Nobles Mountain

The history of Nobles Mountain begins in Anson County, because our current Stanly and Montgomery Counties were part of Mother Anson when William Nobles settled on a piece of land along Mountain Creek near the west bank of the Yadkin- Pee Dee River. William claimed several land grants, expanding his property that connected to his first, and eventually the modest hill that still bears his name all belonged to him. 

George Davidson, a 'Stanly' County resident well known for his Revolutionary War service, was the surveyor of the above grant, one of many.  It's for 100 acres on the west side of Mountain Creek, near a large rock, and in "Anson , now Montgomery" County.  I don't propose to do a Nobles family tree, but before long, the deeds were separated by William Nobles "Sr." and Willam Nobles "Jr.", so a younger generation was now claiming land along Mountain Creek. 

The above portion of an ancient cursive text is part of a deed, and a little difficult to read, so I will try to transcribe it. 

State of N Carolina

              Benj (short for Benjamin) Bairds (asa Beard) Entry office and claims for land

In Montgomery County to the survey of sd (short for 'said') County Greeting. 

You are hereby required as soon as may be to lay of (ie 'off') and survey

for William Nobles a tract of land or parcel of land in the County aforesaid

Containing 200 acres begin (sic) on James Cottons line Where Jo n (abbreviation of John) Fry s2n lives and mines across Uhare (Uwharrie) River and (?) ing (may crossing) both sides and Recd for compliment.

Wherefor the Directions of an act of assembly in Such Cases made and, 

Provided, Two Just fair Grland (unknown meaning) of such Survey with Proper Certificate a mazed to each you are to Transmit with this warrant to the

Secretary's office without Delay seven under my hand and office this 

12      Day of December  1780    Benj Baird

'This plat represents fifty acres land in Anson County now Montgomery on the South side of the Pee Dee River lying on both sides of Mountain Creek.'   Dated April 29, 1779. This property joined William Nobles own line and Thomas Biles' line. It was signed by George Davidson, surveryor.

The above interestingly shaped plat is dated May 28th, 1805, and pictures the grant of Jacob Carter for land between Mountain Creek and Clover Fork Creek. It bordered the property of William Nobles in a few places. Cloverfork Creek flows north of Albemarle, into Albemarle and is a branch off Mountain Creek resulting from drainoff of the many hills. It was witnessed by Watson Ross and Bartlett Carter. 

Dated 1838, this grant is for Thomas Biles Jr. and adjoined the property of Arthur Freeman Atkins, another person of interest in my mileu or metier. It was located on the waters of Mountain Creek and Nobles Mountain. An odd looking streach of land, it also met the property of Michael Fesperman, and Isaac Biles line, formerly Jarrett Russels line. So the property of the Nobles and those who came later was close to that of Isaac Biles, of Biles Mountain. The document was signed by W.H. Randle, surveryor and witnesses by Robert M. Biles and Henry Pence.

I could explore old deeds, grants and plat maps all day that mentions Nobles Mountain or William Nobles land,  but I will spare the reader. Indulge me this one last oddly shaped plat. This oddly pointed starburst belonged again to Thomas Biles and was a mere 20 acres. It was on both sides of Mountain Creek and mentions 'the meanders', Daniel Freemans line, the intersecton of Daniel Freeman and Alexander Kirks property, on to Robert Smiths corner. I must mention here that it is appearing to me that Daniel Freeman married Robert Smiths sister, in my ongoing research of the Smith and Atkins families. Most interestingly, it was witnessed by James Cox and Gilbert Nobles. 

Enter a Will, and not a land document. James Cox, a single man, apparently with no issue of his own, left his property to his niece, Frances Nobles and the two children of his nephew, Gilbert Nobles. The two children, both girls, were named as Frances Gilbert Nobles and Eliza Ann Nobles. The Will was witnessed, interestingly enough, by Isaac Biles of Biles Mountain, and Joseph Milton, an unusual man I've posted about before in the Melton and Solomon sagas, who would eventually settle across the Pee Dee River from Norwood, in the vicinity of the Ghost Town of Edinboro or Edinburgh.

