Ancestors of Claude Grindstaff
1. Biebold Crantzdorf b.1520
2. Hans Crantzdorf Sr. b.1550
3. Hans Crantzdorf Jr. b.1575
4. Hans Nichel Crantzdorf b. about 1600
5. Johann Daniel Crantzdorf b.1625 (In Zwienbrucken, Germany)
6. Dietrict Crantzdorf/Grindstaff b.about 1650
7. Johann Nichel Grindstaff b.1688 (In Zwiebrucken, Germany)
8. Johann Michael Grindstaff b. October 3, 1728 (In Zwiebrucken, Germany)
9. Isaac Grindstaff b. December of 1754
10. Henry Grindstaff b.1790
11. Isaac Grindstaff b. about 1820
12. Stephen Grindstaff b. August 18, 1855
13. Claude Grindstaff b. March 4, 1897
(6) Dietrich Crantsdorf (Krnatzdorf)
Dietrich Crantsdorf (Krnatzdorf) was born before 1650 and died before 1714. As was often the case with immigrants whose names were unusual or difficult to pronounce, the family's name was simplified to Grindstaff. The children of Dietrich Crantsdorf were:
1. Johannes who married Anna Dorothea.
2. Philp who married Magdalina Gros. about 1713.
3. Johann Bartholomaeus who married Maria Magdelena Heussler in Germany. His family as well as that of his brother Johann Nichols with their wives and families arrived on the ship Thistle at Philadelphia, P.A. on September 9, 1738. He died before September 17, 1752 in York County, P.A.
4. Johann Nichel
(7) Johann Nichel Grindstaff
Born in Germany about 1688. He married Barbara ? in Hornbach, Germany in October or November of 1714. Their children were:
1. Anna Catherine baptized 7-10-1715
2. Anna Rosina baptized at the end of July, 1719
3. Johann Michael Grindstaff
(8) Johann Michael Grindstaff
He was baptized 10-3-1728. (Johann) Michael married Catherine ? it is said in York County, P.A. before May of 1773. He had purchased land in Tyron County, N.C.
Their children were:
1. Susannah who married Joseph Rainbolt
2. Catherine who married Micahel Gabbard.
3. Nicholas b. about 1745 who married Catherine ? and moved to the Watauga Settlement (present day Carter County, Tenn.)
4. Isaac b. about 1754, who may have married twice (wives names unknown). He moved to Carter County Tenn. about 1787 then to Burke County, N.C. in 1790.
5. Michael b. 1-5-1754 -1833 wife unknown
6. Jacob (1765-1844) married Susannah Newton.
7. Adam b. about 1760 who married Jane ?.
The following sons of Michael and Catherine Grindstaff served in the Revolution, their records being filed either in N.C. or in Kentucky. Nicholas, Isaac, Michael, Jacob, and Adam.
(9) Isaac Grindstaff
Is to be found in Burke County, North Carolina Census of 1790 thru 1820. These records suggest that he had 7 children by his first wife. The 1810 Census reveals a younger second wife. We do not have any names of these ladies. The children of the first wife are:
1. A male b. 1778.
2. Isaac Jr. b, 06/14/1779 married Sally hart and Prudence Ledford.
3. Sally b. 1782 married George Hunsaker.
4. Mary b. 1785 married Lowrance Effler(b. about 1787 in Prussia (Germany) to father Michael Effler.
5. Margaret Jane (b. 1787) married Ruben Woody Moody.
6. Henry b. 1789 married Cynthia Penland. This is my Ancestors. Died 1860/70 Cynthia married 1789/1808/1860.
7. Arbella C born 1790 married Stephen Pittman.
8. Amelia b. 179?.
(10) Henry Grindstaff and Cynthia Penland
Henry Grindstaff and Cynthia Penland were married about 1808 and are found in the 1820 Burke County N.C. Census with 2 male and 3 female children. By 1840 five more sons and two daughters had been added.
Their children were:
1. A male born 1810 - 1820.
2.Margaret born 1810 - 1820 married Henry Effler.
