06/15/2026
More information on the Weaver family. That founded our town.
WEAVERVILLE, BUNCOMBE COUNTY. The greater part of the early settlers of this country was made up of men and women seeking religious liberty. This motive no less prompted the immigrants from Northern Europe than the great body of Scotch-Irish that emigrated to this country from Scotland and Ireland. In Pennsylvania and down through the valley of the Shenandoah we find the Dutch of Holland and the Scotch-Irish, living side by side dominated by a single purpose.
One of the pioneers in Buncombe county came from the valley of Virginia from this large Dutch settlement into what is now Buncombe county, and was the ancestor of the large family of Weavers not living in that section. Previous to 1790 John Weaver and wife, Elizabeth, with their infant son (Jacob), came from Virginia via the Watauga in Tennessee, crossing the Ball mountain in what is now Yancey county, and settled on Reems creek, near the present town of Weaverville. From the first census of the United States 1790 (see page 110) it appears that John Weaver was a resident of Burke county, which then included what is now Buncombe county. His family then consisted of wife, two daughters and one son under sixteen years of age. From this it is evident that he reached North Carolina sometime between 1786 and 1790. In the office of Register of Deeds for Buncombe county, in Book No. 1 at page 100, is recorded a deed from John McDowell of Burke county, conveying to John Weaver of Buncombe county 320 acres of land; consideration 100 pounds; description, "On both sides of Reems creek and on both sides of the path leading from Green river to Nolachuckee." This is interesting inasmuch as it seems to locate the old Indian trail from the east to the lands west of Unakas. There is little doubt that this young pioneer brought his young wife and infant son from the Watauga over this trail in quest of a permanent home.
John Weaver was born December, 1763, and died December, 1830. In his will, probated April Session, 1831, was found the following name: wife, Elizabeth; daughters, Susannah, Christiana, Mary, Elizabeth, Matilda and Catherine; sons, Jacob, James, John (better known as Jack), Christopher G., and Michael Montreville. From this family of six daughters and five sons sprang the largest number of descendants, or most numerous group of related families in Buncombe county, springing from one ancestor. Some of the oldest related families living in Buncombe county have their origin in more than one ancestor; for instance, the Baird family sprang from two brothers, Zebulon and Bedent; the Alexander family, from James Alexander, followed by a brother, nephew and other kinsmen; the Davidson family, from Samuel and William. These last named pioneers entered Buncombe county from the east through the Swannanoa gap. John Weaver, as stated above, came from Virginia and entered this county from the northern section and what is now Yancey county. His oldest son, Jacob, married Elizabeth Siler of Macon county. From this union were born four sons and three daughters, John S., Jesse R., William W., and James Thomas, Elizabeth, Saphronia and Mary. All these children of Jacob Weaver married and became the heads of families living in Buncombe county. Their descendants constitute the large majority of Weavers and Weaver relations now living in this county. John S. Weaver first married Mary 'Miller of Bolivar, Tennessee; she died in 1867 and his second wife was Mary McDowell of Macon county, daughter of Silas McDowell. Jesse R. Weaver married Julia Coulter of Greenville, Tennessee. William Weimer Weaver married Evalin Smith of Buncombe county, daughter of Samuel Smith. James Thomas Weaver married Hester Ann Trotter of 'Macon county. Elizabeth Weaver married Burdie Gash. Saphronia Weaver married Jamison McElroy. Mary Weaver married Robert Z. Blackstock. Nearly all of the living descendants of these families now live in Buncombe county, except the McElroy family, which moved to Arkansas shortly after the Civil War.
The next child of the pioneer, John Weaver, was Susannah, who married a Mr. McCarson; from these are descendants living in this and adjacent counties.
The second daughter, Christiana, married Samuel Vance, uncle of Z. B. Vance, who later moved to Bedford county, Tennessee. The third daughter, Mary, married Henry Addington of Macon county, where many descendants froth this union still live. The fourth daughter, Catherine, married Andrew Pickens from South Carolina, who settled in Buncombe county. Rev. R. V. Pickens, Tarpley Pickens, Christly Pickens, Mrs. Eliza Gill, and Mrs. Martha Carter, who became the heads of large families in this county, were sons and daughters of Andrew and Catherine Pickens. The fifth daughter, Elizabeth, married Robert Patton Wells. From this union were many sons and daughters, some of whom, known to the writer and living in Buncombe county, were Robert C. Wells, W. F. Wells, Saphronia, who married Capt. R. P. Moore, Jane, who married Dr. Micheaux, and Matilda, who married Mathias Faubion of Tennessee. The sixth daughter of John Weaver, Matilda, married Jefferson H. Garrison. From this union were born sons and daughters in this and adjacent counties. Two sons, William and John, were gallant soldiers in the Civil War.
