Page 251 March 1837, Daniel Freeman and wife to Allen Huckabee, Thomas Biles, Parham Smith, John Smith, and Archibald Smith, Trustees in trust for the use and purposes hereinafter mentioned - $1.00 - Lot - "Laid out for Stoney Hill Church" - they shall erect and build thereon a house or place of worship for the use of members of the M. E. Church ---- and in further trust and confidence, that they shall at all times forever thereafter furnish such ministers and preachers belonging to the said Church or by the annual conference authorized by the General Conference to preach and expound God's Holy Word therein".
Witnesses: Arthur F. Atkins, Richard D. Biles
Signed: Daniel Freeman, Martha Freeman.
The above deed is but one of several documents that prove to reify my theory of my Smith origins, their comingled connections to my Atkins and Freeman ancestors, and how small the world was in Stanly County, NC, two hundred years ago or so.
The Biles withstanding, who came from Rowan County, NC, to this area, most of these names can hang in some place on the family tree. The Smiths named are sons or grandsons of one William Smith, who is an eidolon of the misty past, I've not claimed a full grasp of. This includes Martha Smith Freeman, who signed with her husband, merchant Daniel Freeman. The Freeman name carries over to Rev. Arthur Freeman Atkins, with his harrier appellation, carrying the name of my sixth Great Grandfather, Arthur Freeman, as his first two given names and Atkins, the surname of a female ancestor who married a Palmer, whose daughter married a Davis and became my third great grandmother.
Rev. Arthur Freeman Atkins is all over my ancient family records like the scars of a measles survivor. Our co-ancestor, Arthur Freeman of Brunswick County, Virginia, bled sons and daughters to the North Carolina Piedmont. Two daughters married Atkins, most of whom further migrated West and South, one being the mother of Rev. A. F. Atkins, and a nephew of my Great Great Great Grandmother Martha "Patsy" Atkins, who married James Palmer. Two daughters married Winfield brothers, Jemima, who stayed in Virginia with her husband Joshua, and Charlotte, who married Peter and moved to the Rocky River area, bringing daughter, Sarah, who also married a Davis.
The crossing of paths, and genetics are numerous.
There's an old standing rumor about merchant Daniel Freeman, who was not only one of the earliest merchants in Albemarle, but also in Lawrenceville, in Montgomery County, the county seat of the two counties, when they were one, before the founding of Albemarle. The story was that he was the nephew of my ancestor, Charlotte Freeman Winfield, son of one of her brothers, and therefore, also a grandson of Arthur Freeman and wife, Agnes Stokes. I believe Henry Freeman was the name most often quoted, but I can't be sure. I've found no proof of this, but there's a great deal of circumstancial evidence, and it's certainly plausible.
Then there's the veridical existence and roots of the Stony Hill Church. A very early congregation began on the Yadkin -PeeDee River in what was then Montgomery County called 'The Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church '. This church was founded by an old Scottish Minister named William McGregor, an ancestor of mine. His daughter, Ava McGregor, married Bennett Solomon, of Franklin County, NC, also a minister. This congregation would become Stony Hill, although they switched from Baptist to Methodist. The old church was located in Tindallsville, which no longer exists, but was just down the way from the restored home of Dr. Francis Kron, who purchased his home from Rev. McGregor. The graves of both of these men, and the properties, are within the current boundaries of Morrow Mountain State Park.
Ava McGregor Solomon followed most of her children to Henry County, Tennessee, where she is buried. One son and two married daughters remained in Stanly County, NC. The son, another minister, William, married Tabitha Marks and their daughter, Margaret, would marry a Mauldin. A few generations later, her Mauldin granddaughter would marry a Davis and become my grandparents. That Davis was a descendant of James Palmer who married Patsy Atkins and his Mauldin wife was a descendant of Mary Smith who married James Mauldin. Back in a circle to the family of this mystical, magical William Smith.
The Daniel Freeman House, Albemarle, NC. I believe I could be related to both him and his wife, Martha Smith Freeman.
