38. Arthur McFalls Sr.
(1) was born on 22 May 1751 in Bedford
County, Virginia. He died on 9 Apr 1839 in Grassy Creek, Spruce Pine, North
Carolina. He was buried in Grassy Creek Cemetery, Spruce Pine, N.C.. He was
a Hunter, Trader, Farmer. Events that followed the Battle of King's Mountain:
Colonel Campbell on the
strength of the complaints, consented to hold court. With a copy of North
Carolina laws in hand, which stated, "it was legal for two magistrates to
summon a jury and hold trial." The law also provided capital punishment.
On
this basis court was held. A Court martial was ordered. The jury was made up
of Field Officers and Captains thus giving the proceedings the status of an
orderly court. Witnesses were summoned and examined. The results; thirty six
Tories were convicted and condemned. Right or wrong the court was legal and
handled in proper form. Some of the Tories brought to trial were released
through intercession of neighbors or acquaintances. Arthur McFalls was one of
these Tories released. Arthur McFalls was a "mighty hunter," in the
Burke
County area and well known. Arthur McFalls was saved through the kind
intervention of Major and Captain McDowell, believing, as he had been wounded
in the arm at King's Mountain, it would be a sufficient admonition for him not
to be found in such bad company again. (King's Mountain and Its Heroes, pages
333-334). Arthur's brother, John, was one of the nine Tories to hang after
the trial. The nine Tories died with dignity. John McFalls was also
supported by Captain and Major McDowell. John McFalls had punished the family
of a staunch Whig, Martin Davenport, after they tried to capture him and he
wasn't home. They made his wife cook for them and his son to feed their
horses. John McFalls thrashed Martin Davenport's son for not feeding the
horses. Colonel Cleveland, who, it would appear, was one of the presiding
justices, and was busy with his notes, on hearing McFall's name mentioned,
spoke up: "That man, McFall went to the house of Martin Davenport, one
of my
best soldiers, when he was away from home fighting for his country, insulted
his wife, and whipped his child; and no such man ought to be allowed to live."
This sealed John McFalls' fate. John McFalls was a noted Tory leader of
Burke County. The nine hung men were left hanging all night. The were cut
down the next morning by Mrs. Martha Bickerstaff, with the aid of an old man
who helped on the farm. Some of the neighbors came and helped dig a trench
two feet deep where Colonel Ambrose Mills, Captain Grimes, Captain Walter
Gilkey, Captain Wilson, Lieutenant Lafferty, John McFall, John Bebby, and
Augustine Hobbs were buried. Friends of Captain Chitwood took the body on a
plank to a graveyard, at Benjamin Bickerstaff's for burial. Captain Aaron
Bickerstaff, husband of Martha, was mortally wounded at King's Mountain. He
commanded a Tory Company. Silas McBee, one of the King's Mountain men under
Colonel Williams, related that Colonel Ambrose Mills had, on some former
occasion, instigated the Cherokees to desolate the frontier of South Carolina,
which was very likely without foundation. The following was written by W. A.
McCall, Esq., of McDowell County, North Carolina who knew Arthur McFalls very
well. He used to speak kindley of the McDowells befriending him, and said
that Colonel Cleveland had little mercy on Americans who were caught fighting
with the British. Arthur McFalls spent most of his life as a hunter in the
mountains, making his home, when in the settlements, with old acquaintances.
He was a man after Daniel Boone's own heart; and died about the year 1835, on
Grassy Creek, at the venerable age of between ninety and a hundred years.
(Most of the above information came from Draper's King's Mountain and Its
Heros). (Danny A. McBee). Arthur McFalls is the great, great, great,
grandfather of Danny A. McBee. (I, Danny A. McBee, am truly proud of Arthur
McFalls for the courageous stand he took as a Tory. He was truly loyal to his
homeland).
Arthur McFalls shows up in the 1830 Burke County, North Carolina Census
Arthur McFalls shows up in the 1790 Burke County, North Carolina Census
with his wife and three sons under the age of sixteen.
The following article is from a book in the Cleveland Technical College
Library in Shelby, North Carolina entitled "Revolutionary Soldiers of Burke
County, North Carolina". MCFALLS, ARTHUR: SUMMARY OF EARLY LIFE
Born Bedford County, Virginia, May 22, 1751. McFalls was living in
Bedford County, Virginia just before the Revolutionary War.
