Religious Life

After the necessities were accomplished (self-sufficient), early settlers then began the task of organizing their social institutions. The first social institution, the one the pioneer families of the Appalachian Mountains considered the most important, was the religious institution.
More than 90 percent of the Appalachian Mountain pioneers were and are of two denominations – Baptist and Methodist. The majority were Baptists.
The location of our early churches gives insight into where the early settlers lived and where the main communities were located in our early history.
Stories and details on some of the following churches and historic cemeteries are and will be posted on this web site under the communities and historic cemeteries icons.

The Old Mountain Page Baptist Church and the Old French Broad Baptist Church were the first two churches in Henderson County. Old Mountain Page Baptist Church is east of the Continental Divide and research indicates that this church was most likely established earlier than Old French Broad Baptist Church. Early deeds prior to 1787 reference land next to the “old mountain church.” Old French Broad Baptist Church was established by 1787. These two early churches were the forerunners of today’s Mountain Page Baptist Church in the Mountain Page community and French Broad Baptist Church in the Rugby community next to the French Broad River.
The Rev. Samuel Edney, the first Methodist circuit-riding preacher in Western North Carolina, began holding services and carrying the gospel to mountain settlers. The Rev. Samuel Edney was a good friend of Bishop Francis Asbury, who brought the Methodist religion to the United States. Edney and his brother, Asa Edney, settled in Henderson County in 1792. They both married daughters of William Mills. Methodist services in and near the home of the Rev. Samuel Edney later lead to the establishment of Edneyville United Methodist Church in the Edneyville community.
Mills River Presbyterian Church was established in 1797. This is the earliest Presbyterian church established in Henderson County. The Brittain family donated the land to begin this church.
Early Methodists in Western North Carolina did not build churches as the Baptists and Presbyterians did. They held campground meetings and brush arbor meetings. Therefore, the actual church buildings were built many years after they began holding services.
In addition to services held in Edneyville, campground meetings were also held at Shaw’s Creek Campground on land owned by the Johnson family and at the site of today’s Mills River Methodist Church in Mills River. It is documented that Bishop Asbury attended campground meetings at both these sites. Campground meetings at both these sites were held as early as 1798. The Shaw’s Creek Campground meetings in Horse Shoe lead to the establishment of Horse Shoe Methodist Church that in the late 20th century became Cummings Memorial United Methodist Church. John Justus was also a Methodist circuit-riding minister who settled in the Edneyville section of Henderson County near the present-day Edneyville United Methodist Church.
Mud Creek Baptist Church was established in 1804 on land donated by Abraham Kuykendall. This was the first church in the Flat Rock community.
By 1815, Baptists in today’s Etowah community established the Old Beulah Baptist Church off Pleasant Grove Road. The church was later moved to a location closer to the Big Willow community, the site of today’s Beulah Baptist Church.
Ebenezer Baptist Church was established by 1816 in the Clear Creek community near the Old Howard Gap Road.
It was about 20 years before any other churches were established in today’s Henderson County.
There are now five Baptist churches: Mountain Page (Mountain Page), French Broad (Rugby), Mud Creek (Flat Rock), Beulah (Etowah), Ebenezer (Clear Creek).
There were three Methodist campground meeting locations: Edneyville, Horse Shoe (Shaw’s Creek Campground) and Mills River.
There was one Presbyterian church in Mills River.
From 1834 to 1847 nine more Baptist churches are organized as population in certain communities increased and folks wanted churches closer to their communities: Crab Creek (Crab Creek), Mills River (South Mills River Road in Mills River), Green River (Green River), Old Salem (Fletcher, forerunner of Fletcher First Baptist Church), Mount Moriah (Edneyville), Refuge (Dana), Cedar Springs (further into Green River), Crossroads (Zirconia), and Liberty (Fruitland).
In 1836, the first Episcopal Church in the county organizes: St. John in the Wilderness in Flat Rock. This church began to serve summer residents from Charleston, S.C. Services were only held in the summer.
The second Episcopal Church to organize in the county was Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher in 1857. This was a year-round church started by the Blake family.
After the county was established a town was required to be built. When the town of Hendersonville began some folks began moving to this new town. Of course, churches were needed. Hendersonville First Baptist was organized within five years, 1844. The date of Hendersonville First United Methodist is questionable, but it was definitely prior to 1852 and some documents indicate as early as 1842. Hendersonville First Presbyterian Church was established in 1852.
In 1848, Methodist brush-arbor meetings in the Upward community lead to the establishment of Upward United Methodist Church and a Methodist Church was established in the Fletcher-Hooper’s Creek area, Patty’s Chapel Methodist Church. Patty’s Chapel Methodist Church was the forerunner of today’s Fletcher United Methodist Church.
From 1857 to 1860 three more Baptist churches form: Hoopers Creek Baptist, Blue Ridge Baptist (later divided by the county line with Transylvania County) and Holly Springs Baptist Church (Crab Creek near Little River).
By 1860, there are now 18 Baptist churches, six Methodist churches, two Presbyterian churches, and two Episcopal churches (only one was year-round).

