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Daniel Boone

No Direct Daniel Boone Descendants in North Carolina. -- According to Thwaites and Bruce, the children of Daniel Boone were James, Israel, Susannah, Jemima, Lavina, Rebecca, Daniel Morgan, John and Nathan. According to Bruce (p.87), John was a mere infant in arms when his mother started with her family for Kentucky in September, 1773. John's middle name was Bryan, in honor of his mother's family name. Neither Jesse nor Jonathan Boone, who lived afterwards in Watauga County, were sons of Daniel Boone, nor was Anna, who married William Coffey. So far as the writer knows, there are no direct lineal descendants of Daniel Boone in North Carolina or Tennessee.

Boone's Watauga Relatives. – There is a tradition that Anna, a niece of Daniel Boone, was married in the log house which formerly stood on the site of the present residence of Joseph Hardin, a mile or more east of the own of Boone. Jesse Boone, a nephew of Daniel, certainly lived near the top of the Blue Ridge in a cabin which used to stand in a five-acre field four miles above Shull's Mills, to the right of the old Morganton road. The foundation stones of the old chimney and the spring are still pointed out. The land on which that cabin stood was entered by Jesse November 7, 1814, and the grant for it was made November 29, 1817, the tract containing 100 acres, and beginning on Jesse Coffey's corner. (Ashe County deed book F, p. 170.) By a deed dated July 8, 1823, Jesse Boone conveyed to Wm. And Alex. Elrod 350 acres on Flannery's Fork (now Winkler's Mill Creek) of New River, and on Roaring Branch, two miles from the town of Boone, Mr. J. Watts Farthing now owning the deed. Anna Boone, the wife of Wm. Coffey, and Jesse Bone's sister, talked with this Mr. Farthing about the year 1871 while he was building a house for her grandson,

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Patrick Coffey, in Caldwell County. Hannah Boone, another sister of Jesse's, married Smith Doffey, the grandfather of the present Smith Coffey, of Kelsey post office. According to the family history of the Bryan family in the possession of Col. W. L. Bryan, of Boone, it was Morgan Bryan, and not Joseph, as all histories have it, who was the father of Rebecca Bryan, the wife of Daniel Boone. Bishop Spangenberg mentions the fact that Morgan Bryant had taken up land near the Mulberry Fields in 1752. (Col. Rec. Vol. V, p. 13.) According to the same family history, Morgan Bryan was the ancestor of Hon. W. J. Bryan, of Nebraska. Jesse, Anna and Hannah Boone were the children of Israel, a brother of Daniel Boone, not his own children. The same is true of Jonathan Boone, who sold to John Hardin, the grandfather of the present John and Joseph Hardin, of Boone, 245 acres on the 15th of September, 1821, for $600.00, the land being on what was then called Lynch's and Mill Creeks on the north side of New River, and adjoining the lands of Jesse Council, and running to Shearer's Knob, near the town of Boone. (Ashe County deed book S, p. 509.)

Jesse and Jonathan Boone. -- These were members of Three Forks Baptist Church, which speaks well for these relatives of the great Daniel, for he was a religious man himself, his simple creed being: "For my part I am as ignorant as a Child all the Relegan I have to love and feer god believe in Jesus Christ Do all the good to my neighbors and my Self that I can and Do as Little harm as I can help and trust God's mercy for the rest and I believe god never made a man of principel to be Lost . . . " What was the creed of Jesse and Jonathan does not appear beyond that implied by their membership of this church. But that each overstepped the rules of that organization is apparent, the minutes revealing the following facts: That in March, 1818, there was a report that Jonathan Boone was drinking too much, but that at the next meeting he came forward and made excuses and was forgiven. However, in May, 1819, there was another report against him for drinking and getting drunk and not attending at church meetings, the result of which was: "We consider him no more a member with us at