SUMMARY OF MILITARY SERVICE
On the eve of the American Revolution, in Virginia, Bedford County,
McFalls volunteered in the company of Captain William Inglis (English) and
marched to Inglis' Fort on the New River, where he served eighteen months
against the Indians. He was in three skirmishes; one at Cedar Creek, another
at Hans Meadows, and a third at Dunkard's Bottom on the New River. There was
also an action on Walden's Ridge. He served under Captain Inglis, Lieutenant
Draper, and Colonel Preston. About 1775 or 1776, he moved to Rowan County,
North Carolina (later Burke), and volunteered in the spring of 1776 to assist
in guarding against the hostile Cherokee Indians. When the indians broke
through on the Catawba Frontier in the summer of 1776, he assisted in
escorting settlers toward Quaker Meadows. He was in the skirmish on the North
Fork of the Catawba River in which Captain Reuben White was killed and Captain
Thomas Whitson wounded. During this time he was discharged, but reenlisted
again in Rutherford's 1776 Cherokee Expedition. He served in Captain William
Davidson's Company of Colonel Christopher Beekman's Regiment. Other officers
and men whom he mentioned included Captains Rudolph, Mebane, Leak, Falls,
Erwin, Cathey, Joseph McDowell of Pleasant Gardens, John McFalls, James Dever,
Thomas Todd, William Hutchinson, William Alexander, James Ellison, as well as
Colonel Beekman and General Rutherford. In his Pension Declaration, he
described the expeditions, how they destroyed crops, property, and took
prisoners. He also described the junction with General Andrew Williamson's
troops in South Carolina. In January, 1781, the Indians broke in on the
frontier once again and he volunteered in Captain William Johnson's Company
but was later transferred to Captain James Davidson's Company under Major Dan
McKissock and Colonel Charles McDowell. He was stationed at the Turkey Cove
guarding the frontier. He mentioned some close fighting and on one occasion
the Indians shot off the "waist band button of his breeches". Fort
Wofford
had just been completed. After his term had expired he again volunteered for
two more tours of three months each, being stationed at the same fort. He
described the seige of the fort by the Indians on one occasion and how he
managed to ride through them to get reinforcements from nearby Cathey's Fort.
In 1782, he was drafted and placed in Captain Thomas Kennedy's Company of
McDowell's Regiment and marched to Ramsour's Mill and placed in Captain
Brevard's Company of continental troops. He was marching south when the war
ended. He was discharged by Colonen Robert Holmes. Arthur McFalls appeared
to have embraced the Loyalist cause during the hectic days of 1780. (Please
see commentary of Draper in Kings Mountain and Its Heroes. Also see list of
suspected Tories, 1782.)
SUMMARY OF LATER LIFE
Married Emzay Hollifield, February 27, 1795, in Burke County, North
Carolina. (She was age 76 in 1851). Later he moved to Yancey County,
North Carolina. McFalls applied for Revolutionary War pension in Yancey Co.,
North Carolina 1838 at age 85. He was awarded $50.00 per annum. Arthur
McFalls died April 9, 1839. His widow was awarded a warrant for 160 acres of
bounty land by the Act of 1855.
CENSUS LOCATIONS:
1790 Burke Co., N. C. 10th Co.
1800 Burke Co., N. C.
1820 Burke Co., N. C.
1830 Burke Co., N. C.
REFERENCES
U. S. National Archives, Pension Statements, #W9187
Phifer, E. W. Jr., Burke, p. 390
Draper, Lyman C. Kings Mountain and Its Heroes, p. 334
(Reprint - Baltimore 1967).
The 1830 Burke County, North Carolina Census lists Arthur MacFalls as head of
household. He has one male child under 5, one male child 5-10, one male child
10-15, himself between 70-80, one female under 5, one female 10-15, wife Emzey
30-40.
Arthur McFalls and Emsey Hollifield were married May 12, 1814. Bondsman at
their wedding was Duram McFalls (This could have been another brother to
Arthur McFalls). Arthur McFalls had to be married twice as he shows up in the
1790 Burke County Census as having a wife and three sons under sixteen. His
wife Emsey Hollifield was not born until 1788. She could not have been the
wife in the 1790 Census. I don't know who the three sons were in 1790.