3. Isaac born (1816 - 05/1900) married Sarah Hoilman.
4. Keziah born 11-18-1814 married Rev. Thomas Stephen Willis.
5. Zelphia born 06/02/1818 married David M. Willis.
6. Henry (fighting Henry) born 03/20/1826. He married Mary Bedie Buchanan.
7. Martha born 1829 married David Willis.
8. Cynthia born 1830 who married Thomas Willis.
9. Jobe born about 1829 married Susan WIlson.
10. Loviado born 1837 married Mahalah.
(11) Isaac Grindstaff and Sarah Hoilman
Isaac Grindstaff and Sarah Hoilman was born in 1820. He married Sarah Hoilman who was born in 1818. There children were:
1. Cynthia Grindstaff was born about 1845.
2. Kizziah was born about 1847.
3. Mary was born about 1849.
4. Henry was born about 1852.
5. Stephen was born August 18, 1855 in Yancy County, N.C. 1855-1930. This is our ancestors.
6. Elmira was born about 1857.
7. Joseph was born about 1859.
8. Jobe was born about 1861.
9. Sarah W. was born in Snow Creek in Mitchell County, N.C. in 1869. Stephen T.'s father passed away on May 10, 1900 in Snow Creek, N.C. in MItchell County at the age of 80. 1820-1900. Stephen T.'s mother, Sarah Hoilman Grindstaff passed away on December 15, 1910 in Mitchell County, N.C. at the age of 92. 1818-1910.
(12) Stephen Grindstaff
Stephen Grindstaff was born on August 18, 1855 in Yancy County, N.C. His parents were Sarah Hoilman age 37 and Isaac Grindstaff, age 35. Stephen married Evaline Pritcher in Mitchell County, N.C. Their children were as follows:
1.Isaac born April 18, 1875 who married Zelphia (b. 01/30/1954-August 9, 1957) - [their children were: 1Lula 2Raymond 3Buna 4 Champ 5Charlsie 6Woodrow 7Florence 8Howard.]
2. Berna Vesta 02/24/1881 - 10/03/1937. She died in Troy, Idaho at the age of 56. She married Milton Ashley. (child 1Juanita).
3.Charlie Jefferson b.10/09/1882. He married Ester ? and they had a daughter named Buna who was murdered. They had daughters Lora and Flora also, and a son named Leonard.
4.Harriet b. in 1884. She married Jim Ashley. They had a son, John Ashley.
5. Flemming Samuel b. July 20, 1885. He married Mattie Lou Tolley born November 4, 1898 died January 4, 1971. Flem died May 8, 1961. There children were Ruth, Hazel, Ratha, Blondie, Lacy, Margie, Corbie, Margie, and Uleen.
6. Flora b. January 2, 1891 - d. January 16, 1972 married John Greer. John was b. February 8, 1890 - d. February 23, 1974. John and Flora did not have any children of their own, but they raised 2 of John's brothers children, Martha and Ernest.
7. Buena b. 1892.
8. Deppie Jane b.April 7, 1894. She died 1981. She married Raymond Huges. There children were Voncille, Pauline, Willie, and Guy.
9. Washington b.April 8, 1896. He married America Carpernter. Their children were David and Elizabeth. He later married Florence Cornett.
10. Claude b. on March 4, 1897. He married Maggie Sue Koon b. October 20, 1909. This is my mother.
11. Etta was b. September 15, 1900 and died November 14, 1947. She married David Johnson born September 3, 1891 and died October 30, 1973. Their children were James, Silas, Judy, Bob, Mary, Jessie, Earl, Boyd, Paul, Henry, Ted, and Juanita.
12. Albert b. March 24, 1903 married Florence Dula. They had no children of their own, but they adopted a boy named Tommy.
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Stephen, grandaughter Juanita and Evaline Grindstaff
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Extra Findings
Stephen and Evaline were first cousins.
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Copy of Newspaper Clipping from 1935.
(Claude's Niece)
Boonford, N.C. June 27, 1935. Mrs. Buna Teague, 23, and Winfield S. Garland, 73, were found shot to death about 10 o'clock last night at the Garland home at Boonford in Yancy County, near the Mitchell County line.
