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.

Arrowood Cousins ~ Price's Creek

Poor Russ, I drug him up to the top of a mountain in Yancey County, North Carolina and he really wasn’t all that happy about going..giggle.

We struck out and I was all excited , with butterflies and everything. He had a sort of a, “Oh not again!” scowl, but he was a trooper. As he usually is.

The day was a crisp fall day, one that has that brilliant deep blue sky and that clean smell in the air. Perfect for hunting. We wound up in the vicinity of where our family lived years ago, in the mountains of Mitchell County. I had heard about an Arrowood cemetery located in Yancey county so we headed on over. I knew these were Arrowood ‘Cousins’ and not directly related but the very thought of the cemetery drew me in. They were family, after all.

We drove down country roads and the scenes were like something out of a calendar to me.

True homespun Americana. We stopped at an older looking house, complete with dogs in the yard , a chicken crowing, and a yawning cat on the porch. The old timey screen door was open and the TV was blaring in the living room. An elderly man came to the door and smiled a friendly smile..about 45 minutes later we going on our way, with not that much more info to go on, but the man was sure welcoming to the company. People sure are friendly up in ‘them thar hills‘..giggle. Russ said he was afraid we were going to have to stay for dinner, after all that!

The old timer remembered the name ‘Arrowood’ but as for burying grounds, he told me that they were “all over” these hills. We stopped and asked the fellow delivering mail, now you would think that man would have known the area, but he had not a clue. Not being able to give adequate directions is something of a handicap, according to Russ, and he does not take a ‘shine’ to people not knowing where they are or how to get there..He thinks that we ‘North Carolina Folks’ have a definite problem with directions, that’s for sure..giggle.

We petted the cat on the porch and we waved goodbye to the kind old fellow, and we were on our way once again. We came to a very populated junction of four roads. The cars were everywhere outside this store at the junction and Russ decided that maybe there were some ‘Non-North-Carolina-Folks” inside that could give us proper directions, so we stopped.

We were in the community of Price’s Creek but we did not know it at the time. The country store was a feed and seed and a mercantile for the tiny community. The very hub of that area, apparently. They were serving up grilled sandwiches behind the counter, busily feeding the noon time crowd. They were calling out orders and slinging those sandwiches for sure.

They had just about everything under one roof, but unfortunately they were all locals and not one ‘Non-North Carolinian’ was to be seen, so no directions were given to amount to anything..(according to Russ) giggle. They even had camouflage overalls there! Duck calls and ammo, and even toilet paper, what more could a country gal ask for?

I am a full-blooded NC gal and I can find my way anywhere I want to go, thank you kindly!

Russ just gets antsy at any detour or unknown, but I look on it as another great adventure.

We went on down the road and there on the left, way up in the air, I spied a fence. There was a cow enclosure around the base of the little mountain and way up, on the top, was a cemetery. Russ said..”You have got to be kidding me". "We are going up there?” I said..”Why of Course , we are!” We looked for a road leading up, but the gate was locked and there were some irritated looking sheep on the other side of the gate.

Not good to let the irritated sheep out when you are on someone else’s land, just not good at all. So we parked down along the road and opened the cow gate enclosure, locking it securely behind us, and we stomped through the mud and up the side of the steep rise. I was puffing in no time at all, wondering just what was I thinking about then, and I suddenly came to my first one.

Cow Patties. Everywhere, large, huge, still sort of moist, cow patties. Like land mines carelessly strewn about on the ground. Just lying there, waiting for me. One miss-step on that steep grade and down she comes, with cow patties to roll in with every roll. Oh goodie.

There came a point where I was grabbing for tuffs of grass to pull my way up, no kidding, but we made it. Or I should say, Russ waited for me to get up there. He marched up, with no problem at all, showing off. We opened the fence enclosure and went into the cemetery.

The Blankenship- Arrowood Cemetery on Prices Creek in Yancey County, North Carolina.

It is truly amazing that they manage to get the deceased and the tombstones up there! It is about 40 feet wide and about 150 feet long, just along the ridge of the top of the mountain. The view is beautiful! An truly amazing resting place. It is still being used, today. I took pictures of every grave and tombstone, so I could enter them into a database called ‘FindAGrave‘. It is a wonderful thing online for people searching for loved one’s graves. You can search and see the grave’s picture, if it has been entered and even leave a “flower” and a note for your loved ones. The military especially, stationed in other countries, just love FindAGrave. I know I love it, what a wonderful thing. A place where all can be remembered.

As I stood there and walked the perimeter of that quaint country burying ground, in my mind’s eyes I could see the somber procession making their way up that steep rise. A horse and wagon with the casket tied on to keep from slipping off. The recently bereaved, walking somberly behind the wagon. Leaving a flower for these souls was a true act of love, just getting up there was an act of courage.