The following article was submitted by Professor Lloyd Bailey, 4122 Deepwood
Circle, Durham, N. C., 27707 (919)489-8731: Article 97: Arthur McFalls
Soldier in the Revolution. Arthur McFalls fought in the Revolutionary War and
resided thereafter in the Toe River Valley (part of "old" Yancey County).
His
pension file (W-9187 in the National Archives) contains the following
information. He appeared before the court of Yancey County in June of 1836,
giving his age as 85 years, born in Bedford County, Virginia, on May 22, 1751.
There, he joined the service under Captain English and served for 18 months as
"an Indian spy," based at English's Fort on the New River. One of
the
engagements, at Cedar Creek, lasted about three hours. Other battles with
Indians were at Hans Meadow, Dunker Bottom (on the New River), and Waldens
Ridge. All this was before the Revolutionary War, about the beginning of
which he moved from Virginia to the present Yancey County, North Carolina.
His next enlistment was in the Spring of 1776 in Burke County. He was sent to
the frontier settlements on the Catawba [present McDowell County] in order to
bring the inhabitants to safety at Quaker Meadows. On their way down, they
were attacked by Indians on the North Fork of the Catawba ("a pretty sharp
action ensued, but the Indians give way at last"). After reaching the
Meadows, he was discharged. Shortly thereafter, in July, a call was made for
volunteers to march "to the Indian Nation," and he joined for a period
of
three months. Under General Rutherford, they crossed the Swannanoa, with
McFalls and others as "spies" marching in advance of the column. At
the
Tuckaseegee Gap, they were fired upon and two of them were wounded.
Thereafter, they "entered the Indian town Wautooga which they burnt, and
destroyed the corn and potatoes," then continued on to the Valley Towns,
burning seven of them and taking some prisoners (including two white men who
were living among the Indians). At the end of the campaign, he was discharged
in Burke County. In January of 1781, there was another Indian outbreak on the
frontier and he volunteered for three months' service. This was under the
command of Captain James Davidson, at a fort in the Turkey Cove on the North
Fork of the Catawba. Before the fort could be completed, the Indians killed
two men and wounded a woman nearby. McFalls had the "waist-band button
of his
breeches" shot off in an engagement. In April he volunteered for another
three months at the same location, and thereafter for yet another tour of the
same lenght. The fort was called "Wareford's [Wofford's] Fort." [For
service
at this location, see the article on Richard Matlock, Soldier in the
Revolution.] He then relates instances at the Fort: While out spying, he
shot an Indian; an Indian attack was so severe that they feared the fort would
be taken and sent a man out by night to bring reinforcements from Cathy's Fort
on the Catawba, but he was "run back." A second attempt on horseback
succeeded and the siege was lifted. His final tour of duty was by draft, in
June of 1782. His company was marched to Ramsour's Mill, then farther "down
the country" where they learned that the war was about to end. They were
then
discharged, and he returned to Burke County. Pension was granted to him in
the amount of $50.00 per year. In April of 1851, Emsy McFalls, widow,
appeared before the Yancey Court, aged 76 years. She had married the veteran
on February 27, 1795, and he died on April 9, 1839. (The file includes a copy
of a marriage bond, executed in Burke County on May 12, 1814, for marriage
between Arthur McFalls and Emzay Hollyfield.) In May of 1856, the widow
appeared again in Yancey Court, stating that she was married to the Veteran in
February of 1813. Pension was continued to her in the amount of $50.00 per
year. McFalls may conveniently have "forgotten" some of his military
service
when he applied for a pension. According to Lyman C. Draper's famous volume
(Kings Mountain and Its Heroes, pp. 183, 210, 334), an Arthur McFall, "an
old
hunter of the Revolutionary period," was part of the Tory (loyalist to the
Crown) Army which fought for British Colonel Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of
King's Mountain on October 7, 1780. He was wounded in the arm, captured, but
spared further implication through the intervention of his acquaintances Major
Joseph and Captain Charles McDowell. (However, his brother, John McFalls, was
hanged because of an act which he had committed previously against the family
of a supporter of the Revolutionary cause: see Martin Davenport, Soldier in
the Revolution). In later years, Arthur stayed with various friends, among
them Henry Gillespie (for whose family Gillespie Gap was named) of Turkey
Cove. He (McFall) died on Grassy Creek (present Mitchell County, N. C.), "a
man after Daniel Boone's own heart." In the 1850 Census of Yancey County,
Emzey McFalls, aged 62 years [obviously an error], lives with Isaac McFalls
(aged 30, and apparently a son) and family, in the vicinity of Estatoe
(perhaps toward Big Crabtree Creek; House number 612.) She is not listed in
the 1860 Census, and likely was dead by that date. As for Wofford's Fort
(where both McFalls and Richard Matlock, Soldier in the Revolution, were
stationed against the Indians), it has been erected on the farm of William
Wofford (an officer in the Cherokee campaign of 1776), a 900 acre tract in the
Turkey Cove. (The above article was copied verbatim from the Toe River Valley
Heritage Book, Danny Albert McBee, McFalls descendant and genealogist).
