Captain William Featherston’s Company, 1805

 

Robert C. Carpenter, Contributor

Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Transcriber, 2010

 

Robert C. Carpenter:

All of Captain Wm Featherstons Company is in present central Gaston County with present Dallas its mid-point. Its eastern boundary stretched to the South Fork River including people from the Spencer's Mountain area like the Wiatts, Senters, Rhynes, Hovises, and Andrew Hoyl, the Justice who received the taxpayers’ information. Andrew Hoyl lived on the west side of the South Fork River. The Hoyle house still standing today is on present Dallas-Stanley Highway. The northern boundary appears to have extended north to the Philadelphia Lutheran Church community. It included the Costners, Rhodes, Vestals, and Rhynes from that area. It appears that the northern boundary is slightly south of the current Gaston-Lincoln county line. Andrew Friday, who lived at present Hardin on the South Fork, may have been one of the most northern taxpayers. The boundary extended westward to Pasour Mountain and included the lands east of Pasour Mountain: Pasour (Peasehore), Jenkins, White, Hillhouse, Clemmer, Rhyne, and Christian Best are names within this area. The southern boundary extended at least to Long Creek and may in fact may have passed Long Creek. The Davis, Dickson, Darnel, Greaves families lived in this area. Huffmans, Hollands, Withers, and Rhynes owned land on both sides of Long Creek south of present Dallas. The area included Long Creek Baptist Church with its English speaking people.

 

The majority of Capt. Featherston’s residents are in the eighth company of the 1790 Lincoln County census. A few of the residents are recorded in the sixth company of the 1790 census, such as Andrew Friday and some of the Rhynes.

 

There is a split of German and non-German in this list. I counted 39 Germans out of a total of 112. Most of these Germans lived north and west of present Dallas. This district had some affluence. Two stores were listed, and a few persons in this tax list held large acreage. Yet most owned a few hundred acres and many persons on the tax list were landless and were taxed for polls. The number of slaves held was not very high. The absence of a taxed cotton gin suggests that few had yet taken up growing cotton in this district.

 

Kathy Gunter Sullivan:

Featherson remained Captain of his district through at least 1811. Although the 1810 Lincoln County census does not identify his company, many of the 1805 district residents are enumerated on pages 427, 428, and 430.

 

Map link:

Gaston Co., NC Flood Maps

 

Captain William Featherston’s Company, 1805

Lincoln County Tax Lists 1805 [sic]-1806; box no. CR.060.701.4, North Carolina State Archives.

 

A list of Taxable of Cap^t Wm Featherstons Company for the year 1805

Taken by An^d Hoyl

 

 

Land 15,466 ½

White Polls 71

Black Polls 22

Stores 2

 

Duplicate Made out