Person Page

     Katherine Ross was born on 28 June 1921 in North Carolina.² She married Robert Stevenson Bowditch, son of John Abbot Bowditch and Mildred Lee Ballew, on 24 August 1949 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina.¹ She died on 17 August 1975 at Charlotte Memorial Hospital in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina, at age 54 from pneumonia.² She was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina.²
     She and Robert had no children.³

     Mary Lucille Gibbs was born on 6 October 1938 in Marion, McDowell Co., North Carolina.^3,2 She died the same day.^1,2 She was buried at Charlie D. Gibbs Cemetery in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.³

     John Lawrence Gibbs Jr. was born on 28 February 1942 (his transcribed birth record says 23 February 1942, probably a transcription error) in Marion, McDowell Co., North Carolina.^3,4,2,5 He married Madelyn Dora Autrey on 21 March 1964 at South Estatoe Church in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.³ He died on 29 November 2015 at home in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, at age 73.^4,6 He was buried at Autrey Cemetery in Celo, Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴

     Madelyn Dora Autrey was born on 23 January 1945 in Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.² She married John Lawrence Gibbs Jr., son of John Lawrence Gibbs and Ruth Coline Bowditch, on 21 March 1964 at South Estatoe Church in South Toe Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina.¹ She died on 7 March 2025 at age 80.³ She was buried on 11 March 2025 at Autrey Cemetery in Celo, Yancey Co., North Carolins.³

     Edna Irene Burgin was born on 31 January 1921 in Celo, Yancey Co., North Carolina.^2,3 She married Frank Watson Bowditch, son of John Abbot Bowditch and Mildred Lee Ballew, on 6 March 1945 in Marion, McDowell Co., North Carolina.¹ She died on 6 July 1999 at Spruce Pine Community Hospital in Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, at age 78.⁴ She was buried at Ballew Cemetery on South Toe School Rd. in Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁵

     Harold Edward Bowditch was born on 10 June 1946 in Marion, McDowell Co., North Carolina.³ He died on 11 September 2023 at the Charles George Veterans Medical Center in Asheville, Buncombe Co., North Carolina, at age 77.⁴ He was buried at Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery (Section 9A, Site 409) in Black Mountain, Buncombe Co., North Carolina.⁵
     He graduated in 1964 from East Yancey High School in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina, and for a time attended Western Carolina State College in Cullowhee, Jackson Co., North Carolina.⁶ He then joined the U.S. Air Force, completing basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. In May 1966 he began training as an aircraft structural repairman at Amarillo Air Force Base in Texas.⁶ He was later stationed at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas with the 19th Military Airlift Squadron, and in July 1968 was serving as an airframe repairman at Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam.⁷
     He was the owner of Bowditch Wood Products in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina.⁴

     Martha Elizabeth Anderson was born on 29 February 1856 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,3 She married Joseph Bowditch, son of Joseph Henry Bowditch and Elizabeth Blanchard Abbot, on 23 May 1880 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^4,2 She died on 2 July 1929 in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, at age 73.¹ She was buried on 3 July 1929 at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,5,6
     In June 1880 she and her husband Joseph were living in Caney River Twp., Yancey Co., North Carolina, as boarders in the household of James N. and Julia M. Gibbs.⁷ Not long afterward they moved to the area of Mine Creek near her parents in Mitchell Co., North Carolina,⁶ where they lived the rest of their lives. They are listed there in the censuses from 1900 to 1920.^8,9,10 Martha's widowed mother was living with them in 1900, their daughter Maude and her husband were with them in 1910, and their son Edwin and his wife and daughter were with them in 1920.
     Joseph became one of the largest landowners in the area, building a five-bedroom English colonial house with a screened-in summer kitchen that included a concrete "spring box" with running water for general use and refrigeration. The house also had a tin-covered clothes dryer adjoining a wood stove, and an indoor water-tank commode. In back were a vegetable garden, flowers, and an orchard with apples, cherries, peaches, grapes, gooseberries, and currants.⁶
     In 1903 she and Joseph donated 2.5 acres in Loafers Glory, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, for the Vians Valley Presbyterian Church.⁶

