service projects at her school, holding office in Student

Council, and participating in basketball and track. She was the first from her high

school to be accepted to Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North

Carolina, where she met and married Robert Carrick Wyckoff, Jr. in 1967.

Brenda and Robert had three sons, one of whom, Frank Logan, died of cancer

when he was eleven. Bob and Brenda’s eldest

son, Rick, enlisted in the Army when he was

nineteen, and was trained as an Army Ranger.

During his service, he sustained injuries that left

him partially disabled,

and he was given an

honorable discharge.

After he recovered from

Brenda, Hank, Robert, Frank and Rick his injuries enough to

return home, Rick studied graphic design and became an

artist. He later settled in the Verde Valley in Arizona, and Bella Marie

married Brooke Decker. They have one daughter, Isabella Marie.

14

© 2010

Robert and Brenda’s youngest son, Henry, earned a Bachelor of Science degree,

an Associate Degree in computer technology, a standard high school teacher’s

certificate, with six area endorsements, and a Master’s Degree in Soil Physics. He

joined the faculty of an alternative high school education group in Arizona, and

has held positions ranging from classroom teacher, to lead teacher, to curriculum

design specialist and various administrative positions. Hank married Camilla

Sciore and has formed strong friendships with members of her family.

Since Brenda’s husband Robert was a computer analyst, computer engineer, and

amateur musician, his career took their family from Winston-Salem, North

Carolina to California, to New York, and then back to California, where Brenda

completed her Bachelor’s Degree in History and Philosophy, and earned a

Montessori teaching certificate. She continued her post-graduate studies in

Special Education-Gifted Specialist, and ultimately earned a PhD in Curriculum

Design. In 1988, when he was 42, Robert died while on a business trip to the San

Fernando Valley, in California. Following Bob’s death, Brenda’s career involved

working with special needs and gifted children from preschool through high

school, as well as teaching adults at the college level.

Eunice and Al’s son, Al Logan Slagle (1951-2002) was a creative, unassuming man

who gave his all for Native Americans. He began his life as everybody's "Brother

Rabbit"...full of curiosity and fascination with anything that moved or crawled or

jumped. At six, he was Al Logan-under-the-teacher's-desk-reading-a-book. He

started his storytelling career at an early age, entertaining customers in the family

15

© 2010

restaurant with his tall tales. Other times he would scoot up onto an unguarded

lap with a book, expecting to hear a story. The gifts he displayed, to engage his

audience and to weave a powerful presentation, stood him in good stead in his

career as an advocate for indigenous people who were desperate for a worthy

champion that would join in their efforts to gain recognition and finally convince

the United States government to honor its many agreements and treaties.

For twenty years, Al Logan worked with various Native American tribes

throughout the United States, and he served as their legal representative in

Washington, D.C. Al Logan was noted for his thorough research into issues and for

his ability to develop extensive and irrefutable briefs in a record amount of time.

Included in his successful efforts in Congress is the recognition of the

Piro/Manso/Tiwa Indian Tribe of the Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe

Ramapough in New Mexico.

By the age of twelve, he was an avid investigator, growing strange new life forms

under his bed and learning how to create balanced stacks of books and papers.

Christmas was always his favorite holiday, even more special than his own

birthday. He delighted in surprising family with presents, and he savored the

music, smells, and lights of the season.

In Tucson, his teens were a time of dedication and searching. He joined de Molay

and participated in Junior Achievement. Al Logan loved the feel of the desert, and

he enjoyed long, meditative walks and painting what he saw. He rounded out his

16

© 2010

high school career by becoming manager of his high schools' foot ball teams, both

Canyon Del Oro in Tucson and Pacifica in Garden Grove, California. His interest in

community service and his dedication to his family and friends continued to

develop, as he began to find and define himself.

While at UCLA, Al Logan became inspired with a passion for Native American

issues. Following his Master's Degree from

University of California Los Angeles, he completed

his Doctorate at Loyola University. He then

passed the California State Bar and was on his

path. The years to come included research into

Native American family histories, collaboration in

writting The Good Red Road, political action to

support funding of Native American health care,

Al and Al Logan at Loyola and a life of dedicated service to indigenous

peoples around the world. He believed that the youthful Western Civilization

owes respect to the spiritual insights of our native peoples and stewardship to our

elder cultures. One of his final projects was to begin work on a family genealogy

narrative. His initial focus was an attempt to resolve a question that had haunted

his mother for decades. Al Logan’s essay about the Freeman family was the

inspiration for the narratives in this collection.

Al Logan was the grandson of Logan and Olivia Allison Ball and Jesse and Ledola

Slagle, of Madison County, North Carolina. He realized the best of each family’s

17

© 2010

legacy, and he sacrificed his personal life in order to do all that was within his

power to insure the integrity of native tribes and to protect the hope and future

of Native Americans and their children. Among the tribes with whom he worked

are counted the Mohegan Indian Tribe in Connecticut, the Paucatuck Eastern

Pequot Indians of Connecticut, the Samish Indian Tribe in Washington State, and

the Prio/Manso/Tiwa of the Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe, formerly known as

the Tiwa Indian Tribe of New Mexico. A more complete listing of the tribes Al

Logan served may be found in the appendix section “Tribal Recognitions.”

Only those closest to Al Logan knew that he had been trained by a Sioux medicine

man and had taken up the medicine tradition handed down from his ancestors.

His heartfelt mission is so clearly stated in the Afterward to The Good Red Road:

American politicians are only human. They follow the lead of their

constituents, and some Americans take the gains in land and resources over

the dead and rotting bodies of Indians as an acceptable moral cost of doing

business. Too many Americans seem to feel that the United States does not

owe Indians just compensation, “in kind” or in any other way, for what the

Indians ceded not only by conquest but by agreement.

Regarding the 1986 International Genocide Treaty he wrote: Not all, but

arguably many of the United States’ historical acts and omissions regarding

its indigenous peoples have met the treaty’s various definitions of

genocide.

The Good Red Road pp. 265

18

© 2010

In The Good Red Road, “Luther Clearwater,” the Sioux elder,

challenged us to recall a spirit, not of futile cyclical rebellion

and reaction, but a spirit drawing hope and life from our

foundations.

The Good Red Road pp. 267

And finally, Al Logan states the rationale for his life mission:

I have learned since 1975 that many Indian people share the belief that

“health” is not only a matter of physical well-being, but a characterization

of processes and living organisms. Health is the condition of individuals and

communities which live and grow in a harmonious, stable relationship with

their environment as it continuously changes. Health is a kind of freedom

and (in the original sense) “wholeness” that can only be enjoyed through

discipline. A “healer” in the sense that I use it here and elsewhere is not

only any “successful” physician or curer, but anyone who promotes or

effects such “wholeness.” Those who do not work for that condition in

themselves and others work against it.

The Good Red Road pp. 268

Look at the Medicine Tree. It represents all the instruments and means of

achieving health or wholeness. It also represents everything we have,

everything we have been, and our potential for growing without losing our

integrity, our wholeness. Whatever else happens to the “tree,” if its roots

remain intact, the “tree” can revive, even produce new leaves, flowers, and

19

© 2010

fruits, indeed all that we need now. One must have faith in the root. One

must start where one is, with something, a root, a seed. With faith, which is

effort exerted in keeping with belief, Indian country can flower again. If we,

as Indian people, can live out the quest and mission of this faith in the

promise of the good red road, regardless of failures and giving thanks for

successes, we will have done our best. We ask no more of an acorn or an

onion than it do the best with what it has.

The Good Red Road pp. 267-268

There is hope; and it is in hope that we have written The Good Red Road for

the children, as the Elders who have spoken to us have asked. We have

delivered ourselves of a burden writing these things, that the people may

be free, and live.

The Good Red Road pp. 271

We remember the courage and accomplishments of a gentle and loving man. In

my heart, he will always be "Brother Rabbit", padding down the stairs in his red,

footie pajamas, lugging book number one of the Childcraft set under his arm, and

grasping the banister rail with his tiny fingers, "Will you read me The Tinny-Tiny

Lady just one more time?"

Lincoln, Ken and Slagle, Al Logan, The Good Red Road, San Francisco, Calif.: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1987, Afterward pp. 263-290.

20

© 2010

Betrayals Among the Ashes and Dust

First Found: Flint, England since before 1066. Family was

of Welsh origin.

Family Motto: Without God, without anything. God is

enough.

1

© 2010

2

© 2010

3

© 2010

“If you could see your ancestors, all standing in a row ,

there might be some among them whom you wouldn’t care to know.

But there’s another matter which requires a different view.

If you could see your ancestors, would they be proud of you?”

- from “Would They” by Rufus Craig

The Cherokee great-grandmother of the Davis family in

North Carolina was Nan’yehi Nancy Ward. She was born

in Tennessee around 1738, where she earned the

Cherokee name Nan’yehi, meaning “One who walks

about.” She was considered by her people to be a

Nvnehi or Spirit Warrior, one of the "people who live

anywhere.” She grew up to become the last ghigau,

Nancy Ward meaning “Beloved Woman,” of the Cherokee people.

Her mother was Tame Doe, and her father is reported to have been Francis Ward,

son of Sir Francis Ward of Ireland. Others report she was the daughter of a

Delaware Indian. As a small child Nancy Ward was known as Tsituna-Gus-Ke (Wild

Rose). Her mother, Tame Doe, was a member of the Wolf clan. One source says

Tame Doe was the sister of Attakullacull, while another source says she was the

sister of Oconostota, famed Cherokee chief.

As a young woman, Nancy joined the young male warriors in battles against other

Native American tribes, and the courage and intelligence that she demonstrated

earned her a place as a leader within the Cherokee nation. However, she was also

known as a peacemaker who could be thoughtful and exercise mercy when she

felt it appropriate. During the negotiation of the Treaty of Hopewell (1785), Ward

attempted to promote mutual friendship between the whites and the Cherokees.