Frances G. Nobles, born in 1839, who grew up to marry Wilson Davis, would prove to be a useful clue concerning the fate of Nobles Mountain. She and her husband, along with Thomas Nobles, the last of the Nobles to live on the mountain, and judging from future land transactions, her first cousin, would sell the property around the late 1860's and 1870's. 

To get a better idea of where Nobles Mountain is located, however, I wanted to find the deed of someone who was  living there during the late 1890's, early 1900's, the general timeline of the infamous C. B. Miller map. Millerwho so graciously marked the locations of schools, churches, points of interest, included the names of certain of the larger land holders in an area. 

Enter Samuel Mosell "Mose" Stoker.

In 1903, S. M. Stoker entered a claim for property in Albemarle Township, on Nobles Mountain, on the east side of Mountain Creek, adjoining the lands of Amos F. Biles, J. S. Misenheimer, and his own property, containing 50 acres. Amos F. Biles was the owner, at the time, of Biles Mountain, and a grandson of Isaac Biles. 

Born June 26, 1858, Mose Stoker also seems to have grown up in the area of the Morrow Mountain cluster. He was the son of Robert Stoker and wife, Lucy Jane. He married twice, first to Mary Elizabeth "Mittie" Blalock and second to Laura J. Bell and was the father of six children. He was appointed the Postmaster of the community of Dowd in the 1880's, a village that was northwest of Old Tindallsville, where the Kron's lived, along the old Swift Ferry Road from Ebenezer (Badin area) to the Swift Island Ferry, where the bridge still crosses today. Mose Stoker died on June 22, 1918, at the age of 59, and was buried at the old Stony Hill United Methodist Church, a congregation that has served that riverside community for countless generations. 

X marks the spot on the C. B. Miller map, where Lowder's Ferry Road, what ran in the general direction of Morrow Mountain Road today, crosses the Swift Island Road, the direction of Valley Drive, but a very different trajectory. Stony Hill Church can be seen center map and up above, the name S. M. Stoker in three different, but near, places. On up the road, is the name J. S. Misenheimer, on both sides of the road, near a store, and a Mill and a lot of Millers, hence Millertown, a road still marking the cluster of family homes of one family, the Millers, that became their own community. 

Above is a deed marking 25 acres, which may have began with William Nobles 25 acres deed in 1779. J. S. Misenheimer and A. F. Biles are mentioned in the deed. J. S. Misenheimer being Jonas Simeon Misenheimer (1856-1928) who was married to Susan Miller. 

Using the C. B. Miller map, the old deeds and the location of Nobles Mountain in reference to Biles Mountain, I've figured out that Nobles Mountain is the hill to the south of Morrow Mountain Road, with Biles Mountain being the hill to the north. 

One more Mountain is anonymous no more. Nobles Mountain, named in honor of the family of one William Nobles Sr., where my Smith, Atkins and Solomon/Russell relatives lived near at a murky time in the distant past .

Biles Mountain

 

So, here I am mountain hunting again with my handy magnifying glass. With the location of Biles Mountain, I already had in hand two snippets of information, one, I knew it rose off of Mountain Creek and two, I knew it was a part of the Morrow Mountain family, or cluster, but not located within the confines of the park itself. That seems like an easy find, with the exception that there were more than one hills that fit that description. 

What makes a mountain?  I turn to Oxford, "a large natural elevation of the earth's surface rising abruptly from the surrounding level, a large steep hill." Why, the whole area is like an enormus piece of  wrinkled up aluminum foil. A large steep hill. Ok, which large steep hill.

Stanly News and Press

Albemarle, North Carolina • Sat, Jan 30, 2021Page 4

I had remembered reading about Biles Mountain in a not-too-long-ago article in the Stanly News and Press. Just before I came down with a horrible case of Covid. Thank goodness, I've never suffered through anything like that bout of the Delta variant again. I found the article! A mountain hunter never forgets when the hear about a new mountain. At the time, I was able to look up the author of the article and left a message. She actually put me in contact with the current owner of Biles, a very nice person, who although no longer lived in the area, came down sometimes, and offered up a tour when he did. Unfortunately, I was sick and weak on the day of my planned hike up Biles Mountain and the opportunity never crystalized again.

