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Caswell County Genealogy
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 1793 - 1876 (83 years)
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| Name |
Siler, Jesse Richardson [1, 2] |
| Birth |
31 Jan 1793 |
Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina  [1, 2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Reference Number |
3269 |
| Death |
22 Mar 1876 |
Franklin, Macon County, North Carolina [1, 2] |
| Burial |
First United Methodist Church, Franklin, Macon County, North Carolina |
| Person ID |
I3229 |
Caswell County |
| Last Modified |
2 May 2024 |
| Father |
Siler, Weimer, b. 28 Feb 1755, Pennsylvania d. 4 Feb 1831, North Carolina (Age 75 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Raferty, Virginia Margaret, b. 12 Oct 1767, Virginia d. 15 Jan 1839, North Carolina (Age 71 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
12 Mar 1786 |
Virginia [3, 4] |
| Reference Number |
20477 |
| Family ID |
F1712 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Patton, Harriet Dorothy, b. 22 Mar 1798, Buncombe County, North Carolina d. 19 Aug 1872 (Age 74 years) |
| Marriage |
23 Jun 1818 [2] |
| Reference Number |
20470 |
| Children |
| + | 1. Siler, Lt. Colonel Thaddeus Patton, b. 31 Aug 1823 d. May 1894 (Age 70 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 2. Siler, Captain Julius Thomas, b. 23 Dec 1825, Franklin, Macon County, North Carolina d. 8 Jun 1866 (Age 40 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 3. Siler, Reverend Leonidas Fidelio, b. 30 Apr 1830 d. 2 Sep 1870 (Age 40 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 4. Siler, Roxanna E., b. 29 Jun 1832 d. 1913 (Age 80 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 5. Siler, Harriet Timoxena, b. 24 May 1835 d. 2 Sep 1900 (Age 65 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 6. Siler, Jesse Weimer, b. 29 Jun 1838, Macon County, North Carolina d. 9 Nov 1862, Virginia (Age 24 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
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| Family ID |
F1711 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
2 May 2024 |
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| Notes |
- Jesse Richardson Siler (1793-1876)
Death year also seen as 1870.
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The Southern Historical Collection
University of North Carolina
Collection Number: 01985
Collection Title: Jesse R. Siler Book, 1814-1862
Microfilm Only. Recollections by Siler written about 1832; a few letters, 1830-1832, concerning Methodist Church matters and Siler family data; a biographical sketch of Jesse Weimar Siler; and tributes to Jesse Weimar Siler in letters and newspaper notices. The recollections concern Jesse R. Siler's clerking for Erwin, Smith and Co., Asheville, N.C., beginning in 1814, his marriage in 1818 to Harriette Dorothy Patton, his settling in Franklin, Macon County, N.C., in 1821, and his joining the Methodist Church in 1829 and building a church shortly thereafter.
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There were several log cabins built about that time, but the order in which it was done and the claims to priority I have been unable to ascertain. Lindsey Fortune built a cabin on the lot where the Franklin House, or Jarrett Hotel, now stands. Samuel Robinson built on the lot now occupied by Mrs. Robinson. Silas McDowell first built on the lot where stands the residence of D. C. Cunningham. Dillard Love built the first house on Mr. Trotter's lot. N. S. Jarrett built on the lot owned and occupied by Sam L. Rogers. John F. Dobson first improved the corner lot now owned by C. C. Smith. James K. Gray built the second house made of hewn logs on the lot owned by Mrs. Dr. A. W. Bell. Jesse R. Siler, one of the first settlers, built the house at the foot of the town hill where Mr. Geo. A. Jones now resides. He also built the second house on the Gov. Robinson lot and the brick store and dwelling owned at present by Capt. A. P. Munday. James W. Guinn or Mr. Whittaker built the house owned and occupied by Mr. Jackson Johnston.
Source: A Brief History of Macon County, North Carolina, by Rev. C. D. Smith. Published: 1891: May 25 2002 WebRoots, Inc., (c) May 2002 Teresita Press. This publication is available online (as of December 2009) at: WebRoots. org.