4

© 2010

She argued for the adoption of farming and dairy production by the Cherokees,

and Nancy became the first Cherokee dairy farmer. Much later, she urged her

tribe not to sell tribal land to the whites, saying, “Do not part with any of your

lands. Continue on with your farms.” Her pleas were ignored. Watching the flood

of European settlers move into and overrun parts of Tennessee, she was one of

those leaders who realized that it would be more prudent to blend into the white

world, and so she took the name Nancy Ward.

The DAR commissioned a monument to Nancy Ward in Polk County, North

Carolina where as an elder lady, she ran a hotel at Woman Killer Ford. Nancy

married Bryant Ward, an English trader who fought in the French and Indian War,

and who came among the Cherokee in the late 1750s. Bryant and Nancy lived in

Chota for a time, where their daughter Elizabeth “Betsy” was born. Betsy Ward

married General Joseph Martin, and thus, through her daughter Rachel Martin

Davis, became the grandmother of the Western North Carolina Davis family.

The Davis family in North Carolina and Tennessee trace their Anglo-American

roots to General Joseph Martin, and to his father Joseph

Martin, Sr., a British plantation owner, and his mother

Susanna Childs, daughter of a well-to-do farmer in what

came to be Albemarle County, Virginia. Born on his father's

plantation near Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia,

young Joseph became a fur trader and planter, thus

amassing his fortune. He was elected Captain of the

…Gen. Joseph Martin… Transylvania Militia in 1776, Major on 17 February 1779, Lt.

Colonel in March 1781, and Brigadier General of North Carolina Militia by the

5

© 2010

legislature, on 15 December 1787, and he was finally commissioned Brigadier

General of the Twentieth Brigade of the Virginia Militia by Governor Henry Lee,

on 11 December 1793. Martinsville, the county seat of Henry County, Virginia,

was named for him.

Joseph neglected his early schooling and was considered wild and incorrigible. He

grew to a lean six feet tall. His associates were General Thomas Sumter and

Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, of King's Mountain fame. Joseph joined the army at

sixteen, where for several years he served with Dr. Thomas Walker as a hunter

and an explorer of Powell's Valley. He settled in Powell’s Valley, raised corn, and

in 1769, married a white woman. He became Indian Agent of Henderson and

Transylvania Counties, and supervised purchase of land from Cherokees through

the "Legislature of Boonesborough," which arose in 1775, and was disbanded

when Richard Henderson broke with his legislative associates and left, calling

them "scoundrels". The monopoly they exercised was so underhanded that Isaac

Shelby, in deposition and trial, said that Oconostota became wary of treaties after

trading with Richard Henderson (in the Long Island Treaty of 1776) because

Henderson had tied him up so with the words in the treaty that "he couldn't catch

a crawfish on the land." The purchase violated the Non-Intercourse Act and was

voided by Congress. Even Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were barred from

buying shares.

Governor Patrick Henry appointed Joseph Martin Indian Agent at Long Island in

1777, where he remained until 1789. He concluded several Cherokee treaties and

successfully engineered the expulsion of the British Cherokee agent. When Joseph

married Betsy Ward, daughter of Nancy Ward, he gained more influence in

6

© 2010

making treaties. In 1780, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson promoted Joseph’s

appointment as Territorial Governor of the territory south of Ohio, but he lost to

William Blount. A few years later he worked with Isaac Shelby and John Donelson

to form the Treaty of 1783, Long Island, and the Treaty of Hopewell, South

Carolina.

During Washington's presidency, Martin worked on Cherokee Nation diplomatic

relations, rose to rank of Brigadier General, and then retired, at which time he

returned to Virginia and resided in Henry County. Joseph was elected to the

legislature and became James Madison's right hand man. Martin is best

remembered for running the boundary line between Tennessee and Virginia. In

1789, Joseph Martin was buried with full military and Masonic honors.

In the years following Nancy Ward's death, President Andrew Jackson, who

viewed the defiant natives as vermin and an

impediment to his political ambition and his

plans to expand the power and territory of

the new nation, encouraged the state of

Georgia and eager settlers to take Cherokee

lands. The Cherokee were offered extremely

Federal troops attack at Honey Springs low compensation and promises of land in

the west. As depicted by the eye-witness painting of the attack at Honey Springs

Depot, when the offer did not have the desired effect, Jackson defied a Supreme

Sources: Emmett Starr, HISTORY OF THE CHEROKEES, p. 351. Oliver Taylor, HISTORIC SULLIVAN, A HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, TENNESEE, WITH BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE MAKERS OF HISTORY, Bristol, Tenn.: The King Printing Co. (Le Roi Press), 1909, pp. 17-19, 53-55, 112-121.

7

© 2010

Court decision and allowed the state of Georgia to begin forced removal of those

Cherokees who refused to be displaced. The homes, businesses, and farms of

Cherokees living in the declared territory of Georgia were confiscated, as

sanctioned by executive decree. When the Cherokee resisted and refused to give

up their homes and livelihood, the Georgia militia moved in to Chota and

destroyed the printing press that was used to publish the tribe's newspaper. That

was the beginning of the removal process.

In 1838, all defiant Cherokee were either exterminated, escaped the ensuing

round-up by taking refuge in the mountains of North Carolina (where some of

their descendants still live today,) or were forced to walk to Oklahoma Territory.

Beginning in the spring of 1838, the displaced Native Americans were forced to

travel through rain and

mud, and then snow and

ice, to Oklahoma. About

4,000 Cherokees died

during the 800-mile

exodus that would

eventually become known

among them as the

Nunna-da-ult-sun-yi (The Trail of Tears).

John Davis and Betsy Martin, daughter of Nancy Ward and Joseph Martin, were

the parents of a daughter Rachel, who was born in 1777, and who married Daniel

Davis. Records indicate that they lived in Tennessee, but very little else is known

about their lives. There is no available history about their children, other than that

8

© 2010

their son John Davis was the father of Jack Davis, who was born in North Carolina

and married Celia Radford from Flagpond, Tennessee. The Dawes Roll shows

their son, John William Davis, born 1878, was registered full blood Cherokee in

Indian Territory, Oklahoma. We can only guess about what their lives may have

been. Betsy and John Davis would have been living with the pressure of westward

expansion of immigrant settlers from their earliest childhoods. Despite their

efforts to assimilate, their children and grandchildren would have lived through

the conflicts and horrors leading up to and including the expulsion of native

peoples from Georgia. The survivors of the Cherokee extermination and

relocation experienced dismemberment of their families and destruction of their

lives. Much as children who survived the Nazi holocaust managed to escape to

sanctuary and have spent decades in their struggle to heal the psychological and

physical wounds of their experiences, many Cherokee have struggled for

generations to recover from the horrors those three generations experienced.

Contemporary sociological research verifies the long-term damage such events

unleash on individuals, families, and cultures. Alcoholism was often the self-

medication of choice, both because it was cheap and available, and because sale

of alcohol benefited those who profited from the alcohol market. For some,

alcohol was the only way to still their anxiety

attacks.

Family oral history relates how as a boy, John

Davis survived the walk to Oklahoma, how he

watched members of his family die, and how

he saw their bodies left along the trail because

the soldiers were under orders not to let them stop for burials. When he arrived

9

© 2010

in Oklahoma, John Davis was registered on the Dawes Roll. While he was still a

teen, John escaped and walked back to the Appalachian Mountains of North

Carolina to join other Cherokee who were in hiding there. John and a Cherokee

woman were the parents of Jack Davis, who returned to Oklahoma with his

Cherokee wife to claim his allotment. The Dawes Roll shows that when he was

nineteen, Jack Davis’s son John William Davis enrolled himself and his younger

brother Mack, who was seventeen. Young John William’s hope had been that they

could claim their allotment northeast of Catoosa, Oklahoma near the Santa Fe

Railroad line and thereby secure their financial futures.

Unfortunately, the boys were swindled out of their allotment by their guardian,

James K. Stout. John William never recovered from the theft of his land and the

hope for security it had promised. For the rest of his life, he saved every penny he

could earn so that he could give each of his children enough money to purchase a

home, the very security that had been taken

from him and his brother.

When she was in her late nineties, John

William’s daughter Ledola confided to her

granddaughter how she had adored her father

but also hated him for being so “stingy” and

never spending money on his children, except

for books for school and one pair of shoes

each winter. She could not understand why

…John and Mack Davis… her father would not buy them nice things

when they were children. Ledola cherished the home she and her husband

10

© 2010

Reverend Jesse Slagle were able to build with the eleven thousand dollar

inheritance her father left each of his children when he died. Ledola mused, “I

should be ashamed to say that when I was a child, I thought Dad was just a bum

for not doing more for us children.”

As a young man, John William Davis returned to Tennessee and married Lindy

Nevada-Ramsey Davis (1880-1959), also Cherokee. Lindy had been born “on

Laurel,” in Madison County, North Carolina, but they settled near Flagpond,

Tennessee and raised their family of thirteen children.

John William’s “middle daughter,” Ledola Davis Slagle, recalled a childhood of

hard work and cold winters. She took pride in remembering all the names and

birthdates of her siblings, well into

her nineties. She spoke with deep

affection and concern about her

sisters and her younger brothers,

and she recalled how her older

brothers had protected her when

she was a child. She never spoke

much about the “older boys” as

adults, but she was very outspoken Ledola is the girl standing in front of her dad

about people who do not make the best of the opportunities they have. “Until

they see their parents and brothers and sisters die, and have to leave their bodies

on the ground for wild animals to eat, they don’t know what suffering really is.”

Ledola spoke these words with a far-away look, and in a tone that echoed quoted

words she had probably heard many times as a child. She never discussed the fact

11

© 2010

that her father had died of cirrhosis of the liver. Such a complex person would be

difficult for her to understand at such close range.