 Education

Many of the early settlers were literate. This is evidenced by letters, documents, etc. Many came from prosperous, educated families – Mills, Edney, Arledge, Johnson, Pace, Merrell, Brittain, Miller, King and many more. These people and many more were descendants of families who owned plantations and were colonial leaders in Virginia, South Carolina, and other states.
Children were taught at home, typically by the mothers. Women were, in some instances, more literate than the men. This is also evidenced by the fact that many early school teachers were women. Several of the early settlers, often women, supplemented their “income” as paid letter writers. An example of one is Mary Ann Arledge Hill.
There are no statistics showing the ratio of literate to illiterate. But, based on records and research on many of these families, the “idea” that the overwhelming majority were illiterate is blown out of proportion and is another stereotypical myth associated with the Appalachian Mountain pioneers. If studies were conducted, the ratio of literate to illiterate at this time in history throughout the nation was probably about the same.
Learning to read and write was a priority for the people. The actual establishment of a school may not have been as high a priority. The people lived far apart from each other in an area that was not densely populated. Safety concerns for children to walk far distances to attend a school in the mountain region must have been a concern. Children were needed to help with work on the family farm from spring through fall.
Many children were taught to read and write at home often by mothers, aunts or grandmothers, and other family members in the evenings.
The Bible was typically the most important book owned by almost every family. It was considered important to learn to read the Bible. Ministers must be able to read the Bible. In many instances learning to read was part of church activities and early schools were often held within or near the churches. Those who did not learn to read well enough to read the Bible memorized the Bible verses. The family Bibles “housed” the family records.
If a person aspired to a professional career of some type there were “boarding” schools located in nearby towns with larger populations.
Previous to 1839, when the state of North Carolina required the formation of school districts and a public education system, documented schools were: Mills River Academy started by James Brittain in 1798, a school in the home of the Rev. Samuel Edney in Edneyville started in 1810, and Blue Ridge Academy (the Blue House) in Dana began by Leander Case in 1830.
After 1839, small one-room schools opened in several communities. Documentation is sketchy and difficult. The following are known and documented:
– A one-room school in Edneyville (offshoot of the Edney home school and Methodist church)
– The Blue Ridge Academy (Blue House) in Dana
– Mills River School (Mills River Academy)
– A one-room school in Big Willow, most likely near Beulah Baptist
– A one-room school at or near Liberty Baptist Church in the Fruitland community
– The daughters of Count de Choiseul in Flat Rock opened a private school for girls in Flat Rock. This was most likely for daughters of summer residents who lived in Flat Rock
– Helen Blake opened “Miss Fanny’s School” in the Fletcher area.
During the 1850s we know the following documented, public one-room schools came into existence:
– Pleasant Grove (Etowah)
– Holly Springs (Mills River-Etowah-Boyleston area)
– Mountain Page (Mountain Page)
– Bearwallow (Gerton)
– A school in the Reedy Patch section of Edneyville and Bat Cave (near today’s Edney Inn Road)
Therefore, by 1860 there are at least 10 documented public, one-room schools in today’s Henderson County.
It was in 1854 that the new town of Hendersonville began a school. This was the Hendersonville Academy.
In 1858, the WNC Baptist Association opened Judson College for females. The purpose was to train female teachers. If a family could not afford the tuition, the Baptist Association would pay the tuition for girls who wanted to become teachers.
As a side note, the role of women in the society cannot be understated. The women raised the children, took care of the home, worked day and night cooking three meals a day in hot cabins over open fires, made the family’s clothes and bedding, and were the “doctors” and early teachers.

