Carson House | |
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| Location | 1805 Highway 70 West Marion, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 35°41′30″N82°03′27″W / 35.69167°N 82.05750°W |
| Area | 9.07 acres (3.67 ha)( Including Round Hill Cemetery) |
| Built | c. 1793 |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000843 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | September 15, 1970 |
The Carson House is a historic house and museum located in Marion, North Carolina. It was the home of Col. John Hazzard Carson, and served as the McDowell County courthouse when the county was first organized in 1842.
Built in 1793, the Carson House is one of the oldest standing structures in Marion, along with the nearby Joseph McDowell House. Large walnut logs were harvested from nearby Buck Creek to construct the massive three-story plantation house.
Between 1804 and 1827, the area now known as McDowell County was a large producer of gold, and people from all over the country came to "strike it rich" before the California Gold Rush of 1849. The 1843 meeting to formally organize McDowell County, from sections of the counties of Burke and Rutherford counties, took place in the home of Col. John Carson. The new county was named after Col. Joseph McDowell, the hero of the American Revolution at the Battle of King's Mountain.
Originally, the county commissioners wanted the county seat to be located near the Carson House, but concerns about disrupting plantation life resulted in the Carson family donating 50 acres (200,000 m2) a few miles east for the county seat. [2] Col. John Carson's son, Joseph McDowell Carson, built Green River Plantation near Columbus, Polk County, North Carolina. [3]
For many years, the Carson House served as a stagecoach inn and social center. Important historical figures such as Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and Andrew Jackson stopped here. The latter reportedly lost money gambling on the horses that raced at the Carson Plantation. [4] Dan Kanipe, one of the two survivors of General Custer's unit in the Battle of Little Bighorn, lived in Marion. For some time he lived at the Carson House.
The property was bought in the late 1800s by John Seawell Brown, and was preserved by three generations of the Brown family. Brown was a three-term North Carolina State Senator who was instrumental in the founding of McDowell County.
The Carson House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. [1]
After extensive renovations, the house was opened to the public in 1964 as a museum and library. The Carson House maintains a unique collection of research materials and books, along with dozens of family histories. The Mary M. Greenlee Genealogical Research and History Room has been a part of the house since the early 1970s, and is constantly adding to its archives. [5] Today, The Carson House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is open to the public as a museum. In 2007, it was listed as a certified destination on the NC Civil War Trails Program.
John "Hazzard" Carson served in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. His military record included the following positions: [6] [7] [8]
He may have attained the rank of colonel after the Revolutionary War.
Rutherford County is a county in the southwestern area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,444. Its county seat is Rutherfordton. Rutherford County comprises the Forest City, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area.
McDowell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,578. Its county seat is Marion.
Marion is a city in and the county seat of McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1844, the city was named in honor of Brigadier General Francis Marion, the American Revolutionary War Hero whose talent in guerrilla warfare earned him the name "Swamp Fox". Marion's Main Street Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The population was 7,717 at the 2020 Census.
Old Fort is a town in McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 811 people in the 2020 U.S. census.
Fort Motte was developed first as Mt. Joseph Plantation; it was commandeered in 1780 by the British and fortified as a temporary military outpost in what is now South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. It was significant for its military use as a depot for their convoys between Camden and Charleston, which they occupied. Located along the Congaree River, it is roughly 90–95 miles from Charleston by 21st-century roadways. The British had fortified the big house and surrounds, and it became known as Fort Motte, after Rebecca Brewton Motte, who had been occupying it with her family. During the Patriot Siege of Fort Motte, the plantation mansion was set on fire. The British surrendered at this site.
Joseph Dickson was an American politician and soldier who represented North Carolina's 1st district in the United States House of Representatives from 1799 to 1801, and would later serve in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are the leading edge of the Appalachian Mountains, who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. The term "overmountain" arose because their settlements were west of, or "over", the Blue Ridge, which was the primary geographical boundary dividing several of the 13 American states from the Native American lands to the west. The Overmountain Men hailed from parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and what is now Tennessee and Kentucky.
The Battle of Ramsour's Mill took place on June 20, 1780 in present-day Lincolnton, North Carolina, during the British campaign to gain control of the southern colonies in the American Revolutionary War. The number of fighters on each side of the battle is still an issue of contention, but Loyalist militiamen outnumbered Patriot militia and had captured a group of Patriots who they were planning to hang on the morning of June 20.
Joseph Hardin Sr. was an Assemblyman for the Province of North Carolina, and was a signatory of the Tryon Resolves. Early in the War for Independence, as a member of the militia from Tryon County, Hardin fought the Cherokee allies of Britain along the western frontier. Later in the war, having taken his family over the Appalachian Mountains to the Washington District for safety against the advance of the Red Coats out of South Carolina, Hardin joined the Overmountain Men. He saw action at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill and the decisive Battle of Kings Mountain. Following the peace with Britain, Hardin was a co-founder and second Speaker of the House for the State of Franklin; and an Assemblyman in the Southwest Territory before its statehood as Tennessee.