The Davis children had to trek over a mountain to

school, and Ledola suffered from nerve damage

caused by the frostbite she and her siblings

suffered walking to school through deep snow. She

recounted the experiences as one would tell of an

adventure, rubbing her aged feet and describing

the burning sensation of “getting thawed out.” She

loved going to school and would not miss a day,

even at the risk of being frozen. Even though their

school only went to the seventh grade, Ledola

Ledola (96), great-granddaughter went back year after year, until she was

seventeen. “A lot of it was review, but I always wanted to learn more. They didn’t

have high school in those days.” A constant reader until she was ninety-nine,

when a series of strokes deprived her of her ability to understand what she was

reading, Ledola savored letters with news of family and relatives in Western

North Carolina, and she followed Republican politics in the newspaper with avid

interest. On August 7, 2007, she celebrated her one hundredth birthday with her

family and friends, and she died the following January.

Eulogy for Ledola Davis Slagle 2008

Mamaw liked to say, “I don’t know why you are so good to me. What did I do

for you?” And I would remind her of the hot buttered biscuits and strawberry jam,

the stories she used to tell on the front porch in the summer, and working in her

12

© 2010

garden. Then we would reminisce about the smells from the old wood stove, and

her rolling out biscuit dough and cutting biscuits with a drinking glass. I liked the

crescent moon biscuits that were the leftover bits from the edges of the cut

dough. Her biscuits were always crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the

inside, just the way I loved them…with melted butter running out the sides, and

her strawberry jam, filled with thick, juicy strawberries.

We would laugh about Papaw and how he always had to “saucer” his coffee. I

so loved the fragrance of the coffee as he poured exactly enough in his saucer,

and then panned his coffee in the shallow dish until it was just right. As he drank

from his saucer, I watched to see if he ever missed a drop or failed to wait until

the coffee was cool enough. Mamaw would fuss if he “saucered his coffee” when

company came.

On a stormy July evening in Tucson, Mamaw and I sat in the porch swing on the

patio at her residence and listened to the thunder rumble over the Catalina

Mountains. The swing sat facing the plate glass windows so that on sunny days,

the awning over the swing would shade her from the sun. On this day, we swung

gently and waited for raindrops. I could barely make out our images reflected in

the glass, and I focused on the color of the approaching storm clouds.

Suddenly, a movement in the reflection caught my eye. Mamaw pointed to the

window and said, “Two old women,” then we both laughed. I waited a minute

and responded, “Fifty years ago, just about this same time, you and I sat on the

porch at your house on Fisher Lane, in North Carolina. What if someone had come

up the path and said, ‘In fifty years, the two of you will be sitting on a patio, in a

swing in Tucson, Arizona.’” She kept on swinging in silence. A hint of a twinkling

13

© 2010

grin touched the corner of her mouth and she said, “I would have said, ’Where is

that?! Where in the world is Tucson, Arizona?’”We laughed again. Then she grew

serious and answered with the words I had expected her to say in the first place.

“If I had known where Tucson was, I would never have believed them in a million

years. I would have wanted to know what we would be doing so far away from

home, and how we got there.”

Many summer evenings when I was a child, I would beg her for a story. She would

always answer my pleas with, “I don’t know any stories.” And I would always

prime her with, “Well just tell me ‘Old Knuckle Bones.’” I knew she could not

resist telling that scary ghost story, and that if I could get her started with that

one story, there was at least a chance of another after that.

Shortly before she died, Mamaw said, “We did get along together, didn’t we?”

And that we did. By the way, it finally did rain that evening, and we giggled, “got

rained on,” and thoroughly enjoyed being old kids in the storm, together.

Eulogy by Brenda Wyckoff

The legacy of the Davis family includes the example set by Nancy Ward, to

contribute a portion of your energy and resources to help the elders, the sick, and

the orphaned. Her courage in the face of danger to her family and in defense of

the innocent remind us all to look first to our own conscience and our own heart

before being persuaded by outside forces and powers. The Davis descendants

have demonstrated a legacy of distrust of government officials, impatience with

those who fall weak in the face of adversity or wallow in self-pity, and the

14

© 2010

celebrate the values of perseverance, education, home ownership, and

maintaining family ties.

Hidden Here

Family Name: First found in Lankarkshire before 1300

Notable members: Francis Allison, a colonial scholar, is said to

have had an important role in educating the American mind to the

concept of independence.

Family Motto: Truth prevails

1

© 2010

2

© 2010

Our maternal grandmother, Cora Olivia Lee Allison (1876 -1938), was of Scots-

Irish and “Pennsylvania Dutch” descent. It was

because of her heritage that her husband

nicknamed her “Dutch.” She was born and

raised in Brevard, North Carolina, the

daughter of Frank Allison and Susan Barnett

Allison, who were both from families that

highly valued service to country and

community. As a child, she was enrolled in the

Eastern Band Cherokee, and during her youth,

Olivia’s family was a vibrant part of the

cultural and social life in Cherokee. In the mid

Cora Lee Olivia Allison 1700s, Western North Carolina's gold rush era

first brought the Allison and Baird families to the Boylston Creek Goldmine in

Buncombe County, North Carolina. Boylston Creek lies just east of Forge

Mountain and Highway 191/280, southeast of what is today, the South Fork of

Mills River, and northeast of Etowah, in Transylvania County. The mine lies about

five miles south of the junction of Boylston Creek and Highway 280. Today there

are several branches of the Allison family among the Cherokee,on the Qualla

Boundary.

The lineage of the Allison family in England is said to go back to the time of

William the Conqueror, when ancestors came over from Alencon (pronounced

Allanson in French), Normandy, France to Yorkshire, England. The Western North

Carolina Allison family traces its direct ancestry in America from Thomas Allanson

3

© 2010

(1638 - 1684), whose father had been an architect in England, and who became a

merchant, farmer, and planter in the New World. Thomas was named Lord of

Christian Temple Manor (1639 - 1684), a Gentleman of London, England and

Charles County, Maryland. He immigrated to Maryland in 1658 and was granted

his lordship one year later. Today the family’s first home in America, Christian

Temple Manor, is a Maryland state park. Like many other families, the Allisons

began to move south and west during the decades following the Revolutionary

War, and many settled in parts of Western North Carolina.

Thomas Allanson returned briefly to England, in September, 1624, where he

married Mary Roberts, from Middlesex, England. Their son Charles (b.1660s)

changed the spelling of the family name to Allison. Charles married Mary Posey.

Their son Thomas Allison married Barbara Burch and was the father of Benjamin

Allison, who married Mary, in Burke County, North Carolina. They became the

parents of Burch Allison, our direct ancestor. Property records and will transcripts

also indicate that from the time of Thomas Allanson until the end of the Civil War,

in addition to being merchants and farmers, the Allisons owned slaves. Olivia

Allison Ball often shared stories with her children about a family housekeeper and

“Negro Mammy” named Hattie Kemp, who cared for her and her sister when they

were children, and who opted to remain with the family following the

Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

Olivia’s paternal great-grandfather, Burch Allison (1764 - 1848), was a

Revolutionary War pensioner who had served as a guard in the 1780s. Pension

Source for early Allison family: Register of Maryland's Heraldic Families: Period from 1634, March 25th to March 25th, l935, Tercentenary of the Founding of Maryland.

4

© 2010

Military records indicate that in 1834 his brother Posey (b. 1751) assisted Burch in

getting his pension. All Burke County records were burned during the Civil War

fire in 1865, but we have been able to establish through census records that

Burch Allison fathered two sons: John (1795 - 1898) and Francis (b. 1778), who

were half brothers. Burch owned and worked a North Carolina land grant in Burke

County. His son John owned land grants in Buncombe County, North Carolina.

Burch appears in the 1790 U.S. Montgomery County, Maryland census, and later

in the 1800 U. S. Burke County, North Carolina census as head of family, with

dependants Benjamin, (son) Burch, Posey, and William Allison. The younger

Burch married Mary Jane Patton, and their son Francis Allison married Cassie

Baird, whose family had moved from Savannah, Georgia to Virginia. Francis and

Cassie settled in North Carolina, and their son Alexander B.D. Allison, was born in

Henderson County, North Carolina. In their later years, Burch and his second wife,

Posey Allison, lived at their son Frank’s home. Records indicate that in 1811 John

Baird, Francis “Frank” Allison's maternal grandfather, deeded Frank his Buncombe

County, North Carolina land.

Olivia’s maternal grandfather, David Barnett (1798 - 1864), also served during the

Revolutionary War, in the Lower 96th Regiment, in Pickens Brigade, South

Carolina. David had been a boatwright in Edgefield County, South Carolina. His

business was one of the most profitable in the area at that time because ships

were used to take the cotton that was grown in America to England, and England

in turn traded luxuries and household items with the colonies. Records show that

David had a home at Snow Hill, possibly with his first wife, Loveday Hamilton

(1800 - 1833), and they had three children. David later married Mary Merrill, who

5

© 2010

became the mother of Susan Barnett and the grandmother of Olivia Allison.

David and Mary owned an estate near Augusta, Georgia, where they were buried

in a family cemetery. That cemetery was demolished in the 1830s to make way

for the railroad.

Records indicate that David sold his boat yard, which was later abandoned, prior

to the Civil War, when the first steam railway in that area was built at Hamburg,

Georgia around 1830. Between 1800 and 1810, “the changing times” led to a

general exodus of families out of Edgefield to North Carolina. Many families

settled in the Crabtree section of Henderson County, North Carolina. For a time

David commuted with his family between Henderson County and their Edgefield

home. He owned several tracts of land, including 200 acres that he bought from a

brother-in-law, John Hamilton. The property featured a cabin, an orchard, and a

tub mill. Just before Loveday’s death, she and David Barnett sold land on Little

River to her brother William. After Loveday died David moved his business to a

property near Mud Creek Church, where he manufactured cabinets, furniture,

and wagons for the westward migration of settlers. He also managed a farm in

Henderson County, which he maintained as his home.