An inquest was held last night under the barn shed on the Garland farm where the bodies were found and the jury returned the verdict that the fatal shots were fired by parties unknown. Officers are following clues, which, it is understood, may lead to the central part of the state.
Odus Buchanan, Yancy County youth, was taken into custody this morning as a material witness. It is understood that he heard threats made by the suspect, whose name was not disclosed.
The bodies were found by Charlie Grindstaff, father of the murdered woman and Will Wyatt. Mr. Grindstaff is a renter on the Garland farm. Mr. Garland and Mrs. TEague left the Grindstaff home to go milk. When they failed to return after a reasonable time, Mr. Grindstaff became alarmed and began to search for them. Failing to find them, he enlisted the aid of Mr. Wyatt and the two men discovered the bodies under the shed.
More than $6,000 in cash was found on the body of Mr. garland, indicating that robbery was not the motive. Three shots were heard about 7 o'clock last night in the vicinity of the farm by Dewitt Howell. Howell was passing along a highway about 500 yards from the barn and said he heard 2 shots, followed by a woman's scream, and then he heard a third shot. He said he attached no special significance to the shots at the time.
Mr. Garland was shot through the head, the bullet entering at the nose and severing the spinal cord as it came out the back of his neck. Mrs. Teague was shot through the brain, the bullet entering the head near the left ear and coming out the right ear. Both were believed to have been killed instantly. Mrs. Teague is survived by her parents, her husband, a brother and 2 sons. Buna Teague born 6-3-1914 in Madison County, N.C. was the daughter of Charlie and Ester Grindstaff of Mitchell County census.
In the 1930 census we find Charlie living in Snow creek in Mitchell County, North Carolina. Charlie didn't go to school so he wasn't able to read or write. He was a farmer, married to Ester Bastian. They had one son Lenard, 12, and one daughter, Flora, 7, living with them. Aparently Buna had already left home. I found later information about another daughter named Lola Grindstaff.
Winfield Garland and Mrs. Buna Grindstaff Teague (aged 23 and apparently living with him) were shot from ambush. Garland had six thousand dollars in cash on him, so robbery was not the motive. Notes in my file from a neighbor states that Winfred's wife was named Laura, an invalid and Mrs. Teague (whose husband Carl was in prison at the time) had been hired as a cook and stayed on after Laura's death. Josh McCoury (Garland's son-in-law) and another person were later indicted for the murder (Fall 1935). But there was no trial. The other person reportedly made a death bed confession as the true motive for the killing( which was related to Mrs. Teague's pregnancy).
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The obituary for Fred (Junior) Johnson from the Avery Journal in Newland North Carolina.
(Claude's brother, Isaac's grandson)
Fred Johnson Jr. 74 of Newland North Carolina went to his eternal home on Wednesday, January 5, 2011.
Junior was a native of Avery County and was born on August 16, 1936 to Fred and Florence Grindstaff Johnson. Junior was one of a kind, a friend to everyone. He was employed until the time of his death at Avery True Value Hardware, where he was loved and adored as family. He was proud to be an American and always flew his flag with honor. He loved his family with an unfailing love until the Lord Jesus called him home. His love for the outdoors has been passed on to many who he came into contact with. He was a member of the Gold Prospectors Association which never made him rich but a gleam in his eye when he saw (color).
He was a student of the Holy Bible and could converse with "the best of them" in knowledge of Gods word and expressed his knowledge by teaching Sunday School. Bible studies were always vocal with a seasoned experience of what Zgod had done in his life.
Junior is survived by his sister Carolyn Pyatte and her husband Kenneth, he is also survived by nine nephews and their wives, two nieces and their husbands and many great nephews and nieces. Junior is the grandson of Isaac and Zelphia Grindstaff.