 Communication

An early need of the settlers was communication. Communication from the earliest settlers until 1860 consisted of “word-of-mouth” from travelers, traders, drovers; and traveling to other areas to market hogs, crops, etc. The people were not isolated from world, national or regional events. They could get newspapers in Rutherford County, later in Buncombe County and in Spartanburg and Greenville, S.C.
After the stagecoach began coming through the county, they received newspapers, circulars, etc., on a regular basis.
They also knew what was happening in the state and nation through letters. At first, letters were brought to the area by travelers, drovers, etc.
Later, the letters would be sent to post offices in Rutherford County, South Carolina, etc., and then hand delivered by folks passing through the area. They were brought into the area on a regular basis by wagon and/or horseback.
When the stagecoach arrived in the 1820s, letters would be sent by stagecoach and left at a central location for distribution to other locations. These locations, either delivered by ox and wagon, horseback or stagecoach, were the early post offices. This again demonstrates the communities, population centers and early roads.
1826: Claytonville – Money – Etowah
1827: Limestone – Shufordville – Fletcher
1827: Shady Grove – Mud Creek – Naples
1828: Edneyville
1828: Mills River
1829: Flat Rock
1840: Boyleston (Mills River-Etowah, Pisgah National Forest area)
1841: Hendersonville
1850s: Bearwallow (Gerton), Green River, Bowman’s Bluff (Big Willow), Blue Ridge (Dana)

 Industry and Mining

There are no statistics for the county through 1860 on the non-population schedules. It is known that in the state of North Carolina in 1815, the primary industries were grist mills and whiskey distilleries. The county appears to parallel this statistic.
An early mine was the mica mine in the Mountain Page community.
Gold mining was large in the state particularly near Charlotte, primarily in late 1700s and early 1800s, but not in Henderson County. There was a gold mine in Rutherford County. There are stories about a gold mine on today’s Forge Mountain in the Mills River community. The amount of gold found at this mine was not significant enough to be noted in records in the state.
There were 23 iron works in the state in 1815. Only one of these was in Henderson County.
This was the iron forge of Phillip Sitton in Mills River, off today’s South Mills River Road. According to records in Raleigh, this was not a large or significant iron forge in the state. It mainly met the needs of area residents. Its peak of production was in 1830. Production drops significantly by 1850. In 1860 there is not an iron forge listed in Henderson County, according to state records. The original iron forge in Mills River may have merged with a larger iron forge on the Davidson River in today’s Transylvania County. A large iron forge on the Davidson River was taken over by the Confederate government in 1861.
One of Sitton’s daughters married Matthew Gillespie. Gillespie was a gunsmith. He began making long rifles in Rowan County. After his marriage and move to Henderson County, he began making his famous long rifles at the Sitton iron forge. His son Phillip Gillespie continued the trade. Many of Gillespie’s rifles were used by Confederate soldiers, and the National Park Service has found some in battlefields. There is some documentation indicating that he made the rifles for the Confederate government. Some historians surmise that he either didn’t get paid or was paid with worthless Confederate money, and by the end of the war he was broke and in financial ruin. It is known that near the end of the Civil War, he joined the Union with other relatives in East Tennessee and later died of disease in East Tennessee.

In 1860 there were two tanneries listed in Henderson County.
Granite quarries were scattered throughout the county. The largest was owned by Valentine Ripley in 1850 and 1860. The location of this granite quarry has not been documented. There were others, but many of their locations are not known. At least one was in the Mountain Page community.
There was a limestone quarry in Fletcher, but it was not producing enough limestone through 1860 to be listed in Raleigh.

 Business and Commerce

There were no banks documented in Henderson County prior to 1860.
Much trade was likely conducted through the bartering system.
There were land speculators and money lenders. Many of these land speculators and money lenders accepted payments in goods and services.
There were inns and taverns as discussed in an earlier lesson.
References to stores are sketchy. Documentation has been found of a store prior to the formation of Hendersonville owned by the Osborne family near the Old Buncombe Turnpike, near today’s Stoney Mountain Road.
In the early years, most goods not produced locally were likely bought on drovers’ trips and marketing trips to Spartanburg, Greenville and Asheville. It would have been difficult, before the arrival of the railroad, to get sufficient quantities of goods not produced locally to stock a store. The only means of doing this was by wagon.

There were artisans and craftsmen scattered throughout the county (blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, cobblers, etc.)
There were also several people who listed their occupations as ministers and lawyers.