Recently my distant cousin and fellow Marks descendant, Cyndi, sent me the following page from a bulletin she had been fortunate to find. The bulletin was from a Marks family reunion and was shared with her by a Marks descendant whose last name is Marks. It basically is a listing of the most immediate descendants of James Marks. I never knew there were Marks family reunions, because I descend from his oldest daughter, Tabitha. Cyndi didn't know because she descends from his brother. The family reunion appears to have just been held by descendants of one or more of his sons.
James Marks was from Chatham County, which I was a fact I never knew, until I made contact with Cyndi, but apparently there were descendants of his who did. He moved to Montgomery County in the 1820's, on the side of the river that became Stanly. His brother John was here also. But James did live here long before passing away. However, he left a wife and 5 children. And here we are.
The top part of the bulletin was pure genealogical treasure, however. It included something we did not know.
"Settled near the Yadkin River in the area that is now Morrow Mountain State Park. Buried on the Grove Estate."
I'd never heard where he was, or might have been buried.
James died before 1830, because in the 1830 census for Montgomery County, his wife Caty is shown as Head of Household, which for women, usually meant they were widows.
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):
5
He had married Catherine "Caty" Gunther, daughter of Isham Gunther of Chatham County. Her sister, Mary, had married John Marks .
Name:
Will Solomon
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):
Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:
1 William Solomon
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:
2 Martha Ann and Jane Caroline Solomon
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:
1 Tabitha Marks Solomon
Free White Persons - Under 20:
2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:
2
Total Free White Persons:
4
Caty is shown with 4 children in 1830. Their oldest daughter, Tabitha, born in 1805, had already married with two little girls. She had married a minister, Rev. William Solomon, who had a familial and long-time association with both Ebenezer Baptist Church in present day Badin, and Stony Hill Methodist Church, near Morrow Mountain. (The Stony Hill congregation had begun as Baptists).
Sign in Brick at Stony Hill
Now having a hint at where James Marks was buried, a task was to hand. Where was the Groves Estate?
The old slate marker for Stony Hill, brought from it's orginal location.
With a little research, I found two possibilities, First, I knew there was a Christmas Tree Farm near Morrow Mountain called "Grovestone". I also searched old newspapers for the mention of a "Groves Estate" and this is what I found.
Remains of old road that led from Lowder's Ferry, through the Groves Estate, on to Rest (Present River Haven area) and on to the Swift Island Ferry.
James Alonzo Groves was born in 1873 in Gastonia to the affluent family of Robert A. Groves and wife Margaret Waddell. He was well-educated, well-connected and arrived in Stanly County in 1903 in Association with Wiscassett Mills. Below he is shown as a boarder in the 1910 census of Albemarle, North Carolina.
J. A. Groves moved quickly up the ranks at Wiscassett Mills and within Albemarle society, where he met and married a local girl, Sarah Ellen "Nelle" Hearne. Nelle was the daughter of Sidney H. Hearne and his wife Ellen. The Hearnes were the founding family of Albemarle, the town literally built on the Hearne plantation, and were scions of Albemarel society.The Groves House in town was located on North Second Street in Albemarle, across from Franklin Street. It has since been demolished.
The Groves had a house in town, but Nelle loved horses and J. A. loved Nell. He purchased 1300 acres in the area between Morrow Mountain and Stony Mountain and there built a weekend getaway house, a place for Nell to ride her horses and have parties.
Nell Hearne Groves and one of her horses
The property where they built the weekend house was called 'The Groves Estate". At first, I wasn't sure if the Groves Estate and Grovestone was the same place. So I called the current owners and spoke with a Mr. Talbert. He was so very cordial and informative. Yes, Grovestone was indeed part of the Groves Estate.Mr. Talbert had been informed somewhat on the history of the property somewhat when he purchased it. The story was that Mrs. Groves had gotten ill and was sent to a sanitorium out west to recover. Before her return, Mr. Groves had built the getaway house as a gift for her.He explained about various caretakers houses that were also on the property and later occupied by Kirks and Spiveys. A stable had been built there for the horses. It had been a magnificent place, parties on the weekends for the Stanly elite and vistors from Gaston and Mecklenburg counties would show up.I have explained to Mr. Talbert who I was and what my interest was, and about the bulletin that stated that my ancestor, James Marks, had been buried on the Groves Estate. That is when Mr. Talbert remembered a group of people who had came to his place in about the mid-1980's. He said they brought flowers to put on a grave, and that they knew exactly where the grave was. These were Marks descendants and the grave was that of James Marks.Mr. Talbert so graciously offered to give me, and my cousin, a tour of the place, anytime. We took him up on his offer.