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this time." Before that, however, Jesse and his wife, "Saly," joined this church by letter, as did also his negro girl, Dina, and his brother, Jonathan. In November, 1815, Jonathan was chosen as elder, and in February, 1816, he was ordained by Reuben Coffey and Elijaah Chambers. Jesse seems to have kept out of trouble for a long time, but in February, 1820, there was a report that he had requested Brother Jeremiah Green to remove a land-mark ---laid over ---not proved. But, in "Aprile, 1820, a grievance" took place between Jesse Boone, of this church, and Brother Jesse Coffey, of the Globe church, and James Gilbert and Elisha Chambers, from the Globe church, and Anthany Reese and Robert Shearer, from this church, were appointed to meet at Ben Green's on the second Saturday next ensuing "to set on the business." In June following this committee reported that Jesse Boone had given Brother Jesse Coffey Boone and Jonathan Wilson said "the church was not in order," and withdrew therefrom. This did not increase Jesse's popularity with the members, and he was excluded by a committee consisting of John Holtsclaw, Abijah Fairchild, Valentine Reese and Jacob Baker; but, in October, 1821, the terms were fixed upon which he might return, these terms being that he should make acknowledgment for having withdrawn and saying that the church was out of order. At this meeting the church also took up the charges of Brother Wilson and Brother Boone against Brother Shearer, who acknowledged all that had any "wate' (weight) in them; but the church found that Brother Boone was at fault because he said he could "not see his range, and we put him under suspense till he can give satisfaction." Jesse Boone having been excluded "from amonks us," his loyal wife began to absent herself from the meetings, and, accordingly, in January, 1823, she was sent for to come to meetings; but as she refused from time to time to do so, "Sister Poly Green," the messenger sent to secure her attendance, reported that sister Boone had said that the church would have to "cut her off" for the reason that when she (Sister Boone) had joined the church there were many members in it with whom "she

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could not fellowship," but that as he husband had joined, she had followed him into the fold. She was excommunicated as a "disorderly member and declared to the world our unfellowship to her." In November following a letter of dismission was given "old Sister Boone," who may have been Jesse's mother, as it was probably not his wife, who wrote from McMinn County, Tennessee, asking for a letter dismission. But this the church decided to withhold till it got "satisfaction," meanwhile writing "a friendly letter to her." This concludes the residence of the Boones in that part of Ashe which is now Watauga.

Marking the Trail. -- On the 23d day of October, 1913, the tablet which had been placed at Boone village as one of the markers on the trail of Daniel Boone through these mountains was unveiled. This is one of six similar markers of iron-bolted-to-stone boulders erected in Watauga County in October, 1913, by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The most eastern of these markers was placed at what is now called Cook's Gap, six miles east of the town of Boone; the next is at Three Forks Baptist Church, three miles from Boone; the third is in front of the court house at Boone; the fourth is in Hodges; Gap, two miles west of Boone; the fifth is at Grave Yard or Straddle Gap, four miles west of Boone, and the sixth and last is at Zionville, near the Tennessee line. The Edward Buncombe Chapter, D.A.R., of Asheville, was in charge of the unveiling of the marker at Boone. The excrcises consisted of reading of the ritual of the D.A.R. society by the State Regent, Mrs. W. N. Reynolds, and responses by the audience, introductory remarks by Col. Edward F. Lovill, prayer by Rev. J. M. Downum, and addresses by John P. Arthur, Prof. B. B. Dougherty and E.S. Coffey, Esq., and songs by a choir, led by Prof. I. G. Greer. The county court house wa filled. The veil was withdrawn from the marker, at the conclusion of these exercises, by the following little girls: Misses Margaret Beaufort Miller, a niece of Mrs. Lindsay Patterson; Margaret Linney, Alice Councill, Lucy Moretz and Nellie Coffey, all having Revolutionary ancestors: Short ddresses were made in the open air to the people who had gthered around the marker by Mrs. W. N. Reynolds,

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State Regent; Mrs. Lindsay Patterson, chairman of the Committee on Boone's Trail, and Mrs. Theodore S. Morrison, Regent of the Edward Buncombe Charter.

