Finding Aid of the Jane and Robert Goodson Research Collection, PC.7003
Abstract
This collection documents the history of the North Fork area of the Swannanoa Valley in Buncombe County and was compiled by Joan and Robert Goodson while researching for their books, and , published in 1997 and 1994 respectively. It includes photo copies, genealogical information, clippings, photographs, and published materials.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- The Joan and Robert Goodson Research Collection
- Call Number
- PC.7003
- Creator
- Goodson, Robert Benton
- Extent
- 9.00 boxes
- Repository
- Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina
Preferred Citation
PC.7003, Joan and Robert Goodson Research Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Western Regional Archives, Asheville, NC, USA.
Collection Overview
The Joan and Robert Research Collection consists of letters, original photographs, newspaper clippings, genealogical information, photocopies of books, newspapers, transcriptions, and other ephemera.
Arrangement Note
The documents were left in original order when possible, with some series in chronological order and some in the organization scheme of the Goodson's book .
Biographical/Historical
These settlers grew gardens, raised stock and fished and hunted in the bountiful streams, rivers and forests in the area. They were able to make many of the everyday items they needed to survive in the beautiful yet rugged environment. Churches were organized by the 1820s and 1830s. About the same time the U.S. Government began a forced relocation of the Cherokee to Indian lands in Oklahoma.
Shortly before the Civil War, Judge J.L. Bailey established a law school in the North Fork region. The war however caused a hiatus in operation when the students enlisted for service. Following the late unpleasantness, Bailey resumed teaching in Asheville. The land on which the original school was located later became part of the "Gombroon" estate, vacation home of esteemed general and politician Zebulon B. Vance and his second wife, Florece Steele Martin. The impressive structure was built in 1883. "Gombroon" succumbed to fire and burned to the ground in 1936.
By the early 1900s, the City of Asheville was looking for a water source and a large portion of the North River Valley was taken to form a watershed and to construct a reservoir. Additional land was obtained over the years and many residents, descendants of the original North Fork Valley settlers, were forced to leave their ancestral homes. The land of the North Fork region is now of shared use - a mixture of industrial, agricultural, recreational and residential.
Contents of the Collection
Publications
(1.1) On the North Fork of the Swannanoa River, 1800-1950 (1997)
(1.2) Tabernacle Cemetery Listings and Historical Information, 1837-1994: Tabernacle
United Methodist Church, Black Mountain, North Carolina (1994)
Drafts:
(1.3-1.5) "On the North Fork"
(1.6) "Tabernacle Cemetery Listings"
(1.7) "The Drakes of Black Mountain"
(1.8) "The Goodson Heritage, Vol. 1"
(1.9) "Stepps of the Swannanoa Valley"
(1.10) "Mountain View Baptist Church Cemetery Listings"
Genealogical Research
(2.1) Allison,
(2.1 A) Allison Family Marriages
(2.2) Baldwin,
(2.3) Bartlett,
(2.4-2.5) Brendle,
(2.6) Brown,
(2.7) Burgin
(2.8-2.9) Burnett,
(2.10) Carleton,
(2.11) Clements,
(2.12) Cordell,
(2.13) Daugherty,
(2.14) Davidson,
(2.15-2.16) Drake,
(2.17) Fortune,
(2.18) Fouts,
(2.19) Gallion,
(2.20) Garren,
(2.21) Gillespie
(2.22) Glass
(2.23) Goodson,
(2.24) Gragg
(2.25) Honeycutt,
(2.26) Ingram,
Genealogy Research: (Ordered within each family file by: genealogical charts/lineage