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The children and grandchildren of Flenn and Mattie Grindstaff. 1. Ruth born in 1917, died 10-18-1976, married Ernest Cole. Their children were 1. Alverta born 1936, married Edward Roach. She had Denise and Lorrie. Denise married Douglas Kay in 1981. She had one child a boy. Lorrie married Bill Swagger and had 2 daughters Selina and a daughter buried in North Carolina cemetary. 2. Marlin married Darlene. They had 2 adopted children. Melvin married Betty had 1 adopted son. He married Candy and had 2 boys, Jonathan and Cristopher. 2. Hazel born 1919 died 4-30-1960. married Frank Cole. Their children were Densel born 1936 married Phillus, had 2 children, Bruce and Deana. Bruce married Norma? Norma had 3 kids, 2 girls and 1 boy. Densel's 2nd wife was Dottie? His 3rd wife was Betty? Deana married ? Brown. Rathy married Catherine (Kay)? born 9-2-1926, died 1-4-1964. Their children were Ray Gary married Barbara? Had 3 children and one stepchild. Rena Sue married Charles Roy Wallace. Anna May married John Hinkle and had 2 children Katie and Shawn. Lisa kay married John George and had 1 child Kayla. John married several times. Atheny Lee Cole married Merle Pearson they met at a party. Their children were Kim Marie born 8-20-1983 married Peter Mark Harris and had 1 girl. Jeff Lynn married Terri Dawn? They had 3 children. Vickie R. born 6-8-1984 married Brian L. Burkeholder and had 3 children. Blondie married Mallard Hollman from Burnsville. Margie married Thomas Beard and they had 2 sons. Lacey born 5-17-1926 - 9-13-1948. Lacey never married. He was engaged when he got killed in a car wreck. Corbit Lee born 3-20-1933 married Margie Wood born 1936 in 1956. Their children were Rosana Lee born 6-14-1975 married Howard George. They had one child Tim Lee. Douglas Leroy born 3-11-1958 married Victoria Costea 8-21-1982. They had 3 children, Angela and twin boys Brice and Broch. Lavonia Jean Cole daughter of Ruth and Ernest Cole was born 3-26-1935 - 3-26-1935.
Some of the ancestors in the census in the 1870 census for Mirchell County, North Carolina there is Isaac Grindstaff who is 56 years old and is a farmer. His wife Sarah was 46 years old. Cynthia 25, Kizziah 23, Mary 21, Henry 18, Stephen 15, Elmira 13, Joseph 11, Jobe 9, Sarah W.L.
In the 1870 census for Mitchell County, North Carolina. There is Henry Grindstaff (Fighting Henry) age 51, born in Burke County and he is a farmer. Biddy his wife 41 born in Burke County. Isaac 18 born in Yancy County. William 16 born in Yancy County. Clarissa 13 born in Yancy county. Eveline 12 born in Yancy co. Matilda 10 born in Yancy County. John 8 born in Mitchell county. Henry G 2 born in Mitchell Co. in the 1880 census for Mitchell County we find Henry at age 57. Biddy at 51, clarissa 24(in school) Matilda 21 Jane 12(in school) Mary 7, John 18(in school) Mack 15(in school) Gilbert 11(in school). Reuben 9(in school) In the 1880 census for Mitchell County Stephen Grindstaff was 23 years old and a farmer. evaline was 21 and his wife. In the 1880 census for Mitchell County Isaac Grindstaff was 64, sarah was 61, Cynthia was 30, Henry was 28, Kizziah was 25, Joseph was 22, Elmira was 20, Jobe was 18 and Sarah was 11 and a granddaughter.
In the 1900 census for Linville Township we find Stephen Grindstaff 50 years old, Evelyn his wife 45, Isaac 19, charlie 17, Flemmming 14, Flora 8, depie 6, Wash 4, Etter 2. (claude was not included, he should have been 3 years old then). We find James Ashley as head of house age 24 and his wife Harriet at age 19. We find Milton Ashley who later married Buna grindstaff still at home with his parent at age 26.
In the 1910 census for Linville Township in North Carolina we find Stephen grindstaff at age 54. Evaline his wife age 48, Flora 21, Flemming 23, Deppie 17, Washington 14, Etta 12, claude 9 and Albert 6.
In the 1930 census for Linville Township Avery County North Carolina we find Stephen Grindstaff at 72 and Evaline at 67 and Albert is still at home at age 25.
