WELCOME


~ The pieces are all sewn together, stitched with love.........and a quilt tells a story and the story is our past ~

The Arrowood family immigrated from England to Maryland in the 1700's. They went south, eventually settling in the mountains of North Carolina. Later , some went further south, into the Piedmont of North Carolina, in search of work and a better way of life.



I am in search of my family.

I search for those that came before me, and lived their lives as best they could. I am in search of their stories, how they lived, and how they loved.


I shared this love of seeking the past with my Dad, sharing each new finding with him, the thrill in his heart intermingling with mine. I continue this search in his honor, and hope to know these people of ours when I join up with them all in heaven.

~ Steve Lewis Arrowood 1932-2008 ~


Come with me, back to a simpler time and place. A place far removed from the hectic pace of today. To a time when life was hard, but the rewards were great. When your quality of life was determined by your own sweat, your own toil, and your own ingenuity.


Would you like a glass of sweet tea? Let's sit out on the porch where we will catch the sweetly scented breeze of summertime. Maybe Grandma will fry up some of her wonderful chicken... Time slows here.

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"We shape our lives not by what we carry with us, but what we leave behind."

~You live as long as you are remembered.~


"Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories. " Author: Unknown


"But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you from the wisdom of former generations."

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Oldest Home in Gaston ~ Hoyle House



Click on the pictures for larger ones, to see the details!


Gaston County’s oldest home — the Hoyle Historic Homestead circa late 1700s — is located right on the Dallas Stanley Highway.

I have passed right on by this house many, many, times over my lifetime. Never realizing the significance of it, regarding our family history..simply amazing!

They had an open house back in September but I did not remember in time to go, but I am marking my calendar for next year.

Peter Hoyle, (father of Michael Hoyle) was part of the 18th Century settling of the North Carolina Piedmont by German and Scot-Irish immigrants traveling the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road south through the Shenandoah Valley then into the Carolinas.

Michael Hoyle married Catherina Margaretha Dellinger, sister to our John Philip Dellinger. Catherina Margaretha Dellinger was my 5th Great Grand Aunt.
She is the one that is buried not three miles from here, in the center of a plowed field of soy beans.

See the January post entitled “Catherina Margaretha Dellinger Hoyle”.

This was homesite was also the site of "Hoylsville”, the first Federal Post Office in present day Gaston County.

In 1738 Pieter Heyl, a miller from Adenbach, Germany, his wife, Catharine, and their children arrived in America on September 11, 1738 on the Robert and Alice, originally settling in northeast Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The Heyl family, later Anglicized to 'Hoyle', then lived for some time in Frederick, Maryland, but by 1753 had moved to what is now Gaston County, North Carolina, then part of Anson County, North Carolina. Peter Hoyle died prior to January 20, 1761.

The exact date of construction of the house is not known, but various sources date it anywhere from 1750 to 1758. After Peter's and his eldest son Jacob's deaths, which occurred within a year of each other, the land was inherited by Jacob's minor son Martin, who then transferred his interest to his uncle John.



In 1794 the property went to Peter Hoyle's other grandson, Andrew, who became a farmer and entrepreneur. "Rich Andrew", as he was known, may have acquired the property with the house already standing and then improved the dwelling, or he may have built the house and later upgraded it with new finishes in the early years of the 19th century.



Apparently plans are under way to restore the old homeplace. There is a fencing around it now, protecting the old house. I am glad it will be preserved and not simply torn down in the name of 'progress'. We are losing so much of our history as it is.

House is on the right hand side of the road, going toward Stanley, NC. If you reach the Riverside Fish Camp you have passed it!

Check out the website: Hoyle Homestead

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Side By Side ~ Heinrich and Catharina Mull Weidner

Their markers are now standing side by side, just as they, themselves, once did in life.

Husband and wife.




They are safely behind glass now, away from the ravages of time, weather and, of course, potential vandals. They are protected.

The carver of these stones did not waste space. Each letter is placed in the surface of the stone with purpose.

