Agriculture/Food
The Appalachian Mountain people were self-sustaining farmers. Even those who had other skills or professions were still self-sustaining farmers.
The vast majority of the early settlers moved into the region in late winter or early spring. They immediately had to plant crops and seedlings for the next winter’s survival.
They usually had oxen and mules to pull the wagons. People in the mountains used oxen and mules for plowing into the 20th century. Horses were not as common and were not suitable for pulling heavily laden wagons over mountains.
They brought food and seeds with them, along with their hogs, chickens, a dairy cow, and sheep.
They also brought seedlings for fruit trees. Everybody had fruit trees (peach, cherry, pear, and apple). Every farmstead had fruit trees. William Mills did not have the only fruit trees and he did not start an apple orchard. There was no orchard production prior to 1860, and it was not apples.
They could gather nuts, greens (poke salad), berries, wild onions (ramps), wild grapes, mint, etc. from the forests.
The main crop to be planted was corn. Corn was the primary staple crop of Appalachian Mountain people. It was also a staple crop of the American Indians. The early English settlers called the American Indian’s staple crop “Indian grain,” then “Indian corn” which was later shortened to just “corn.” Corn produces more grain from an acre of land than any other crop.
Within a short period of time grist mills had to be built to grind the corn into cornmeal. Grist meals were located on the rivers and streams. Every “community” (neighborhood) had a grist meal. Cornmeal was the primary ingredient for bread. Wheat does not grow as well in the Appalachian Mountains. Agricultural censuses in 1840 and 1850 show some wheat was grown, but not much. Because of this, flour was expensive to buy and not used as often, primarily on special occasions. Very little buckwheat was grown.
Corn was also a main food, eaten in many forms: creamed corn, whole kernel, corn on the cob, grits, hominy, chowder, other soups, etc. Dry corn can also be stored for long periods.
Corn was also fed to livestock, such as hogs and chickens. By 1840, the agricultural census shows some hay was grown for livestock, but not a significant amount.
Corn was also the base for the whiskey distilleries.
Early agricultural censuses show the people planted lots of beans, of many varieties. Beans were also grown by the American Indians, who introduced the food to Europeans. Few peas were grown. Peas produce only one early crop and would not help sustain a family in the winter.
The early censuses show more sweet potatoes were grown than white potatoes. Both types of potatoes originated in the Americas and were grown by American Indians. The white potato was eventually taken back to Europe where it began to be grown and cultivated in different varieties.
They would also have planted varieties of squash, along with pumpkin. The squash was also introduced to the world by the American Indians.
At some point okra and tomatoes would have been planted. The tomato, also an American Indian food, was considered poisonous for many years. Okra arrived in America via the slave trade from Africa and was commonly grown throughout the South.
Cabbage, a common food in most European countries, was also widely grown as a staple crop, but not a money crop prior to 1860.
To store the food through the winter they dried fruits and some vegetables, made kraut from cabbage, kept some potatoes under “clumps” or “hills” in the field, and stored root crops (turnips, etc.) in the root cellar.
The only money crops prior to 1840 were corn, hogs, and whiskey. Whiskey, lumber mills and grist mills were part of the agriculture schedules until 1850. Distilleries and whiskey were not illegal until 1920, as long as one paid the tax.
In the state of North Carolina in 1815, the primary industries were grist mills and whiskey distilleries.
Families raised many sheep for the wool and to sell. The wool was used for clothing, and sheep and wool were also money crops on the early agricultural censuses.
They used honey and molasses as sweeteners. Sugar was rare and expensive. They gathered the honey from the hives in trees (see story on this web site under Communities, Mountain Page, Life in the Watershed). They made sorghum molasses each fall, typically as an extended family or community event. (A story will be added to the web site on the making of sorghum molasses).
Pork was the primary meat. The pork was stored in a meat house if it was salted as a preservative and/or in smokehouses if it was smoked as a preservative.
They also ate some chicken and other poultry. If a family had large numbers of chickens, they might eat chicken once a week. But, many saved the poultry for a special occasion or a special Sunday dinner. Chickens were a necessity for the eggs. Poultry was not a money crop prior to 1860.
Deer was also hunted as a meat source and for the leather. Fish was eaten occasionally, but large quantities would need to be caught to feed their large families. They also hunted rabbit and squirrel for meat. Some families also ate bear, ‘possum and ‘coon.
They rarely ate beef. Beef cows do not show up on the agricultural censuses as a primary money crop or even owned by most people prior to 1860. The censuses show some beef cattle raised by a few families. It was common through the early 20th century for families to “go in together” and share a beef cow. Beef does not keep through the winter.
