Sunday, December 30, 2012

Nish and Sarah

This blog is dedicated to the memory of my Great Grandparents, Nish W. and Sarah Saunders Davis, who worked this self sustaining farm for the family from the 1800's until the 1960's. They lived and died in the foothills of the Uwharrie Mountains, the oldest mountains in North America.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Facts about Montgomery County

Facts about Montgomery County
Troy, the county seat of Montgomery County The Town of Troy, like the rest of Montgomery County, was settled primarily by Scottish immigrants. In 1852, Angus McCaskill, one of the early settlers, donated a tract of 50 acres to the community to serve as the town proper. Until a legislative decree changed the name, the community was know as West's Oldfield. That same decree also located the courthouse in the new community and made Troy the business center of a thriving county. The town takes its name from John B. Troy, a popular attorney and solicitor of the judicial district. Legend has it that the streets of Troy are paved with solid gold. When the streets were being paved, fill dirt was brought in from the gold mines in Eldorado, a once thriving mining community north of the town. Local citizens with a sharp eye found gold nuggets in the streets of the city. Even today, Troy still represents a golden opportunity for its citizens and visitors. Troy sits on the edge of The Uwharrie Mountains and Ophir is within them also. Places my family took me on outings, hikes and excursions like "the jumping off point" and "low water bridge" are landmarks to locals, the names of places being passed down for generations. Here is a picture from the Montgomery County website of the Jumping off Place. ( I know the legend of the name….do you?? Be sure to place your comment for me to see below!)

Pictures of Ophir

Flint Road - the road that winds through Ophir and around that curve is my Great Grandparent's farmhouse and farm, the childhood home of my second cousin, Daniel Davis.
Look closely and you will see Sammy and Jimmy Davis's childhood home, the home of their mom and dad, Mildred and Clyde Davis. Sammy and Jimmy were my second cousins.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Davis Homestead Farm in Ophir, NC

Two Pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Davis, the owners of the Davis Farm on Flint Road, Ophir, NC. The house is still there, owned by my cousin Sammy Davis, son of Clyde and Mildred Davis (dec). Clyde was Grandpa Nish's son and he and Mildred lived in the next house on Flint Road across from their church and what was once the schoolhouse across the street(since demolished to build a meeting center for the church).

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Where is Ophir, Montgomery County, North Carolina?

Chances are - you know! But even many North Carolinians do not know about this beautiful, serene part of our state. It is steeped in history and the roots of many generations from European and United Kingdom immigrants. The following information is from Wikipedia.org Ophir is located on State Road 1303 (Ophir Road), with State Road 1301 (Low Water Bridge Road), State Road 1306 (Flint Hill Road), and State Road 1134 (Tower Road) junctioning within the community. Ophir is three miles northeast of N.C. Hwy.109 (Montgomery County), six miles southeast of N.C. Hwy 49 (Davidson County), six miles west of N.C. Hwy. 134 (Montgomery County), and eight miles south of N.C. Hwy. 49 (Randolph County). Ophir is approximately one mile south of Randolph County, five miles southeast of Davidson County, seven miles east of Stanly County, eleven miles west of Moore County, and twenty-one miles north of Richmond County. The elevation of the community of Ophir is 518 feet (158 m) above sea level.[1] History Ophir was named after Ophir, the biblical region where gold was produced for King Solomon's temple. The small community was settled during the mid-19th century, during the gold boom in the state of North Carolina. Gold Very little mining was done in Montgomery County during the Civil War. Manpower was short. Men were away at war and those left at home were focused on taking care of the farms and their families. In 1891, there were 35 mines in operation in the county, but a short while later in 1896, the N.C. Geographical Survey named only 18 mines in use. In the northwest corner of the county there were many regional mines, including several in the Ophir area. These mines all had a major impact and played important roles in the county's mining history. The Russell Mine, one of the larger producers in Montgomery County, had a total production of around 15,000 ounces of lode gold. This mine included several open pits and underground workings that attained a depth of over 200 ft (61 m). The largest pit, "Big Cut", is about 300 ft (91 m). long, 150 ft (46 m). wide, and 60 ft (18 m). deep. As a whole, material excavated from this pit is said to have averaged $2.00 to the ton in gold. The entire mass is gold-bearing but only certain parts of it are rich enough to work, and even these parts are of low grade except for rich seams that appear and disappear abruptly. Ore is difficult to distinguish from waste, visually. Ore grades averaged about 3.4 grams per tonne (g/t), with higher-grade zones reported. The total production of the Russell Mine is reported to have exceeded $300,000. The Steel Mine is located just west of Ophir along the Uwharrie River. It was a lode gold mine. The rock in the vicinity is the argillaceous slate, but according to some it is silicified schist. At the Steel Mine ore consists of thin seams of free gold, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. These seams are conformable with the slaty cleavage or schistosity. Gold is said to have been discovered here about 1832, and the mine appears to have been worked extensively before 1853. Someone said that at this mine, gold digging amounted to mania for farmers were locating gold in almost every hill. However, the early history of the mine is obscure. Production data are fragmentary and are based on estimates. The only year for which production data are available is 1887, when $150,000 (about 75,000 ounces) in gold was produced. In 1876 the property was purchased by an English company, and until 1884 the ore was treated in Chilean mills. Mining journals for 1886 and 1887 note the repairing of old shafts and buildings of a new mill containing at first 20 stamps and later 40 stamps. One shaft was 135 ft (41 m). deep. Assay of ore taken from rich seams ranged from 20 to several hundred ounces of gold to the ton, and the ore from a few assayed more than 100 ounces of silver per ton. As late as 1934, a mill containing 10 stamps, a boiler, an engine, a roaster and other accessories remained on site going to ruin. Today, the Steel Mine is nearly inaccessible and the 1832 structures are in total ruins. Ophir today Ophir is located in the heart of the Uwharrie National Forest in the Uwharrie Mountains. There are numerous campgrounds and hiking trails, hunting and fishing spots, and recreational services nearby for the outdoorsman's comfort. Badin Lake and Lake Tillery are only a few miles away, and the Uwharrie River runs through it. References[edit] Jump up ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ophir, North Carolina