In 1851 Alexander Baird Doughtry Allison (1795 - 1898) became the first County

Ranger in the Pisgah National Forest area of Western North Carolina. He and his

wife Elizabeth Patty Leister (1802 - 1899) lived in Brevard, North Carolina. Their

Source: ALLISON FAMILY, by Lloyd Allison, Durham, N. C. 1974; includes 1800, 1850 U. S. (Burke Co.) N. C. census. Data from Mary Jane McCrary, 37 lest Jordan St., Brevard, N. C. 28712. Census Records from Brevard, N. C., records 18 Dec. 1829 to 7 Nov. 1905. The National Allison (Allanson) Family Association

6

© 2010

son “Frank” Allison (1839 - 1905) followed the family traditions and became a

businessman, entrepreneur, and patriot. He was present at Appomattox

Courthouse when General Lee signed the surrender to the Union Army, and thus

witnessed the end of the Civil War. Family history tells that Frank walked back to

Brevard from Appomattox, Virginia with a bullet wound in his leg that had not

healed. Later in life, he developed cancer in that same leg, possibly as a result of

the infection he suffered in the wound.

In 1867 Francis Henry Allison married Susan Barnett. Frank

was a merchant in Brevard, North Carolina. Among the few

facts we have about his life, we know that: he served in the

Civil War; he was a businessman; he descended from

…..Frank Allison ….. Cornelius Daughtery, the first English trader to marry into the

Cherokee and to leave mixed-blood descendants; he was listed as “colored” on

his marriage license, indicating that he was considered to Cherokee; and he lived

out his life as an unassuming and respected member of his community.

The Allison family had many dealings with members of the Cherokee Nation in

Western North Carolina. Frank’s nephew, Samuel Francis Allison (1874 - 1950), is

said to have organized and run the Cherokee National Holiday Feast in the 1950s.

He was the proprietor of the Fish Camp meat market, and was known for being

the creator of a favorite “special sauce.” He also became a member of the First

Baptist Church and the Masonic Lodge in Brevard, North Carolina. Samuel retired

in 1943, but continued to serve as a worthy patron of the Eastern Star Chapter of

Brevard, and continued his tribal involvement until his death in an auto collision

in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Despite the undercurrent of prejudice that

7

© 2010

permeated many southern communities in that time, and despite their own

slaveholding history, the Allison family remained connected with the Cherokee

and moved comfortably within both the Anglo and the Native cultures.

Cora Lee Olivia Allison Ball was born to Francis Henry Allison and Susan Barnett

Allison in 1876, in Brevard, North Carolina. Olivia attended the Asheville Industrial

College, and later opened a millinery and dressmaker shop in downtown Brevard.

Newspaper reports from that era (c. 1900) said that she designed and sewed

entire wardrobes for local residents and summer visitors. She had a talent for

making the fashionable hats of the day. Always independent and one who loved a

challenge, she cut quite a figure as she drove her horse and buggy to her shop in

town each day. Olivia was devoted to her parents, caring for her father until his

death in 1905, and later caring for her mother, who died in 1910 following a short

illness. Olivia was introduced to her future husband, Logan Ball, by a cousin, the

Reverend Elisha Allison, who had met Logan at a

camp meeting in Marshall, North Carolina. Logan

was descended from mixed-blood Cherokee who

secretly maintained the Cherokee language,

culture, and herbal medicine traditions. Despite the

fact that she saw their traditional medicine as

backward and “old nonsense,” Olivia was able to

share affection and build cordial relationships with

his family. In 1911 Logan and Olivia were married

at the newspaper office in Brevard, surrounded by Olivia in 1912,home at Little Pine

family and friends.

8

© 2010

Leaving her life as she had known it, all of Olivia’s worldly goods were packed on

the train, and the newlyweds set off for Madison County, North Carolina and

dreams for their future. Olivia sold the property she had inherited, and she and

Logan moved into a small house on his family property, in Madison County. A

practicing Presbyterian, Olivia found herself in a community of devout Baptists.

Nevertheless, Olivia became a friend to everyone who met her, and she taught

the local ladies new preserving and canning recipes for the fruits and vegetables

they grew.

A natural teacher, Olivia enjoyed sharing her millinery and sewing skills with her

Pine Creek neighbors by showing them how to fashion new hats or create a new

quilt or a dress pattern. Neighbors said that if anyone was ill or needed a friend,

Olivia was the first to arrive with a basket of food and cookies for the children.

She was said to have loved children, and she and Logan had seven children of

their own. Five survived to adulthood.

Logan used the money from the sale of Olivia’s

property in Brevard to purchase a parcel of land called

“The Redmond Place,” but Olivia died in 1938 without

having had an opportunity to live in the new home

Logan had intended to build for her. The new house

was built for Logan’s second wife, Ida Peak. Logan’s

two youngest children, teenagers at the time of

Olivia’s death, remained in the original family home

until they moved out on their own. In time the ironies

Olivia with Eunice-1926 may resolve themselves.

9

© 2010

Olivia’s legacy was not to be found in the few material artifacts she left behind,

but in “what no one can take away from you.” She hoped to instill in her

descendants the importance of education, and she inspired them to achieve

success in whatever they did. These values have been passed from generation to

generation, as her children and grandchildren created businesses and pursued

advanced degrees at colleges across the country.

It is impossible to truly capture Olivia Allison Ball’s pioneering spirit and devotion

to family and community, however, her many contributions and achievements

will be nurtured in the coming generations by the endowed scholarship that has

been funded in her name at Brevard College. Through this scholarship, Olivia's

spirit and dedication will be shared with students whose desire it is to harness

their own gifts and talents and to launch into a future inspired by Olivia’s

optimism and generosity.

In addition to a family heritage of stewardship and service, an open

acknowledgment of their Cherokee lineage, a pioneering and entrepreneurial

spirit, and an openness to progress and change, the legacy of the Allison family

includes adages such as: “An education is the one thing that nobody can take

away from you” and “Remember your duty to your family that gave you life and

to your country where you enjoy the liberty to pursue happiness.”

Crosscurrents and Heirlooms

Family Name: First found in Cheshire, England where

they held the family seat from ancient times, before

1066.

Family Motto: Virtue is the support of dignity.

Located just 30 minutes from Asheville, N.C., The Preserve at Little Pine sales center is easily

accessible from the interstate. From Asheville, take US 19/23N for about 8 miles to exit 19A

(Marshall, Hot Springs). Turn right on 25/70 and drive for approximately 12.5 miles. The sales

center will appear on your left right before Little Pine Road. To get to The Preserve at Little

Pine, turn left onto Little Pine Road and drive for 6.7 miles until you pass Payne’s Chapel on

right, continue for 1 mile to the gated entrance for Little Pine on your right.

1

© 2010

2

© 2010

John Logan Ball

A figure, as strong and fragile

as a silhouette against the night sky,

he walked the hills.

In the twilight,

in the dawn,

his dog at his heels,

he walked the hills.

With his head bowed into the wind,

hands clasped behind his back,

he walked the ridgeline.

Stopping to survey the beauty

and to breathe the glory of his land,

he walked the hills.

Remembering his ancestors

and many lives before,

he walks the hills.

- Poem written by Brenda Slagle for Eunice Ball Slagle,1966

3

© 2010

The family name Ball may have been the shortened

form of Baldwin, from the father-in-law of William the

Conqueror. Sources agree that the name means bold,

willing to fight to win, willing to work for victory.

William Joseph Ball was born in England in 1450 and

died in 1480. Since women were not considered

citizens in those days, there is no record of a marriage date nor a listing of

information about his wife. Records do indicate that his son Robert Ball was born

in 1475, married in 1499 and died in 1543. Again, no name was recorded for his

wife. We begin to find more complete records with their son William Ball, who

was born in 1505, married Margaret Moody in Berkshire, England, and died in

1550. Their son John Paris Ball I (1525 – 1599) married Agnes Hathaway, and their

son John Paris Ball II was born on May 5, 1548 (died-1628) and married Elizabeth

Webb (1555-1595). Records indicate they had eleven children, the third of whom

was William Ball, born in 1573. William’s brother Richard (b.1577) earned his

Master’s Degree at Oxford and was conferred a coat of arms. William (1573-1647)

married Dorothy Tuttle, and their son Richard Ball (1602-1684) married Elizabeth

Linton. There is more information available on their son William Ball, who grew

up to become Colonel William Ball (1619-1695), the grandfather of Mary Ball and

the great-grandfather of George Washington.

Colonel Ball was educated in London. Evidence shows that he was married on July

2, 1638 to Miss Hannah Atherall / Atherold, the daughter of Thomas Atherold.

William was a soldier who served in the Royal Army, and was loyal to the king of

England. He and his family left England soon after the death of King Charles I, in

4

© 2010

about 1650. He had studied law in England, and later interpreted the principles of

Common Law for fellow colonists in Virginia. Although he lost everything in the

English Civil War, William did not apply for a land grant until eight years after his

family arrived in America, suggesting that he may have planned to return to

England. Records indicate he became a tobacco merchant and later served on the

court in Virginia. Their son Joseph Ball was born in 1649, in Middlesex County,

Virginia.

Joseph Ball (1649-1711) married Julia Romney, and their son Edward Ball (1670-

1726) married Keziah Williamson Osborn, between 1669 and 1674. They had

twelve children, one of whom was Mary Ball, who later married Augustine

Washington, and their son George became the first president of the United

States. Their tenth child, Daniel Ball (1713-1794) married Sarah Hackney. It was

their son Daniel (1745-1794) who was the father of William Ball (1766-1844).

William Ball married Temperance Forkner, and the

archives in Christ Church Parish, Virginia show the

birth of their son Joel Ball (1800-1845.) Records in

the Wilkes County Census indicate that Joel

married Elizabeth Jarvis, and their son Noah ball,

who married Mary Ann Freeman, is our direct

ancestor. Records thus track the transition of the

family from the more settled Virginia into the then

Wilderness Travel “wilderness” of Wilkes County in what is today

Western North Carolina. During that time, the new territory did not have

5

© 2010

functioning governmental offices, so most families used their family bible as the

official record for marriages, births, land grants, and deaths. It was decades,

sometimes a century later, that family Bible records were validated and recorded

in county and church registers. Researching and comparing census records adds

another layer of validity.