In the 1930 census for Linville Township in Avery County North Carolina we find Flen Grindstaff as head of household at age 45, Mattie, wife at age 32, Ruth 13, Hazel 12, Ratha 7, Blondie 6, Lacey 4, and Margie 2.
In the 1930 census for Roaring Creek Township in Avery County North Carolina. We find Claude Grindstaff as head of house at age 28. Maggie his wife at age 20 and Rena his daughter at 1 6/12. In the 1940 census for LInville township in avery county north carolina we find claude grindstaff as head of house at 38 years old. Maggie as his wife at 30, Reaney Eat 11, Leila M. at 9, cecil at 6, mildred at 3 and clarence at 1.
in the 1940 census for linville township in avery county norht carlina we find albert grindstaff at age 33. as head of house and his wife florence at age 19. in the 1940 census for linville township in avery county north carolina we find isaac grindstaff at age 60 as head of house. his wife zelphia at the age of?. Howard at the age 23. charlcie at the age of 14 and change at the age of 12.
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1930 Census
In the 1930 census for Linville in Avery County North Carolina we find Raymond Hughes age 40. He never attended school but, he could read and write. His wife Deppie Grindstaff Hughes was 37 years old, She never went to school either but she was able to read and write. Their children were Willie age 10, Guy age 6, Lasha age 4, and Vonseil age 2. They later had a daughter named Pauline. Deppie Grindstaff was born 4/7/1894-1981. She married Raymond Hughes. Their children were Willie who married Mack Buchanan and had Janet, Roger, Terry, Pamela, Elaine, and Steve. Guy married Barbara Goins. Vonseil married Ray Mckiney. Lasha married Louis Hall, Pauline married ? Raymond Hughes was born 9/26/1899. Died 1/8/1970 in North Carolina, he was a private in company I 148 infintry division WW1.
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Melton Jerome Ashley and Buna Grindstaff.
Buna Grindstaff married Melton Jerome Ashley, had 2 sons Elmer and Floyd both died young. They had Janita mattied Merit Tolley and one son Bruce.
Melton Ashley at the age of 16, left the grain field in the midwest he traveled as a hobo riding the rails. For his spending money he old a calf for $3.50 to WIley Johnson. He caught a train at the Linville Falls. At the age of 25 he came back to Avery County where he carried on a record courtship. He met his wife on a Thursday and married her on the next Thursday. Buna and her sister Harriet were supposedly going to visit friends . Harriet was on the horse waiting for Buna. When Harriets husband Jim jumped on the horse, waived said, 'So long folks" and left Buna and Melton standing there complete strangers. In another instance Melton outwitted his opponant and left another crowd amazed. It seemed for soem reason an officer of the law was tracking Melton down to summon him as a witness where a man was pushed overboard at sea on the way back from South America. Melton was preparing to tak brothers Hugh, John, and Tom west with him. Before going they auctioned off their belongings. When Melton saw the lawman, he continued as if everything was normal. Selling everything but a high spirited pony. He paid a small boy to open the gate and he was ready to prove the pony had plenty of get up and go, so he mounted her and rode out of sight. His brothers had arranged to meet him at a specified site and they were on their way , much to the amazement of the deputy and the crowd at the auction.)
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Stephen (Also seen spelled as Steven) Effler
A story found in a book called "Aunt Zonas Webb" written by Thomas C. Chapman as told to him by Arizona Hughes, a teacher in the mountains of North Carolina for 57 years. 1896-1953 a story that has fewer versions and has been told many times both in print and by word of mouth is the Steven Effler murder. The version I have held to be closest to the truth is the one about the justice of the peaces dream. My father was acquatined with this justice whose name was Josh Young. The ensuring paragraphs give on of the more popular versions ,but sinve time has dulled my memory. Im not sure if this is exactly the way my father told the story.
