Old Pioneer History of Brown Township

  There are many interesting historical items connected with Mooresville and vicinity. The settlement there, after it had begun, was so rapid, and the settlers were so intelligent, moral and thrifty, that the northern part of the county was not surpassed by any other portion for enterprise and general advancement and excellence. It is difficult to give with any certainty the name of the first settler in Brown Township, as several came in about the same time. If carefully sifted reports are reliable, there was no permanent settler until 1819, at which time a half dozen or more arrived. The first man was probably either Hiram Matthews, Benjamin Cuthbert, Charles Reynolds, Thomas Lee, Samuel Barlow or William Ballard, all of whom entered the township for permanent residence in 1819. It is thought that Mr. Ballard was the first, as he opened a tavern on the old Whetzel Trace early in 1819. Among others who came during the next three or four years were John H. Bray, Eli Hadley, Harris Bray, Asa Bales, William McPherson, James Hadley, Barclay Burris, Edward bray, R.G. Burris, John D. Carter, then a boy, Joel Dixon, Thomas Ballard, Richard Day, Nathaniel Carter, Charles Vertrees, Joshua Carter, Levi Plummer, William Rooker, Samuel Jones, William Gregory, I.W. Rooker, Ira Mendenhall, William Reason, Benjamin Thornburg, John Wilson, Thomas McNeff, William McNeff, William Matlock, Samuel Barlow, Joseph Moon, Eli Harvey, Samuel Moore and many others. The poll-tax payers in 1842 were Cary Benson, Edward Brady, William Brady, Caleb Beason, Harris Bray, John B. Burt, John Blanton, R.G. Burris, Smith Boyd, W.M. Black, Barclay Burris, Martin Beason, John Caveness, Alexander Conduitt, John Carter, J.H. Combs, Joshua Cox, J.L. Cox, John D. Carter, Perry Carpenter, Gabriel Coble, Daniel Cox, Nathaniel Carter, William Day, Aiken Daiken, Daniel Day, Thomas Dunegan, Nathan Dixon, Riley Dixon, John Day, Samuel Edmundson, Samuel Evans, John E. Fultz, Isaac Ferrand (a cooper), William Fogleman, William Fields, Dr. A.V. Gray, Daniel Greeson, M.T. Hadley, Eli Harvey, Simon Hadley, William Hadley, Dr. John Hiner, Job Hadley, David Harvey, Robert Harvey, W.B. Harrold, Reuben Harris, Noah Housand, Joseph Hiatt, William Hardridge, John Hardrick, Jabez Hunt, Soloman Hunt, William Hinson, Thomas herrold, T.E. Johnson, Hezekiah Jessup, John Johnson, P.P. Johnson (a tailor), James Johnson, George Kimbro, J.R. Kerr (a weaver), J.S. Kellye, Obed King, James Lindley, Aaron Lloyd, William Leathers, Joel Landrum, Alfred Moore, Samuel Moore, G.D. May, Hiram Matthews, John Matthews, John B. Moon, William McCracken, Henry McCracken, Riley McCrary, William McPherson, Thomas McNeff, Ricks Newby, Robert Newby, M.L. Orell, James Paddock, John J. Pfoff, John Pope, Dixon Pennington, R.E. Preston (a school teacher), Michael Rusee, Jesse S. Rooker, Isaac Reed, Thomas Rariden, James Richardson, Allen Robertson, T.H. Rooker, J.W. Richards, Jacob Shanafelt, Pleasant Sumner, Henry Shanafelt, J.E. Starr, S.V. Scott, B.D. Scott, John Thompson, Benjamin Thornburg, William Towell, I.W. Rooker, George Rosier, Reuben Rariden and Eli Vestal.