Marshall McClung
Many of our mountain communities were named after early families that lived there.
Such is the case of Green’s Creek, located in the upper reaches of Mountain Creek.
Much assistance was received in gathering information on this location. Lester Greene (note difference in spelling), mentioned the graves of a Green couple. Tom Buchanan took Hoot Gibbs and I to the graves on a steep hillside. Hoot did a lot of research on old land records with fine assistance from Kim and Cindy – as usual – in the Register of Deeds office.
The information about the Green family reaches all the way back to Oct. 20, 1883, when North Carolina land grant number 3383 – which had been issued to George W. Crisp and wife Louiza Crisp – sold 98 acres to William Green for $235. A wife of William was not mentioned here, but apparently Nancy was his wife – as the land is later mentioned as the “Nancy Green” tract. The land transaction was handled by Justice of the Peace N.G. Phillips.
Sometime between 1883 and 1890 William died; as on Feb. 11, 1890, Nancy sold the Green property to Joseph Craig for $250. It seems that Nancy did not possess the ability to handle such legal matters, as the transaction of land required the assistance of the Graham County Board of Commissioners to get the matter completed.
On May 26, 1942, the 98 acres – owned by Walter and Winnie Cuthberton at the time – was sold to Mildred Buchanan for $600. Descendants of the Buchanan family still live there today.
On a warm, sunny winter day, Tom Buchanan took Hoot and I to the graves of William and Nancy Green on a hillside above the Green home place. The graves are marked with native stones at the head and foot. They contain no birth and death dates.
Time has erased all signs of where the house stood.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.