The dairy cow was the most valuable possession. It was so prized that dairy cows were often listed in wills. It was a necessity for milk, butter, cream, buttermilk and cheese. Dairy products were stored at the spring house.
Some burley tobacco was grown, but not as much in the area of Henderson County as other regions of Western North Carolina.
The four “staples” they bought were flour, sugar, salt and coffee. These staples could be purchased from peddlers, in early stores, when visiting towns or when driving the hogs to the markets. They also bartered for these staples.
In 1840 (population about 4,000), income from dairy production and wool was fairly large. A small amount of lumber was produced. There was also some income from skins and furs. There were 14 distilleries listed, five grist mills and three saw mills. By 1850 (population more than 6,000) more horses and beef cattle were in the county. Poultry, sheep and hogs increased dramatically, with large amounts of wool sold. Butter, cheese, beeswax and honey were listed as income.
By 1860 (population around 10,000), the census again shows a preference for oxen and mules and the number of horses actually decreases. The number of dairy cows doubles as butter and cheese production increase dramatically; and the number of beef cattle decreases by almost 2,000. The number of hogs keeps rising dramatically. Poultry remains about the same. There is a large increase in sheep and wool production keeps increasing.
In 1860, the first mention of fruit as a money crop appears. The fruits are peaches and grapes, and some wine is produced in the county.
As always the primary crop is corn. In 1860, for the first time, more white potatoes are grown and sold than sweet potatoes. The amount and varieties of beans that are grown and sold shows a large increase.
Also, sorghum molasses appears as a money crop in 1860, in addition to much larger amounts of honey and beeswax.
The county agricultural statistics does not vary greatly from the state statistics. In 1860, North Carolina was No. 1 in the nation in honey; second in white potatoes; third in hogs and sweet potatoes; fourth in sheep; fifth in corn and wool; sixth in milk (milk cows); and seventh in butter (dairy production).
Transportation
The early settlers, with their wagons pulled by oxen and mules, followed the old Indian trails through the mountain gaps to enter the county: Saluda Gap (old U.S. 25), Parris Gap (Hickory Nut Gorge), Howard Gap (parallels I-26 then into Upward community), Mills Gap (border of Polk and Henderson, into Edneyville) and through the Swannanoa Gap into today’s Buncombe County and then south along the French Broad River.
Early settlers used wagons, oxen and mules. Some owned horses, but horses were typically not used to pull wagons through the mountains. If one individual was going somewhere, he or she may have ridden a horse. If an early Appalachian Mountain family had a horse, it was typically just one horse, but many families never owned a horse. The more prosperous of the early settlers had more than one horse, and some, such as the Jones family, were horse traders.
Most of these early trails or paths eventually became toll roads. At different points along the old roads (dirt trails wide enough for wagons) travelers had to pay a toll or fee. Howard Gap Road was a toll road. The toll keepers were the Rhodes family on Warrior Mountain. There was also a toll road through Parris (Hickory Nut) Gap in Bat Cave. This road was also a major Drovers Road for the settlers to drive their livestock to the markets in South Carolina. What later became known as the Old Buncombe Turnpike (Saluda Gap, old U.S. 25) was also an early toll road. This road connected the Greenville, S.C., area to the region.
Mills Gap Road was also a toll road with a drover’s stop at the Asa Edney home located on today’s South Mills Gap Road. In coming through Mills Gap between Buncombe (Henderson County) and Rutherford Counties in 1806, Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury wrote, “One of the descents is like the roof of a house, for nearly a mile… I rode, I walked, I sweat, I tumbled, and my old knees failed. Here are gullies, and rocks, and precipices.” At the end of one of his annual visits, Asbury recorded, “Once more I have escaped from filth, fleas, rattlesnakes, hills, mountains, rocks, and rivers.”
By the early 1800s, people began building wooden bridges across the rivers. The early bridges were also toll bridges.
The first bridge across the French Broad River in Henderson County was built by Samuel King, possibly about 1810. This bridge was located not far from today’s N.C. 191 in today’s Rugby community.
By 1820 Peter Guice built the first bridge across the Green River. This bridge was built in today’s Macedonia community extremely close to where Interstate 26 crosses the Green River today. The I-26 bridge crossing the river is named the Peter Guice Bridge.
After 1820, when Peter Guice built his bridge, the Mills Gap Road was not used as often to enter the county. The Mills Gap Road then connected with the Howard Gap Road so travelers could use the bridge.
