Becoming Kin

Some of the earliest white settlers in Haywood County were Revolutionary War veterans. Some were land speculators. Still others were settlers in search of new farming land and work, following the Great Wagon Road that ran from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Today, many Haywood residents bear their ancestors’ surnames with pride. The names of streets, mountains and creeks are reminders of these early settlers and their impact on the development of the county.

This family photograph tells such a story of migration. Elizabeth Evans Henry, widow of Adolphus Henry, sits in the front row, second from the right. Her husband’s ancestors, originally from Tyrone County, Ireland, settled in Haywood after the Revolutionary War. Adolphus donated land for the first church in Maggie Valley where the United Methodist Church sits today. To her left sits her daughter, Nancy Jane Henry Rathbone. The Rathbone family had come to Haywood from Virginia in the early 1800s. Behind Nancy stands her little daughter, Mary, who would marry John Bryan Rich. His family had come to Haywood after the Civil War. Their daughter, Thelma Rich Franklin donated this photograph to the Haywood County Public Library. Mrs. Franklin lived on part of the Henry land up until her death in 2012.

Photograph courtesy of The Haywood County Library Digital Collection