Elkin, North Carolina ************************************************************************************************Elkin, North Carolina is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We are centrally located between Mount Airy and Charlotte, Boone and Winston-Salem, along Interstate-77, only 20 minutes away from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Stone Mountain State Park. Our quaint historical downtown is situated along the Yadkin River Elkin is a town in Surry and Wilkes counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, along the Yadkin River. Elkin shares its name with the surrounding township of Elkin Township. Elkin is approximately 15 minutes south of Stone Mountain State Park, and 20 minutes to the entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway off of Hwy 21 (heading towards Sparta). Elkin enjoys mild weather patterns and extremely clean air. Its downtown is also situated along the Yadkin River, and offers a paddlers boat ramp and small camp site. There are also numerous vineyards in the Elkin area, and the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival is held each May at the Elkin Municipal Park, which is situated along Big Elkin Creek, which feeds into the Yadkin River. Trails are abundant in Elkin, including the Overmountain Victory Trail, the NC Mountains to Sea Trail, and the Yadkin River Trail, to name a few, and Elkin is considered an official Trail Town.The flowing together of the Yadkin River and the Big Elkin Creek has drawn people to the area of what is now Elkin, since the coming of the Paleo-Indians 10,000 years ago. The Sioux Indians settled along the Yadkin River as early as 500 BC. The first English colonists came in the mid-eighteenth century with some from Irish. Cherokee Indians were also in the area, although the Cherokees had been active in the French and Indian War, they had joined in treaties with the English in 1763, followed by the events of the American Revolution. Alexander Chatham opened a small woolen mill in 1877 that grew to become Elkin’s largest industry for many decades, but as other mills in the area it has dwindled. The Northwestern North Carolina Railroad arrived in 1890; the town was ready to take the opportunities the railroad brought for commercial and industrial expansion. It’s strategic location near the Yadkin River and the Big Elkin Creek and as a stop on the railroad caused prosperity that produced brick stores, many industries, and fine houses. The beginning of industry with the cotton mill, the Civil War involvement, the coming of the railroad, the town’s coping with the depression of the Thirties, and the two world wars heavily influenced the towns development. lkin had the biggest cruising community on the east coast during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. USA Today once featured Elkin and its cruisers on the front page of the national news paper. However, a crackdown by local police in the late 1990s completely wiped out the once-vibrant weekend cruising scene leaving downtown Elkin deserted on weekend nights. On Saturday, October 10, 2009, cruising life returned to downtown Elkin for the first time in almost 20 years. A fundraiser was held to raise money to restore the historic Reeves Theater in downtown Elkin. For a $5 donation, participants would be given a decal for their car and then be allowed cruise the former downtown cruising loop. Many people both young and old participated, with many parents who were cruisers in their younger days bringing their children out to show them how fun downtown Elkin used to be. In 2012, Cruise! events became a summertime monthly event and continue each year. Cruise events involve parking along Main Street as well as cruising around the downtown streets. Events are scheduled May through August each year. Many shops and restaurants stay open for the crowds. The event starts around 3 pm and lasts till around 9 pm. Ruth Elkins Skaggs Bishop Birth 1730 King George, Virginia, United States Montgomery County, Virginia, USA Marriage abt 1746 to John Skaggs SR. Death 1806 Montgomery County, Virginia, USA in what is now Floyd County Ky.Her family settled around the Yadkin River between 1745 and 1760 in North Carolina.Ruth Elkins was married first to John Skeggs (Skaggs). John Skeggs lived at Abingdon - they called it Wolf Hills then - in Indian times. Abingdon was originally named Wolf Hills because a pack of wolves emerged from a cave and attacked Daniel Boone’s dogs here in 1760‘s. Ruth was captured by Indians in the 1760s and taken to the Carolinas. She was pregnant when she was released and she made it back, then she had a daughter she named Rachel Skaggs. Ruth then met and married John Bishop, who raised her daughter Rachel