In 1820 Joel Ball married Elizabeth Jarvis

(1800-1859) in Buncombe County, North

Carolina. They were the parents of Noah

Ball (1825-1906), who was born in

Madison County. Noah married Mary Ann

Freeman (1828-1904), and they were the

parents of Jerius Jay Ball, whom the family

Bible verifies was born November 15,

1847, in Marshall, North Carolina. He

married Mary Freeman (1841-1936), and

they worked the farm that Mary inherited

in Little Pine, North Carolina. “Jay” and

Mary had six children, their youngest son, Henry and Alan Ball

John Logan David Ball, was born March 30, 1887 and died August 7, 1951. In

January 1889, “Jay” Ball died of pneumonia, a complication of malaria, after

working on his daughter Julia’s barn. He had not written a will, and thus he left

his wife and their youngest children unprotected. His oldest daughters and their

husbands sued their mother Mary for an early distribution of the family farm, and

they took the most productive parcels, leaving Mary alone with Emeline, Thomas,

6

© 2010

and Logan to “fend for themselves the best they could.” The sense of

abandonment and resentment resulting from that law suit has persisted through

the generations.

Logan grew up on the family farm and married Olivia Allison, from Brevard, North

Carolina. He was an inveterate businessman, trader, and cattle farmer. He and

Olivia had seven children, the oldest, Franklin, died when he was three months

old, and a baby girl was stillborn in 1922, losses that haunted Olivia and her other

children for the rest of their lives. Their five surviving children grew up on Pine

Creek and attended High School in Marshall, North Carolina. The oldest daughter

Viola became a teacher and taught the fifth grade and special education at

Marshall School throughout her career. Their son Jack settled with his family in

Pine Creek and became a dairy farmer. Daughter,

Mary Sue, followed her mother’s inspiration and

became a seamstress, doing alterations for

laundry companies in Charlotte, North Carolina,

where she lived with her three children. It was

Mary Sue who carried the Cherokee traditions

taught her by Mary Freeman Ball. Until his death,

younger brother Warren operated a restaurant on

the French Broad River.

……Logan and Olivia …… The family raised sheep for mutton and wool, dairy cattle

for milk, beef cattle for meat and sale, hogs for meat that they cured in their own

smoke house, and vegetables for canning. Their orchards produced a variety of

7

© 2010

nuts and fruit, as well. The family survived the ravages of the Depression in large

part because of their ability to raise their own food. Before their marriage, Olivia

had attended college and owned her own seamstress business. She had hoped

that her children would continue their education. Logan’s mother, Mary Ball, was

illiterate, and even though she came to realize the importance of literacy, her son

Logan was more interested in trading and farming. Only in his later years did he

come to appreciate the value of an education in the fast changing, post-World

War II world. Before his death, Logan confessed to his daughter Eunice that he

was glad she had followed her mother’s guidance and persisted in her education.

October 27, 1923, when Olivia was 47, their youngest

daughter Eunice Glenn Ball was born. Eunice grew up on Pine

Creek, in Madison County, North Carolina, and she recalled

Logan Ball as a perpetual

trader who enjoyed

bargaining with horses and

cattle. She had strong

…Eunice and Olivia….. memories of the family farm,

surrounded by stands of trees, rich orchards, a

herd of sheep, and she had vivid memories of the

shock of the Great Depression. Eunice realized

that their family was fortunate that they had

arable land, a constant supply of good water, fuel

wood, livestock, and skills for weaving cloth. “old swimming hole”

8

© 2010

Eunice endured the challenges and hardships of a rural life in the mountains of

Western North Carolina. She attended a rural, one room school until she

graduated from eight grade. She enjoys recounting how she met her future

husband, Al Slagle, at their proficiency exam session at Marshall High School.

During World War II, she served in the offices of a ranking official, where she was

routinely entrusted with highly sensitive military information. A woman of

powerful business acumen, she held her family around her with fierce

determination and weathered painful insults with unflinching resiliency. Thanks to

her efforts, every member of her immediate and extended family enjoys greater

economic security, and her entire family retained a level of civility that would not

have been possible without her absolute value that family comes before every

other consideration.

The second person to graduate from Warren Wilson College, Eunice loved

business of any sort, from real estate to yard sales, the quiet pastime of her

‘retirement.’ Over the years, she founded a series of businesses, starting with

the establishment of her Café in Alexander, North Carolina, near the Buncombe

and Madison county line. Her next venture was the creation of the “Stitch and

Save Fabric Shop,” which she sold in 1965, and which was still in operation forty

years later. When the family relocated west, Eunice studied real estate and

became a well respected and sought after real estate broker in California. She

credited the establishment of financial security for her family to her experiences

in real estate and her investment decisions.

Some know well the streak of mischief that was the wellspring of Eunice’s humor.

Whether it was hiding a friend’s entire vehicle so that he was certain it had been

9

© 2010

stolen, or propping up a dead snake, so that someone working on a well pump

would think he was being stalked by a viscous copperhead, Eunice was not above

creating a prank that would send a person to the very edge of anxiety. As they

grew, she delighted in the brilliant adventures and quests of her son, Al Logan

Slagle, and she reveled in the exploits of her three grandsons.

Eunice loved to “reminisce” with anyone who enjoyed stories of the “old times,”

whether that be recalled stories from her parents and grandmother, history

recounted and “handed down” from generations, or poignant and sometimes

funny stories from her own life. Her green thumb was a source of pleasure for

her as she celebrated the propagation of dozens of “baby plants” she gently

coaxed to thrive, while she carefully guarded her “mother plants” that provided

the many offspring she cultivated to sell from her back

porch.

Al Slagle, her husband and companion for life, shared

Eunice’s frustrations and joys. Together they created a

home that welcomed guests and sheltered children from

their immediate and extended family. Eunice and Al both …..Eunice …..

championed education. For any young person who would take on the discipline to

learn and strive for a good and productive life, Eunice worked tirelessly to help

provide opportunities to “better their lives”. She is most proud of the fellowships

she was able to create as memorials for her son, Al Logan Slagle, and her mother,

Olivia Allison Ball, because she felt that if she could grant the opportunity of an

education to a deserving young person, her mission on Earth was fulfilled.

10

© 2010

After Olivia died in 1938, Logan Ball remarried twice more. In 1943, Logan

married his third wife, Lillie Wells Ball, and in 1950 they had one

daughter, Jarvis Ann, named after Ball ancestors. Logan died

when Jarvis was only fourteen months old, and she and Lillie

continued to live on the family farm until Jarvis graduated from

high school and was married. She and her husband lived in

Michigan for a time, but “the mountains get into your blood,”

……Jarvis Ann…... and before long she had to return to North Carolina. She

ultimately bought a home and settled along the French Broad River, at Alexander,

North Carolina. Jarvis completed technical college, and for more than two

decades, she has served as a technologist in the

radiology department of a rehabilitation facility in

Asheville, North Carolina. Jarvis and her husband

lost their little son Jerry, but her two surviving sons,

Mark and Keith, have both married and have also

settled in Western North Carolina. Jarvis’s own Heath

career in medicine has inspired her grandson Heath (Keith’s son)

to pursuing a medical career. Jarvis has one granddaughter,

Brianna (Mark’s daughter).

The Ball family has a long history of entrepreneurial expertise,

business acumen, pioneering spirit, and determination. They

…..Brianna…. are inveterate pioneers in whatever field they undertake.

Mysteries, Secrets, and a Denied Legacy

Family Name: First found in Strongbow land grant records in County Cork, Ireland, circa 1172, and derives from the expression “freomann” meaning free born.

Family Motto: Neither rashly nor timidly

1

2

3

he Western North Carolina Freeman family tree traces back to Patience

Brewster, daughter of William Brewster (1566-1643), the spiritual leader of the

Puritans in the Plymouth Colony, and his wife Mary Wentworth. William Brewster,

founder of the Congregational Church in America, was a Cambridge University

graduate, and was employed by one of Queen Elizabeth's ministers of state, Sir

William Davison. Brewster traveled to the Netherlands and then returned to

Scrooby, England when Elizabeth unjustly imprisoned Davison for beheading

Mary, Queen of Scots. He served at Scrooby as Bailiff and Postmaster for

seventeen years, before he became leader of the Separatists and finally escaped

to the Netherlands, in 1608. While in the Netherlands, Brewster served as the

ruling elder and printer for the Separatists and published

religious tracts, acts which annoyed King James I of England.

Brewster finally immigrated to America on the Mayflower, and

since the settlement had no ordained pastor, he served as the

chief spiritual leader for the Plymouth Colony under both

Governors Carver and Bradford. In the fall of 1621, William

Brewster helped to conduct the three-day festival that came to

..William Brewster .. be known as the first Thanksgiving. History also notes Brewster

as one of the original signatories of Mayflower Compact, the initial legislative

document used by the settlers to govern and maintain order in the colony. Later

in his life, when Plymouth was well established, he and his family moved north of

Plymouth to help create Duxbury, where Brewster died.

Since their daughter Patience was so young at the time that they immigrated, and

because her parents wanted to be established and have a safer, more civilized

4

settlement for their daughter, Patience came over to America on the Anne, in

1623, two years after her parents and siblings. When she grew up, Patience

married the new governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Thomas Prence, who

had come over on the Fortune, in 1621. Their daughter Mercy Prence married

John Freeman, Sr., and it was their pioneer grandson, William Freeman, who

helped settle and establish Chowan County in North Carolina, which at the time

was the home of the Chowan Indians. William married Elizabeth Alexander, and

their son John Freeman was born in Norfolk County, Virginia. John grew up and

married Tabitha Chowan, the daughter of the Chowan Chief, and it was their

grandson, Aaron Freeman, who became one of the pioneering founders of

Western North Carolina.

Aaron Freeman was born in 1746. When he was eighteen,

accompanied by his brother John III, he left their father's

Chowan County plantation and traveled through the Piedmont

of North Carolina to the eastern slopes of the Southern

Appalachians, to John Ill's land, located south of Yadkin River,

Aaron Freeman near "Trading Ford," Rowan County, North Carolina. Although

the Yadkin River area where Aaron and John III were settled was controlled by

both Catawba and Cherokee Indian tribes, the Anglo-Cherokee War that was

fought in Carolina against England, from 1758 to 1761, during the French and

Indian War, involved tribes throughout the entire western Piedmont territory.