     Bertha Bowditch was born on 6 May 1883 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,2 She married James Henderson Davis, son of James Davis and Jane McKinney, on 30 August 1902 in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^3,4 She died on 8 October 1958 at home in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, at age 75 from uterine cancer.¹ She was buried on 10 October 1958 at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,5
     She attended Lees McRae College in Banner Elk, Avery Co., North Carolina, but left in 1902 when she eloped to get married.⁶ She and her husband James lived in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and are listed there in censuses from 1910 to 1940.^7,8,9,10

     Roy Bowditch was born on 20 February 1886 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,4,2 He married Lucinda Banks Dunn, daughter of James Robinson Dunn and Eugenia Downs, on 30 August 1913 in Washington, D. C.^5,6 He died on 4 February 1948 at home in Fountain City, Knox Co., Tennessee, at age 61 from colon cancer.¹ He was buried at Lynnhurst Cemetery in Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee.¹
     A newspaper article listing his marriage names him as Roy Rankin Bowditch, but no other source has been found giving a middle name for him. Further, his son Joseph's World War II draft registration lists his father "Roy none Bowditch" as his contact person.^6,7
     In 1902, at age 16, he left North Carolina and moved to Urbana, Champaign Co., Illinois, where he lived with his uncle Frederick Darlington Bowditch and attended school.² He graduated from Thornburn High School in Urbana on 8 June 1905, after just three years. All graduates were required to present an oration at commencement; his was titled "Our Duty to the Philippines."⁸
     He went on to the University of Illinois on a scholarship, but returned home after one semester^2,9 and enrolled at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State) in Raleigh, Wake Co., where he studied electrical engineering. In addition to engineering, the college emphasized military science, and all students were required to participate in drills as members of the school's military battalion. He served as a sergeant in Company D during the 1908-09 school year, and as a second lieutenant in Company C in 1909-10. He was also on the track team, and a member of the Faraday Electrical Society and the Pullen Literary Society.^10,11 He graduated on 31 May 1910 with a bachelor's degree in engineering.¹²
     After graduation he worked for a time for the Southern Power Co. in Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina, where he probably met his future wife Lucy Dunn, who was then working at the Charlotte News.⁵ By 1913 he had moved to Schenectady, Schenectady Co., New York, where he worked in the test department at General Electric.^5,9
     After their marriage he and his wife Lucy initially lived in Schenectady.⁵ By October 1915, when their son Joseph was born, they had moved to Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts,¹³ and in 1918 they were living in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana,⁴ where he was working for Merchants Heat & Light Co.⁴ They were in Norton, Wise Co., Virginia, from at least 1922 to 1923^14,15, and moved to Fountain City, a neighborhood in the northern part of Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee, about 1924.¹⁶ He and his family are listed there in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.^17,18
     He owned his own electrical equipment firm in Fountain City, initially named Bowditch Engineering-Sales Co., then Bowditch & Gilliam Inc., and finally just Bowditch & Co.^19,20 The company flourished with the expansion of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the area in the 1930s.²
     In 1937 he and Lucy built a vacation cabin on the Roaring Fork in Gatlinburg, Sevier Co., Tennessee, that they often shared with family and friends.²¹ Roy's cousin Frederick Tryon Bowditch, the author of The Bowditch Family of Salem, Massachusetts, North Carolina Branch, recalled spending "many very happy summer vacations" there.² They also bought a winter home in St. Petersburg, Pinellas Co., Florida, in September 1945, and the following spring applied for a permit to enlarge the garage apartment.^22,23

