Welcome from the Ashe County Historical Society. Our goal is to promote and preserve the history of Ashe County. This site provides products and resources related to that mission
This Week in Ashe County History:
| Date | Event | | 05-04-1865 | On this day, Adam Roberts enlisted in the Union Army. Mr. Roberts was a free black businessman who, after returning from the war, opened a blacksmith shop in Jefferson which became a thriving business. The 1870 Census shows he had property valued at $500 and had 2 men working for him. His large brick home still stands in Jefferson and is the oldest building within the town limits. |
| 05-05-1780 | Captain John Cox moves to the Cranberry Creek area of Ashe County. Captain Cox would go on to begin a revolutionary militia that drilled near the mouth of Cranberry Creek. Martin Gambill, another revolutionary war hero, was Cox's neighbor, settling a few mile up the South Fork of the New River. Cox is buried in a cemetery off Cranberry Creek Road. |
| 05-06-1905 | On this day, Frank McMillian was shot by Will Banks. Banks was arguing with McMillian over money he said was owed to him. The fight escalated, and McMillian grabbed Banks, at which point, Banks drew a revolver from his coat pocket and shot McMillian. At the trial Banks argued he has shot in self-defense, while prosecutor Tam Bowie argued that the killing had been premeditated. The eventual conviction for first degree murder led to the only official hanging in Ashe County, which took place in 1907. |
| 05-07-1959 | On this day Roy Gentry died in the Ore Knob mine. Mr. Gentry, 29, had only been working for two weeks as a driller’s helper when a large rock fell from the ceiling and hit him. He was the only person to lose their life in the mine during its final era of production from 1950 to 1961. |
| 05-09-1963 | Brenda Sue Pugh, aged 10, was killed in a school bus accident near Crumpler. She was the first student ever injured in an bus accident in Ashe County. |
Welcome