The Chowan Indians, whose name signifies "Southerners," were still a strong tribe when the settlers began to move into the Albemarle region about 1650. Their name was well known, as the following references from early records of Virginia indicate. "The American Indian in North Carolina" by Rev. Douglas L. Rights. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1947. Reprinted: Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1957. (Republished 1988).

5

Before returning to their father's plantation in the summer of 1763, Aaron stayed

on after the war and helped his brother John clear his land and establish his

property. Aaron and John III eventually became Indian traders to the Catawba and

Cherokee tribes in the west and to the Creeks in Georgia.

In 1725, while Aaron was living with John III in the Piedmont area of North

Carolina, he met and married Mary Bentley, daughter of Thomas Bentley, a

wealthy planter of Rowan County, N. C., and the granddaughter of Thomas

Bentley of Boston, Massachusetts. The Carolina tax lists of 1768-1778 show that

during the Revolution, Thomas Bentley Sr. fought for the North Carolina colony

alongside Thomas, Jr. Later Lincoln County, North Carlina records indicate that in

1789, Aaron and Mary Freeman held a Rowan County tavern license for an Inn at

forks of the Yadkin River. 1790 U. S. Census records show that Aaron and Mary

lived with two sons and two daughters, and that they probably worked in

Western North Carolina as surveyors.

On October 18, 1803, John and Aaron bought 75 acres in Buncombe County, on

Sandy Mush Creek near Turkey Creek. A decade later, on October 5, 1812, Aaron

deeded 100 acres along Turkey Creek to Samuel Low, a Cherokee. Then on

January 1, 1814, he bought 100 acres from his son Thomas. January 8, 1814

records indicate that Aaron deeded 175 acres to son his James. February 2, 1814,

he bought thirty acres from Ozburn Ball. Seven years later, on March 22, 1821, he

bought 160 additional acres from Henry Flood, along the French Broad River in

what is today Western North Carolina. Records indicate that Aaron cleared and

sold land to various other Indian families. Their children grew up among the local

6

Cherokee families and knew the frontier as an interdependent blend of cultures

and traditions.

The most noted of Aaron and Mary’s sons was Moses Freeman, a famous Baptist

lay-minister and founder of some 13 Baptist congregations in the old Cherokee

Nation and in Buncombe County, North Carolina. During the early 1800s, Moses

joined the Baptist Church at Little River, Burke County, N. C., and was baptized by

Rev. Dodson. He moved to Buncombe County in 1806, and joined Caney River

Church at Flat Creek. In 1807 he began preaching on the resurrection of Lazarus,

from John 11:44. By this time he had married Fanny Ball Freeman and had started

a family. Moses became a founder of the French Broad Association in 1807, and

in 1812 the Association convened at the French Broad Church, where Moses

Freeman was a delegate from Little Ivy Church. The family moved their

membership to Little Ivey, and Moses was ordained there on August 8, 1812 by

Elders Thomas Snelson and Stephen Morgan. In 1818, he joined the Bull Creek

Baptist Church as Charter member and decided to settle down. Records indicate

that two years later, in 1820, Moses Freeman sold fifty acres of land along the

French Broad River to Alfred Hunter. The 1830 U. S. (Buncombe Co.), North

Carolina Census is the last record to shows both Moses (56) and Fanny (54).

Sometime in the 1830’s, Fanny Ball died.

Following the death of Fanny, Moses (77) married Elisabeth Jarvis Ball (50), widow

of Joel Ball, and thus acquired her personal property, but Moses signed a pre-

nuptial agreement guaranteeing the property he acquired to her heirs. Records

indicate that in 1848 Moses joined Walnut Creek Church. Two years later, the

1850 U. S. (Buncombe Co.) Census lists Moses (76) and Elizabeth (50), living with

7

three step-daughters: Nancy Ball (22), Marinda Ball (18) Coena Ball (17).

According to the Daughters of the Mayflower Descendants, Moses joined the

Bear Creek Baptist Church in 1852, and remained with that church until his death

in 1859. As per their agreement when they married, any property in Moses’

name then went to his step-daughters.

Aaron and Mary’s sixth son, Pinkney "Pink" Freeman (1812-1894), was born in

what was then Buncombe County, North Carolina, and he grew up in an area

known as “Little Pine.” By that time, land was an important aspect of the family

legacy and an expression of security. Whether surveying, buying and selling, or

clearing, the Freeman family knew land as a commodity and as a source of

sustenance. “Pink” married a Cherokee woman named Tempe' Payne. On May

22, 1833, “Pink” bought 100 acres on Little Pine Creek from his brother Daniel

where he settled and raised his family. On December 8, 1834, he received a

North Carolina land grant of 100 acres, on Bailey's Branch. September 30, 1839,

” Land Grants, Land Warrants, Land Surveys, & Land Entries in North Carolina (1777-1800): In 1777 the legislature of the "new" state of North Carolina passed an act allowing the state to take over the title to all "vacant" land within its borders. This land had formerly been the property of the King or the Earl of Granville. In the same year, the legislature also passed an act creating a procedure for selling the land to almost anyone who had the money to pay the required fees. These "instruments" were called grants, but that does not imply the free gift of land. The act is found in NC Colonial & State Records vol. 24 p. 24.

The first step in the procedure was for the prospective landowner to find some vacant land. He may choose land on which he has been living, an adjoining tract, or a tract far removed from his current residence. The next step was to have the claim recorded in the land office in the county where the land was. There was a small fee to pay for recording the claim. A land entry taker was appointed to each county land office. The state was interested in getting the entry in the records and making sure the claimant could pay the required fees. It was understood that the land description would be clearer once a survey was made.

8

he received another North Carolina land grant of 100 acres, on Little Pine Creek.

October 28, 1846, he bought 80 acres along Bear Creek, adjacent to Green H.

Freeman, from J. J. Gudger and M. P. Penland, and on June 26, 1847, “Pink”

bought another 82 acres on Bear Creek, from J. J. Gudger.

In 1851, Madison County was formed from western Buncombe County, and

Marshall, North Carolina became the county seat. Marshall developed as the hub

of local commercial activity and the center of political exchange for people in the

new county. Records in the Office of Registrar in Marshall indicated that on July

5, 1857, Aaron Freeman bought an additional 150 acres on the west bank of the

French Broad River, from M. P. Penland. The last land purchase on record in

“Pink’s” name was on May 5 1872, when he bought twenty acres on Bear Creek,

on the fork of Little Pine Creek.

“Pink’s” wife, Tempe' Payne, was a full Cherokee, (recorded as Te ke nas ki, 699

Mullay Roll on the 1848, Census of 1,517 Cherokees in North Carolina.) Tempe’

proved her competency as free person, and avoided being sent to Oklahoma

during the Removal, by producing a bolt of her “linsey cloth” and presenting the

cloth to the authorities at the county seat. Although her land was held in Aaron

Freeman's name, following the Cherokee Removal of 1838, Tempe’ obtained and

worked a 100-acre land grant of her own. Aaron Freeman (age 28) and his wife

Tempe’ (30), appear on the 1840 U. S. Census, in Madison County, N. C. , with one

son and three daughters. Ten years later, according to the 1850 U. S. Census,

Linsey-woolsey (less often called “woolsey-linsey,” or in Scottish English, “wincey”) is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woolen weft. In Colonial America, fabrics which were woven with a cotton warp and woolen weft in were also called “linsey-woolsey” or “wincey.

9

Aaron (age 38), Tempe (40) had children Louisa (14), Savilla (12), Rachael (10),

Robert M. (9), * Mary (7), James (6), Seth (5), Jane (4), Zachariah (3), Sally (1).

The 1880 N. C. (Madison County) U. S. Census showed Aaron (68) and Tempe'

(70) residing with daughter Louisa (46), grandsons (sons of Sally) Alexander (12)

Avery (4.)

Te ke , aka “Tink” or Tempe’, was a traditional Cherokee “old medicine” curer and

a diviner, known as a “witch-woman” to her Anglo neighbors. She spoke only the

“R” Overhill dialect Cherokee, and she staunchly maintained her Cherokee culture

and traditions. Tempe’ was also a masterful basket-maker, and she taught all of

her daughters traditional Cherokee weaving as well as traditional basket making,

using local white oak, cane, and honeysuckle. Official records indicate that she

manufactured peach brandy on a Federal license. The copper still was retired to

the State Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina, where it remains on display. It is

said the copper is worn paper-thin in places.

Aaron obtained his 100 acre North Carolina land grant £ 3220 on Bailey's Branch,

on December 9, 1834. The garnet mine on his land also produced corundum,

which the Confederate army appropriated for the entire course of the Civil War,

in order to obtain corundum for grinding canons. Today, the Little Pine Garnet

Mine produces low-grade crystals of quartz, beryl, emerald, garnet, and ruby, in

slippery, grey schist, and is well known to rock hounds, who buy mining licenses

by the visit from the present owner.

Although Tempe' Freeman lived at the “old homeplace,” near Freeman Gap

Cemetery, Bear Creek, Madison Co., N. C., her own land grant, dated 30

10

September 1839, lay near what came to be known as “the old garnet mine” on

Little Pine. The property boasted chestnut and walnut trees, peach orchards, and

a large stand of “old growth” forest. Tempe’ and her family developed a portion

of her land for farming, and cleared pastures for horses, cattle, and sheep. They

also dug out and prospected lead and soapstone from mines registered on her

property.

Family tradition tells that Tempe’ Payne Freeman

fought with Noah Ball, and that both were feared

locally as conjurers. According to a recounting by

Maggie Ball, of Little Pine, North Carolina, Tempe’

and Noah used sorcery on each other. In an

attempt to frighten Tempe’, Noah attacked the

wood shingled-roof of Tempe’s house, and made

noises that sounded like a panther. Whether by

accident or revenge, “Pink,” her husband, is

Tempe’ Payne Freeman said to have felled a tree on Noah Ball, whose leg

had to be amputated as a result. The story goes that Noah then shape-shifted,

appeared as a crow with one leg, and attacked Tempe’ as she tended her fireplace

on the dirt-floor of her cabin. To drive him off, Tempe’ quickly hit Noah with a

firebrand, shouting "Get out, Noah!" This event is said to be the origin of the

family saying, "She burned the one good leg you had left, Noah." Noah sustained

a severe burn, and was said to have recovered by boiling the head of a hog with

medicine, and then eating from the pot.

