Centennial Spotlight: Have you ever been to Lenoir Park?
Michael Hardy / (news@averyjournal.com)
Every week in 2011, The Avery Journal-Times is celebrating the
100th birthdays of Avery County and Banner Elk with a Centennial Spotlight compiled by members of
the local community. This week, we continue to provide answers to the 100 questions about Avery
County posed in our print editions in January and February.
Everyone in Avery County is at least a little familiar with the Avery family. Our county is named for Waightstill Avery, born 1741 in Connecticut and educated at what is now Princeton. He came to North Carolina in 1769 and practiced law in Charlotte. Avery was later a representative in the General Assembly and was the first attorney general of the state of North Carolina. After the British burned his law office in Charlotte, Avery moved his family to the property he owned in Burke County. The Avery family often spent portions of the summer months in our area, where they owned considerable property. There is even a location, about a mile north of Plumtree, named Avery's Quarters.
Yet another prominent family in North Carolina's early history, but one we in Avery County hear less about, is the Lenoir clan of Caldwell County who also played a crucial role in what would become Avery County.
William Lenoir was born in Virginia in 1751 and raised in Eastern North Carolina. He was a surveyor, and in 1775, he brought his family to the frontier of Western North Carolina. Lenoir was a Patriot during the American Revolution, fighting most notably at the battle of King's Mountain. Later, Lenoir constructed Fort Defiance, in present-day Caldwell County. After the war, he was also appointed a major general in the state militia. Both the county seat of Caldwell County (Lenoir) and Lenoir County, are named for General Lenoir.
Early on, the Avery and Lenoir families began to intermarry. One of the grandsons of General Lenoir was Walter Waightstill Lenoir, named for his Avery grandfather.
Walter was born March 13, 1823, to Colonel Thomas Lenoir and Selina Avery Lenoir, at Fort Defiance. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1843, and then spent three years studying law. Walter was licensed to practice law on June 10, 1846, and opened an office in Lenoir. Legal work was slow for Walter, and he continued to farm, raise cattle and to take interest in internal improvements such as the railroad.
In June 1856, he married Cornelia Isebella Christen of Augusta County, Va., and the couple continued to live in Caldwell County. Walter would continue to ply the trade of a circuit lawyer, traveling to different county seats in the mountains when court week came. In 1859, Cornelia died of galloping consumption, followed not long afterwards by their only child, Annie Tate Lenoir.
And then the Civil War came. Walter spent some time with his brother's regiment, the 25th North Carolina Troops, before helping raise a company of Caldwell County men to become a part of the 58th North Carolina Troops. Before this regiment was officially mustered into service along the Linville River in the Altamont section of present-day Avery County, Walter was elected Captain of Company A, 37th North Carolina Troops. This company hailed from Ashe County and the people there were probably familiar with Walter from his service as a lawyer riding the local circuit. While most of the 37th North Carolina Regiment came from Watauga, Ashe and Wilkes counties, there are some local connections with members of the regiment who have their final resting places in the county: Enoch Anderson, buried at Montezuma; Joseph Benfield at the Benfield Cemetery; Levi Green, who is interred in the Franklin-Oaks Cemetery; Robert Greene at the White Pine Cemetery; Elijah Holtsclaw at the Johnson Cemetery; and John A. Shook at the Balm Cemetery.
This transfer placed Walter in the thick of the fighting. The 37th North Carolina Troops lost more men on the battlefield and to disease than did any other North Carolina regiment. Walter arrived in time to participate in the battle of Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, and at Ox Hill, all in Virginia. At the latter, he was wounded twice in the right leg, which was soon amputated. Walter was then sent back to Western North Carolina, lamenting the loss of his leg. A wooden leg made by Walter’s brother Thomas would suffice until Walter could order a leg from J. S. Montgomery.
From 1863 on, Walter bounced around Western North Carolina. He spent the last year or so of the war in Haywood County farming there until 1874 when he sold out and moved to Hickory Tavern in Catawba County. He eventually donated the land for a small school that now bears his name: Lenoir-Rhyne University. In 1876, he once again moved, this time to the Shull’s Mill area of Watauga County, where he operated a sawmill and gristmill. The next year, he had constructed a house and worked to improve his land by clearing, building fences and sowing grass. He also raised sheep and cattle. In 1883, Walter ran successfully as a representative from Watauga County in the state House of Representatives. After that, he served as a trustee for the University of North Carolina.
