David Dellinger the InnKeeper of Newton ~

David Dellinger, son of George Henry Dellinger, (that moved from Catawba County to Mitchell county and started up the Grist Mill), lived in the town of Newton, N.C.

He lived right on the corner, on the square, in Newton!

He married Martha Ann Jones and they operated a boarding house or hotel .

By accounts that I have found, the hotel was built of round logs.

The courthouse that exists today was, of course, not yet built , but court was held nearby it's present day location. So with people coming in to town for court, a hotel was a good idea.

There is a publication called "Catawba Cousins" that mentions one account of David's hotel. I have also seen records that he operated a Grist Mill in Catawba County.
I went to the Catawba Co. Library to find land records to support this , but could not find any. But I did discover the hotel info!

The account that I found states that that the first "Native Newtonian" was James Newton Dellinger, David and Martha's son. They named him after his birthplace.

David Dellinger put up the first hotel, on the corner of the square, east of Luther Yoder's dwelling. Eli Yoder, from Hog Hill, came into town for court, and decided to eat at David's hotel. David thought he would prepare an extra good meal for his guest so he bought a nice turkey with all the trimmings and had it carefully prepared.

The meal cost David about 75 cents, complete with turkey. Well, old Eli Yoder ate up ALL the turkey and the fixings and left something less than 25 cents for the meal.
Dellinger apparently did not like this much and spread the word about town, Eli ultimately earning the name of "The Great Chicken Eater" from then on.

Not sure how it went from a turkey to a chicken..grin. But isn't that funny?

Apparently this was big news of the day because it made it to publication. Grin.

Silly as it was, events like this were documented and we learn a great deal from tiny tidbits. Many times events and happenings were not documented at all, many marriages were not. I still am looking for Calvin Patterson and Emma Caroline Kidds marriage record. Calvin and Caroline were the parents of Rachel Rosenna Patterson that married David and Martha Ann Jones Dellinger's son. our David Alphonso.
They had a daughter named Virginia Belzonie that they called 'Virgie'.

Virgie married Eli Burton Hull and became the parents of our precious Maude.

I keep hopeful that someday that elusive, wonderful, fact-filled Family Bible will magically appear on Ebay for sale for 5 dollars..but alas, not yet. I can dream, can't I?? That wonderful old Bible filled to the brim with dates and names, all the documentation that a 'genie' girl could hope for...Pictures and everything! Maybe even carefully twirled ancient locks of hair??

Sigh..Oh well..Back to the library and the cemetery, until then.

The Fields of the Wood ~

The Church of God of Prophecy is a Christian denomination with beliefs and principles similar to Pentecostal Holiness Christian faith.

It is one of five Church of God bodies headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee that descended from a small meeting of believers who gathered at the Barney Creek Meeting House near the Tennessee/North Carolina border in 1886.

The Church of God of Prophecy has congregations and missions in over 130 countries, with a membership of over 1,000,000 In 2006, membership in the United States was 84,762 in 1,871 churches. Ministries of the church include homes for children, bible training institutes, youth camps and ministerial aid. The Church operates Fields of the Wood, a Bible theme park and popular tourist attraction, near Murphy, North Carolina.

I remember Grandma awaiting her trip to the 'Fields of the Woods' with eager anticipation. The church flag was emblazened on her front door for as long as I can remember.

Just seeing it brings back memories for me. She loved her church.

I did not get see the Fields of the Wood park until I reached adulthood. It is located just 13 miles from Ducktown , where my father-in-law, George, went to high school. I cannot tell you the range of emotions that flooded through me as I stood atop the hill of the ten commandments.




I heard Grandma describing it all, in loving detail, as my eyes took it all in.

It was as if she was right there, beside me, telling me all about it, once again.

I can still see her with her dark eyes dancing in the light, as she, smiling broadly, told me how wonderful the sight of those commandments laid out on the hill was.

She was so right. What an awe inspiring sight!

My eyes filled with tears at the thought of being there. It was Grandma's special place and I was there! What a moment that was.


Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood. - Psalm 132:6


"The Church of God movement began over one hundred years ago in the humble hearts of earnest believers in the rural mountains of Cherokee County, North Carolina. Following a miracle-filled revival that took place in a schoolhouse near Camp Creek in 1886, a small congregation formed a Christian Union to pray and study the scriptures."

Rhyne Cemetery ~ In Search of Barbara

Peter "Heyl" Hoyle was the German pioneer to this area that built the Historic Hoyle house in Gaston County, that I have mentioned before. He is my 6th great grandfather through my Mother's side of the family.

Peter had a son named Michael that married Catherina Margaretha Dellinger. She is buried alongside of Michael in the family plot not far from where I live. I wrote about finding her in the Samuel Best Cemetery in the middle of a soy bean field.