Mr. Talbert remembered the grave had been somewhere down the hill behind the cabin.
So a few short weeks after I spoke to Mr. Talbert on the phone, we touched base a few times and set a time to meet. So myself and two other Marks family researchers, Cyndia and Leah met with Mr. Talbert for a tour of the former Groves Estate with the high hopes of discovering where James Marks had been buried.
A place in the woods that may have been the site of the Grave
Mr Talbert was able to provide some background on the estate and show us where certain fixtures once were, and where others still were. Remnants of an old road can still be seen crossing the property. A springhead at the bottom of the hill from the house still bubbles, and obviously where ancient residents of the property once got their water.
This mound of stones may have been a Grave, many quartz rocks intermingled .It marked something and is not a natural formation.
One of the more interesting facts our tour guide provided was that the support beams under the house and within, were of a chestnut wood no longer available in the area, as the North Carolina Chestnut has nearly been wiped out. Only a few remain. The building style of the joists and beams also predate the building of the Rock House, which was built in the 1930's, by at least 100 years or more. Primitive. The rock house had not been built from scratch, instead, it had obviously been built over and existing cabin.
Mr. and Mrs. Groves in their later years sitting on the steps of The Rock House. He died in 1955 and she lived until 1970.
Mr. Talbert provided us with blueprints, and maps of the property, along with the above photo of Mr. and Mrs. Groves and several of the Rock House and the view from the front porch of it from many decades ago.
The Rock House as it originally appeared circa 1935
Knowing that the Rock House was built over an existing structure of much older origin, I wondered who had lived in the original cabin. As James Marks grave was on this property, could the structure have existed back that far? Or had some more recent Marks descendants lived there. In searching land deeds in Stanly County, I came across an unusual phenomena. Stanly County was formed in 1841 from the West half of Montgomery County, using the Yadkin-Pee Dee River as the dividing line. There are no deeds in Stanly County involving the Marks family until 1875. This is a space of 34 years, and in this deed, W. A. Marks, a grandson of James Marks, sells property to Dupree Clodfelter, who hailed from Davidson County.
What the Rock House and Property looked like in the 1930's. Check the old car.
Now, in present day, Clodfelter Road comes off of Valley Drive and heads up the hill to the top of a ridge between Morrow Mountain State Park and Stony Mountain. The road goes through the Groves Estate. While the current Grovestone is only on one side of the road, the original Groves Estate covered 1300 acres. A road that leads to Stony Hill Church veres off of Clodfelter Road to the left coming up. At the top of the hill is a community known as Clodfelter Town where descendants of Dupree Clodfelter still live. It's no longer a town, but it is still populated and still lies in the shadow of Morrow Mountain.
Could the property that W. A. Marks sold to Dupree Clodfelter, the progenitor of the Clodfelter family, be where Clodfelter Town sits today? It appears so. And if W. A. Marks sold it in 1875, how and when did he acquire it? There are no records of W. A. Marks buying it before then. Whitson A. Marks was the son of Thomas Marks and wife Nancy Carter. Tom was the youngest son of James Marks and Catherine Gunter Marks. Whitson was born in 1849, so he did not yet exist in 1841 when Stanly became a county. The property was obviously acquired before 1841, when the county was still part of Montgomery, but not by Whitson Marks. How then did he acquire it? I can only feel it was by inheritance.
Another interesting fact is that in the book, "These Hallowed Grounds", published in 2012 by The Stanly County Genealogical Society, a year before I joined, is the mention of a cemetery, located on the property just across Clodfelter Road from Grovestone.
I spoke to a member of the SCGS who had been on the adventure of discovery in locating the old cemetery. It is quite a walk from the house and off to toward the end of what is now Dunlap Road, below the west side of Stony Mountain. Still, not that far from where James Marks grave is supposed to be. The procession was led by Rayvon Shepherd, a descendant of Tom Shepherd, Grandson of Nancy Marks Carter, James Marks youngest daughter. Tom Shepherd lived in this area years ago. The cemetery is believed to be a Marks cemetery. And not far from the area of James Marks Grave!
