Charlotte History (Mint Hill, Graham, Davidson: sale, houses, deed)
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Please do not disrespect the dead. The ones who are responsible for helping Charlotte to turn into a beautiful city it is today.
Feel free to share historical things you enjoy in this modern city.
Colonists Curry King's Favor
The first colonial settlers—German, Scotch-Irish, English, and French Huguenot—in the region that is now Charlotte encountered a friendly, peaceful native tribe, the Catawba. The area's fertile soil brought more settlers, and by 1761 the Catawba were restricted to assigned territory in South Carolina. The colonists were aggressive in seeking political advantages. In the mid-1750s, for example, to curry favor with England's King George III, the first settlers to the area named their town Charlotte, after the king's wife, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Germany). The town was incorporated in 1768. Their next step was to convince the royal government that they deserved to be a separate county. They diplomatically named their new county Mecklenburg, in honor of the queen.
But their ambitions did not stop there. Thomas Polk, one of the town's first settlers, and his neighbors wanted Charlotte as the county seat. Although there really was not much in Charlotte to justify such a designation, that did not stop these enterprising individuals. They built a log cabin where two Indian trails converged and called it a courthouse, and the existence of that courthouse led to the royal government's appointing Charlotte as the county seat in 1774.
Some people might find it interesting to know that in this "city of churches", one of the first churches built was non-denominational!
It was called "The Brick Church" and was built in 1815 on the corner of Church and Trade Streets. When financial problems befall the Brick Church, Presbyterians paid the debt and acquired the building. It then became known as First Presbyterian Church, and it's still there today
Charlotteans' "can-do" attitude also included a strong streak of stubbornness and independence. It was in Charlotte that the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was signed on May 20, 1775, predating the colonies' joint declaration by more than a year. During the Revolutionary War, British General Lord Cornwallis referred to Charlotte as "a damned hornet's nest of rebellion."
From 1781 to 1800 Charlotte added a flour mill and a saw mill to its growing settlement. In 1799, a young boy came upon a 17-pound gold nugget at the Reed Gold Mine, 30 miles east of the city. Soon, mines dotted the area and business in Charlotte boomed. Gold fever lasted until starry-eyed prospectors were lured west by the California Gold Rush of 1849.
I bet this is how they came up with the name of the former NBA team
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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A few years ago, I was contacted by a guy in GA who was searching on a family of his ancestors who had gone from PA to NC to Wrightsboro GA in the same time period as my Mendenhalls. We found another member of the family in Mecklenburg County, so I did some checking & found this. This is based on property records, so is historically accurate.
. . .Alexander was a Presbyterian and on February 4, 1780, he witnessed a deed in Mecklenburg Co. that represented the sale of land from Samuel Montgomery, a farmer, to the trustees of the Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church. The name of this church was changed shortly after to the Philadelphia Presbyterian Church and it is still there today, in Mint Hill, NC. . .
Alexander McGinty (http://www.justcallbob.com/ancestors/ps19/ps19_311.htm - broken link)
Last edited by SunnyKayak; 06-07-2010 at 02:00 AM..
Reason: its cool
Some of the websites discuss the whole road & some discuss parts of the journey, but it all goes together to give a better picture of the journey to Charlotte.
Great Philadelphia Wagon Road (http://www.ncgenweb.us/guilford/greatwagonroad.html - broken link)
Some of the websites discuss the whole road & some discuss parts of the journey, but it all goes together to give a better picture of the journey to Charlotte.
Great Philadelphia Wagon Road (http://www.ncgenweb.us/guilford/greatwagonroad.html - broken link)
..... In 1799, a young boy came upon a 17-pound gold nugget at the Reed Gold Mine, 30 miles east of the city. Soon, mines dotted the area and business in Charlotte boomed. Gold fever lasted until starry-eyed prospectors were lured west by the California Gold Rush of 1849.....
They actually continued to mine gold here until the 1930s or thereabouts. After that the government made gold ownership illegal in the USA in 1933 causing the bottom to drop and the remaining mines closed in the area. The ban was not lifted until the early 70s.
The gold rush in Charlotte was responsible for the first US Mint to be opened outside of Philadelphia here in the city which exclusively minted gold coins from the local gold mining operations. This mint operated until the Civil War when the Confederates seized it and used the gold to fund Confederate operations. It did not re-open as a federal mint after the war and all that remains now is a museum in it's memory. This is in fact the history behind the Mint Museum.
The Charlotte gold dollars and Eagles tend to be rare coins because many ended up in Europe where they got melted down. Good examples tend to be fairly expensive. They will be the only US coin with the "C" mint mark.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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during the American Revolution. . .
. . .At this time, Charlotte was a small village of 20 homes and a courthouse. Col. William Davie and 20 Continental dragoons were waiting to challenge the british threat. They were posted behind a stone wall near the courthouse. The rest of Davie's command was along the Steel Creek Road, which led to the stone wall. Maj. George Davidson commanded 2 companies of riflemen, about 70 men, and Maj. Joseph Graham commanded a small group of Mecklenburg militia. Hangers cavalry was ambushed by riflemen as they passed by some houses, and being then charged by Davie's cavalry, were driven back in disorder. British light infantry Legion light infantry, pressed forward, and Davie withdrew. Hanger’s cavalry regrouped charged in column again but were again received fire from the militia, which hurled them back in confusion. Even so, the British Legion infantry, which Cornwallis had reinforced with Webster’s 23rd Regt., began to turn Davie's flank, and he was forced to pull back. . . .
Baseball legend Babe Ruth delights sports fans when he hits a home run as the New York Yankees play the Brooklyn Robins in Charlotte. Four thousand fans show up to see the exhibition game played at Wearn Field on South Mint Street.
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during the American Revolution. . .