Click on each photo for a larger version.






The monuments are in German, the native tongue of this couple.



They now stand at the entrance to the museum.
I cannot help but wonder what they would think, especially to see their markers so far from their final resting place?

I want to think they would understand.

We simply want to preserve their memory for future generations.

What could be a more a wonderful tribute, than to be remembered?
Each of us, those that yearn to know our family history, will come.
Generation after generation.

We will seek out these people from another time and find them, one by one.

They will be remembered.

My 6th Great Grandparents.






Mathias Barringer's Memorial is right outside the door, on the lawn of the old courthouse.
What once was the courthouse of Newton, N.C., is now a stately county museum.









Also see the "Stacked Stone Chimney posting from January 2010".

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Barringer ~ Death on the High Seas












Matthias Barringer was born 30 Oct 1727 to Wilhelm Barringer/Behringer and Mary Paulina Dekker in Germany. Matthias' brother, John Paul Barringer, was the first to make the voyage to the "New World" in 1743. He came to Pennsylvania, but soon relocated to North Carolina.

Wilhelm Barringer/Behringer and wife, Mary Paulina Dekker sadly passed away during the difficult voyage to America and died onboard the ship and were buried at sea.

"Wilhelm and Paulina were old, but they decided to make their immigration trip to America carrying a political description of French Hugonots from the Low Countries. The voyage from Hamburg, Germany to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania took about four weeks. Both of the old parents died and were buried at sea from the ship “Palina” with John Brown as master."


The ship “Palina” arrived at Philadelphia on September 16, 1748. Mathias (age 18) was now responsible for getting his family through the wilderness to the house of his bother in Pennsylvania.


About 1753 the family went to North Carolina. (Dr. Barringer’s book says: Pioneer John Paul Barringer, sometime before the year, 1750 traveled down from Pennsylvania with a train of five or six wagons and camped near a creek not far from the present site of Mount Pleasant, NC during the confinement of his wife). They settled on Dutch Buffalo Creek, in what today is identified as Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The Germans, of the Lutheran religion, settled on (Deutsch for German become Dutch to the English ear) Dutch Buffalo Creek and their Scotch-Irish (Scotch people who lived for a time in Ireland before immigrating to America) neighbors settled on the Irish Buffalo Creek (notice the shorter version of the name which has survived). Both creeks are a portion of the Yadkin River basin and were water places for buffalo. John Paul Barringer was jovial, well-liked, possessed natural leadership ability, and was an influential man in the community.


To better fit in with their English neighbors, the Behringer’s changed their German name to the English version of Barringer. John Paul Barringer built his house and a mill (quarrying and cutting his first millstones from local granite) and was reported to live a Baronial life (his home was named Mount Pleasant) operating his mill, trading, and farming rich lands. John Paul was captain in the Colonial militia and for twenty years was a magistrate of the Crown—he was visited by Lord Tryon, the royal governor who noted the visit in his journal dated August 31, 1768. As a magistrate for the Crown, he refused to comply and issue the royal order of 1776to quell the rebellion (the Revolutionary War). Pioneer John Paul Barringer was rounded up by David Fanning’s gang and sent to prison in Camden South Carolina and he returned to his home in 1780. John Paul was too old to fight in the Revolutionary war but he did outfit his eldest son, John who became a captain the Continental Army.

Mathias Barringer lived with his older brother John Paul on Dutch Buffalo Creek for a number of years and was a Lieutenant in a company of Royal Militia organized by his brother Captain John Paul Barringer. As I recall, Mathias worked for his brother for 7 years as an indentured servant to pay for his passage from Germany, as was the custom of the time.

Mathias is named in the Revolutionary War of Independence (which lasted 8 ½ years) Battle at Guilford County Court House against the English.

Mathias married Margaret Bushart, a German girl and they had two children. Later, Mathias formed a militia unit at his home located near Newton, North Carolina and is frequently referred to as Captain Mathias [and sometimes spelled as Captain Matthias].