Mr. Talbert shows us the original plans for the property.
It's not hard to imagine the original cabin, sitting atop the hill where the Rock House now stands, and looking out toward the property where the other Marks cemetery is said to be. Was this area inhabited by the Marks family, spread out with the view of Morrow Mountain in the distance and Stony Mountain in the other direction?
Peeking at the Mountian beyond from the road to Stony Hill Church
We will have to back in the winter if Mr. Talbert so allows, with someone who knows the art of divining, to help us pinpoint James Marks exact grave. At this time, we don't know for sure if the stone covered mound is it or not. Mr. Talbert said he felt it was a little further up the hill, closer to the house.
The old road went right by the house, right across the front yard, above is the picture of the road bed going from the property south. Many of these old places that seem out in the middle of nowhere, were actually located on the byways of the day.
The above is a clip from an old map of Stanly County. Just above Stony Mountain you can see '"Grovestone" J. A. Groves Place'. A little beyond, on the 'loop' road is Stony Hill Church. The below clip picks up a little north of the first one In this map, you can see where the Kron Place was, and Lowder's Ferry. The map identify's an area as Morrow Mountain State Park, but with just a dirt road, or path to the old Ferry, which is now a road that goes past the campgrounds and leads down to the boat landing and canoe rentals .
All in all, we had quite a day and was blessed by Mr. Talberts hospitality and knowledge. I believe we have found the general are where the Marks lived when they settled here. Hopefully, by tracing J. A. Marks purchase of the property backwards, we can find if it does trace back to the Marks.
Special thanks for information, the tour and other assitance to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Talbert, Cynthia Gordon, Leah Morris, Greg Marks, Phil W. Lowder and the other owners of portions of Grovestone, whose names I do not know who gave Mr. Talbert the okay to take us trapsing across their property.
Tabitha Ann Marks was my 3rd Great Grandmother, a little more recent that the last few I've endeavored to feature. However, that does not mean she lived recently. Her entire lifespan was within the 19th century.
Tabby was born on January 12, 1805 in Chartham County, North Carolina to James Marks and Catherine "Caty" Gunter. The Marks family research is ongoing, but we know that Tabitha was the granddaughter of Isham Gunter of Chatham County, due to the mention of her mother in his will.
John and James Marks, presumed brothers, married Mary and Catherine Gunter, daughters of Isham Gunter. James is shown in the 1820 census of Chatham County, so sometime soon after that, the family migrated down to settle in what was then Montgomery County, along the Yadkin/PeeDee River.
James settled upon a hill between Morrow Mountain and Stony Mountain, from what we can ascertain, and died before 1830, as his wife is shown there as the head of household, presumably a widow. His brother John was in Stanly/Montgomery Counties until at least 1838, when he signed a petition to separate the county of Montgomery into two, with the river as a dividing line. His wife, Mary, for unknown reasons, appears to have remained in Chatham County.
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):
5
John had one son to remain in this area, William "Buck" Marks. James and Caty (Katie), had 5 known children:
1805-1891 Tabitha - married Rev. William Solomon
1808-1889 Elias - married Judith Allen
1810-1847 Benjamin F. - married Avey (or Evie) McGregor
1818-1865 Thomas - married Nancy A. Carter
1822-1913 Nancy -married Marcus Princeton Carter
Name:
Will Solomon
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):
Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:
1 Will
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:
2 Martha Ann & Jane Caroline
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:
1 Tabby
Free White Persons - Under 20:
2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:
2
Total Free White Persons:
4
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):
4
Tabitha is not listed with her mother in 1830, because she is already married and mother to two little girls. Tabitha married in about 1823 to Rev. William Solomon, son of Rev. Bennett Solomon and Ava McGregor Solomon.
Daniel Freeman was a local merchant. When Montgomery was one county, his store was located in the County Seat of Lawrenceville in East PeeDee. When the counties were divided in 1841, he relocated to the new County Seat of Albemarle in West Pee Dee, now called Stanly County. He kept ledgers. The above page is from one of those ledgers showing William Solomon making a purchase for E. Marks. E. Marks was probably the oldest of Tabitha's 3 younger brothers, Elias Marks.
