Author Ralph Lee discovers 'Tale of Two Morgantons'
Originally published: September 21. 2008 3:01AMLast modified: September 21. 2008 1:52AM
Ralph Lee shared some information with me on research he has done in regard to his Pain and Hughs ancestors. Yes, Ralph's ancestors are real "Pains," that's not a misspelling!
Ralph, author of the out-of-print book, "Calderwood: Memories of a Razed Company Town," discovered the connection between two Morganton Cities, an early one in North Carolina in 1752, and a later one in Tennessee, now covered by the waters of Tellico Lake. "There were over 100 Morgans living in the Morgan District of North Carolina in 1790, and just as many at Morganton, Tenn., in 1830," Ralph writes.
Ralph accidentally discovered the connection between the two Morgantons while researching his Pain and Hughs ancestors. I don't have room in this column to publish his entire paper -- interested parties will need to contact him for the full version -- but he writes, "My third great grandfather John Pain was a blacksmith at the Moravian settlement in Salem, Surry County, N.C., in the early 1800s. This prompted me to read their detailed diary, which contains over 1,200 pages." Of special interest to Ralph regarded a trip their Bishop Spangenberg took west in 1752 to the Blue Ridge Mountains in present day Burke County. "Spangenberg wrote that he discovered the remains of an early settlement that had been abandoned peacefully. He wrote that the house sites still had grass growing in their yards. There were no signs of any violence; its inhabitants had left voluntarily. Spangenberg's local guides called the deserted site 'Quaker Meadows,' which today is Morganton, N.C." These inhabitants ended up in Morganton, Tenn.
"For three years, I was unable to find the father of my second great grandfather Josiah Hughs who was living in Monroe County, Tenn., in 1830. When I finally did, I learned Josiah was born at Morganton, Tenn., in 1793 to Moses Hughs and Mary McCoy. Mary's father Annanias McCoy applied for a North Carolina land grant in 1783 just as soon as the county of Greene was established. However, he could have been living at Morganton with the Indians several years prior to that. ...
"McCoy's land grant was for land at Morganton, Tenn. I would learn from University of Tennessee archaeologists that there had been white residents at Morganton by 1762. Other information showed that Quaker missionaries were living with the Cherokees along the Little Tennessee River as early as 1760. This led me to believe there was a Quaker settlement at Morganton long before the building of McTeer's fort in 1785 in North Blount County. Furthermore, Morganton would be a major source of Quakers for the establishment of a Quaker monthly meeting at Friendsville in 1808."
After extensive research, Ralph writes, "I was amazed -- and convinced -- that Morganton, Tenn., began as a Quaker settlement where they befriended the Cherokee along the Little Tennessee River, traded with them, educated them, and tried to make Quakers out of them."
If you would like to talk with Ralph about his findings and his conclusions, you may call him at 982-3313.
Linda Albert is Women's Times editor and a staff writer for The Daily Times. Her column runs every Sunday in the Women's Times section. You may contact her at 981-1168 or e-mail linda.albert@thedailytimes.com.