Skaggs. Ironically, although the idea of Ruth coming back to Virginia with the child of an Indian mate might not have been socially acceptable in those days, Rachel/Rebecca’s lineage today might actually be one of the most interesting ones and something that her descendents can use with pride. Rachel/Rebecca Skaggs descends from Wahanganoche, the first cousin to Pocahontas. Wahanganoche, also known as Whipsewasson, was a nephew to Chief Powhatan and the last chief of the Patawomeck tribe. Chief Powhatan, of course, was the father to Pocahontas. Ruth ELKINS was born between 1730 and 1735 in Montgomery County, Virginia. She between 1755 and 1760 in North Carolina. Ruth Elkins b abt 1730 was married first to John Skaggs Sr.{ Long Hunter}and had 2 or more children. John Skaggs left Virginia settled in Green County KY dying at the age 101remarried Elizabeth . The story goes that she was captured by Cherokee Indians and taken to North Carolina where she became pregnant with Rachel/Rebecca. Her nickname was Old Cherry. She came back to Virginia and gave Rebecca/Rachel the last name of Skaggs. Her husband John Skaggs {who was a brother to Famous Skaggs Longhunters} assumed she have been killed because she had been missing four years. After a treaty in the Carolinas was signed ,she was release from her captors Ruth returned to Virginia .She met Johann Bischoff/John bishop b. April 1, 1731 and either married or lived with him. She Ancestral File number 1QCL-9TV. She was married to John BISHOP (son of Hans Jakob BISHOP and Anna Catarina RAUCH) about 1756. John BISHOP was born on Apr 1 1731 in Oberhausen, Rhine Pfalz, Germany. He Moved between 1750 and 1755 in Maryland. May have moved to New York first. Some think they moved to the U.S. 1759-1760. He Moved about 1765 in Floyd County, Virginia. He owned Land/House in 1767 in Montgomery County, Virginia. A commissioners Certificate issued in September 1782 to Samuel Canterberry shows him to have been an assignee of John Bishop, 190 acres on Mill Creek surveyed for Loyal Company in 1753-1754, on which Bishop settled agreeable to terms of sale publicly offered by said company or agent in 1767, interest from Jan 1, 1767. He owned Land/House in 1771 in Montgomery County, Virginia. Lived on the New River. He died on May 15 1775 in Lincoln County, Tennessee. He Ancestral File number 1QCL-9SN. He also known as John Bischoff or Hans Johannes. Hans, his Mother and brothers came to America on the ship Two Brothers They arrived in Philadelphia 13 October, 1747. Hans died 15 May 1775 in Lincoln County, Tennessee. Ruth ELKINS and John BISHOP had the following children: +2 i. Henry BISHOP. ii. Thomas BISHOP was born between 1862 and 1880. +4 iii. Rachel BISHOP. +5 iv. Lydia BISHOP. +6 v. Jacob BISHOP. +7 vi. George BISHOP. +8 vii. Darky BISHOP. +9 viii. Margaret BISHOP. +10 ix. David BISHOP Ruths maiden name was Elkins, Ruth had close ties to the Elkins family. The scenario Ruth Elkins married a John Skaggs Sr. first makes sense. It seems to be accepted that her maiden name was Elkins. Ruth parents would have been Ralph Elkins and Frances Brown. Ralph Elkins was a grandson of the immigrant Ralph Elkins who came to Virginia from England in 1657 and soon settled in Stafford County. The family was in the part of Stafford County which became King George County, Virginia. Ralph Elkins and Frances Brown lived in King George County until they moved to southern Virginia in the mid-1740s, settling in the part of Halifax County which became Pittsylvania and eventually Henry County. Their children had been born between about 1720 to 1740. NO OTHER ELKINS FAMILY WITH CHILDREN BORN DURING THOSE YEARS LIVED IN THAT PART OF VIRGINIA. Ralph and Frances were it. Ralph and Frances oldest son Nathaniel had a son Jesse (named after Nathaniels brother) who was born in 1746, the next generation of Elkinses in the area. Between 1769 and 1771, four of Ralph and Frances sons moved a little further west, into southwest Virginia, Montgomery County - Richard, Ralph Jr., Nathaniel, and Jesse. Nathaniel and Jesse were in southwest Virginia only briefly, but Richard and Ralph Jr. settled there with their families. Ralph Elkins Jr. settled on Little River, near John Bishop. After a few years, Richard Elkins moved to nearby Russell County. At least one land record which names both John Bishop and Ralph Elkins on Little River (names them both in the same record): 9-1782- Commissioners Certificate- Archibald Elkins- assignee of Ralph Elkins-assignee of John Bishop- Assignee of William Strother- assignee of Jessee Elkins- 250 acres on Both sides of Little River- to include 40 acres surveyed in 1775- settled in 1774. Ruths maiden name was Elkins, she would have been a sister of this Ralph Elkins (Jr.). Ralph Elkins