Roads through Chatham into Moore, and to Montgomery there after, circa late 1700's.
By the 1840's, it appears that only the younger generation of Marks remained.
Tabitha's brother, Benjamin Franklin Marks, migrated to Tennesee with some of the Huckabees and McGregors. He had married into the family of Tabitha's mother-in-law. Her other 3 siblings remained in Stanly County.
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:
7
By 1840, William and Tabitha are in their 30's and their family has increased to 5 children.
From the Lawrenceville Freeman Ledge, Catherine Marks, mother of Tabitha and William Solomon, making a purchase at the same time in 1832. He probably accompanied her across the river.
William Solomon making a purchase for "B." Marks of a Hoe. Probably Ben Marks, his brother-in-law.
1850 is the first year the children and women are mentioned by name. Oldest daughter Martha has married Franklin Allen Laton. Two new little girls have joined the family, Margaret W and Eliza R.
By 1860, the Solomans are in their 50's. Tabitha has had her last child at age 42, a son George W. Solomon.
The Civil War stuck and changed the lives of everyone in the lovely Pee Dee Valley. William Sidney Solomon, Sr., a minister and long in the tooth was not in the way or mind to join the battle. There were "issues" with him. At his age, he was assigned first to the Home Guard and then later, especially because of his spiritual leadership, he was assigned as a Prison Guard in Salisbury.
Name:
William S. Solomon
Side:
Confederate
Regiment State/Origin:
North Carolina
Regiment:
Howard's Company, North Carolina Prison Guards
Rank In:
Private
Rank Out:
Private
Tabitha would have been home with her younger children.
From the History of Badin Baptist (Ebenezer) Church
By 1870, the Solomons are in their 60's and only youngest daughter, Eliza is home and remains single.
She won't remain so long, as she marries John Simpson, son of Isaac and Lucy Simpson on July 23, 1871.
Rev. William Solomon performed several marriages and other services until his dying day, which was not long to come after the 1870 census. His graveyard is just off of Stony Gap Road, in a pasture. What a sad way for this devout ancestor to be honored. It was not they way it was intended when he was buried.
On the above map, right above the ending of the word "Albemarle" is an intersection. In the Southeastern corner of the map, it says Will Lowder. Across the road, if says William Palmer farm. Up the road was the Old Ingram mine. This map is many decades after the passing of Rev. Soloman, it also crams a great deal of space together, so the distance is much more than it appears in this map. That intersection is the intersection of Highway 24/27, Valley Drive and Stony Gap road. That intersecton indicates the area where the Solomon family had settled. At one time 24/27 was known as the Swift Island Road or Swift Island Ferry Road. While Rev. Solomon is buried on the Stony Gap side of the intersection, the main Soloman Family Cemetery was on the Valley Drive side of the cemetery. His grandfather's cemetery, that of Rev William McGregor, is located within Morrow Mountain State Park. It is thought that is where his father, Rev. Bennett Solomon, is also buried. At the same time, the grave of James Marks, the father of Tabitha Marks, is said to be up Vallley Drive and turn toward the river onto Clodfelter Road, seen on the map as the Grovestone Estate.
William Solomon a founding member of Ebenezer Baptist
The tombstone of William Solomon, now broken and splinted by time and cow hooves, was puzzled back together and the inscription read:
'Rev. William Solomon was born Jan. the 10 1801 Lived a Consistent Member of the Baptist Church for about 50 years Died January the 1 1874." It was adorned with ivy carvings and the artwork of an unknown artist, typical of others in this area, I've heard called "Laton Stones". Perhaps the artist was a Laton.
Tabitha, now a widow, would follow her 2 younger children, Eliza R. Solomon Simpson and George W. Solomon, who married Martha Ussery, to Richmond County, North Carolina. Several other young Stanly County families would relocate to this area. Richmond was at the precipice of the industrial revolution. She is buried in the old Scottish cemetery there, along with her children, Eliza and George, their spouses, and some of her grandchildren.
Her stones says, "Tabitha Wife of Rev W Solomon Born Jan 12 1805, Died May 28 1891. She died as she lived a Christian."
Happy Mother's Day Grandma Tabby.