This tragic story happened when I was a small girl. Steven Effler and his wife lived in the region of Buck Creek Gap, on the McDowell County side just below the present underpass of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Josh Young was a Justice of the peace in Yancy County for many years during my fathers lifetime. One night he had a horrible dream. He dreamed that a beautiful young woman came running to him for help. Her throat was covered with bruises and she was desperate with fright. The dream was so vivid that Josh was awakened and had a difficult time returning to sleep, the same dream came back in every detail. The next day Josh Young went to his neighbors, "Sandy Patton" and told him about the dream. It seemed real that he felt compelled to tell someone. Later in the afternon of the same day, both Young and Patton noticed a funeral possession making its way down the mountain past their farms. They hadn't heard of anyone dying in the neighborhood, so as the possession approached they asked who had died. The small group of mourners stopped to rest and told the story. They said the coffin held the body of a young woman, Mrs. Steven Effler, who had suddenly died the past night. They told how Effler the young husband had come to the neighbors during the middle of the night to tell them that his wife was very sick, and that he needed help, but upon returning to the Effler cabin they discovered the woman was dead. Her body was still warm, and her little baby was asleep beside of her.
The neighbors sent a messanger to the other side of the mountain to tell the parents of the young wife, and to ask them to have a grave ready in the family cemetary. It was also told that the young husband wouldn't let anyone touch the body. He insisted on preparing her for burial himself.
As the story goes Young was thinking of his dream. He had never see Mrs. Effler; could it be, that she was the young woman who came to him in that dream? With these thoughts in mind Young asked if the body had been examined by a doctor. The neighbor answered that it had not. So over protest of the husband and neighbor Josh Young, using his authority as Justice of the peace, he demanded to review the body.
The coffin was taken into Patton's house. When it was opened Josh Young was amazed to see the same young woman who had appeared to him in a dream. He ordered that a doctor be brought from Burnsville, for they had crossed into Yancy County for the burial. Effler was in a rage, but there was nothing he could do. The doctor arrived and made a rapid examination; his conclusion was that the woman had died of natural causes. Effler, was triumphant, but Josh Young was not satisfied. He told the husband and mourners that an examination would have to be made by a doctor from McDowell County where the death occured. He sent word to Marion and Doctor Butt and the Sheriff from McDowell County came. Doctor Butt had the body removed from the coffin and placed on a table. He made a complete examination; whereupon he announced that Mrs. Effler had died from strangulation and also her neck had been broken.
The sheriff arrested the husband and took him to Marion to Jail; however the husband continued to declare his innocence.
The following day the sheriff and a group of men went to the Effler cabin to look for some evidence of violence. None could be found and they were about to leave when one of the men commented about how loose some of the floor boards were. It was also pointed out that the loose boards were clean and unworn while the boards adjoining were worn and discolored from use. They turned the boards over and they were stained with blood.
When Effler was confronted with this evidence he confessed. He told how he had quarreled with his wife and while in a rage he had knocked her to the floor and twisted a cloth around her throat. He twisted the cloth until her neck was broke and blood gushed from her mouth and nose onto the floor. he was able to place his wife in bed and fool his neighbors but in his haste he hadnt taken the time to nail the boards to the floor.
The jury brough in a verdict of guilty and Steven Effler was hung. Although the trial was held in mid June a storm came and snow was reported to have fallen on many of the higher parts of the mountains.
The wife of Steven Effler was Margaret (Peggy) Grindstaff Effler. She was the daughter of Joseph Grindstaff who married Martha Rector. Joseph was the brother of Isaac Grindstaff who married Sarah Hoilman and was the parents of Stephen Grindstaff who married Evaline Pritchard Grindstaff.
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Confession of Stephen G. Effler
As I am condemed to be hanged and soon must appear before my God, I think it nothing but right and justice from various rumors and reports that have gone out throughout the country to give the public a sketch of my life and crime which I am guilty of. I was born in Cherokee Co., Tenn. I left there when I was a small child and was brought to Mitchel Co., N.C. at the age of (10) and lived there until about one month before I was put in jail. I lived in McDowell when arrested for the crime. I was raised by Henry Effler and Peggy Effler, my grandfather and grandmother, and my mother Polly Effler as they lived together. I was raised by poor honest uneducated parents. Though unlearned as they were, they always gave me good advice. If only I had taken this advice I would not have been here today, a doomed man. I have never tried to get any person into any difficulty with me, though I was always a rude rattling boy, though I never committed any other crime but this one I stand charged with of which I am guilty. I have been in jail this four hundred and ninety two (492) days.