11

Although she was “opposed” to staying with her eldest daughter, who was said to

be similarly strong willed, Tempe’ and Aaron Pinkney lived with Lizzie throughout

their old age. Lizzie tended Aaron Pinkney and Tempe’ Freeman until their deaths

at her home place, on Little Pine, N. C.

Lizzie served her community as a respected midwife, but she also maintained a

fearful reputation as a powerful conjurer. She was known to divine knowledge

and information using beads and tobacco smoke. Very temperamental and highly

protective of relations, she prayed every morning at the creek on her property,

and sprinkled herself with ritual water. According to family tradition, "Lizzie was a

witchwoman" who, like her mother Tempe’, feuded with a male relation whom

she accused, among other things, of causing her cattle to dry up. The story goes

that one morning she smoked her pipe to divine who it was who was causing the

trouble. She confirmed his guilt and called out her family to watch her drive a

locust splinter into a wooden feed trough while praying. She then announced

that in seven days, the culprit would either stop what he was doing or die. On the

seventh morning, she sent a child over the hill to the next hollow where her

enemy lived. The child found the man dead of a stroke, blood pooled around his

nose and mouth.

As an interesting side note, for one dollar, Aaron and Tempe’ gave Lizzie 300

acres, near the head of Bear Creek, 75 yards from a copper mine, adjacent Rob

Freeman's place. According to the Buncombe County Registrar’s office, on 23 Feb

1847 (E220), 2 January 1854 (E133), and 9 Jan 1855 (E135), Lizzie Freeman

granted some of that acreage to Noah Ball, Tempe’s sworn nemesis. The details of

this arrangement were not disclosed. The remainder of the 300 acres of land was

12

later contested in an action initiated in 1895 by Savilla, against her sister Louisa,

“on behalf of certain heirs.” The suit was filed against the Pinkney estate, after

Aaron’s death, but before Tempe' died, an action that resulted in 150 acres being

subsequently deeded to, Robert Marion Freeman. It is not known what he did

with the land or when he disposed of it, but he was not the owner of record at his

death in 1928.

The second son of Tempe’ and Aaron, James N. Freeman, enlisted in the U. S.

Army, in Buncombe County, on May 7, 1861, became a member of the 16th

Regiment, N. C. Troops, and was present and accounted for until he was

discharged December 14, 1861, on "General Disability," with a fracture of left

humorous. James recovered at home and then re-enlisted on April 15, 1862, in

Madison County, as a fourth Corporal, in Company C, 64th Regatta, and N. C.

Troops. He is thought to have died in combat, although there are no clear records

of his death.

Their youngest daughter Sally was

partially deaf and retarded, due

either to fetal alcohol syndrome or

to brain infection, secondary to

whooping cough that she

contracted when she was six Granny Ball (standing) and Aunt Sal

months old. She was able to do her share of farm chores and to weave. When

things were not going her way, Sally was said to have frequently threatened to

run away to Kentucky or to Betty Cove, near Freeman Gap. “Aunt Sal” died on

Veterans Day, 1941. Her gravestone reads, "But Memories Will Always Linger."

13

She had three sons out of wedlock, the eldest Alexander was fathered by William

E. Cook, husband of her sister, Jane Freeman. Brant Freeman was fathered by

Branson Freeman, son of Robert H. and Martha K. Freeman, a first cousin.

Tragedy occurred on the night of November 7 1894, when one of Sally's sons

murdered Aaron Pinkney Freeman, Jr. The three cousins were drinking at a poker

game, when a fight broke out, which other men broke up. After leaving the game,

the Freemans lay in wait on the trail home for one of the men from the game. As

the rider approached in the dark on horseback, one of the Freeman boys shot and

killed the rider, who as it turned out was not their intended victim, but who was

actually another cousin, Aaron Pinkney Freeman, Jr. Oral tradition says Aleck was

the shooter, but that Avery took the blame, and fled to Bay, Arkansas, where he

lived for over twenty years and served as sheriff. When he was finally discovered,

charges were dropped. Avery raised a family in Arkansas, and lived there until his

death. Aleck/Alexander became a policeman in

Asheville, North Carolina.

Tempe’ and Aaron’s daughter, Mary Freeman, and

her extended family on the Qualla boundary,

were among the last speakers of old "R" Overhill

Cherokee dialect in North Carolina. They

continued to make double-woven, double-bowed,

and other types of baskets out of split white oak,

cane, and honeysuckle. During the 1700s and

1800s, their home was the site of Nota Usdi/Notli

“Granny Ball” 1915 Usdi, Little Pine Place, an old "town" of refuge,

14

where anyone fleeing attack in war or hard justice in peacetime was safe. During

the Tennessee wars, when Henderson and Transylvania Counties were attempting

to establish their own State in western territory of Henderson County (late

1770s,) Oconostota (the Cherokee chief) used the area for a hiding place and

worked in the mines to procure lead and soapstone for making bullets, pipes, and

molds.

Mary Freeman Ball (1841-1939) was born in what became Madison County, North

Carolina, and was described as a rugged, tall woman, approaching six feet tall.

Like her sister Lizzie and mother Tempe', Mary was midwife, curer, basket-maker,

and bead-worker, and she passed these skills and knowledge on to her daughters.

A cousin, Nettie Ball, saved one of Mary Ball's baskets, and kept it in her attic.

Mary fashioned her baskets, using traditional and original designs, from white oak

splits, bamboo canes, honeysuckle, and grasses. At time of her death in 1985,

Mary’s granddaughter, Mary Sue Ball Edney, was working on a double-weave

basket of white oak. She left this last basket to her children. Another

granddaughter, Viola Ball Ramsey, had learned the craft, but kept none of her

work.

Unlike her mother and sisters, Mary was described as serious but good natured,

hard working, compassionate, sociable, and gentle. Mary Freeman Ball cared for

prisoners of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and kept some in hiding near

the Little Pine garnet mine and at Betty Cove. She could cure rattlesnake bites,

set bones, and treat the sick during epidemics such as typhoid fever outbreaks.

She only lost two of twenty victims she cared for in one 1862 epidemic. During

the Civil War, she was raped for being a Union sympathizer by Confederate

15

soldiers who were searching for hiding deserters, escaped Union prisoners, draft

resisters, and runaway slaves. A Baptist and humanitarian, Mary considered

herself "Republican." After the war, Mary was known for taking in and caring for

orphans and for making sure that they got “schooling.”

She dictated her life story to a niece, who wrote for a local paper, but Mary

subsequently retrieved and destroyed the notes and denied publication rights.

Known in her old age as “Granny Ball”, Mary Freeman Ball cured infections with

the “old Cherokee herbal medicine”, old Burley tobacco, and water. She used

peach brandy, or “everclear” alcohol, to make tinctures, and she harvested

lobelia, horehound, and similar herbs to prepare treatments for respiratory

infections and other ailments. She smoked an old briar pipe or a square,

soapstone pipe, with flexible, fibrous stems that she filled with herbs, including

jimson weed, for some of her treatments for her asthma. She made a bit of

money by gathering herbs for sale to botanical houses. Mary also signed for one-

half gallon at a time of white lightning from the Madison County sheriff to use for

medicines and tinctures, a practice she continued into the 20th Century.

Since she served as a healer and midwife, Mary Freeman Ball followed traditional

practice and refused to enter cemeteries or to prepare corpses. Following his

death, she ordered a shelter built over her husband, Jerius “Jay” Ball's grave. She

lived most of her life on the “old “homeplace” near Freeman Gap Cemetery, Bear

Creek, Madison County, N. C., and on the family state land grant property, near

the old garnet mines on Little Pine. Well into the late 1930s, she entertained

visitors from Big Cove and Snow Bird at her Little Pine home, and she often

camped with other Cherokees on the hill east of her house, above the garnet

16

mine, where they gathered soapstone for carving and lead from Doe Branch for

bullets. Mary’s Qualla Boundary relations continued to camp at her place yearly

during her lifetime, and she hosted dancing such as traditional Cherokee stomp-

dance, Horse Dance,

Clogging, singing and fiddling

for guests. Cousins Kirk

Payne, Chiefus Clark, and

others traveled regularly to

visit between the Qualla

Boundary, Bryson City, and

Madison County. Some of

Satellite View of Little Pine as it is today Mary’s descendants are

hopeful that one day the “Old Home Place,” the traditional sanctuary, will be

restored to its pristine state, using sustainable practices and following Nature

Conservancy guidelines.

In 1889, her husband Jerius Ball died of flu while repairing the barn at their

daughter Julia Ball’s property, leaving Mary Freeman Ball and her three youngest

children to run the farm on their own. Three years later, in 1892, her three adult

daughters, particularly Julia and Matilda, and their husbands, sued to take part of

the family property away from Mary and their younger siblings. Illiterate, Mary

went to court alone in an attempt to retain the property she and her younger

children needed in order to survive. Heavy on her time of the month, she

appeared in overalls that she had stuffed with old, folded sheets. She lost the

lawsuit, lost the most fertile and productive portion of the property, and had to

17

pay the court costs, about forth-five dollars, an enormous sum at that time. She

and her younger children struggled terribly after the loss of their property.

When she was 86 years old, “Granny Ball” fell out of apple tree while picking

apples, but she continued to work her land and plow fields with a horse team.

Active if senile near the end of her life, she kept her own old cabin, a short

distance from youngest son Logan Ball's house, and she continued to care for her

retarded sister Sally. On January 7, 1936, “Granny Ball” caught pneumonia after

playing in snow with her grandchildren. “She lasted nearly three weeks.”