"Mathias Barringer, Pioneer"
Newspaper Article by Dr. J. E. Hodges



By 1748, John Paul sent to Germany for his parents and brother, Matthias and Henry, and sisters, Anna Maria, Catherine and Dolly. The parents both died on the voyage, and Matthias being the eldest, the core of the family devolved on him. John Paul is said to have sent a four-horse wagon to Philadelphia for them and brought them to his home. They had landed in Philadelphia on 16 Sep 1748 and came directly south and lived for a time with brother Paul in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

Matthias and Margaret Bushart Barringer.

You are thinking about now..how do they fit into our family history?

(They are our 6th Great Grandparents, if you are from my generation!)



Wilhelm and Paulina Behringer "Barringer" ~ 7th Great Grands
had son Mathias Barringer.

Mathias Barringer married Margaret Bushart ~ 6th Great Grands
and they had Catherine Bushart Barringer.

This is the same Catherine that married John Setzer.~5th Great Grands
John and Catherine are buried at Old St. Paul's Lutheran.

John and Catherine Setzer had daughter Katherine Setzer that married Georg Henry Dellinger. Our 4th Great Grands.

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Margaret was born 15 Aug 1742 and died 05 Oct 1839, the daughter of John Bushart. Matthias was 15 years older than Margaret.

Matthias explored the region west of the Catawba River. It will perhaps never be known the exact year that Matthias brought his wife, the former Miss Margaret Bushart, with two slaves (man & wife), into this territory but the surveyors plat and survey of his entry of the land was made in 1762, and states the body of 640 acres of land "included his improvement" - so he may have been living on the land for two or three years. His grant was issued 21 Apr 1764, almost two years after the survey was made.

Matthias Barringer soon became a prominent citizen of the community. His brother Paul had been a soldier in Germany, and when the settlers in East Mecklenburg had grown into a sufficient number to organize a militia company, Paul was made Captain and Matthias became Lieutenant of the company.
When a militia company was organized in Matthias' new community, he was elected Captain of it. He was an active member of the Community of Safety of Rowan County, when the results of British oppression made such a committee necessary.

"Building the Birthplace of the County"

The first task after arriving was to provide shelter. Matthias and the Negro man went to work cutting down trees for the cabin of two rooms, built of logs squared in the woods, the cracks between them being filled with clay. The chimney was built of stones brought from a rocky hillside. For the roof they cut down pine trees, sawed them into blocks, and split the blocks into boards that were as good or better than shingles. For a floor they hewed poles or split small logs and laid them close on the level ground inside the cabin.



( This log cabin has been preserved and is currently dismantled. According to the Catawba County Museum there are future plans for it to be reconstructed at the site of the Historic Murray's Mill in Catawba County. I will keep tabs on this and will let you know when it is completed! )




This was their home until the big house was finished. The big house was built, like the cabin, of logs cut and hewn in the woods. Each log was marked and numbered so they could tell where it should go. When all the logs and rafters were ready, Matthias sent word for miles around to the settlers who came early one morning with their wives and children. The women stayed around the cabin helping cook the good things provided, when the men took off their coats and helped Matthias put the logs to their places. This was called a "raising".

This was only the frame of the house. Matthias had hired some sawyers to make some planks for him. The planks were stacked up on sticks until they were dry. In the meantime, Matthias and his Negro had put boards on the roof. Then they set to work - to ceil and floor the house. They put planks on the outside and when they had finished, the logs could not be seen.

The chimney, which was built of stone and pipe clay mortar, was larger than anything you have ever seen, the fireplace being ten feet wide. Even when the fire died out, the huge fireplace continued to throw out heat.

The 1759 Kitchen, at left, was one of the first buildings west of the Catawba River.
There followed, in due time other buildings such as barns, granaries, and most important of all - the kitchen. The German settlers always built this a short distance away from the main dwelling. This also had a very wide fireplace where hooks for pots hung from cross bars of iron. The rafters were left bare as well as the joists so they could have convenient places to hang pepper, sage and lots of other things for winter use. There was also the smokehouse.