I have learned since I have been in jail in the way of education more than any of my people, except one aunt, Martha Effler. I was married to Margaret Grindstaff about the first of March 1881, in the nineteenth year. She was my cousin. I never went to see my wife but twice until we were married, but I always knew her to be a good christian woman. We lived with my grandfather about one year after we were married and then moved to ourselves about one mile from my grandfathers in Yancy Co. We lived together there about two months and then moved back to my grandfathers and stayed there until we moved to McDowell County. I would sometimes go off and when I came back I would tell my wife that I had been off after other women, she would laugh and say she did not care. She did not believe it. I just told her to see what she would say. The great misfortune is that I never loved my wifre before I married her, neither could I learn to love her. She was too near akin. I would go off and stay and come back to see if I could learn to love her, but I never could. The last trip I took was to Flagpond, Tenn. to a Baptist Association about sixty miles from home. I stayed about one week. I went off before to Madison County, N.C. and got a job of work from Cling Ganey and made him three thousand rails. I was gone that trip about one month. My wife stayed with my grandfather on all these trips except when I went to Flagpond. This time she went to her fathers and stayed. Now in all my travels I have wished that I had never married her, I have stopped when going to my work and wished that I never married her, would not have begruged thousands of dollars that I had not thought she was kind to me only at times when I would get to plagering her and she would get mad and try to scratch herself. We have one child named Alfred Erwin Effler now about two years old. Oh may he be trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I will now tell you about how the witnesses swore truth and who swore false. (Here he accused some half dozen witnesses of false swearing) I think the balance of the wirnesses against me swore the truth so far as they knew. I told false myself in this case to shun the law. I will now tell you why I killed my wife and how I killed her. I could not love her and the devil's temptation was so great I did not want to live with her any longer, and on the 6 day of January 1881 Ed SOwers had been to Marion and came in hearing of my house and hollered he was afraid of my dog. I went out and asked him to come in. He said he was very tired. I asked him to eat supper and he sat down and ate supper and stayed about one hour. The devil's temptation came upon me. My wife went to bed about one half hour before I did. I had worked hard that day and lay down on a sheep skin before the fire and rested. It seemed the devil had shown me a plan how to get rid of my wife, so I could go back and live with my grandfather. So I took this plan after lying on the sheep skin about half and hour I got up and got me a white strip of cloth about a foot long and went to bed with my wife where she was lying with her face to the wall. I lay there about one hour studying how to committ the deed at last. I ran the cloth around her neck after the devil had tempted me so great it seemed like he told me I could get out of it if I did do it. I turned her over and sorta twisted the cloth around her neck. Then I put my knees against her back and pulled it and she sprung out of the bed with me on the floor. We fell among some benches. There I help her by cloth around the neck until I found she was dead. She died without a struggle, and way after I found she was dead I picked her up and laid her on the bed. Then I ran to the fire place and said Lord take mercy on me, what made me do this. What will become of me now. Then I got my shoes and ran to my grandfathers and as I went I fixed up a tale to tell them. When I got in sight of my grandfathers I hollered and told them my wife was dead, and I caught myself and told them that she had a hurting in her head and was dying, then one of my aunts and two of my cousins come back with me home. Also, Ed Sowers come with us. I told them the same tale I told my grandfather. When we got back my wife was laying just as I had left her. My people have been accused of knowing about the case or its being made known to them, but they are clear of the charge, they know nothing of it neither do they know to this day how it was or why it was. My wife was a good religious woman and I believe that she is gone to heaven. She was so easy to kill I am bound to believe it was astored for her to go that way and that she is in heaven today. Had I been educated this deed would not have been committed, and today I might not have been... my mother told me about two weeks before I was married not to marry. Oh that I had taken her advice. I may add more to this, if not this is the end.
*If you have any questions or additional information: Feel free to email me at GrindstaffKoonFamilyHistory@gmail.com
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