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The People of Macon. Macon was organized into a county in 1828 "and was singularly fortunate in the character of the people who first settled it." . . . . Wm. and Jacob Siler having married sisters of D. L. Swain, and Jesse R. Siler having married a daughter of John Patton of Buncombe, sister of the late lamented Mont. Patton, it is not difficult to account for the great moral worth of the county that now exists and has from its first settlement.
Source: Arthur, John Preston. Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913. Published 1914 by the Edward Buncombe Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Asheville. Reprint Edition: Johnson City, Tennessee: The Overmountain Press, 1996 (page 173).
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Jesse Richardson Siler may have been the namesake of Jesse Siler Smith, his nephew. In November 1814, Jesse Richardson Siler began clerking for J. M. Smith of Asheville (James McConnell Smith, the father of Jesse Siler Smith).
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"In November, 1814, I commenced clerking for J. M. Smith [James McConnell Smith], of Asheville. Being awkward, uncultivated and timid, and unaccustomed to confinement, I would have been much happier with my parents in the country. But having set out with the determination to succeed, I looked forward with bright hopes, and by dint of application, became tolerably expert in business. . . .
"After serving four years as clerk, Mr. Smith gave me an interest in business for three years, during which time I made the acquaintance of Miss Harriet D. Patton, sister of Mrs. Smith, who became my wife June 23, 1818. At the expiration of the three years, I bought land in the Tennessee Valley, and in the fall of 1821, moved to what is now Franklin, Macon county, and commenced business on my own footing. . . ."
Source: Arthur, Mrs. N. C., Siler, F. L., Jones, Paul, Johnston, T. J. The Siler Family. 1901, 1926.
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Find A Grave Memorial.
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Porter, Leona Cornelia Bryson. The Family of Weimar Siler, 1755-1831. Committee Appointed at the 100th Meeting, 1951.
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1830 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse R Siler
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): Macon, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: 2
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39: 1
Slaves - Males - Under 10: 4
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23: 1
Slaves - Males - 24 thru 35: 3
Slaves - Females - Under 10: 4
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23: 1
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35: 3
Free White Persons - Under 20: 3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 4
Total Free White Persons: 7
Total Slaves: 16
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 23
1840 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse R Siler
Home in 1840 (City, County, State): Macon, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 4
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9: 2
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49: 1
Free Colored Persons - Males - 24 thru 35: 1
Slaves - Males - Under 10: 6
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23: 2
Slaves - Males - 24 thru 35: 1
Slaves - Males - 36 thru 54: 1
Slaves - Females - Under 10: 2
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23: 4
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35: 3
Persons Employed in Agriculture: 10
Persons Employed in Commerce: 2
Persons Employed in Manufacture and Trade: 2
Free White Persons - Under 20: 6
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 6
Total Free White Persons: 12
Total Free Colored Persons: 1
Total Slaves: 19
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 32
1850 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse R Siler
Age: 57
Birth Year: abt 1793
Birthplace: South Carolina
Home in 1850: Tennessee Valley, Macon, North Carolina
Gender: Male
Family Number: 179
Household Members: Name Age
Jesse R Siler 57
Harriet D Siler 52
Roxana Siler 18
Harriet simonna Siler 15
Jesse W Siler 12
E Dowdle 45
J F Slagle 24
Wm M Addington 23
Richd Satterfield 25
Dewitt Cunningham 18
Harriet Gash 8
1860 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse R Siler
Age in 1860: 67
Birth Year: abt 1793
Birthplace: South Carolina
Home in 1860: Franklin, Macon, North Carolina
Gender: Male
Post Office: Franklin
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members: Name Age
Jesse R Siler 67
Harriet D Siler 62
Jesse W Siler 22
Harriet N Gash 17
Robert Cuningham 23
1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse R Siler
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1791
Age in 1870: 79
Birthplace: South Carolina
Home in 1870: Franklin, Macon, North Carolina
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Franklin
Household Members: Name Age
Jesse R Siler 79
H D Siler 72
L F Siler 40
R L Siler 15
Anna C Siler 13
Julius G Siler 10
Jesse W Siler 8
Mary L Siler 5
Eugene S Siler 2
L D Patton 66
Jno Scroggs 20
Jeff Chaves 39
The relationship of the younger children shown above to the head of household (Jesse R. Siler) is not known.