This structure burned down, after being struck by lightning in the early 1950's.

Matthias did not build his chicken house - he planted it. It was a row of ceder trees between the house and the barn. The trees made a good roosting place.

St. James Lutheran Church in Conover is located not far from the Matthias Barringer farm.

When the American Revolutionary War broke out, the people of Catawba County had strong feelings. Some were loyal to Great Britain and the throne. Others felt like America had a right to be an independent nation.

The desire for freedom and resistance to colonial oppression was strong. A meeting was called in New Bern in August of 1774 in defiance of the governor. It was decided that counties elect or appoint committees of safety to take charge of public affairs. Until a constitution could be adopted, these committees were vested with all the power of government. Matthias Barringer, Francis McCorkle, Christopher Beekman and Peter Ikerd served on the committee in the Catawba area (then Rowan County).

Any estimate as to the total number of men who served as soldiers at any time during the seven years of the war would be a guess. But, of the nine companies of militia in Rowan County in 1775, two may reasonably be assumed to have been composed of Catawba men - having Catawba leaders.

Captain Francis McCorkle’s outfit is believed to have contained about 64 men, and Captain Matthias Barringer's, approximately 88 men.

In July of 1776, Matthias Barringer and seven militiamen went on a scouting expedition in the Quaker Meadows area. They were spotted by a Cherokee war party, who proceeded to massacre them. This attack would cause a severe retaliation against the Indians. From the Carolinas to Virginia, 4000 militia came to destroy the Cherokee villages. Even some of the Loyalists joined up with the militia.

An Indian ambush trapped them. Mathias Barringer was killed in the first round of fire. Only Philip Frye escaped when he hid behind a log under 2 feet of dead leaves.




Frye said later that he did not move as the Indians scalped Barringer and the others, even when one brave stood on the log and looked right at the spot where he had hidden.





Tradition relates that Captain Barringer's wife, who was at home with her children, Matthias and Catherine, told her friends on the day of the battle that she knew her husband was either dead or badly wounded, because she had heard him groan.
They were massacred at John's River, in the Quaker Meadows area near Morganton, in Burke County, North Carolina. They were participants of General Rutherford's forced march against the Cherokee Indians. Only Philip Fry escaped the massacre.

Matthias' on son, Matthias Jr., was about 9 years old at the time of his father's death. He soon took up his father's mantle and became a worthwhile citizen.

The people of Catawba County erected a granite monument to the massacre victims on July 2 1897 at the Courthouse in Newton, North Carolina.





The monument reads...
A tribute to
Matthias Barringer,
Lipsidom Adam,
Grunot - Hass - Wilson
and another, who were
massacred on John's River in
Gen. Rutherford's
forced march against the
Cherokee in 1776 and to
Philip Fry
who is one escaped and to
Conrad Tippong,
One of Lafayette's men,
by a grateful posterity.
July 2, 1897



Catawba County Museum, The Old Courthouse in Newton, North Carolina.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Old St. Paul's Lutheran ~ Murder in the Pews

Hannah "Anna" Elizabeth Arndt, the daughter of Johann Gottfried Arendt “Arends”, married David Smith.

Hannah and David Smith were the parents of John Barnett Smith. David and Hannah Arends Smith are both buried in the Smith-Dellinger Cemetery located at Magnolia Grove. Magnolia Grove was old Heinrich’s homeplace, (brother to our John Philip Dellinger).

John Barnett Smith married Barbara Ann Dellinger, the great grand-daughter of Heinrich "Henry" Dellinger. This is the Smith family that built the house that today stands on the old Dellinger property of Magnolia Grove.

There is always a connection if you just look for it. I am convinced that our family is related to just about everybody. Not kidding on that one, folks. Just about everybody...grin.

Stay with me, this all ties together..I promise.