There was another string to unravel, the name of  the Mountain itself. Further back in my research of my own families attachment to this area, I discovered that it was one Isaac Biles who had settled in the area of Mountain Creek and among the other settlers of the "Naked Mountain" area. The Biles family had migrated from Rowan County in times past, with their progenitor one Thomas Biles, who founded the old community of Bilesville, which would change its name to New London to attract British investment into their mining operations. Gold territory. 

One of the Biles bunch bought land bordering the lands of Robert Smith and his children, the Kirks, and other area settlers. His name was Isaac Biles. By the time of the C B Miller map, which gives us a glimpse of who lived where around the turn-of-the-century, the generation area of Biles Mountain was owned by one A. F. Atkins.

A. F. Biles was one Amos Franklin Biles (1867-1940). He lived a long beneficial and honorable life. Above, his obituary is seen. It reveals he was the son of a Frank Biles.

Here is another obituary, that of Frenania Smith Allen Biles, second wife of W. F. "Frank" Biles. Known as "Donie", Mrs. Biles is revealed to have been the daughter of Parham Smith, Parham Smith was one of the sons of Robert Smith, and Robert was one of the older sons of William Smith, William Smith who died in 1845. I always clarify that as there were more than one William Smith. This William was married more than once and his widow was significantly younger than he was, as was not uncommon in those days. 

This last document completes the chain. It is the marriage document of the above mentioned couple, Frank and Donie Biles. W. F. Biles is revealed to be the son of Isaac and Martha Biles and Frenonia B Allen is revealed to have been the daughter of Parham and Mary Ann Smith (and a widow). Frank's first wife was Elmira Nash, daughter of Edmund B. Nash and Tabitha Smith. So, Isaac Biles was Amos Franklin Biles's grandfather, and that's the lineage down from who Biles Mountain was named for. 

Biles Mountain

In 2018, a Speight family donated 45 acres to the park, along Mountain Creek. 

Stanly News and Press

Albemarle, North Carolina • Tue, Jul 31, 2018Page 6

In 2016, the Speights family had donated 5 acres at the top of Biles Mountain to the park. It's a unique geological area and contains a natural highground pond. Now knowing that at least part of Biles Mountain is now part of Morrow Mountain State Park, I contacted them. Some one there had to know which one of these hills off Mountain Creek is Biles Mountain.

My answer, it rises up behind the Old Shiloh Church. 

Off of Valley Drive, Morrow Mountain Road is a twisting, curving trail that goes past a small white church and a handful of houses, tucked away in a little 'Holler' that is what is left of the Shiloh Community. Shiloh is an historic African American community that included those who had lived in the Mountain Creek area for generations. The church family remains. And right behind the church the ground rises skyward, indicating the foot of Biles Mountain. 

And as my lead in graphic shows, there is Biles Mountain, to the east of Valley Drive and Mountain Creek, and to the north west of Morrow Mountain. It's a long arrowhead shaped protrusion,  The red dot marks the location of the Old Shiloh Church, Biles Mountain rising behind and Nobles Mountain south of it, its foot to the north, sticking its toe into the river, the former property of Isaac Biles. 

Lord Don't Move that Mountain

 

"Lord Don't Move That Mountain", starts off a familiar old Gospel song. I'm proposing a variation of it: 'Lord don't move that Mountain, just let me see where it is.'

The concept of lost mountains would probably be humourous to anyone who lives outside the old Uwharrie hills, but locally, modern folk whiz around, up and down highways without really thinking about it, and never seeing the mountains along the horizon. Most are aware that Stanly and Montgomery Counties are part of the Uwharrie Mountain Range, a weathered, small and ancient range, carved out by the Uwharrie and Yadkin- PeeDee Rivers, and including those pushed up between the numerous other contributary streams. 

The Uwharries actually cover Montgomery, Stanly, Davidson and Randolph Counties. Their foothills are said to include Cabarrus, Union, Anson and Richmond Counties. They predate larger mountains and are rich with minerals, hence the North Carolina Gold Rush, which predated the California Gold Rush, and brought many families to the area.

Years ago, I started a project to locate Stanly County Mountains, that I had found mentioned in old deeds, on old maps, in newspapers, and even pictures. 

Above is Palmer Mountain from a circa 1900 map of Stanly County.