She and Michael had at least eleven children that lived until adulthood. One of those was a daughter named Barbara "Barbery" Hoyle. Barbery, as she was called, married Michael Rhyne. The Rhyne family was a prominent Dallas area family.

I had a lady to stop here, at the house, one day and ask about a cemetery that was located on the road that I live on. I asked her who she was looking for and Russ said to the lady, "Now if you are looking for a cemetery, this is the gal to talk to", and he motioned toward me.

I thought instantly, OH, GOODIE! ...another QUEST!

So I searched and found a notation about a 'Rhyne' cemetery. Sure enough, just right up the road..It was like someone rang a bell , DING! and I was off in a flash.

We talked to a lady that lived in a small apartment, and according to my info, the cemetery was in the trees behind her property. She said she had heard that there was a cemetery back there, in the brambles but had never been back there, herself.

You just have to stop and wonder about those people that do NOT go into the dark, unknown woods, with all the spiders, ticks, and vermin, hiding in every nook and cranny, just waiting to get you. I mean what in the world are they thinking?

There are souls back there, buried in sacred ground , just waiting to be discovered again! Grin.

Not many people are quite as excited about doing something like that as I am, apparently. Russ goes just to keep me in check , well I am excited, and to just generally watch over me, I am sure.

One trip into the woods landed me with quick swelling lips. lots of itching, and some sort of allergic reaction, not so good at the time. After a quick trip to the emergency room, I was all better. Never saw whatever it was that got me. Probably just as well that I never saw it. ;-)

We made our way into the undergrowth and there were young sprouts of poison ivy, just everywhere. Yikes! and of course, I had on sandals. But I inched my way and carefully placed each foot fall, and made my way in.

People clear the land, well meaning, I am sure, but that just lets the weeds and such take over, in the woods. The gate was located on the other side from where we were, of course. The gate opened onto an open field. If you were to drive past , you would never dream a cemetery was in there. The woods have grown in around the area, high and tall, and the vines have pulled down a lot of the markers.

The earth is claiming the stones, one by one, as it's own, and pulling them under, and out of sight. Many will be lost before too long. The periwinkle grows thick and verdant in the shadows beneath the old trees. Cool and dark, with dapples of sunshine falling on the fallen tombstones.

Barbery Hoyle Rhyne rests here in the cool grass. She rests, alongside her beloved husband, Michael. Her son, Jacob Miles Rhyne is also buried here. His date of birth was October 4, 1793. Barbery was 33 at the time of his birth.

I stopped and wondered about this lady. Living during the time she did, she must have been tough. I imagined what their home must have been like, wondered were it once stood, somewhere close by.

Now, here I am, living just up the road, just a scant distance from where she is buried. She is my 4th Great Grand Aunt through my mother , and she is my 1st cousin, 6 times removed, from Dad*s side. She was Dad's 1st Cousin, 5 times removed, the same kinship for you, if you are from his generation. Imagine what this lady saw in her lifetime.

Barbery's sister Catherine, married George Huffstetler, and their daughter Mary Anne Huffstetler, married a McCarter in South Carolina and she became my 3rd Great Grandmother.

Imagine my surprise when my tree search doubled back on it's self! You have to remember that there were only so many pioneer families and eventually through the generations, they were bound to intermarry.

So in retrospect, I was elated to locate Catherina Margaretha Dellinger Hoyle in the soybean field, when I thought she was just my 5th Great Grand Aunt, but imagine how exciting when I realized she was also my 5th Great Grand Mother!

How many people have been allowed to experience that wonderful moment, finding the ancestor's grave so close by, resting and waiting, all that time?

I feel my angel guided me that day, for sure.

I ran into a fellow at a local old fashioned 'drive- in' for old cars, not long ago. Our conversation led from one thing to another and suddenly he said, " I have seen your car at cemeteries before." I said, "Well, most likely you have."

He smiled and said, "I am doing the same, researching my family tree." The course of conversation took a sudden turn, and no longer did it involve Russ and "four barrel carburetors with fuel injections."

Russ just smiled and we were off in a totally different direction. This burly, balding man standing beside his rebuilt '50 Chevy had the biggest smile on his face.

He told me of his finds, high atop of mountains. He told me how he stumbled into locating a grave, many before him, had not been able to find. He had a faraway gleam in his eye, when he spoke of his search and his ancestry. "Rewarding and heartfelt" were words that he used in his descriptions.

I felt a instant kindred spirit and he did , too.

We are out there, everywhere, us semi-crazy people that are searching for people long gone. Who they were, and how they lived, and loved.

We are really serious about it, folks.
So, " just don*t get me started", Russ advises, or we will be there all night, talking about it.

Big Grin. Be forewarned: You may bump into this graveyard rabbit anywhere, anytime.