In 1824, the Old Buncombe Turnpike was chartered. This was a widening of the old path that followed the old Saluda Indian Trail. The road was widened with better construction from the South Carolina border to the Tennessee border. It was completed in 1828. About 1850, they began placing planks along the road in some sections, but work ceased with the Civil War. The Old Buncombe Turnpike, a toll road, closely parallels old U.S. 25.
For more information on this road, visit http://ncpedia.org/buncombe-turnpike
(On the above web link, please ignore the reference to the historical marker concerning the Saluda Grade and the railroad. The location of the Saluda Grade in Saluda, N.C., in Polk County had absolutely nothing to do with the old road and is not located in the vicinity of the old Saluda Indian Path or the Old Buncombe Turnpike.)
Inns and taverns were built along the roads as rest stops for travelers and drovers. Some examples of the inns and taverns, and drovers’ stops, are: Abraham Kuykendall’s inn and tavern along the Saluda Path built by at least 1800 (old U.S. 25 in today’s Flat Rock); Oakland inn and drover’s stop built by John Davis in the Green River community (old U.S. 25 after the Kuykendall’s inn had closed); the Murray Inn at the other end of the Saluda Path (old U.S. 25 in today’s Fletcher) built by William Murray; Asa Edney’s drover’s stop along South Mills Gap Road; drovers’ stops and inns along Drovers Road in Hickory Nut Gap in the vicinity of Bat Cave or Lake Lure; and Sherrill’s Inn near Henderson County in the Fairview community of Buncombe County, also along Hickory Nut Gap.
It was in 1840 that the stagecoach line opened on the Old Buncombe Turnpike from Greenville, S.C., to Greeneville, Tenn., traveling through Henderson County. Valentine Ripley bought the stagecoach line in 1845.
The opening of the stagecoach along the Old Buncombe Turnpike brought more travelers through the area and increased trade and communication.
Craftsmen and Musicians
The Appalachian Mountain people are noted for their arts, crafts and music. Quilting, weaving and sewing were discussed in an earlier lesson, along with flower arranging. There were also many other crafts, such as using gourds to make water dippers and other items, as well as decorative and artistic designs from vines, etc.
There were also potters in many communities, making much mountain pottery. The men are noted for their woodwork, including “whittling” (carving shapes out of raw wood). Again, excellent examples of traditional Appalachian Mountain crafts can be found at the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University, the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts in Waynesville, the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, and the Craft Shop at the John C. Campbell Folk School near Brasstown.
Here in Henderson County, some traditional crafts and foods are at the Henderson County Curb Market.
The origins of Appalachian Mountain music were mentioned in an earlier lesson. The people typically made many of their musical instruments: fiddles, banjos, and dulcimers. The also played the autoharp and, of course, the harmonica. Music was an integral part of daily life with informal “porch pickings” common. The people are famous for their Appalachian ballads and their folk dances, including clogging. This was also the music played in the churches, along with sacred harp and shape-note singing.
For more information, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVMi3MH0uRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrlqlmiYgjY
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_holt_plays_mountain_music.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2WywwxWbvY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9SStpxWfcc&list=PLC553080B3FA1BCA3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmJj6LZogms
For more information on the old-time church shape-note singing, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyrUhdBHOg8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nNpP6mvqPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrlNN7ftYpk
Health and Medicine
There were few doctors in the region prior to 1860. People relied on folk remedies, many learned from the Cherokee, and on “granny” doctors.
A “granny” doctor was a woman in the community who was skilled with herbal remedies. She also served as a midwife during child birth. One of the most famous granny doctors in the early history of Henderson County was Polly King Justice.
The people gathered roots, flowers, fruits, bark, leaves, and seeds and combined them into healing remedies. Some examples are: yellowroot, ginseng, sassafras root, pennyroyal, dandelions, wild cherry bark, black walnut, dogwood bark, club moss, jewelweed, and mints.
Recreation
Toys for children were made at home. Some examples are corn shuck dolls and wooden toys carved and whittled at home. Every boy had a sling shot and his marbles. The men hunted and fished. Families would sometimes gather at a “swimming hole” in a river or creek.
The main social gatherings typically revolved around the churches, with homecomings and church gatherings.
Oral tradition and storytelling are important to the culture of the people. They passed the time in the evenings around the fireplace telling stories. Finding the facts within a story, though, is challenging and time consuming.
For more information on games and toys of the Appalachian Mountains, read the book “Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z” by Linda Hager Pack.