Some accounts list Arthur as Albert. His parents were killed by Indians. He
was captured and kept by Indians for several years. His first wife was an
Indian named Teek. She is buried at the Grassy Creek Baptist Church Cemetery
in Mitchell County, N. C. This would explain how he survived as an Indian
spy. Arthur's brother John was hanged near Rutherford County, N. C. (The
above was taken from the book entitled "The John Wesley McAlister Story"
by
Mrs. Elaine McAlister Dellinger. (I, Danny A. McBee, copied this article as
it was written). Elaine McAlister Dellinger continues on in the article to
say: Records list at least (3) children born to Emzey and Arthur, Isaac,
Arthur and Susanna (my, Danny A. McBee, great-great grandmother, mother of
Rachel Mace Dale McBee). Susannah married Newsome Mace and they are buried in
the same Grassy Creek Cemetery. Susannah was born 1815 and died in 1901. She
and Newsome had 13 children: Jonas, Rachel, Almira, Jess, Ura, Darcus, Emsey,
David, Abraham, Sarah (Sally), Dortha (Dolly), Gaither and George Washington
Mace. Arthur is also listed in the Edgecombe Co. census records. His
father's name was John, both had begun the trip to North Carolina from
Virginia when they (?) were killed according to what history we know.
The Declaration of Arthur McFalls in order to obtain the benefit of the
provisions of the Act of Congress passed June the 7th A.D. 1832.
State of North Carolina}
Yancey County}
On this 30th day of June 1832 personally appeared in open Court before the
Justices of the Peace for the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions not sitting.
Arthur McFalls a resident of said county aged eighty five years who being duly
sworn according to Law, doth make the following Declaration in order to obtain
the benefit of the provisions of the Act of Congress passed June the 7th AD
1832. That he was born in Bedford County in the State of Virginia and on the
22nd day of May 1751 - that he resided in Bedford County until he was a man
grown when he entered the service under Captain William English and marched to
Englishes fort on New River where he served upwards eighteen months mostly as
an Indian spy and was in several engagements with the Indians. One at Cedar
Creek which lasted about three hours & defeated them - lost one white man
and four wounded and killed eleven Indians in another action at Hans Meadows
lost one man killed at the Dunker Bottom on New River had a battle killed two
Indians and they fled, and at Waldens Ridge had a skirmish lost one killed and
killed one Indian. While in this service he was under Colonel Preston,
Captain English and Lieut. Draper. These tours were performed in Virginia
just before the commencement of the Revolutionary War and about the beginning
of the Revolutionary War or a few years before he moved into North Carolina
and has resided in North Carolina ever since and is now living in the county
of Yancey. He was living in Burke County, North Carolina when he turned out
as a volunteer, the war of the Revolutin, the first time, in the spring of the
year 1776 the Indians broke in upon the frontier settlements on the Catawba
when there was a call for men to guard the inhabitants and bring them down to
the Quaker Meadows when he volunteered as a private and marched to their
relief. And on their march back with the women and children, the Indians
attacted them at the North Fork of the Catawba and pretty sharp action ensued
but the Indians give way at last. The whites lost two men killed Captain
Reuben White and Gabe Shelton a private & wounded Captain Thomas Whitson.
