Digital Downloads Now Available

Given the difficulty and expense of republishing our popular family history books, the Heritage of Ashe County, we have opted...

Jun 10, 2024 / Josh Beckworth

The Ashe Historical Society’s Photo Digitization Project Needs Your Help

The Ashe County Historical Society is in the process of digitizing historical photos for future generations, but we need your...

Feb 15, 2020 / Josh Beckworth

The Ashe County Oral History Project brings voices from the past

In 1980, Clarice Weaver and other volunteers, working on behalf of the Ashe County Historical Society and Ashe Public Library,...

Dec 24, 2019 / Josh Beckworth

The Return of ‘This Week in Ashe County History’

Back by popular demand, our weekly feature 'This Week in Ashe County History' is now available on the homepage of...

Dec 16, 2019 / Josh Beckworth

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
07-25-1739	On this day, Captain John Cox was born. Captain Cox was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and died at his home near Scottville, North Carolina. The Coxes left Pennsylvania in 1756 and traveled to Virginia. They arrived in the upper New River Valley region of southwest Virginia during the 1760's, which was then part of Botetourt County, VA. Captain Cox was one of the three men named county commissioners at the creation of Ashe County, North Carolina, in 1799. During the Revolutionary War, John led a militia company and was captured during the Tory insurrection in 1779. He acquired thirty-nine separate plots in Ashe County by 1815, totaling over 8,000 acres of land.
07-27-1876	On this date, Thomas Contee Bowie, otherwise known as Tam, was born. Bowie was born in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. His father had been a member of a prominent Southern planter class family, but died when Tam was very young. His mother, a direct descendant of Thomas Callaway, moved her young children from Arkansas to Glendale Springs, to live on land inherited from her grandfather. Bowie would go on to be a prominent local lawyer and Speaker of the House for the North Carolina General Assembly.

Date

Event

07-25-1739

On this day, Captain John Cox was born. Captain Cox was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and died at his home near Scottville, North Carolina. The Coxes left Pennsylvania in 1756 and traveled to Virginia. They arrived in the upper New River Valley region of southwest Virginia during the 1760's, which was then part of Botetourt County, VA. Captain Cox was one of the three men named county commissioners at the creation of Ashe County, North Carolina, in 1799. During the Revolutionary War, John led a militia company and was captured during the Tory insurrection in 1779. He acquired thirty-nine separate plots in Ashe County by 1815, totaling over 8,000 acres of land.

07-27-1876

On this date, Thomas Contee Bowie, otherwise known as Tam, was born. Bowie was born in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. His father had been a member of a prominent Southern planter class family, but died when Tam was very young. His mother, a direct descendant of Thomas Callaway, moved her young children from Arkansas to Glendale Springs, to live on land inherited from her grandfather. Bowie would go on to be a prominent local lawyer and Speaker of the House for the North Carolina General Assembly.