Among the large tracts of lands that Walter owned were 8,090 acres in Linville and Grandfather Mountain. It was Walter's hope to retire to Linville one day. He had picked out a spot, referring to it as "Under the Pinnacle," and believed that it was "one of the loveliest places in all the mountains ... I am in love with it and want, when I can get it sufficiently improved, to make my home on it." But it was not the property that really needed improvement; it was Walter. His health had never really recovered from the hardships of battle and camp life. In 1887, Walter sold most of his Grandfather Mountain holdings to developer Samuel T. Kelsey, stipulating that the headsprings of the Linville River, along with the springs that flowed into the Linville "shall be protected and secured from contamination in [the] future." It was Walter's dream that a park be created, preserving not only the spring headwaters, but a large belt of timber also.
In May 1889, Walter Lenoir suffered an attack of paralysis. He wrote to his brother Rufus, asking that a family member be sent to take him back down the mountain to Lenoir where he could get a room and a nurse. Instead, Walter was taken to Fort Defiance and nursed by family members. Walter insisted on returning to Watauga County in 1890 to clear up his real estate and financial matters. Three members of his family went with him. Walter W. Lenoir died at his home in Shull’s Mill, Watauga County, on July 26, 1890. His body was returned to Caldwell County, where his remains were interred in the family cemetery at Fort Defiance, beside his beloved wife and daughter.
Kelsey was soon laying out the Town of Linville, and before long formed the Linville Land, Manufacturing and Mining Company, with Kelsey as vice president and Donald McRae as president.
Kelsey's town, named Linville, was a mixture of factories, shops and a commercial center. A highlight of the town was a park, two blocks in width by three blocks long, with the Linville River coursing through it. The park, on an early map of Linville, was aptly named "Lenoir Park" after Walter W. Lenoir.
Lenoir Park still exists today, after a fashion. It is located at the corner of Highway 105 and Blowing Rock Road, the only non-developed corner at that location. And driving up Blowing Rock Road a short distance, and turning left on Watauga Avenue will lead you to the Lenoir Park Trail. The trail appears to be closed, but hopefully, it might again be opened one day for people to explore and to allow others to treasure the spot as Walter Lenoir once did.
Correction: In the recent piece on Kirk's 1864 Raid, the author unintentionally listed Drury and Philson Wise. Their real names were Drury and Philson Clark. The author apologizes for the confusion.
Everyone in Avery County is at least a little familiar with the Avery family. Our county is named for Waightstill Avery, born 1741 in Connecticut and educated at what is now Princeton. He came to North Carolina in 1769 and practiced law in Charlotte. Avery was later a representative in the General Assembly and was the first attorney general of the state of North Carolina. After the British burned his law office in Charlotte, Avery moved his family to the property he owned in Burke County. The Avery family often spent portions of the summer months in our area, where they owned considerable property. There is even a location, about a mile north of Plumtree, named Avery's Quarters.
Yet another prominent family in North Carolina's early history, but one we in Avery County hear less about, is the Lenoir clan of Caldwell County who also played a crucial role in what would become Avery County.
William Lenoir was born in Virginia in 1751 and raised in Eastern North Carolina. He was a surveyor, and in 1775, he brought his family to the frontier of Western North Carolina. Lenoir was a Patriot during the American Revolution, fighting most notably at the battle of King's Mountain. Later, Lenoir constructed Fort Defiance, in present-day Caldwell County. After the war, he was also appointed a major general in the state militia. Both the county seat of Caldwell County (Lenoir) and Lenoir County, are named for General Lenoir.
Early on, the Avery and Lenoir families began to intermarry. One of the grandsons of General Lenoir was Walter Waightstill Lenoir, named for his Avery grandfather.
Walter was born March 13, 1823, to Colonel Thomas Lenoir and Selina Avery Lenoir, at Fort Defiance. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1843, and then spent three years studying law. Walter was licensed to practice law on June 10, 1846, and opened an office in Lenoir. Legal work was slow for Walter, and he continued to farm, raise cattle and to take interest in internal improvements such as the railroad.
In June 1856, he married Cornelia Isebella Christen of Augusta County, Va., and the couple continued to live in Caldwell County. Walter would continue to ply the trade of a circuit lawyer, traveling to different county seats in the mountains when court week came. In 1859, Cornelia died of galloping consumption, followed not long afterwards by their only child, Annie Tate Lenoir.
