Marshall McClung
Some areas of our local mountains have names that sound strange to some folks and are often mispronounced, causing certain places to wind up with different names – or at least different spellings.
Such a place is Caractor Cove in the Santeetlah area. Nestled below Funnel Top Mountain – elevation 2,660 feet and near Farley Cove – it is often called “Character Cove” by locals.
Land records show that in Caractor Cove, Adam P. Caractor owned 135.25 acres; John R. Davis, 175.3 acres (a nearby area is known as the Davis Fields); B.P. Grant, 65.7 acres; there was 204.3 acres of Cherokee Indian land; and W.P. Rose, G.W. Shuler and W.F Mauney owned 33.7 acres.
There was a North Carolina land grant from Gilbert and Peet to W.H. Collins for 220.3 acres. Gaston Carricker (note different spelling of last name), is shown as owning eight acres.
Several other land transactions took place here over the years involving the Caractor family and others. You will see other spellings of the Caractor name in these land transactions.
On Sept. 3, 1878, Stephen and Elizabeth Whitaker of Cherokee County sold property for $125 to Adam P. Chariker. On Feb. 16, 1898, they sold another 45 acres to him for $86. On Nov. 9, 1927, Dora Charaker – listed as a single woman, living in Los Angeles County, Calif. – sold Dillard Farr 139.25 acres for $271, with the exception of seven acres, conveyed to John R. Davis by Adam P. Charaker. Charaker had sold Davis 7.75 acres for $30 on Nov. 20, 1908.
On Sept. 1, 1927, Gaston and Roxie Charaker of Greenville County, S.C. sold their property to Dillard Farr for $552. Farr sold 139.25 acres to the Tallassee Power Company for $2,088.75 on Oct. 29, 1927. The power company was buying land for the construction of Santeetlah Dam, as the lake would cover some private property in the area.
Apparently the power company bought entire tracts of private property – and not just what the lake would cover – as they bought property all the way up to the ridge top leading to Funnel Top.
On May 8, 1939, Carolina Aluminum Company sold 11,000 acres; including all of Caractor Cove – save for a small tract of private land to the U.S. Forest Service.
The Caractor family is listed in the 1880 census in Cabarrus County; the 1880 census in Cherokee County; and the Graham County census in 1900. Adam P. Caractor was a Civil War veteran serving in Company A, 39th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, Confederate Army.
He and his wife Nancy are buried in Lone Oak Church Cemetery on a ridge top behind the church.
Other family members are buried in Carver Cemetery.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.