Boone's Cabin Monument. –In October, 1912, just one year previous to the unveiling of the markers along the Boone trail through Watauga, A monument of stone and concrete, far more imposing and substantial than any erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, had been built on the identical spot on which stood the log cabin in which Daniel Boone and his companions used to sleep when on their hunting trips through this section. This cabin has long since disappeared, but the stones of the chimney remained in their original bed or foundation till 1911, and were well known by all in the vicinity as having been a part of the old Boone cabin or hunting camp. It was open to all who cared to ;use it in the old days before the country was settled. Whether Boone actually built it is immaterial. He used it, as did all hunters and and herders who found themselves in this locality near nightfall. Just south of it stands the Boys' Dormitory of the Appalachian Training School, a State-supported institution for the education of teachers. In this cabin Benjamin Howard and his herders used to keep their salt and cooking utensils when they visited this section to look after Howard's cattle, which he ranged in the upper valley of the New River. What I now the village or town of Boone stands near by, while over this picturesque little community looms Howard's Knob, 4,451 feet above the level of the sea. Tradition has identified this spot with Boone and Howard s fully as tradition can identify any fact or place. The mountain was named for Howard and the cabin site for Boone. When Watauga was formed, the legislature called the county-seat Boone because of he location of Boone's cabin within a few hundred feet of its court house. It is, therefore, as certain as anything can be that this is the identical site of Boone's old hunting cabin or camp. (Arthur's note: While excavating for the foundation of the monument a pair of rusted bullet-molds was found.)

Thanks to Its Builder. -- In 1911 Col. William Lewis Bryan began work on this monument, alone and unaided by anyone.

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He was determined to mark the spot and to have Boone's trail through this county marked also before he died, for he was then well on past his seventieth birthday. The monument was completed in the fall of 1912, but there was no unveiling and no ceremony attending the consummation of Colonel Bryan's dream. When its erection was assured, several people contributed to its cost. When the trail was marked at Boone court house in October, 1913, E. S. Coffey, Esq., a distinguished member of the Boone Bar, presented a resolution of thanks to Colonel Bryan for his services in having this spot so appropriately and permanently marked. The resolution was adopted by a rising vote of the large audience which packed the court house to the dome. The monument contains the following inscriptions, chiseled in white marble tablets let it on the western and eastern faces: On the west front: "Daniel Boone, Pioneer and Hunter; Born Feb. 11, 1735; Died Sept. 26, 1820." On the eastern face is the following: "W.L. Bryan, son of Battle and Rebecca Miller Bryan; Born Nov. 19, 1837; Built Daniel Boone Monument, Oct. 1912. Cost $203.37." Thwait gives these dates as follows (p. 6): Born November 2, 1734; died September 21, 1820 (p. 338).

Information About the Trail. –This same gentleman, Colonel Bryan, supplied the information which led to the location of the trail through Watauga County. He is a direct lineal descendant of a brother of Rebecca Bryan, the wife of Daniel Boone, and has all his life preserved all the traditions he has heard concerning Boone, his wife, his trail and hunting experiences in this section. He originated and inspired the idea of making the trail through this county, and it is not too much to say that if the Daughters of the American Revolution had not marked it, he would have done it himself. He did, in fact, help place every marker in the county. But, after all the statements of the people living along the trail had been taken down and deposited with the North Carolina Historical Commission, there was never any doubt that these patriotic ladies would see to it that the trail was suitably marked. They took those statements and placed them with Mrs. Lindsey Patterson, as chairman of the Daniel Boone

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Trail Committee, and she, as in duty bound, collected all the other evidence available from all sources, and finally agreed to place the markers exactly where Colonel Bryan had recommended that they should be placed. It is not too much to say that but for Mrs. Patterson the trail would not have been marked till it was too late to locate it with any degree of certainty, and posterity will give both Colonel Bryan and Mrs. Patterson their full measure of gratitude for their patriotic work.

The Cumberland Gap Pedestal. – To Mrs. Patterson is also due much of the credit of interesting the chapters of her order to mark the trail in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, till today the entire trail is permanently marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution of those several States. The whole work was crowned on the 30th of June, 1915, by unveiling at Cumberland Gap a substantial stone and concrete pedestal, bearing on its four faces tablets of the Daughters of the American Revolution of these several States. The North Carolina tablet was unveiled by Mill Elizabeth Cowles Finley, of Wilkesborough, N. C., a direct lineal descendant of John Finley; little Margaret Beaufort Miller, Wm. Hamilton Patterson, of Winston-Salem; Elinor Morrison Williamson, of Asheville, Elizabeth Sharp, of New York City, and Elizabeth Shelton, all with Revolutionary ancestors.