     Edwin Dennis Bowditch was born on 10 September 1888 on Mine Creek in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,4 He married Elvie Bernice Hamrick, daughter of James Lawson Hamrick and Mary Frances Moss, on 1 August 1917 in Jasper, Pickens Co., Georgia.^5,2 He died on 10 June 1959 at Mission Hospital in Asheville, Buncombe Co., North Carolina, at age 70 from abdominal cancer.¹ He was buried on 12 June 1959 at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.¹
     He graduated from the Stanley McCormick Institute in Burnsville, Yancey Co., North Carolina,⁴ then went on to the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State) in Raleigh, Wake Co., North Carolina, graduating with honors on 27 May 1913 with a B.S. in agriculture.^6,7 He later earned a master's degree in pomology (the science of growing fruit) from the same college.⁸
     His college emphasized military science, and as undergrads all students were required to participate in drills as members of the school's military battalion. During his time there he served as a corporal in Company D, a sergeant in Company F, and a second lieutenant in Company D. He also ran track, and was a member of the Leazar Literary Society, the Biological Club, and the Rural Science Club, serving as its president.⁷ While in college he adopted the middle name Dennis, so he could be known as E. D. Bowditch.⁴
     After their marriage he and his wife Bernice lived for a time with his parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and are listed with them there in the 1920 census.⁹ They later built their own home in Toecane, Mitchell Co., where they are listed in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.^10,11
     After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1913 he accepted a job as an agent with the Farmers Demonstration Cooperatives in Haysville, Clay Co., North Carolina, then joined the Agricultural Extension Service there when the Smith-Lever Act was passed the following year.^8,12 In March 1922 he was hired by the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service, Division of Horticulture, to promote the development of home gardens in the state.¹³ At various times he served as county agriculture extension agent in Madison Co., Mitchell Co., and Clay Co., and as pomologist for the Division of Horticulture.⁴
     Early in his career, perhaps while still in college, he planned and supervised the planting of a 30-acre apple orchard along Mine Creek in Mitchell Co.⁴ He also inherited a 134-acre farm that had been started by his maternal gg-grandfather David Baker in 1799.¹⁴ In 1933 he became full-time manager of both the farm and the orchard, continuing until his health began to fail in 1952. By the 1940s the orchard was yielding 15-20,000 bushels during good weather years, and he was later referred to as the "father of the apple industry in Mitchell County." He was active in soil conservation, the Apple Grower's Association, and the Grange.⁴ On 21 July 2009 he was inducted into the North Carolina 4-H Hall of Fame.¹⁵
     He was strongly in favor of Prohibition and the temperance movement against alcohol, perhaps in part because of an incident involving his young daughters Frances and Miriam. While out walking they were struck and forced off the road by a drunk driver. Only a small sapling prevented them from falling further and suffering serious injury.¹⁶
     His wife Bernice was viewed as a leader among the women in the community, and shared the produce from her large garden with families throughout the area. Together, he and Bernice led efforts to establish a Lord's Acre community garden, selling the output to raise money for local chuches.^17,18
     He and Bernice were also active as leaders and teachers in the Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Mitchell Co., and led the planning, building, and furnishing of a new church "with a larger sanctuary, classrooms, fellowship hall, and kitchen."⁴ Bricks for the church were paid for by Belk's Department Store, after Bernice appealed to the founder's wife for help funding its construction.¹⁶

     Maude Bowditch was born on 18 February 1891 on Mine Creek in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,4 She married Jesse Samuel Johnson, son of Wilson Johnson and Buena Davis, on 31 January 1909 in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁵ She died on 12 August 1948 at Marion General Hospital in Marion, McDowell Co., North Carolina, at age 57 from a "toxic goiter."¹ She was buried on 14 August 1948 at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery (her death certificate erroneously says Johnson Cemetery) in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,6
     After their marriage she and her husband Jesse lived for a time with her parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and are listed with them there in the 1910 census.⁷ By 1920 they had their own place in Bakersville Twp., where they are listed in the 1920-1940 censuses. In 1940 their daughter Lois and her husband Silas McKinney were living with them.^8,9,10

     Lois Bowditch was born on 16 August 1893 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^3,2 She died from tuberculosis on 11 May 1907 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, at age 13.^3,2,1 She was buried at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.³