Jr. was the father of Archibald Elkins (who married John Bishops daughter Margaret), Elizabeth (who married Barnett Farmer), Christina (who married John Smith and moved to Tennessee), Catherine (who married John Bishops son Jacob), and Elijah Elkins (who married Jerusha Booth). A note on Elijah - Elijah was Ralph Jrs son. Zachariah Skaggs was Rachel Skaggs older brother both of them children of Ruth Elkins Skaggs. Zachariah Skaggs moved to Indian Creek in Russell County, which is where some of the Elkinses moved to - Richard Elkins and his family, and later, Elijah Elkins. Richard Elkins was Zachariahs uncle. Zachariahs son Jeremiah Skaggs married Hannah Lester, sister of Rachel Skaggs husband William Lester. Estimated Ruths birth date as no earlier than about 1731, since her son Dave Bishop was born in 1776, making Ruth about 45 at the time. Ruth was teenager when Zachariah Skaggs was born (basing his birth date on when he first started appearing on the tax lists - in Pittsylvania County with the Elkins family in 1769). Concerning the Elkins family; Rachel Skaggs father as an Indian because thats apparently whats been passed down by family tradition and seems to be the accepted story. Ruths maiden name was Elkins and who Rachels father was Indian. The story of Ruth being kidnapped by Indians must have come from someplace, but where? The Breaks of Sandy where alot of Skaggs Family History was made during this time frame. Apparently it was passed down in the family that her maiden name was Elkins. Ruth was an Elkins, that her parents would have been Ralph Elkins (born about 1700) and Frances Brown. Ralph and Frances were the only Elkins couple in southern Virginia who were old enough to have a daughter as old as Ruth. Ruth and her husband John Bishop lived next to Archibald Elkins, who was a son of Ralph Elkins, Jr. Ruth was Archibalds aunt, and Ralph Jr.s sister. Notes for Wahanganoche of the Potomac Indians, and the Elkins connection to him: Ralph Elkins b. Abt 1700 Stafford Co, Virginia. The Father of Ruth Elkins b. 1730s King George Co, Virginia. Rachel has a bloodline to Wahanganoche of the Potomac Indians and all of her descendants.Generation No. 4 4. JOHN4 BISHOP (HANS JOHANNES3 BISCHOFF, HANS JAKOB2 BISHOFF, GEORG HINNRICH1 BISCHOFF) was born Abt. 1749. He married RUTH ELKINS. She was born Abt. 1749. Child of JOHN BISHOP and RUTH ELKINS is: 6. i. RACHAEL REBECCA (SKAGGS)5 BISHOP, b. 1765, Montgomery Co., Va.. 5. DAVID4 BISHOP (HANS JOHANNES3 BISCHOFF, HANS JAKOB2 BISHOFF, GEORG HINNRICH1 BISCHOFF) was born November 17, 1772 in Virginia. He married ELIZABETH WOLFORD February 20, 1801 in Tazewell Co., Va.. She was born 1783 in Virginia. Children of DAVID BISHOP and ELIZABETH WOLFORD are: 7. i. GEORGE5 BISHOP, b. 1819, Virginia. 8. ii. HENRY BISHOP, b. 1825, Virginia. iii. THOMAS BISHOP, b. 1826. 9. iv. GATHA BISHOP, b. April 02, 1827, Virginia; d. March 02, 1891, Wyoming County, W.Va.. 6. RACHAEL REBECCA (SKAGGS)5 BISHOP (JOHN4, HANS JOHANNES3 BISCHOFF, HANS JAKOB BISHOFF, GEORG HINNRICH1 BISCHOFF) was born 1765 in Montgomery Co., Va.. She married WILLIAM CALVIN GILLFORD LESTER March 26, 1786 in Montgomery County, Virginia, son of ABNER LESTER and MARTHA ARTHUR. He was born 1765 in Montgomery Co., Va., and died Abt. 1843 in Tazewell County, Va.. Notes for WILLIAM CALVIN GILLFORD LESTER: William Lester was born abt. 1760, in Montgomery County, Va. William Lester who married Rebecca Bishop Skaggs 26 May 1786 in Montgomery County. His parents were listed as Abner and Martha Lester. Rebeccas parents were listed as Ruth Bishop, wife of John Bishop. William owned land lying on Dandy (sic) (probably should read Sandy or Tug Fork of the Big Sandy) River in the County of Logan and Tazewell Counties. Viz. Beginning at the mouth of Four Pole Creek and running down to the river to the deep ford of the river and out the lines of a survey made for William Lester and Michael Charles William died prior to 1842. His heirs sold their interest in this parcel to Thomas Mullins on July 22, 1842. Deed recorded in the Clerks office of Tazewell County, April 28, 1843. This parcel of land is in what is now McDowell County, W.Va. near the town of Mohawk. Floyd County Kentucky in 1810. Which was later known as Pike County Kentucky. Census: 1820, Floyd Co., Kentucky [15897] 1. FOWC, Vol 1, Issue 4, , page 134, 509 Queens Court, Pace, FL 325 71. William Calvin Lester was born about 1760, in Montgomery Co, VA. William Lester who married Rachel/Rebecca SKaggs in Montgomery Co, VA. She was daughter of Ruth Bishop, wife of John Bishop. Daughter, Ruth, first married John Skaggs on 21 Dec 1746 in Tazewell Co, VA;
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 20:32:21 +0000
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