Johann Gottfried Arndt "Arends" was the first resident pastor of Daniel's Lutheran Church, the Old White Church, and St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Crouse, Lincoln County, NC. He also was the first Ordained Lutheran Minister in the State of North Carolina . He is buried in the Old White Church Cemetery in Lincolnton. This was the first burying ground in the town of Lincolnton, and is located in the second block south of the old court house in the middle of town. Right off the town square in Lincolnton.

Years ago, I wandered upon this interesting old cemetery and went through it completely. I read the memorial sign about Pastor Arends and wondered about the man. There are old, ancient looking cement cairns over several of the graves, surrounded by a sinister looking metal fence. Very gothic.

I never realized how this cemetery would figure into our tree, until now.

The strange thing is that this cemetery surrounds an old residence-like building, one that used to serve as the funeral home in town. The cemetery surrounds the foundation of this building as if the church once stood exactly where the large “house” stands now. But, according to records, the Old White Church once stood where the Lutheran church stands today, on the adjacent corner, so this is odd to me..

Are there old graves underneath the building, as well?? Seems odd that the graves would be placed up to the very foundation of this building and on two sides like that.. Certainly the cemetery predates the old funeral home.

Johann Arends was "buried under the pulpit of the Old White Church, also known as the Old Dutch Meeting House, in Lincolnton, NC. Later, in 1920, his grave and that of his wife were placed in a cemetery next to the church“.

Johann Arends was the first resident minister of Old St. Paul’s Reformed Lutheran Church.






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"Old St. Paul's Church: Catawba County's Oldest By Far" By Anne Huffman






















This is a Copy of article in "Hickory Daily Record," June 6, 1970 - Reprinted Sunday, March 26, 2006

The year 1702 is the earliest birth date on a grave marker in the Old St. Paul's Lutheran Church cemetery west of Newton. Born of sturdy German Palatinate stock, these early settlers founded the oldest church in what is now Catawba County. They had been persecuted in the old country by Catholic sovereigns, had traveled to the New World in search of religious freedom and land, had found the farming area filled in Pennsylvania, and finally had made the arduous trip by wagon down the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to the virgin wilderness of this Catawba frontier.

Having been peasants and small freeholders in Europe, they mistrusted settlements and choose to continue their farming customs in this fertile Catawba River Valley. These stolid pioneers brought with them their German Bibles and hymnals. Protestant Lutherans and German Reformed, they built their church and shared it on Sundays, even heard the same pastor on many occasions. Circuit rider ministers visited Old St. Paul's, and it was to become a rest stop for settlers on their way across the Blue Ridge into the West.

Love and Tragedy

Tied in with the faith of these simple people were all the love and tragedy common to the wilderness and the hardship which they faced made them even more religious. Their story is told in the Old St. Paul cemetery. Here are, the records on ministers dying serving their congregations, of wives and mothers who died in childbirth, of men worn away by the erosion of labor and of the children reaped by the Angel of Death before they had the opportunity to join the community as participating landholders.

Old St. Paul's was first called the Dutch Meeting House and was already established when George Washington was at Valley Forge and when Lord Cornwallis crossed North Carolina in his flight from the Southern colonies. Its parishioners fought the British and took part in the birth of a new free nation.

Crude Cabin

The earliest recollections of the church among the records of the church indicate that there was a crude, one story log cabin between two white pines that was used as a house of worship as early as 1733. This log cabin was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. A new building was erected in 1757. In 1808 this structure was taken down and rebuilt, using the same logs and home-made nails. This time the building was ceiled and weather boarded, and is the same structure that is still standing today.

Mrs. Doris Boaz, wife of a former minister of St. Paul's, relates this story:

It was about 1861 when a Colonel Hildebran became angered to the point of murder by the escape of one of his slaves, a big burly Negro. The colonel traced this runaway to the church, where he found him crouched between the pews and is said to have killed him on the spot.

The blood stains are still there, it is believed.



I took these 'inside the church' shots THRU the window glass..can you believe that?
The church will not open until April..so I will definitely go back..