The
Indians lost eight killed the number wounded not known - this battle was
fought in the spring of 1776 he was under Captain John Harden after the Battle
they took the women & children down to the Quaker Meadows where he was
discharged after being out two weeks. Shortly after he returned home there
was orders sent out to raise men to march to the Indian nation. He thinks
about the first of July 1776 he volunteered as a private for three months
under Captain William Davidson and marched with the main Army to the Indian
towns - the following officers names he still recollects as being with the
troops this tour (Viz) General Rutherford, Colonel Christopher Bateman and
Captains Davidson, Rudolph, Meban, Leak, Gillifalls and Ervin and Lieut
William Cathy and says that after they marched over the Swanano River he was
appointed and sworn in as an Indian spy together with the following men whose
names were Joseph McDowell (of the Pleasant Garden), John McFalls, James
Dever, Thomas Todd, Wm. Hutchinson, Wm. Alexander, James E------ and another
man. That the spies marched about three guarters of a mile before the main
Army with orders to give no false alarms and keep a good look out for Indians
and Indians signs. That at the Tuckaseega Gap the Indians fired upon the
spies & wounded Wm Alexander and Joseph McDowell wounded an Indian, soon
after
passing this gap they entered the Indian town Wautooga which they burnt &
destroyed the corn and potatoes. That he was marched as far as the Vallytowns
that they burnt about seven towns and cut down & destroyed the corn and potoes
- killed some Indians and took some prisoners & two white men found among
them
and gave them all up to the South Carolina troops under General Williamson.
And we brought in General Williamson wounded, they lost some few men killed &
had some wounded but was not in any close engagement - at the expiration his
term of service got his discharge in Burke. In January 1781 the Indians broke
in upon the frontiers and there was a call for men and he volunteered as a
private for three months and was placed at first under Captain Wm. Johnson but
shortly after was placed under the command of Captain James Davidson and
stationed at a fort in the Turky Cove on the North fork of Catawba he was
ordered here by the commands of Col. McKissick and Colonel Charles McDowell.
Here he was appointed an Indian spy again & served as such for the three
months. The Indians killed two men and wounded a woman near the Fort before
they got the Fort finished & a ball took off the waistband button of his
breeches. They had a pretty close fight for a while. After the expiration of
this term he volunteered again in April for three months more and was
stationed at the same Fort and still acted as an Indian spy to the company
stationed at this place. And after this tour was out he volunteered again for
three months as a private and served as before as an Indian spy. That he
served three tours at this fort of three months each time. Which he believes
he can prove by living witnesses. The Fort was called Waufords (Woffords)
Fort. He says as he was on day out spying he shot an Indian and says during
term he was stationed here at one time thirty three Indians attacted the Fort
so fiercely that they were afraid they would take it that after night they
started a man to Cathys Fort on the Catawba for a reinforcement but the
Indians run him back again. That they then sent him the same night. That he
mounted a horse and run through them without getting hurt. That he got safe
to Cathys Fort. Got a party of men and returned next day. When the Indians
raised the seige & fled to the mountain. His next three tours were all
rendered in the year of 1781. His next and last tour he was drafted into the
service in June 1782 and placed under the command of Captain Kennady and
marched to Ramsours Mill where Captain Decouts and Captain Brevard took the
command of the troops and marched them down the country but finding the war
was about to be closed they were marched back to Ramsours Mill where he
received a discharge from Colonel Holmes and returned home to Burke County.
But says he has no discharge to show as they have all been lost or destroyed
long ago as he never expected they would be needed he took but little care of
them after peace was made. This tour he was out three months - and says he
believes he can prove his services by living witness in Burke County and he
hereby relinguishes every claim whatever to any pension or security except the
present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency or
any State or United States. Sworn to and subscribed to this day and year
first above written. Attested Wm. Garland, Clk. Arthur (X) McFalls
mark
[Danny A. McBee, June 11, 1997]. He was married to Emzy Hollifield on 12 May
1814 in Mitchell County, North Carolina.
39.
Emzy Hollifield(1) was born about
1788 in Chester County, South Carolina. She died after 1850 in Grassy Creek,
Mitchell Co., N. C.. Emsey Hollifield McFalls shows up in the 1850 Yancey County,
North Carolina
Census living in the household of her son, Isaac McFalls. The 1850 Yancey
County, North Carolina Census list John McFalls, 20, living with wife,
Elizabeth M., 26, daughter Loveada D., 1. I can't really assign John to any
of the other McFalls families. I incorporate him under Emzy because he could
very well have been born five years after his brother. His possible mother,
Emzy would have only been 42 years old. My mother was 45 at my birth (DMCBEE)
Children were:
19 i.
Susannah McFalls.
Return to Table of Contents