The 2020 Overmountain Men Celebration in Spruce Pine

Re-enactors from the Overmountain Men Victory Trail Association were at Riverside Park on Sunday, September 28 to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Kings Mountain. They shared information about the battle and the men behind it. Enjoy a video of their presentation below.

 


 

Map showing the route the Overmountain Men took to Kings MountainOctober 7, 1780 dawned on British Major Patrick Ferguson and his men atop Kings Mountain, a nondescript hill just inside the South Carolina line near Shelby, North Carolina. Ferguson’s forces had been marching eastward in rain for several days after he had them on raids into western North and South Carolina, attempting to quell increasing activity in opposition to King George III and British rule in the colonies. He found Kings Mountain and felt it was a defensible place for his army.  He placed them atop the mountain, declaring that “all the forces of Hell couldn’t knock me off that mountain.”

Early that afternoon, a group of men whom Ferguson had been threatening with fire and sword arrived at the mountain and began an attack, Just an hour later, they had routed the army, capturing many of them and killing their Ferguson.

Welcome to the Mitchell County Historical Society’s Overmountain Men resource page. You’ll find episodes of our podcast, Footsteps for Freedom: The Road to Kings Mountain, along with a collection of stories written by Society members. We also offer a variety of online resources about the battle and the men and women who fought it.

We hope you enjoy exploring the battle that Thomas Jefferson declared to be the turning point of the American Revolution.


 

Toe River Valley Revolutionary War Veterans

As mentioned in our final episode of the Footsteps for Freedom podcast, here is a list of Revolutionary War Veterans who either lived in the Toe River Valley or are buried here.

Do you have someone to add to the list or information on any of these men? Please contact us and share!

 

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  • John Allen
  • David Baker
  • Richard Baker
  • John Biddix [Bitticks]
  • John Blalock
  • William Barjonah Braswell
  • Samuel Bright
  • George W. Byrd
  • Isaac Cook
  • Martin Davenport
  • William Davis
  • John Edwards
  • William Guthridge Garland
  • William Gragg
  • John Green
  • Benjamin Hensley
  • Henry Hensley
  • Hickman Hensley
  • Ananias Higgins
  • Adam Hoppes
  • Zephaniah Horton

[/half][half]

  • James Jennings
  • Joseph Jones
  • William Jones
  • Martin Maney
  • Richard Matlock
  • Malcolm McCourry
  • Arthur McFalls
  • Redmon McMahon
  • Jonathan McPeters
  • William Melson
  • James Morgan
  • Blake Piercy
  • Thomas Reed
  • Robert Sevier
  • George Silver
  • Jonathan Tipton
  • Edward Waldrope
  • Moses Washburn
  • William Wiseman
  • Thomas Wiseman

[/half]

The Podcast

You can listen to Footsteps for Freedom on your phone, tablet or computer through the following services. Just click or tap the image of the service you use below. If you don’t see your service listed, please contact us and we will add our podcast to their feeds.

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Subscribe on Pocket Casts Listen on Breaker Listen to Footsteps for Freedom on RadioPublic

 


 

Overmountain Men Stories

Here is a collection of posts written by members of the Mitchell County Historical Society as part of our Looking Back series published weekly in the Mitchell News-Journal. These posts pertain to the Overmountain Men and the Battle of Kings Mountain.

MCHS has a collection of posts from Looking Back that feature a variety of stories about Mitchell County people, places, and events. You can access these from our front page.


 

Our Earliest Highway: Bright’s Trace and the Yellow Mountain Road

Our Earliest Highway: Bright’s Trace and the Yellow Mountain Road

Most of us journey up US Highway 19E to Avery County not realizing we’re traveling over millions of hoofprints, footprints, wagon tracks, and finally automobile tracks that have preceded us by hundreds if not thousands of years. An ancient path across the mountains was created by migrating deer, elk, and buffalo years before the first European settlers would make their way into the region. The area where we live was not permanently inhabited by Native Americans, but used by the Cherokee and...