Boone's Trail in Other States. -- The Tennessee part of the trail traverses the four eastern counties, Johnson, Carter, Washington and Sullivan . . . The first marker on Tennessee soil in at Trade, one mile from Zionville, N. C.; the second is at Shoun's, nine miles due north, through a wild and picturesque gorge along Roan Creek. The third is at Butler, southwest fourteen miles from Shouns and at the junction of Roan Creek and Watauga River; the fourth is about nineteen miles due north at Elizabethton; the fifth, at Watauga, Carter County; the sixth is places at Austin Springs, Washington County; the ninth is at Kingsport, opposite the center of Long Island, where Boone gathered his men while the treaty of Sycamore Shoals was being negotiated, two miles from the Virginia Line.

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The Virginia markers are at Gate City, the county seat of Scott County, one mile from Moccasin Gap; the second marker in Virginia is a Clinchport; the third is at the Natural Tunnel; the fourth is a Duffield; the fifth is at Fort Scott; the sixth is at Jonesville, the county seat of Lee County; the eventh is at Boone Path post office. A marker has been placed at two graves between Ewing and Wheeler's Station in Lee County, as probably the place where James Boone, son of Daniel, was massacred by Indians. The eighth tablet was erected to mark the site of Fort Blackmore, where a colonial fort stood in Scott County, and where the Boone Party rested in October, 1773, until March, 1775. Mrs. Robert Gray was in charge of marking the trail in Virginia, while Miss Mary Temple had charge of that in Tennessee. The first marker in Kentucky is at Indian Rock, a few miles from Cumberland Gap; the second is at the ford of the Cumberland River at Pineville; the third is at Flat Lick, in Knox County; the fourth is on the farm of C. V. Wilson, near Jarvis's Store; the fifth is on the Knox and Laurel County line, near Tuttle; the sixth is at Fairston; the seventh is a boulder with Boone's name on it, three miles and a half from East Bernstadt. This stone was placed in a churchyard and the marker placed on the stone. The eighth marker is in Rockcastle County near Livingston; the next is at Boone's Hollow, near Bruch Creek, then Roundstone Station and lastly Boone Gap. In Madison County, Berea is the first marker; then Estell Station, the site of Fort Estell, and the place where Boone's party was attacked by Indians and Captain Twitty killed. The last marker is at Boonesboro, there being fourteen markers in Kentucky, all placed under the direction of the State Chairman, Miss Erna Watson.

A National Spot and a National Hero. –Upon this pedestal in Cumberland Gap the Congress of these United States should soon erect a bronze statue of Daniel Boone, clad in hunting shirt, fringed leggins, moccasins, shot pouch, powder horn, hunting knife, tomahawk, etc., with the figure leaning slightly forward while peering from underneath the left hand toward the west, the right hand grasping the barrel of his long flint-lock Kentucky

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rifle, whose butt should be resting on the ground. The figure should have a coon-skin cap; for, although Thwaites says hat Boone scorned the coon-skin cap of his time, it was none the less typical of the head-gear of all the pioneers of the time. Such a statue would identify this historic spot with this historic character and fix forever the costume, accoutrements and arms of the pioneers of America. It is the most significant and suggestive place in America; for, while Plymouth Rock was the landing place of the Puritans, Jamestown of the Cavaliers, Philadelphia of the Quakers and Charleston of the Huguenots, it was through Cumberland Gap that both Roundhead and Huguenots, Puritan and Cavalier passed with the sober Quaker on their way to the Golden West. Boone was their greatest and most typical leader and exemplar. He was colonel and private, physician and nurse, leader and follower, hunter and hunted, as occasion demanded, but he was never a self-seeker or a swindler. His fame is now monumental, for he had no land to sell, no private fortune to make, and his record is one of unsullied patriotism. He was simply a plain man, but a MAN all through. He was neither northerner nor southerner, easterner nor westerner, but all combined, and the men, women and children who followed the glowing footsteps of this backwoods lictor were the ancestors of those who people these United States today and make it the most enlightened, the most progressive and the most democratic nation in the world. That there should be no national monument to this man and on this spot seems incredible. The women and the States immediately concerned have done enough. They have marked every trail leading to this historic gateway. Let the nation act and place there a monument which shall be worthy of the place, the man, and the colossal events which they typify.

History Itself Had Lost the Trail. -- For years it had been supposed that Boone's trail from Holman's Ford to Cumberland Gap, especially that part which led through the North Carolina mountains, had been lost beyond recovery. It was known in a vague way that the county-seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, had been named in honor of this pioneer, but the impression prevailed that the little town had no other claims to its name.