Death date also seen as 22 March 1870.
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Appointment of United States Postmasters
Name: Jesse R Siler
Post Office Location: Franklin, Macon, North Carolina
Appointment Date: 26 Aug 1823
Volume #: 16
Volume Year Range: 1844-1856
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Siler's Bald in the Great Smoky Mountains is named for him.
Source: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, William S. Powell, Editor (1994), vol. 5 at 345.
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(for larger image, click on photograph)
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Silers Bald is a mountain in the western Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. Its proximity to Clingmans Dome and its location along the Appalachian Trail make it a popular hiking destination.
Silers Bald is located on the crest of the Smokies with Thunderhead Mountain to the west and Clingmans Dome to the east. The Tennessee-North Carolina state line crosses the summit, with the mountain split evenly between Sevier County, Tennessee to the north and Swain County, North Carolina to the south. Silers Bald rises appx. 2,500 feet (760 m) above its northern base near Fish Camp Prong (of Little River), and appx. 3,000 feet (910 m) above its southern base near Forney Creek.
While Silers Bald was a grassy bald for most of the 19th and early-20th centuries, it was probably a wooded peak before the arrival of European settlers. For this reason, the park service does not maintain the bald atop the mountain (the Great Smoky Mountains National Park currently maintains only two grassy balds- Gregory Bald and Andrews Bald). A narrow corridor for the Appalachian Trail, which crosses the summit, is kept clear for thru-hikers. There is still a small bald area at the summit, approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter, where the Appalachian Trail makes a 90-degree turn. Several grassy meadows remain on the mountain's western slope.
While Silers Bald is hardly mentioned in Cherokee lore, a petroglyph was discovered near the summit in 1917. The mountain's elevation is probably recorded by Arnold Guyot during his 1859 survey of the Smokies crest, but under a different name (possibly Guyot's "Big Stone Mountain," which Guyot listed with an elevation of 5,614 feet (1,711 m) and lying somewhere between Mt. Buckley and Thunderhead).
What was once a massive grazing land has reverted to patches of meadow and young woodland on the western slope of Silers Bald. Silers Bald is named after Jesse Siler, a prominent North Carolinian who grazed sheep and cattle atop the mountain in the 19th century. Likewise, Siler Bald, in the Nantahala Mountains to the south, was named after Jesse's brother, William. Albert Mountain, also to the south, was named after Jesse's nephew, Albert Siler.
By the late 19th century, Silers Bald was the far eastern end of a giant grassy pasture that stretched several miles across the Smokies' western ridge all the way to Russell Field, which overlooks Cades Cove. The mountain is mentioned several times in Horace Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders as the last stop before one enters a heavily-wooded wilderness. According to Kephart, beyond "Hall cabin" (a herder's shack near modern Big Chestnut Bald, six miles (10 km) east of Thunderhead):
...there is just one shack, at Siler's Meadow. It is down below the summit, hidden in timber, and you would never have seen it. Even if you had, you would have found it as bare as a last year's mouse nest, for nobody ever goes there except for a few bear-hunters. From there onward for forty miles is an uninhabited wilderness so rough that you could not make seven miles a day in it to save your life..."
Laura Thornborough, a writer who visited Silers Bald in the 1930s, recalls it as a giant meadow:
Silers is one of the mysterious grassy balds, or mountain-top meadows, and an outstanding vantage point commanding spectacular views.