Referring to the sons of John Weaver, other than Jacob, who has already been referred to, James first married a Miss Barnard. Their daughter, Christiana, married William R. Baird, and these were the parents of Capt. I. V. Baird, William Baird, Zebulon Baird, Dr. Elisha Baird, John R. Baird, Misses Mollie and Catherine Baird, all now living in Buncombe county, except Dr. Elisha and John R. Baird, who died within the last ten years. James Weaver's second marriage was to Mrs. Gilliland. Children were born to James Weaver by both of these unions, but they moved in early life to Tennessee and Missouri.
James Weaver first represented Buncombe county in the lower house of the legislature in 1825, serving with David L. Swain. He was subsequently re-elected to this office in 1830, 1832, 1833 and 1834, serving with William Orr, John Clayton and Joseph Henry resepectively. Later he moved to Cocke county, Tennessee, died July 28, 1854, and was buried on the old homestead, at the place known as Weaver Bend, just below Paint Rock. Subsequently, one of his daughters removed his remains and re-interred them at Knoxville, Tenn. Overlooking this grave, and on the very apex of a high, steep mountain, at Weaver Bend, is a small white cross set in a rock, by whose hands no one knows. It can be seen from the car window as the train moves through the river gorge 500 feet below. It is a tradition that some Jesuits placed a few of these crosses on conspicuous promontories through the Smoky mountains long before any of the settlements had been made by white men. However, this may be, this little emblem has rested on this western "Horeb" for possibly two centuries, looking out and towards the rolling rivers and alluvial valleys of East Tennessee, which to the early settlers was a real land of promise flowing with milk and honey.
John, or Jack, Weaver married and lived on the French Broad river just above the mouth of Reems creek. Some of his descendants are still living in this county; of those who moved elsewhere little is now known.
Christopher G. Weaver married a Miss Lowry and lived on Flat creek three miles north of Weaverville. He died in early life and has no descendants now living in Buncombe county.
Montreville Michael Weaver was the youngest son of John Weaver. He was born August 10, 1808, married Jane Baird. To this union was born four sons and five daughters. The sons were Fulton, who died unmarried, and Capt. W. E. Weaver, who married Miss Hannah Baird and is now living at Weaverville, N. C. The third son, John, married Miss Garrison, neither of whom is now living. Dr. Henry Bascomb Weaver married Miss Hattie Penland, daughter of Robert Penland of Mitchell county, N. C. Dr. Weaver is now living in Asheville, a practicing physician who possesses the confidence and esteem of those who know him. The daughters of Montreville Weaver: Mary Ann, married Dr. J. A. Reagan; Martha, married Dr. ,l. W. Vandiver; Margarette, married Capt. Wylie Parker; Catherine, married Dr. I. A. Harris; Eliza, married D. H. Reagan; all of whom have many- descendants living in Buncombe county. Montreville Weaver, the last surviving child of the family of John Weaver, died in September, 1882.
Among these people are many strong men and women who have left their impress upon the communities in which they lived and have largely contributed to the upbuilding of the country. John Weaver the First. left the information with his children that his father was a Holland gentleman. Other information obtainable indicates that his father came from Holland to Pennsylvania, and in company with other brother and kinsmen of the same name settled near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, later migrating across Maryland into the valley of the Shenandoah in Virginia. The name of Weaver appears frequently in the public records about Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and in Virginia. From the report of Mr. H. J. Eckerode, the Archivist of the State of Virginia, it appears that there were two men by the name of John Weaver in the Revolutionary War from Virginia. One of these men was from Augusta county. In the same report also appear the following Weavers : Aaron Weaver, Princess Ann county, Tillman Weaver, Captain of Fauquier Militia. From the Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Vol. 23, appear the names of Captain Martin Weaver and Captain Jacob Weaver of Fifth and Seventh Companies of the Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment (see pages 31-I and 383). The commissions of these men bear date July 1, 1777, and January 13, 1777, respectively. Other Weavers who figured in the Revolutionary history of Pennsylvania are George, Dolshen, Daltzer, Daniel, Henry, Adam, Jacob and Joshua. In fact this name appears in some muster roll of United States forces in every conflict in which the country has been engaged, beginning with the subjugation of the savage tribes, through all the wars with England and down to the Spanish-American war of recent date.
It is easy to believe that these Dutch people found congenial friends and neighbors in the Scotch-Irish people that were thrown together in the valley of the Shenandoah. They were all dominated by a single purpose, to hew out for themselves and their posterity a civil and ecclesiastic system, free from the domination of king or pope. There is no doubt but that the ancestors of these Dutch people were the loyal supporters of William, Duke of Nassau, called "William the Silent" who broke the power of Catholic Spain over the Netherlands in his defeat of Philip the Second in the latter part of the Sixteenth Century.