records; correspondence; notations; news clippings/photocopied sources; photocopied
photographs)
(3.1) Jones, 3.24-3.26, 4.8
(3.2) Knupp, Kanupp, Canup
(3.3) Kyle
(3.4) Lindsey
(3.5) Lowery
(3.6) Lytle, 2.7
(3.7) McAfee, 2.8-2.9,2.11, 2.22
(3.8) Mooring
(3.9) Morris
(3.10-3.11) Patton, 2.7, 2.17, 4.9
(3.12) Pendergrass, 2.2, 3.5
(3.13) Pilkington, 2.4-2.5
(3.14) Pittillo
(3.15) Powers
(3.16) Pressley
(3.17) Reed, 2.4-2.5, 2.20, 4.10
(3.18) Reese
(3.19) Riddle, 2.7, 4.8
(3.20) Rowland, 2.15-2.16, 2.18
(3.21) Shope, 2.8-2.9
(3.22) Sitton, see also 2.4-2.5, 2.15-2.16, 2.20, 2.21, 3.13
(3.23) Smart
(3.24-3.26) Stepp 2.23, 2.26, 4.8
Genealogy Research: (Ordered within each family file by: genealogical charts/lineage
records; correspondence; notations; news clippings/photocopied sources; photocopied
photographs)
(4.1) Stepp - Silas Stepp, 5.3
(4.2) Stepp - research by Sue Stepp,
(4.3-4.4) Stepp - research by Henry Scalf,
(4.5) Stone
(4.6) Truit
(4.7) Tyson
(4.8) Walker, 2.23, 3.3, 3.24-3.26, 4.9
(4.9) Watkins
(4.10) Whitaker, 2.10, 2.20, 3.17
(4.11) Willet
(4.12) Williams
(4.13) Miscellaneous family obituaries and notes
Research for publications:
Civil War:
(5.1) Troop registry; Chicamauga (9/18 - 9/20 1863); local militia/home guard; notes
on various local regiments
(5.2) Notations; Black Mountain News excerpts on Civil War era (1956); correspondence;
research sources; photos (photocopies)
(5.3) Silas Stepp Civil War letters, courtesy of Evelyn Cordell Romeo and Mary Belle
Stepp Clements (transcriptions and photocopies)
(5.4) WWII - Notations; research by Colonel Emil M. Ulanowicz (1994)
(5.5) Fontana Dam
(5.6) "History of Black Mountain"
(5.7) Buncombe County Records - Census (1800-1880); land deeds (1800-1924); marriages
North Fork:
(5.8) "Ashbury's Journal" excerpts; cemeteries; Gombroon/Vance; economy; education;
Exum Clement; land deeds (1793-1848); "Letters to Festus" excerpts; Mack Burnett;
maps; Mt. Mitchell; Native Americans
(5.9) Swannanoa; watershed; miscellaneous; news clippings
James P. Parker on James Allen and Dr. Mitchell:
[research for Parker's 1929 publication in the Charlotte Observer on the search for
Dr. Elisha Mitchell's body (1857)]
(5.10) notations; transcription of Z. B. Vance's 1857 publication in the Asheville
Spectator transcription for Harold Johnson's 1905 interview with "Big" Tom Wilson
in The Asheville Gazette-News; Parker's interviews with James Allen, J. T. Wilson,
and Ervin Allen
(5.11) correspondence - transcription of S. P. Mays and E. N Grant (1879), S. P. Mays
and E. H. Swain (1880), Parker and Mary Miller (02/1926), Parker and E. M. Summerell
(05/1926), Parker and Hope Summerell Chamberlain (05/1926); manuscripts of Parker's
submission for publication; original printed news clipping on Parker's article from
the Charlotte Observer; news clippings on the death of James Allen; brochures on Dr.
Mitchell and Mt. Mitchell State Park
Research for publications:
Mountain View Baptist Church and Rev. Eugene Byrd:
(6.1) research compiled by Rev. Eugene Byrd; correspondence; church member records;
church cemetery listings; notations
(6.2) excerpts from "Mountain Musings" by Rev. Byrd in Black Mountain News; poetry
by Rev. Byrd; various new clippings (photocopies)
News:
"Bittersweet" excerpts by Oden Walker (Black Mountain News) -
(6.3) Goodson's handwritten notations on Walker; obituary and tributes for Oden Walker;
excerpts sorted by topic - Life on the North Fork, Building Burnett Dam, Camping,
Church, Cooking
(6.4) continued excerpts sorted by topic - "Doctoring", Economy, Education, Nature/Weather,
"Panther Tales", Poetry/Music, Timber, Tribute to Oden's Mother, Wicker Sisters, Misc.
