Visiting the Homes of My Ancestors ~ the Silver Home

While I am discussing the homes of our ancestors, I will share the legacy of the Silver Log Home, in Kona, NC. East of Burnsville, NC this old home is one of the oldest in the western N.Carolina mountains.  Like the Taylor house, this home was built by an early pioneer to the area, and his family ~ George Silver, Jr. and his wife Nancy Ann Griffeth, formerly of Frederick Co. Maryland.

George was a twin, whose heritage to the land of Russia was important enough to him, to record on the census records that they were from Russia. He and his sons all noted such on several occasions.  I can carry the lineage back for several more generations, thanks to the work of dedicated Silver researchers, and records that are available now on line.  I spent a lot of time sorting out George's children and their families early in my research, then happened upon the "Silver Threads" online magazine, which was full of stories and wonderful documentation of their facts. By these I was able to confirm many of my own discoveries and sort out some of my delimnas and questions.  But I longed to go see the log house they had pictured on the site.  So, Jimmy and I took a trip to see the house for ourselves.

Here you see it above, and to the left.  Built in the early 1800's, it housed a nice large family.  Preserved by Silver families through these last 200+ years, it is undergoing renovation last I knew.  The boards are so incredibly wide, attesting to the fact that the trees from which it was made were quite large.  The back side of the house has been added, at some point, and possibly the long porch which runs the length of the house as well.  There is a flat stone path that leads to the porch now, and the house faces caddy-corner on the lot, with the back of it facing the road on the hill above and behind it, where the church that was also built by this family still stands.  The chimney's, Jimmy tells me, are significant to this era of architechture. It is a stately two story with windows that appear to have been there for the life of th structure. The fireplaces on either end are stacked stone covered with a kind of mortar at some point. The foundation is also closed in with stacked stone.  It has been habitable for most of its life.

The green tin roof can been seen from the road above where the Kona Baptist Church still stands. George was a baptist preacher, as were at least 2 of his sons, Jacob and Thomas. Thomas is our direct line ancestory. The church was built between 1810 and 1820, and Jacob became the pastor there; while Thomas had his own congregation in Windom, where he and his wife, Ellandor (Nellie) McMahan lived.

  

George and his wife, and Jacob and his family are buried in the church graveyard.  Also, there is a sign at the entrance to the little graveyard that acknowleges George Silver was a Revolutionary War Soldier.  He recieved his land as did many of the early inhabitants of this area as a grant for fighting in the Revolution, but also for being a defender of what was then, the edges of the rapidly growing frontier of the newly formed United States.  Western NC had only recently become first the state of Franklin, and then the state of Tennessee. Borders of states and counties were changing rapidly. Although it sometimes seemed people moved, this old home is a stable proof that in fact, the land was being redivided and redistributed to various county names while the persons were anchored securely in their homes, loving their mountain lands.

The green roof from the church yard.

The tiny church above. I can imagine them walking there on Sunday mornings.
Below is the church itself.