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William Davis – The Oldest Veteran of The Battle of Kings Mountain  and Other Revolutionary Veterans Buried in the Toe River Valley

William Davis – The Oldest Veteran of The Battle of Kings Mountain and Other Revolutionary Veterans Buried in the Toe River Valley

As we conclude our series on the Battle of Kings Mountain, we thought we would take some time to note a couple of veterans of the battle that ended up in the Toe River Valley, along with ones from other battles that are buried in our area. One of the soldiers who fought at Kings Mountain and is buried in the region is William Davis of Three Mile Creek in Avery County.        According to Uncle Jake Carpenter, who recorded every death in his community, wrote this in his notebook...

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Wiseman, Baker, and Davenport: Toe River Valley Families and the Battle of Kings Mountain

Wiseman, Baker, and Davenport: Toe River Valley Families and the Battle of Kings Mountain

Three prominent family names from the Toe River Valley are closely associated with the Battle of Kings Mountain: Wiseman, Baker, and Davenport. Their personal relationships began along the James River in Virginia and continued to North Carolina along the Johns River in what is now Caldwell County and finally to the Toe River Valley. When the Overmountain Men came over Yellow Mountain, their path ran directly through the home places of two of these three families and, according to tradition,...

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With Fire and Sword

With Fire and Sword

It was September of 1780, and British Major Patrick Ferguson had had enough. The Revolutionary War was in its fifth year and the British turned their attention to the southern colonies. British leaders believed that many citizens in this south remained loyal to King George III and would unite to fight alongside an invading British force against the Patriot rebels. Things did not look good for the Patriots. Cornwallis’ army began moving triumphantly northward across Georgia and South Carolina...

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Jonathan Tipton of Kings Mountain Fame and His Descendants

Jonathan Tipton of Kings Mountain Fame and His Descendants

Major Jonathan Tipton was one of the Overmountain Men who marched from Tennessee to Kings Mountain and fought in the 10/7/1780 battle that was “the turning point of the America Revolution” (Thomas Jefferson).  Besides traveling along the Overmountain Victory Trail through what is now Mitchell County, Jonathan Tipton is linked to our area through his children who settled in the Toe River Valley. Jonathan Tipton was born 10/23/1750 in Frederick County, VA.  The third to bear the name, Jonathan...

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John Sevier’s Mitchell County Connections

John Sevier’s Mitchell County Connections

Heralded hero of the Battle of Kings Mountain and first governor of the new state of Tennessee (elected 5 additional times), John Sevier has several connections to Mitchell County. John’s grandfather was Valentine “The Huguenot” Sevier, born 1678 in Paris, France, but who for political and safety concerns immigrated to and died in England in 1720. His son, Valentine “The Immigrant” Sevier, was born in 1701 in St. Giles Parish, London, to Valentine Sr. and his wife Mary Smith. In 1740, the...

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The Cherokee Wars

The Cherokee Wars

When the French and Indian War ended in 1763, territory from the Atlantic to the Mississippi was ceded to Britain by France. Native Americans living in the area looked to the Crown to protect them from incursions of land-hungry settlers, but the Proclamation of 1763 (last week’s Looking Back) was largely ignored.  Following the Declaration of Independence, with most Cherokee allied with the British, confrontations with American settlers multiplied with attack and then counter-attack.  As the...

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Footsteps for Freedom ~ The Road to Kings Mountain – Part 1 ~ The Proclamation of 1763

Footsteps for Freedom ~ The Road to Kings Mountain – Part 1 ~ The Proclamation of 1763

The Mitchell County Historical Society presents Footsteps for Freedom: The Road to Kings Mountain. These articles will highlight our role in what Thomas Jefferson declared was “the turning point of the American Revolution,” – the Battle of Kings Mountain. In 1763, there were 13 fledgling British colonies along the North American coastline.  Before the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754-1763, the British had generally left the colonists alone. However, after fighting and winning the...

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The 2020 Kings Mountain Celebration in Spruce Pine

As part of the celebration of the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Kings Mountain, re-enactors from the Overmountain Victory Trail Association were at Riverside Park in Spruce Pine on Sunday, September 27, sharing the story of the famous battle and the men behind it. Enjoy a video of their presentation below.


Resources

Painting of the Battle of Kings Mountain by Yohn

Painting of the Battle of Kings Mountain by Yohn

Here is a collection of online resources about the Overmountain Men, the Battle of Kings Mountain, and the American Revolution. The links open in a new window.

Have a suggestion to add to our list? Please contact us with you ideas and links.