(6.5) photocopies of various "Bittersweet" Oden Walker articles
News:
Black Mountain News excerpts -
(7.1) G. A. Burgin, Bascombe Burnett, Richard Capps, Ed Cordell, W. B. Gragg, Edd
Stepp
(7.2) Life on the North Fork, Black Mountain College, local families, miscellaneous
Post-publication documents:
(7.3) Tabernacle - sources/notes
(7.4) Tabernacle - business records: distribution; publicity/copyright; expenses;
correspondence/reader response
(7.5) Miscellaneous Correspondence
(7.6) Miscellaneous Notes and Clippings
(7.7) Original Material - Documents: civil war letter (1863), letter segments (?,1869,1917),
court of pleas (1867), Post office receipt (Black Mountain, 1897)
(7.8) Original Material - Photographs: early 20th century photographs of Stepp family;
Stepp gravesites at Aquone cemetery (1994); Stepp family cemetery (2003); cover photos
for On the North Fork; Oden Walker gravesite; Goodson farm in Black Mountain; Photos
by J.P Parker - Mt. Mitchell, 1920s; Richard Allison home site on Swannanoa Creek
(2002); Patton's Mtn. home site (1993); James Allen (year?); Drake family home in
Aquone (1903, 1912); Drake family reunion (1993)
(7.9) Original Material - Media: CD ROM of Bass and Poteet Families, photographs &
family tree
Addition to collection:
(8.1) Allison Family Marriages
(8.2)Allison/Bailey - Rod & Gun Club
(8.3) Bailey's Law School
(8.4) Bartlett correspondence to Ruth Taylor see also 2.3, 4.8
(8.5) Burgin - G.A. see also 2.7
(8.6) Burnett, Fred - News Articles see also 2.1, 2.8-2.9, 3.21, 3.23
(8.7) Census Records
(8.8) Civil War see also 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
(8.9) Genealogy - Burnett see also 2.1, 3.21, 3.23
(8.10) Genealogy - Burnett, Bascomb see also 2.1, 3.21, 3.23
(8.11) Genealogy - Burnett, W.H (Champ) see also 2.1, 2.8-2.9, 3.21, 3.23
(8.12) Genealogy - Clement, Exum
(8.13) Genealogy - Cordell
(8.14) Genealogy - Dula, Stepp, Walker, Kyle (Newspaper Article removed from Folder)
(8.15) Genealogy - Gragg see also 2.24
(8.16) Genealogy - Greenlee
(8.17) Genealogy - Hemphill
(8.18) Gambroon - Zeb Vance - (Newspaper Article removed from Folder) Copy made)
(8.19) Goodson, Evelyn Dula - Research
(8.20) Highland Pond
(8.21) Ingram Family see also 2.23, 2.26, 3.24-3.26
(8.22) L. Ingram Photos
(8.23) Jones Family
(8.24) Kerlee Family
(8.25) Kyle Family
(8.26) Maps of North Fork
(8.27) Marlowe - Stepp/Bird
Addition to collection:
(9.1) Morris Family
(9.2) Mount Mitchell
(9.3) Mountain View Church
(9.4) Mountain View Cemetery, North Fork
(9.5) North Fork Road
(9.6) North Fork Photos (Paper Copies)
(9.7) Parkers Poem
(9.8)Patton
(9.9) Pitman
(9.10) Porter
(9.11) Rod & Gun Club
(9.12) Stepp Family
(9.13)Stepp, Ann
(9.14) Stepp, Jesse
(9.15) Stepp, Joe
(9.16) Stepp/Scale - Sue - Research
(9.17)Schools
(9.18)Tabernacle Church
(9.19)Timber Industry
(9.20) Tours (Centennial)
(9.21) Walker
(9.22) Water Shed (North Fork)
(9.23) Wicker Sisters
(9.24) Tyson
(9.25) Photos
(9.26) Miscellaneous
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Donated by Robert Goodson, March 2013