And then the Civil War came. Walter spent some time with his brother's regiment, the 25th North Carolina Troops, before helping raise a company of Caldwell County men to become a part of the 58th North Carolina Troops. Before this regiment was officially mustered into service along the Linville River in the Altamont section of present-day Avery County, Walter was elected Captain of Company A, 37th North Carolina Troops. This company hailed from Ashe County and the people there were probably familiar with Walter from his service as a lawyer riding the local circuit. While most of the 37th North Carolina Regiment came from Watauga, Ashe and Wilkes counties, there are some local connections with members of the regiment who have their final resting places in the county: Enoch Anderson, buried at Montezuma; Joseph Benfield at the Benfield Cemetery; Levi Green, who is interred in the Franklin-Oaks Cemetery; Robert Greene at the White Pine Cemetery; Elijah Holtsclaw at the Johnson Cemetery; and John A. Shook at the Balm Cemetery.
This transfer placed Walter in the thick of the fighting. The 37th North Carolina Troops lost more men on the battlefield and to disease than did any other North Carolina regiment. Walter arrived in time to participate in the battle of Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, and at Ox Hill, all in Virginia. At the latter, he was wounded twice in the right leg, which was soon amputated. Walter was then sent back to Western North Carolina, lamenting the loss of his leg. A wooden leg made by Walter’s brother Thomas would suffice until Walter could order a leg from J. S. Montgomery.
From 1863 on, Walter bounced around Western North Carolina. He spent the last year or so of the war in Haywood County farming there until 1874 when he sold out and moved to Hickory Tavern in Catawba County. He eventually donated the land for a small school that now bears his name: Lenoir-Rhyne University. In 1876, he once again moved, this time to the Shull’s Mill area of Watauga County, where he operated a sawmill and gristmill. The next year, he had constructed a house and worked to improve his land by clearing, building fences and sowing grass. He also raised sheep and cattle. In 1883, Walter ran successfully as a representative from Watauga County in the state House of Representatives. After that, he served as a trustee for the University of North Carolina.
Among the large tracts of lands that Walter owned were 8,090 acres in Linville and Grandfather Mountain. It was Walter's hope to retire to Linville one day. He had picked out a spot, referring to it as "Under the Pinnacle," and believed that it was "one of the loveliest places in all the mountains ... I am in love with it and want, when I can get it sufficiently improved, to make my home on it." But it was not the property that really needed improvement; it was Walter. His health had never really recovered from the hardships of battle and camp life. In 1887, Walter sold most of his Grandfather Mountain holdings to developer Samuel T. Kelsey, stipulating that the headsprings of the Linville River, along with the springs that flowed into the Linville "shall be protected and secured from contamination in [the] future." It was Walter's dream that a park be created, preserving not only the spring headwaters, but a large belt of timber also.
In May 1889, Walter Lenoir suffered an attack of paralysis. He wrote to his brother Rufus, asking that a family member be sent to take him back down the mountain to Lenoir where he could get a room and a nurse. Instead, Walter was taken to Fort Defiance and nursed by family members. Walter insisted on returning to Watauga County in 1890 to clear up his real estate and financial matters. Three members of his family went with him. Walter W. Lenoir died at his home in Shull’s Mill, Watauga County, on July 26, 1890. His body was returned to Caldwell County, where his remains were interred in the family cemetery at Fort Defiance, beside his beloved wife and daughter.
Kelsey was soon laying out the Town of Linville, and before long formed the Linville Land, Manufacturing and Mining Company, with Kelsey as vice president and Donald McRae as president.
Kelsey's town, named Linville, was a mixture of factories, shops and a commercial center. A highlight of the town was a park, two blocks in width by three blocks long, with the Linville River coursing through it. The park, on an early map of Linville, was aptly named "Lenoir Park" after Walter W. Lenoir.
Lenoir Park still exists today, after a fashion. It is located at the corner of Highway 105 and Blowing Rock Road, the only non-developed corner at that location. And driving up Blowing Rock Road a short distance, and turning left on Watauga Avenue will lead you to the Lenoir Park Trail. The trail appears to be closed, but hopefully, it might again be opened one day for people to explore and to allow others to treasure the spot as Walter Lenoir once did.
Correction: In the recent piece on Kirk's 1864 Raid, the author unintentionally listed Drury and Philson Wise. Their real names were Drury and Philson Clark. The author apologizes for the confusion.
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