Custom Followed

An old German custom was followed, with the men and women seated on different sides of the church. The slaves were in the balcony, and had to climb single file up the stairs. The minister climbed the high, narrow steps to the pulpit, which was originally in the center of the church. Over his head was an old sounding board, which it was believed, would fall on the minister if he spoke a lie.

War heroes of every major American war lie in Old St. Paul's cemetery, including the American Revolution and the War Between the States One epitaph reads:

"Twas thus when far, yea, far away
To camp disease he fell a prey,
No relative was by his bed,
No mother's hand to raise his head"

The land on which Old St.Paul's stands was deeded to the church in 1771. Eleven acres were given by Paul Anthony and his wife, Frony, to the two churches "Lutarin" (Lutheran) and the "Presbytarian" (Reformed), and to their heirs forever, to be used for religious purposes only and for no other purpose whatsoever. It was signed by Paul Anthony, and his wife, Frony, made her mark.

Among Ministers

It is known that a Swiss minister named Rev. James Martin, a member of the German Reformed church, preached at Old St. Paul's in 1757 to an established congregation. The first resident minister, Rev. John G. Arndt, (1772) was a Lutheran. Stipulated in the call to the ministers was the point that the preacher would have a sermon one Sunday every month in both German and English, and that he would conduct classes regularly in the old meeting house.
In the early 1900's members of the Reformed congregation moved to Startown. Old St. Paul's Lutheran congregation worshipped in the old building until 1952, when they moved into the modern building across the road. Old St. Paul's is now preserved as an historic landmark in Catawba County and as a symbol of Christian faith.

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This is one of the oldest churches in Catawba County. The deed for their land was made May 20, 1771; however, there is reason to believe the church was started a few years before land was purchased, possibly about 1768. The property was jointly owned by Lutherans and German Reformed.

The first house of worship was a small log building, and stood where a part of the graveyard is now. The second building, which is the present one, was built about 1808. The walls of this building are of large hewn logs, weather boarded on the outside and ceiled inside. Some of the timbers of the old building were used in this one. Homemade nails were used in its structure. This building has a gallery, which originally was used by African Americans. The building is rectangular in shape, with a door in each end and on one side. There was, at first, a high goblet-shaped pulpit, which was later replaced by a more modern one.



The first services conducted here were by visiting ministers, or by one or more of their laymen. Johann G. Arends is generally regarded as the first pastor of this congregation. He first lived in Rowan County, but in 1785 moved to Lincoln County, and served all the Lutheran churches West of the Catawba River.

St. Paul's Church is located in Catawba County, about two miles west from Newton. It was at first called the "Dutch Meeting House," while Rev. Arends referred to it as the "South Fork Church."

Okay. Are you ready for this?

Hannah "Anna" Elizabeth Arndt was the daughter of Johann Gottfried Arendt “Arends” , like I mentioned before..BUT... Hannah’s mother was Sarah Hannah Rudisill.

Sarah Hannah Rudisill was the daughter of Johann Michael Rudisill and Eva Catherine Dellinger. Sure enough! Sarah Hannah Rudisill is the grand-daughter of my 6th Great Grandfather, Johannes Philipp Dellinger.

Eva Catherine Dellinger, (Hannah’s mom) was the daughter of Johannes Philipp (Pioneer) Dellinger, Sr. (b. August 24, 1706 in Germany). The senior Johannes Philipp Dellinger married three times. Eva Catherine was sister to John Philip Dellinger, our ancestor, as well as Heinrich Dellinger of Magnolia Grove and Catherina Margaretha that married Michael Hoyle.

Johannes Philipp (Pioneer) Dellinger, Sr. was married to Anna Maria Brandstatter, the mother of our ancestor, John Philip. They were married about 1730. He next married Catherina Zerb around November 26, 1748. He lastly married Mary Tankersley about 1751 in Lincoln County, North Carolina.



Old St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Cemetery

Is this the final resting place of John Philip Dellinger and his wife Barbara Weidner Dellinger? Our 5th Great grandparents?