     Thanes C. Bowditch was born on 28 September 1896 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.¹ He married Jean McKinney, daughter of Johnson L. McKinney and Mary E. Garland, on 15 January 1926.^3,1 He died from a heart attack on 10 February 1960 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Erie, Erie Co., Pennsylvania, at age 63.¹ He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Section 3 Masonic, Lot 582, Grave 3) in Millcreek Twp., Erie Co., Pennsylvania.⁵
     He attended Washington College in Washington Co., Tennessee, but probably only for a short time (the 1940 census lists his highest completed grade as his fourth year of high school).^6,7
     He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War I, enlisting on 21 July 1918 in Roanoke, Virginia.^8,9 He immediately began basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and qualified as a marksman on 1 September.¹⁰ On 4 September he was sent to the Overseas Depot at Quantico, Virginia, for additional training. He was initially assigned to Company B, 11th Regiment, then transferred on 17 September to Company E, 11th Regiment.⁸ On 16 October his company left for overseas duty in France, sailing on the USS Von Steuben from Brooklyn, New York, and arriving in Brest, France, on 25 October.^11,12 They remained there until 1 November, when they moved to Camp Montierchaume in central France, about 30 miles southwest of Bourges.¹³ The armistice ending the war was signed ten days later, and his regiment was never deployed in combat.¹⁴
     He probably remained at Camp Montierchaume until 19 May 1919^15,16, when he was sent to the First Replacement Depot in St. Aignan, France, for return to the United States.¹⁷ He sailed for home on the USS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm, leaving Brest, France, on 10 June and arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on 19 June.¹⁸ He was formally discharged on 30 June 1919 at Quantico.⁸
     On 13 January 1920, about six months after his discharge, he was enumerated with his parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, in the 1920 census.¹⁹ He apparently moved to Ohio sometime within the next two years, as on 6 February 1922 he was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton, Montgomery Co., Ohio. In his record his disability is listed as "tbc. pul. chr. mod. adv. act.," meaning moderately advanced, active, chronic pulmonary tuberculosis. He was discharged on 7 March 1922.^20,21
     After their marriage he and his wife Jean lived for a few years in Erie, Erie Co., Pennsylvania,²² but moved back home to Mitchell Co. by May 1929, when their daughter Jean was born there in Grassy Creek Twp.²³ They are listed in the 1930 census living with Thanes's parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co.² They moved to Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee, where Thanes's brother Roy was living, sometime before 1935, and remained there until at least 1938.²⁴ They were back in Erie, Pennsylvania, by 1940, and lived there the rest of their lives.^7,25
     In the 1920 census, and in his records from the Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, his occupation was listed as rubber plant worker.^19,20 He was working as a railroad fireman while he and his wife were first living in Erie²², and when they were back in North Carolina in 1930.² In Knoxville he worked as a salesman for the S. H. George & Sons department store, then for the Hoover vacuum company.²⁴ For a year or two after they moved back to Erie he continued working as a vacuum cleaner salesman, for the Electrolux Corp.²⁶ He then went back to working for the railroad, as a fireman until about 1945²⁷, then as a locomotive engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad from about 1946 to 1957.²⁸

     James Henderson Davis was born on 15 October 1876 in North Carolina.¹ He married Bertha Bowditch, daughter of Joseph Bowditch and Martha Elizabeth Anderson, on 30 August 1902 in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^2,3 He died on 30 November 1959 in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, at age 83 from a stroke.¹ He was buried at Mine Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^1,4
     He and his wife Bertha lived in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and are listed there in the censuses from 1910 to 1940.^5,6,7,8 He was a farmer, and also taught school and singing. He loved to sing, especially spirituals.⁹

     Maude Lorene Davis was born on 12 October 1906 in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^4,5 She married David Sullins Bennett, son of John Wesley Bennett and Hannah Tipton, on 7 November 1928 in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁶ She died on 20 January 2002 at Mountain Area Hospice in Asheville, Buncombe Co., North Carolina, at age 95.^5,7 She was buried on 23 January 2002 at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁷
     After their marriage she and her husband David lived for a time with his parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁸ By 1935 they owned their own house in Bakersville Twp., and had a servant with them by 1940.⁹
     She taught school for more than 40 years in the Mitchell Co. school system, and served as the first principal of Gouge Elementary School. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma (an international society for women educators) and the Retired Teachers Association.^7,10 She was also a member of the Cub Creek Baptist Church in Bakersville, where she taught Sunday School and served as superintendent, secretary, and choir director.⁷
     She and David moved to Black Mountain, Buncombe Co., North Carolina, in 1985.⁷