Most people who grew up in Stanly County, and are old enough,  remember the commemorative plaque that stood at the Scenic Overlook at Morrow Mountain State Park and gave a topographical display of the Mountains you could see and identify from that vantage point. So, folks from Albemarle can identify the six mountains that the park actually encompasses: Morrow, Sugarloaf, Hattaway, Tater Top, Falls and Mill Mountain. 

Other Mountains have been kept alive by local lore or place names. 

Most are familiar with Stony Mountain from the Vineyards there.

People who live on Nelson Mountain Road know that at the highest part of the road, the unpaved path that heads across a beautiful meadow, also heads past the old dairy to the top of Nelsons Mountain, near Albemarle. It's one of the Long Creek Mountains that are now in or near Albemarle. Others are Wolf Mountain, long ago occupied by the Ozier family, who left these parts long ago, which is behind Walmart and has housing developments climbing it's sides. As does Lowders Mountain, that can be viewed from the Albemarle square, looking West, much like it could in the century old photo where I first saw the name. 

Shepherds Mountain rises from Town Creek and is across Highway 52 from Food Lion. Then there is Gobblers Knob, a small mountain that rises between Coleys Branch and Long Creek and is a brother to Nelson Mountain and Shepherds, footing off Pennington Ridge.

Many folks in Norwood can point out Shankle Mountain, Forks Mountain and Morgan Mountain, near Norwood Camp Ground. There's an Ugly Creek Mountain in old deeds that would also be part of that Norwood group.

Biles Mountain had been written about in the newspaper some few years ago. A gentleman who owns it offered to give me a tour just before I came down with Covid, and now I've lost the information. I can't point it out, but I know it sits right outside Morrow Mountain State Park.

Nobles Mountain, mentioned in old deeds, is also just outside the park or between the park and Stoney Mountain, which is huge in area. I haven't put a push pin on it yet, and have begun to wonder if Biles and Nobles aren't one and the same.

Fraley Mountain is another counted in Stanly County "at the mouth of Ryles Creek". Ryles or Riles Creek is located near the old Stokes Ferry and where Stanly and Rowan meet. It empties into the Yadkin River close to where four counties come together, Stanly, Montgomery, Rowan and Davidson.

I'm now up to 21 Mountains in Stanly County. Many were named for the family that lived there. Biles Mountain for Isaac Biles and Lowder Mountain for the Thomas Lowder family, for instance. Palmers for the fellas who ran a building materials business out there and Shankles for the family who had an entire community named for them near the forks. Nelson Mountain, I've come to believe, was not named for a Nelson family, but for a man named Nelson Pennington. Nobles was no doubt named for the Nobles family found in historic records, Gilbert Nobles, Henry Nobles, and their families. 

Others were named for their characteristics, like Stony Mountain and Wolf Mountain, where a pack of wolves was known to den. 

Recently, I've come across the names of more Stanly County Mountains I need the help of the general public to locate. These are in addition to the 21 I've previously mentioned.

Little Mountain

Due to the name, I don't expect this to be an imposing monolith. This unlofty peak is associated with the Hathcock family who lived there. Jesse, Lindsey and James Hathcock are listed as living there. It was also near the property of a Holt family.

Mabry Mountain 

Possibly named for the Mabry/ Marberry/Marbry family, Mabry Mountain is mentioned in the estate records of David Melton, among other places. Other people near it were Almond Bosworth, (Boysworth), John B Forrest, John Milton and William Davis, (not my line). Knowing where David Milton lived, this one must be a neighbor of Stony Mountain. 

Beard Mountain 

Beard Mountain may have started with the Michael Beard family who moved from Rowan County to the Rocky River area, but was later occupied by the Dockery family. It's mentioned in the 1935 Division of property for Charles Dockery. Others who lived near were Henry Dockery, Mary Lisenby and a Lampley family.

Spring Mountain 

Spring Mountain was the home of a Russell family, E.G. Russell, W. A. Russell, Z. D. Blaylock and Amos T. Biles lived there around the turn of the century, not this last one, but the one before that.

That's a total of 25 Mountains in Stanly County I've now heard of. If you know of any more, or where these new ones may be located, let me know. These hills had names.