This is the church where they were married, on June 19, 1778. Old St. Paul’s.

Do their old bones lie in this cemetery, unmarked?



John Gottried Arndt traveled west from the Lutheran settlements near Salisbury in August 1776 and gave first communions. It would not be until 1785 that he was made missionary full-time to the region west of the Catawba River. Not until Arndt arrived here did people get rid of a sad superstition of never marking gravestones with their names. For these pioneers wrongly held that the devil would harass them until Resurrection Day if he could identify their location. Immediately after Arndt’s pastorate began all graves were inscribed in German with names and personal data. Native German Arndt preached in that language and common speech among these folks remained that way until Arndt grew old and virtually blind. The assistant pastor called to accompany Arndt on his rounds of serving the eight to ten scattered flocks was young Phillip Henkel. He was born in New Market, Virginia where he grew up speaking English. The veteran circuit rider Arndt died in 1807. The immediate influence of Henkel is evidenced by the usage of the English language on the tombstones in 1808.


This cemetery is special to me. It holds the remains of my 5th great grandparents.

John Setzer and Catherine Barringer Setzer. And also the bones of my 6th great grands, John Setzer's parents, Jacob Adam Setzer and Mary Magdalene Bovey Setzer.
I could not find Jacob and Mary's markers, there are many, many rock markers here.
I wandered in and out of the rows, pondering which plain stone marked the place where they lie...





John Setzer was the oldest of the known children of Jacob Setzer and Magdalene Bovey/Povey. He was born in 1753 or early 1754 in what is now Catawba County, NC, likely within the current city limits of Newton, N.C. John received a dark bay mare branded on the rear side BK from his grand-father, Conrad Povey, and five pounds, 'to secure himself'.

In an article published in THE DEMOCRAT in September 1912, entitled "The Pioneer, John Setzer", Mr. G. M. Yoder states that he married Catherine Bushart Barringer. Catherine was born 06 Aug 1763. John married Catherine Barringer about 1778.

John was active in the cause of the Whig Militia during the Revolutionary War. A HISTORY OF CATAWBA COUNTY lists him as a participant in the Battle of Kings Mountain. OVER MOUNTAIN MEN: East Tennessee History, 1760 - 1795, by Pat Alderman, Overmountain Press, 1958, also lists John Setzer as a participant in that battle.

According to Lincoln County, NC, Court records, John was an active community member during his lifetime, serving as a member of numerous juries and as an ‘overseer’ of roads in the area where he resided.

Over his lifetime, John accumulated considerable wealth by the standards of his time. By 1810, he had acquired 878 acres of land and had disposed of 125 acres, leaving him a net of 753 acres composed of several tracts within the boundaries of Lincoln/Catawba County, NC. The real estate transactions are recorded in deed books of Lincoln County, NC.
John began divesting himself of some of his land and property in early 1810. He sold his son, John Jr., two tracts totaling 239 acres on 25 Jan 1810.

A grant dated 12 Feb 1810 states, “in consideration of that paternal love which I have and bear towards my daughter Sarah about eleven years of age and in consequence of that friendship which I bear to Conrad Tipz of said county & the confidence which I have in the same, I do by these presents do give and grant & hath hereby given & grant unto the said Conrad Tipz for and on account of my said daughter Sarah of in trust for her until she arrives at the age of twenty-one years or her marriage, a certain negro girl named Faney, about seven years of age - etc.”

On 24 Feb he sold to Henry Dellinger, his son-in-law, “a certain negro girl named Nance, about eight years of age”.

To his son, Mathias, he sold 161 acres that he had purchased in 1807. To Charles Ward, a son-in-law, he sold 34 acres in addition to “a mulato girl named Hannah, about 12-years-old”. He sold 152 acres to Jacob Deal on 16 Mar 1811. The foregoing transactions are recorded in Lincoln County, NC deed books numbers 24 and 25.