     Lawrence Edwin Davis was born on 1 August 1909 in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.¹ He married first Lucy Gouge, daughter of Lillington Gouge and Bessie Bailey, about 1929.^4,5 He married second Allona L. Archer, daughter of James L. Archer and Minnie Romines, possibly on 20 March 1934 (see below) in Mt. Vernon, Rockcastle Co., Kentucky.^2,6 He died on 24 September 1982 at LaFollette Community Hospital in LaFollette, Campbell Co., Tennessee, at age 73.⁶ He was buried at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Bakersville, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^6,7
     His middle name is given as Edwin in his transcribed birth record but as Edward in his World War II draft registration.⁸
     The marriage date of 20 March 1934 for Lawrence Davis and Allona Archer is from the Bowditch genealogy by Frederick Bowditch. No other source has been found online that gives their marriage date, and the 1934 date may be incorrect. Allona gave birth to a girl, Georgia Miller, in 1937 in Harlan Co., Kentucky, and Georgia's social security records list William Miller as her father.^9,10 Further, Lawrence and Allona are listed separately in the 1940 census. Lawrence and his brother Thanes are listed as lodgers with the family of T. L. Summers in Little Creek, Bell Co., Kentucky. Both are listed as single, with their residence in 1935 listed as Toecane, North Carolina.¹¹ Allona and her daughter Georgia are listed in 1940 living with her parents James and Minnie Archer in Pineville, Bell Co., Kentucky. Allona is listed as married, but without her husband present, and both she and Georgia are listed with the surname Archer. Allona's entry says she was living in Harlan Co., Kentucky, in 1935.¹² Finally, when Lawrence registered for the World War II draft on 16 October 1940 he named his father as his contact person.⁸
     He may have formally adopted his stepdaughter Georgia. She took his surname, his obituary names her as his daughter, and her death record lists her father's surname as Davis.^10,6,13
     In April 1930, shortly after the death of his first wife Lucy, he was living with his parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and working as a laborer for a power company.¹⁴ In May of 1940 he and his brother Thanes were living together in Little Creek, Bell Co., Kentucky, both working as coal miners.¹⁵ In October 1940, when he registered for the World War II draft, Lawrence was living in Pineville, Bell Co., Kentucky, and employed by Harlan Collieries, a coal-mining company in Brookside, Harlan Co., Kentucky.⁸
     At some point he and his second wife Allona moved to Columbus, Franklin Co., Ohio. (Allona's daughter Georgia was living there at the time of her marriage in 1972, Lawrence was a member of Carpenters Union No. 200 in Columbus, and he was listed as being of Columbus in his brother Thanes's 1981 obituary.)^16,6,17 They soon afterward moved to LaFollette, Campbell Co., Tennessee, where they were living at the time of Lawrence's death in 1982.⁶

     Hattie Mary Davis was born on 3 April 1912 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.¹ She married Frank Parsons, son of Mallie Parsons and Manerva Metcalf, on 26 April 1934 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^4,2 She died on 4 April 2003 at Kings Mountain Hospital in Kings Mountain, Cleveland Co., North Carolina, at age 91.⁵ She was buried at Mine Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁶
     She and her husband Frank, and their daughter Claudia, are listed in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, in the 1940 census.⁷
     She was employed for a time as a textile worker², and also served for several years as house parent at the Baptist Children's Home in Thomasville, Davidson Co., North Carolina.⁸

     Vera Jane Davis was born on 11 October 1914 in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina.³ She married Jack McDonald Riddle, son of Ranzie Lowe Riddle and Jane Elizabeth Oaks, on 16 December 1939 in Gate City, Scott Co., Virginia.⁵ She died on 1 November 1997 at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, Buncombe Co., North Carolina, at age 83 from an abdominal hernia.⁶ She was buried at Grassy Creek Memorial Cemetery in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.⁷
     After their marriage she and her husband Jack lived for a time with his parents in Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and are listed with them there in the 1940 census.⁸ She was then working as a hosiery mill finisher.⁸
     She and Jack had an adopted son, Donald Wayne Riddle.⁹

     Samuel Fred Davis was born on 16 November 1916 in Toecane, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.^2,5 He married Kitty Lee Warren, daughter of Henry Dan Warren and Amanda Slusher, on 13 May 1939 in Middlesboro, Bell Co., Kentucky.⁶ He died on 14 February 1998 in Pineville, Bell Co., Kentucky, at age 81.⁷ He was buried at Warren Cemetery #2 in Rella, Bell Co., Kentucky.⁸
     Although his birth record lists his name as Samuel Fred Davis, and he is listed as Samuel in the 1920 census, all other records that have been found list him as Fred, Fred S., or Fred Samuel.⁹
     After their marriage he and his wife Kitty lived next to her parents in Bell Co., Kentucky, and are listed there in Mag. Dist. 2 in the 1940 census.¹⁰ He was then working as a mine construction laborer for the Bell Coal Co. in Rella, Bell Co.^10,11 He later established his own business, the Davis Construction Co. It was a family business, at least for a time. In 1967 he was the company's president, his son Warren was secretary and treasurer, and his sons Fred and Murrell were also associated with the company.^1,12