CAPPS information

From POSTMARKS, A history of Henderson County, NC, 1787 - 1968
by: Charles Lenoir Ray
Copyright 1970
Adams Press, Chicago

(The James C. CAPPS mentioned in the article below must be James Clingman CAPPS, born 1859, son of Aaron CAPPS, great grandson of William and Nancy.)

"On December 4, 1889, a post office was established on the North-South Carolina border, west of the present U.S. 25. The first and only postmaster was James C. CAPPS. The little two room log cabin which was his home and the post office is still standing although the old-time kitchen which stood separate at the back is fallen in. The over-large fireplace and the iron hooks imbedded between the stones show that it was once used for cooking as well as for heat.

"The cabin is located on the Shipman place, and while it looks isolated today, in 1889 it was on one of the better traveled roads connecting North and South Carolina. This road came from the southwest out of South Carolina, by CAPPS and then abruptly turned north and forded Green River. This section of the road from the ford north no longer exists, as another road to the east and on higher ground is now used.

"This original road went north to the home of Berry (or Bary) D. Summey facing Prettyman Mountain where the post office of Lead was established on October 10, 1890 with Mr. Summey as postmaster. He was succeeded on July by James D. Bane. Tillman carried the mail from Zirconia to Lead, CAPPS and Splendor and back to Zirconia.

"On April 13, 1895 the office at CAPPS was closed, it is believed, on the death of the postmaster, and the people who used the post office had to go to Lead."

from page 29: on Henderson County post offices.
"In the 1880's some 17 new (post) offices, Angeline, CAPPS, Delmont, DeWitt, Etowah, Fruitland, Pump (Gerton), Gypsy, Hillgirt, Knight, Love, Lyda, Maxwell, Mott, Sitton, Splendor and Upward were opened. Only four offices, Pinnacle and three of the new ones, Love, Lyda and Mott were closed. The number of offices almost doubled from 14 to 17."

from page 30:
"In 1894, the Toxaway line, called the Hendersonvile and Brevard Railroad, was completed, opening the west. Partially because of this thirteen new post offices were opened in the county while only three were closed. The new offices were Balfour, Baxter, Dana, Decatur, Lead, Mill, Poelika, Osteen, Rugby, Tin, Uno, Walker and Yale. The three offices closed were CAPPS, Knight and Tin."

I thought this was interesting, since these places mentioned in this passage are in Flat Rock, around Green River, Tuxedo and Zirconia, where the CAPPS were from. Kind of adds fuel to the Indian theory about Nancy COOKSEY.

from page 89.
"Flat Rock had originally been a 'Summer Resort' for the Cherokees. Here, during the unrecorded centuries of that Nation, it had been the custom to bring the women, children and oldsters during the summer months while the braves went on hunting expeditions or war parties. Indian mounds have been found on the Conner and Alexander places and there are two huge mounds on the old McCall property in Tracy Grove that have not been fully investigated. Where the lake was dug for Bonclarken on the Flat Rock-East Flat Rock road some 10 years ago, a number of Indian artifacts were uncovered."

from page 148, a few sentences on the Cuthbert Place in Flat Rock, NC:
"In 1829 it was a land grant belonging to Sally CAPPS. In 1847, it belonged to a Mr. Maxwell who built a house up on the east side of Glassy Mountain."

from page 82, on Flat Rock: On Abe KUYKENDALL, and mentioning Noah P. CORN.
(Following paragraphs are condensed):
"The question of Flat Rock's boundaries has always been a tenuous one. Once it reached from the South Carolina line through present day Hendersonville to Mud Creek (Naples) and from Kanuga on the west to Upward on the east. Today its physical lines may be considerably shrunken, but thanks to Frank FitzSimmon's state of mind (Flat Rock is not a place, but a state of mind), its borders are anywhere a Flat Rocker happens to be.

"The first land grants in the area seem to have been made about 1789-1790. The four largest grantees of record were David and Andrew Miller, Abraham Kuykendall, and John Earl."

Abraham Kuykendall was from Eastern North Carolina. He had been a member of the Committee of Correspondence, Samuel Adam's colonies-wide organization which was the cadre of the Revolution. During the revolution, he served as a Corporal in Corbin's North Carolina Troops. After the war, the governor gave its veterans land grants, starting with 640 acres for a private and increasing the amount with the increase in rank. As a corporal, Kuykendall qualified for more than 640 acres. Some other early grantees were Gideon Stevens, Robert Murray, Reuben Fletcher, William Fletcher, William Metcalf, James Kuykendall, Ed McGuffie, William Lucas, Noah P. Corn, Licoln Fullman and John Miller.

"John Earl and Abraham Kuykendall were the best known grantees. Earl operated his first grist and lumber mills in the area, and Kuykendall was also a miller and an innkeeper.

"Abraham Kuykendall had a number of different tracts, at one time totaling more than 2,000 acres. The two most important were: first, west of John Earl's some 900 acres west of Saluda, and including the present Mud Creek Church property."

submitted by Sandra

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