John married Catherine Bushart Barringer Abt. 1778. She was the daughter of Matthias Barringer and Margaret Bushart. Catherine was born 06 Aug 1763 in Rowan County, NC, USA.



John Setzer and Catherine Barringer were the parents of Katherine Setzer.

Katherine was the wife of Georg Henry Dellinger. George Henry that started the Grist Mill. George Henry was the oldest born to John Philip and Barbara Weidner “Whitener” Dellinger.

Our family ‘stream’ runs deep in the waters around here. Flowing eventually, upstream, to the mountains of North Carolina as well.

In the year of 1829, when our ancestor, David Dellinger was about 20 years old, his parents, George Henry Dellinger and Katherine Setzer Dellinger sold their lands in Lincoln County and moved to what is now Caldwell County, North Carolina. Apparently David Dellinger stayed behind in Lincoln.




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John Setzer married Catherine Barringer, they had a daughter named Katherine. (Eight children in all)

Katherine married George Henry Dellinger and they had son, David, b. March 08, 1809.
Brother to Rueben Dellinger (that had the grist mill). They had quite a few children!

David married Martha Ann Elizabeth Jones. They are both buried in St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery, Catawba County, North Carolina.

David and Martha Ann had David Alphonso E. Dellinger. (Eight children in all)

David Alphonso had Virginia “Vergie Belzonie” Dellinger She married Eli Burton Hull and had Maude Hull. My precious grandma. (They had three daughters in all)






The historic building is opened to the public for Sunday afternoon tours during the months of April through October.

2035 Old Conover-Startown Road
Newton, N.C. 28658

Setzer Family Coat of Arms




The German surname Setzer is an Upper German name with roots in the southern region of Bavaria, Germany. The name is derived from the German verb "setzen" meaning "to set" and was probably first used by someone who worked at a market or fair, setting the prices of merchandise.

Spelling variations of this family name include: Setzer, Sezzer, Setter, Settegast, Settgast and many more.

The name Setzer was first found in Rogensburg, German.
The first recorded bearer of the name was the Orlieb der Setzer, who lived in Rogensburg in 1290.
Setzer is also a Jewish (Ashkenazic) name: an occupational name from the Yiddish "zetser", which was a ‘typesetter’, ‘compositor of typography’.

The Setzer family had its origin in Germany, and the early immigrants brought with them the traits of character of which they are well-known: they are industrious, thrifty and honest.

Bushart Family Coat of Arms



Name Origin: England

The ancient name of Bushart finds its origins with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain.

The surname Bushart is derived from a nickname in the Old French. The Old French nickname "Berart", from which the surname derives, meant "as strong as a bear." Often nicknames described strong traits or attributes that people wished to emulate in a specific animal.

First found in Brittany, where they were seated from very ancient times. They were seated in that province at Demaine where they were nobility from about the times of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 A.D.

Spelling variations of this family name include: Berard, Barrard, Berad and others.

The Bushart family lines connected to the Barringer family line when Margaret Bushart married Matthias Barringer. The Bushart and Barringer lines connected to the Setzer family line when Matthias Barringer's daughter, Catherine Bushart Barringer, married John Setzer.

Barringer Family Coat of Arms

The ancient Anglo Saxon (English) surname Barringer came from the German name Behringer. The surname probably arrived in England shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066, since the Normans imported many laborers from the continent in order to expedite their hold on England.

English Coat of Arms















German Coat of Arms





The prestigious family surname Barringer/Behringer originated in the territory that eventually became the German state of Prussia. In the 19th century, this state was virtually unrivalled militarily, and its rapid industrial growth made it a contender for economic superiority in Europe as well. In the medieval era, however, Prussia was fragmented and inhabited by numerous barbarian tribes, who fought amongst themselves for control of the land. The name became noted for its many branches within the region where each house acquired a status and influence which was envied by the princes of the region.

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GENEALOGY

Genealogy begins as an interest,
Becomes a hobby;
Continues as an avocation,
Takes over as an obsession,
And in its last stages,
Is an incurable disease.

--Author Unknown