An old timer once told me that they used the land up on top of the mountains for burying because it wasn’t good for anything else, but my romantic side wants to think it was to be closer to God and for the glorious view from the top.

Honestly, one slipped foot on the grass and it would have been a ‘slide on the face’ downward trip for Martha, cow pattie ‘tasting’ for days. Russ took my arm, thank goodness, knowing how ‘graceful‘ I can be, he was not going to take any chances. We had a long ride home and he would be hostage in the car with a ‘pouting’ woman.

That was one steep walk that I am sure glad I went on, wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Just another wonderful day for this ‘smiling still‘, graveyard rabbit.

Mission Accomplished: More Family Located.

Sweet Cousin Sonya

Sonya.

Just saying her name makes me smile. How I loved that girl.

We did not have much time together growing up, since our childhoods were spent in different towns in the Carolinas, but we always came together at Grandma's. I could hardly wait until Christmas because I knew that Sonya would be there. She made it a very special time for me. She always had this big smile on her face that was so contagious. You ended up wearing a reflection of her smile whether you wanted to or not. She was such a happy soul and always looked for the good in others.

One time sticks out in my memory like a sweet confection. Cookies to be exact. She spent the night at our house and I was in seventh heaven. We played hand jive games until my palms were sore. We had this EasyBake oven that was perfect for "baking" tollhouse cookies..or really just warming them up until they were bendable, gooey, warm, chocolate heaven. We also made those tiny frozen snack pizzas that night, we really pigged out. But it was so fun. Every time I think about that time in my life, I hear John Denver's "Thank God, I'm a Country Boy", playing off in the distance of my mind.

Sonya sang that song as we did the "hand clap and jive thing" she taught me.

She not only taught me that, she taught me to find the joy in living, the joy in friendship, and the joy in spending time with a dear cousin. We never had one cross word come between us. We never had anything but giggles and hugs to come between us. I miss her so. We giggled until it hurt to laugh.

I had the honor of being in her wedding party and serving as a bridesmaid in her wedding. What a beautiful bride she was, transformed by the perfect white dress into a gorgeous vision. I stood in the dressing room and stared at her in amazement. Such a beautiful Bride. She was so excited to be getting married and starting her life with Lynn, and I can't decide who was luckier and more deserving of complete happiness, her or Lynn. They were just perfect for one another.

She grew into such a beautiful lady and I saw her again, after a couple years had grown us and she was a vision in a pink suit one sunny Sunday afternoon. She and Lynn came and stayed with us, Scott and myself, when Uncle Ben died , a sad time for all of us. She was so full of life and so full of plans for the future and so was my Scott. Now, they are both gone. Only the sweet memories of them, remain in our hearts.

Sonya grew into adulthood and became a dedicated professional. A leader in her field. She approached each task before her with determination and drive to complete the task at hand, not only complete it, but do it to the very best of her ability.

Her friend and colleague, James Russell Smith, Jr. gave a heartfelt dedication to Sonya in his dissertation, a partial fulfillment to receive his Doctorate in Education, the dedication was as follows:

"I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my late friend and colleague, Mrs. Sonya Williams Dismuke.
Without your encouragement, I probably would not have started this journey. I miss your daily presence and your kind words of advice."

Sonya always had kind words, encouraging words, and she had the gift of resolve and diplomacy in all matters. She was a very poised and collected lady . This dedication from her colleague shows how much she was loved by people, not only her family but her friends and associates. A true professional.

There is a scholarship set up as honorary memorial to Sonya, set up in her name. A tribute to the lady she was. The scholarship is open to students with a potential major in Marketing, Management, and Business Administration. Available to students state wide. A lasting tribute for all time.

Sonya loved her children with such a deep love that it was amazing. She told me later, when she was sick that she did not want to leave them behind. She knew heaven awaited her, but she did not want to leave those kids. Life is sometimes hard to figure and sometimes it does not seem that the right things happen. Sonya was right, God is in control, always. We may not understand, but God does. He knows what is best for all of us. We only had Sonya for a little while, but what a lasting legacy she left behind. A simply amazing girl. There was only one Sonya, that is for sure. I smile through my tears, imagining Sonya, Robin and Kelly, together with Grandma, up in Heaven. Imagine what they are up to by now? Big Smile. With my Dad right in the middle of it all, no doubt.

"Well Life Ain't Nothin' But a Funny, Funny Riddle, Thank God, I'm a Country Girl"!

That one was for you, Sonya.

May Angels surround you always, dear Cousin.

I will keep you in my heart, always.

We all miss you, sweetheart.