“Granny Ball” was buried January 29, 1936 at the Ball Cemetery, on what was

described as cold day, with snow on the ground. Even though she could not read,

Mary had kept land records dating from 1798 through 1876, packed in an oak box

with a sliding lid, on shelf above her bed. During her funeral, relatives entered and

stole the box and the records. In 1977, one of the men involved with the theft

brought the box out of hiding and allowed the original papers to be copied for

historic purposes, the disposition of the land long since resolved.

The Freeman legacy includes: a pioneering spirit that is married to a love of the

land; intelligence nurtured by an awareness of the value of culture and education;

a long history of blended, contrasting cultures; in-fighting, revenge, and bitter

sibling rivalry; harbored resentment; conflicts and feuds among immediate family

members; and marriages that introduced individuals into the family who often

represent opposing extremes in values and beliefs.

18

19

1

Ancient Links and Forged Legacies

First found: Saxony, Germany around

11th century. Names had occupational

meanings. Slagle means “hammer,”

indicating an occupation of mason or

smith.

Family motto: Do well

2

Slagle Appendix Forward

This appendix consists of information pages, some of which are laid out in charts to

create profiles of each person in the lineage. Documentation pages describe and credit

the oral contributors to this appendix, as well as public archival sources that were

accessed. Church registers, county records, tombstone inscriptions, and census records

form the bulk of formal data.

Where oral tradition is the source of information, dates of conversations are indicated in

the documentation. Many of the contributors to the oral tradition have since passed

away. Public archival records cited may have been updated since 1993. Therefore, this

information is by no means intended to be definitive, nor does it claim to be absolute in

its accuracy. For example, sources may occasionally differ when citing birth dates for

ancestors from the eighteenth century and earlier.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

Davis Appendix Forward

This appendix consists of information pages, some of which are laid out in charts to

create profiles of each person in the lineage. Documentation pages describe and credit

the oral as well as public archival sources that contributed to this appendix. Church

registers, county records, tombstone inscriptions, and census records form the bulk of

formal data.

Where oral tradition is the source of information, dates of conversations are indicated in

the documentation. Many of the contributors to the oral tradition have since passed

away. Public archival records cited may have been updated since 1993. Therefore, this

information is by no means intended to be definitive, nor does it claim to be absolute in

its accuracy. For example, sources may occasionally differ when citing birth dates for

ancestors from the eighteenth century and earlier.

1

2

Allison Appendix Forward

This appendix consists of information pages, some of which are laid out in charts to

create profiles of each person in the lineage. Documentation pages describe and credit

the oral as well as public archival sources that contributed to this appendix. The Allison

Family Association offers a well researched database of validated information about

members of the Allison family.

Where oral tradition is the source of information, dates of conversations are indicated in

the documentation. Many of the contributors to the oral tradition have since passed

away. Public archival records cited may have been updated since 1993. Therefore, this

information is by no means intended to be definitive, nor does it claim to be absolute in

its accuracy. For example, sources may occasionally differ when citing birth dates for

ancestors from the eighteenth century and earlier.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

1

2

Ball Appendix Forward

This appendix consists of information pages, some of which are laid out in charts to

create profiles of each person in the lineage. Documentation pages describe and credit

the oral as well as public archival sources that contributed information for this appendix.

Church registers, county records (such as Wilkes, Madison, and Buncombe County

registers), tombstone inscriptions, and census records form the bulk of formal data.

Where oral tradition is the source of information, dates of conversations are indicated in

the documentation. Many of the contributors to the oral tradition have since passed

away. Public archival records cited may have been updated since 1993. Therefore, this

information is by no means intended to be definitive, nor does it claim to be absolute in

its accuracy. For example, sources may occasionally differ when citing birth dates for

ancestors from the eighteenth century and earlier.

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

Freeman Appendix Forward

This appendix consists of information pages some of which are laid out in charts to

create profiles of each person in the lineage. Documentation pages describe and credit

the oral contributors to this appendix, as well as public archival sources that were

accessed. Church registers, county records, tombstone inscriptions, and census records

form the bulk of formal data.

Where oral tradition is the source of information, dates of conversations are indicated in

the documentation. Many of the contributors to the oral tradition have since passed

away. Public archival records cited may have been updated since 1993. Therefore, this

information is by no means intended to be definitive, nor does it claim to be absolute in

its accuracy. For example, sources may occasionally differ when citing birth dates for

ancestors from the eighteenth century and earlier.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PETITIONS - ACTIVE STATUS - 7 (as of September 22, 2008)

Petitioners' Action Items: 5: Commenting on

Commenting on Proposed Finding: 2

Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, CA (#84b) (withdrew from #84a 12/17/94; letter of intent 3/8/96; doc'n

rec'd 3/8/96; TA Itr 5/15/96; resp. rec'd 5/23/96; ready 5/23/96; doc'n rec'd 8/2/04; active 9/30/05) f O

proposed finding issued 11/23/07; comment period closed 6/2/08; extended at request of petitioner to 9/2/08, to

12/2/08) w/CD

Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, CA (#84a) (letter of intent 8/17/82; doc'n rec'd 2/24/88; OD Itr 1/25/90; resp. rec'd 9/24/93, complete; removed from "ready" list 05/19/95; resp. rec'd 9/28/95; complete and ready 2/12/96; active 9/30/05); proposed finding issued 11/23/07; comment period closed 6/2/2008, extended at request of petitioner to 9/2/08, to 12/2/08)

PETITIONS - READY STATUS - 9

(as of September 22, 2008)

Administrative Note: These petitioners have responded to technical assistance (TA) review letters and

stated their petitions should be considered "ready" for active consideration. Priority among "ready" petitions is

based on the date that the Department determines the petition to be "ready." Under the regulations at 83.10(d),

"The order of consideration of documented petitions shall be determined by the date of the Department's

notification to the petitioner that it considers that the documented petition is ready to be placed on active

consideration." These petitions are "Ready, Waiting for Active Consideration."

Ready Date Name of Petitioner

7/30/96 Tolowa Nation, CA (#85); (letter of intent 1/31/83; doc'n rec'd 5/12/86; OD Itr 4/6/88;

resp. rec'd 8/22/95 and 11/22/95; limited TA Itr 5/16/96; resp. rec'd 7/30/96)

5/29/97 Piro/Manso/Tiwa Indian Tribe of the Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe (formerly Tiwa

Indian Tribe), NM (#5); (letter of intent 1/18/71; doc'n rec'd 3/24/92; OD Itr 8/25/93; resp. rec'd 1/10/97)

1/16/98 Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation (formerly American Indian Council of Mariposa County, aka

Yosemite), CA (#82); (letter of intent 4/24/82; doc'n rec'd 4/19/84; OD Itr 5/1/85; resp. 12/12/86; 2nd OD Itr 4/11/88; resp. rec'd 1/26/95 and 1/16/98)

. 9/15/03 Amah Mutsun Band of Ohlone/Coastanoan Indians, CA (#120); (letter of intent 9/18/90; doc'n

rec'd 8/22/95; TA Itr 5/21/96; partial resp. rec'd 9/26/96, 6/10/98; TA Itr 2/16/99; partial resp. rec'd 5/20/02, 8/15/03, and 9/15/03)

By the Department of the Interior; 47

Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, LA (#1) (eff. 9/25/81) Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, WA (#20) (eff. 10/6/99)

Cowlitz Tribe of Indians, WA (#16) (eff. 1/4/02) Mohegan Indian Tribe, CT (#38) (eff. 5/14/94) w/CD

Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band, CA (#51) (eff. 1/3/83) Samish Indian Tribe, WA (#14) (eff. 4/26/96)

San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, AZ (#71) (eff. 3/28/90)

PETITIONS RESOLVED, (cont.) (as of September 22, 2008)

Denied acknowledgment through 25 CFR 83: 28

Red Clay Inter-tribal Indian Band, SECC, TN (#29b) (eff. 11/25/85)

Tchinouk Indians, OR (#52) (eff. 3/17/86)

Miami Nation of Indians of IN, Inc., IN (#66) (eff. 8/17/92)

Ramapough Mountain Indians, Inc., NJ (#58) (eff 1/7/98)

Yuchi Tribal Organization, OK (#121) (eff. 3/21/00)

Duwamish Indian Tribe, WA (#25) (eff. 5/8/02)

Chinook Indian Tribe/Chinook Nation, WA (#57) (eff. 7/5/02)

Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of San Francisco Bay, CA (#111) (eff. 12/16/02)

Snohomish Tribe of Indians, WA (#12) (eff. 3/9/04)

Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Indians of Connecticut, CT (#113) (eff. 10/14/05) w/CD

Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians, MA (#69b) (eff. 1/28/08) w/CD

Steilacoom Tribe, WA (#11) (eff. 6/17/08)

lone Band of Miwok Indians, CA (#2) (status confirmed by Assistant Secretary 3/22/94)

By Congress: 9

Legislative Restoration : 2

Federated Coast Miwok, CA (2/8/95)(#154) (restored under the name Graton Rancheria) (legis. restoration

12/27/00)

Loyal Shawnee Tribe, OK (#203) (legis. recog'n 12/27/00)

Hatteras Tuscarora Indians, NC (#34) (6/24/78; merged with Petitioner #215, 3/22/04)

Costanoan Tribe of Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista Missions, CA (#210) (5/11/99; withdrawn 5/10/00)

Chukchansi Yokotch Tribe of Coarsegold, CA (#99) (5/9/85; enrolled with Picayune Rancheria after 1988;

withdrawn 9/06/00)

IN POST-FINAL DECISION APPEAL PROCESS - 0

DECISIONS IN LITIGATION - (3)

(Department resolved)

Duwamish Indian Tribe, WA (#25) (denied eff. 5/8/02) Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of San Francisco Bay, CA [formerly Ohlone/Coastanoan Muwekma Tribe] (#111)

(denied eff. 12/16/02) Snohomish Tribe of Indians, WA (#12) (denied eff. 3/9/04) Prepared by:

R. Lee Fleming, Director

Office of Federal Acknowledgment

Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs

Mail Stop MS-34-SIB

1951Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20240 (202) 513-7650