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Jesse Richardson Siler (1793-1876)
Jesse, the fourth child of Weimar and Margaret Siler, was born January 31, 1793, in Pendleton District, S.C. The following sketch of his life was written by himself:
I was brought up by affectionate, and God fearing parents, with four brothers and four sisters. My parents being religious, from my earliest recollection, I was of course restricted in my conduct. I remember very distinctly one violation of their laws. William and I were gathering grapes when little boys. He was in a tree, and I below holding a hat, which had holes in it. As he would throw the grapes in, they would fall through, which aggravated me so much, that, to my shame be it said, I used language which was a very considerable breach of the order of the family. I was aware of the crime, and of the punishment that awaited me if father found out. William availed himself of this advantage and my weakness and kept me "under his thumb" by threatening to report what I had said. So, finding I was in his power or must suffer punishment of my father, I concluded it was a bad business, consequently have never used profanity since to my recollection.
Thus passing through the scenes of childhood and school boy days, I was scarcely ever ten miles from home, until the year 1805. In the spring of that year, my father took me to spend the summer with my brother-in-law, James Lowry, the husband of my sister Esther, who was living in Buncombe county, N.C. This separation from my home, the tender caresses of my mother, and the society of my brothers, from whom I was scarcely ever absent a night in my life, was to me a great trial; but I summoned up fortitude and bore it until the winter of that year, when my father moved to Buncombe county.
In November, 1814, I commenced clerking for J. M. Smith, of Asheville. Being awkward, uncultivated and timid, and unaccustomed to confinement, I would have been much happier with my parents in the country. But having set out with the determination to succeed, I looked forward with bright hopes, and by dint of application, became tolerably expert in business. I determined not to push myself into society, but to act industriously and honestly, with the hope that I should rise by true merit to rank with those of the highest family. I still retained in a good degree, the religious impressions of my education, and, determined not to disgrace myself, or my parents by immoral conduct, I covenanted daily with my Maker, that if He would protect and direct me, and crown my efforts with success in business, I would endeavor to be useful to the church and society.
After serving four years as clerk, Mr. Smith gave me an interest in business for three years, during which time I made the acquaintance of Miss Harriet D. Patton, sister of Mrs. Smith, who became my wife June 23, 1818. At the expiration of the three years, I bought land in the Tennessee Valley, and in the fall of 1821 moved to what is now Franklin, Macon county, and commenced business on my own footing. With gratitude I acknowledge that God's blessings have been showered upon me. In 1829, I joined the Methodist church. We had no house erected for the worship of God, and remembering my promise to Him, I set to work to build a church. I proposed to give the site and build the house. The good people aided me and in 1830, it was dedicated by the Rev. John Barringer. I felt happy in being able to aid in erecting a little monument dedicated to God, where my aged parents, who had moved to Macon county, with my children and friends, could assemble together in a comfortable situation and devote a portion of their time to the worship of God; and where, in the graveyard nearby, out bodies will rest together, when time with us shall be no more.
Mrs. H. T. Sloan adds to this sketch: "My parents lived happily together nearly sixty years, and were ever faithful in their attendance at our family reunions, and while their vacant seats in our family circle cause a pang of sorrow and regret, yet we know they have gone to fairer regions, and await us in the family above."
Harriet Siler died August 19, 1877.
Source: Arthur, Mrs. N. C., Siler, F. L., Jones, Paul, Johnston, T. J., Committee Members. "The Siler Family: Being a Compilation of Biographical and Other Historical Sketches Relating to the Descendants of Plikard and Elizabeth Siler and Read at the Jubilee Reunion of the Siler Family Held in Macon County, North Carolina August 28, 1901 (Addition August, 1926)." Franklin (North Carolina): Franklin Press, 1906/1926, pp.6-7 [some paragraph breaks added].
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Siler, A. O., Compiler. The Siler Family. Marfork (West Virginia): Tribune Printing Co., 1922.
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| Sources |
- Details: N.C. Genealogy-McDowell (Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, North Carolina).
- Details: Shawna's Genealogy Site (shahall@yahoo.com).
- Details: The Siler Family: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches Relating to the Descendants of Plikard Dederic and Elizabeth Siler, A. O. Siler, Compiler (1922) at 54.
- Details: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, William S. Powell, Editor (1994), vol. 5 at 345.
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: Address
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: City/Town
: County/Shire
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: Not Set