The Joseph McDowell House is a historic house and museum located in Marion, McDowell County, North Carolina. It was the home of Colonel Joseph "Pleasant Gardens" McDowell, the founder and namesake of McDowell County. It is currently undergoing extensive renovations, and is closed to the public.
Davidson's Fort was a Revolutionary War frontier fort and precursor of town of Old Fort, North Carolina. It was built in 1776 to protect the white settlers from the Cherokee. Davidson's Fort was one of dozens of similar outposts constructed along the frontiers in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to protect settlers from Native Americans who had sided with the British in the war. It was also known as Catawba Fort, Fort Royal, Old Fort, Rutherford's Fort, and Upper Fort.
Quaker Meadows, also known as the McDowell House at Quaker Meadows, is a historic plantation house located near Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built about 1812, and is a two-story, four bay by two bay, Quaker plan brick structure in the Federal style. It features two one-story shed porches supported by square pillars ornamented by scroll sawn brackets. The Quaker Meadows plantation was the home of Revolutionary War figure, Col. Charles McDowell. It was at Quaker Meadows that Zebulon Baird Vance married Charles McDowell's niece, Harriet N. Espy.
Green River Plantation is a historic plantation house on over 360 acres located near Columbus, Polk County, North Carolina. The oldest section of the "Big House" was built between the years 1804–1807, and is a two-story, four-bay, Late Federal style frame dwelling. A later two-story, four-bay, brick Greek Revival style dwelling was built beside the original structure in the mid-19th century. The two sections were joined in the late 19th century by a two-story section and grand staircase to form a structure that is over 10,000 square feet in size and boasts over 42 rooms and spaces. The plantation house was built by Joseph McDowell Carson, son of Col. John Carson, who built Carson House at Marion, North Carolina. The later-built section of the home was the residence of Samuel Price Carson, North Carolina State Senator and U.S. Federal Representative, and younger brother of Joseph McDowell Carson.
The Rutherford Light Horse expedition was a punitive military excursion launched against the Lower, Middle, and Overhill Cherokee settlements of the Cherokee Indians in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. This was in retaliation for the Native Indian attacks made against the European American settlements of the Watauga Association in July 1776, in an early action of the American War of Independence. The expedition, which took place on the American frontier and resulted in the destruction of six Cherokee towns, ran from October 17 until November 16, 1776. The adventure only concluded when the troop was forced to turn back due to a lack of supplies. It was led by Captain William Moore of the 2nd Rowan County Regiment, acting directly under the command of Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford.
The Rowan County Regiment was originally established in about August 1, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County in the Province of North Carolina. When the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorized thirty-five existing county militias to be organized on September 9, 1775, the Rowan County Regiment was included and all officers were appointed with commissions from the Provincial Congress. The members of the Rowan County Regiment were mostly from what was Rowan County at the time. Prior to establishment of the Rowan County Regiment, many of its officers were active in the Rowan County Committee of Safety. The regiment included 160 known companies and one or more of these companies were engaged in 36 known battles or skirmishes during the American Revolution. After the establishment of the Rowan County Regiment, several other counties were created from Rowan County, including Burke County in 1777, Iredell County in 1788, Davidson County in 1822 and Davie County in 1836.
The 2nd Rowan County Regiment was first established in October 22, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County in the Province of North-Carolina. This regiment was created from the existing Rowan County Regiment of militia. Its original officers were Col Adlai Osborne, Lt Col Christopher Beekman, and Major Charles McDowell. Adlai Osborne was a leader in Rowan County and member of the Rowan County Committee of Safety. On May 9, 1777, the regiment was renamed the Burke County Regiment, which was active until the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783.
The Surry County Regiment was established on August 26, 1775 by the North Carolina Provincial Congress. The regiment was engaged in battles and skirmishes against the British and Cherokee during the American Revolution in North Carolina, South Carolina Tennessee, and Georgia between 1776 and 1782. It was active until the end of the war.
North Carolina state troops in the American Revolution were the initial military units created in a transition from the Province of North Carolina under British rule to independence from British rule. Most units did not last long as such and were either transferred to the Continental Army or state militia instead.
Pleasant Gardens was the plantation in Rowan County, North Carolina, occupied by Joseph "Pleasant Gardens" McDowell (1758–1799). Remains of the Pleasant Gardens house are located near Marion, North Carolina.
John Hazzard Carson was an American military officer, politician, planter, and revolutionary. He served in the North Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War and as a delegate for Burke County to the Fayetteville Convention. Carson served in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1805 and 1806. He was the owner of Carson House, a plantation in Marion, North Carolina.
