BEAUTIFUL STONEY FORK AND CREEK
GREAT NEWS ABOUT THE WEST FARM AT STONEY FORK
AND THE ABANDONED THOMAS LAND FAMILY CEMETERY
by Charlotte West Dade
In September 2010, cousin Fred Lowe took his daughter Nanette, his sister Carol Ann, my husband Doug, and me to Stoney Fork in Wilkes County, North Carolina. We were in search of the location of the farm and the site of the farmhouse of Alexander Balus West and Nancy Land where Thomas Harvey West grew up and lived until he moved to Banner Elk, North Carolina, with his mother, Nancy Land West, his wife, America Ann McNeil West, and their 10 living children—Nannie Lou, Martha Alice, Milton McNeil, Rosa Belle, William Charles, Sallie Jane, Robert Leonard, Ethel Elizabeth, Flora Annie, and Guy Harvey. They left behind the graves of two sons, A. Judson West (Jan. 29, 1884-Apr. 3, 1884) and Willard A. West (1889-after 1900), who were buried in the Thomas Land Family Cemetery on the hill across the road from the West family home.
We located what Fred thought was the site of the home place where a concrete slab for the foundation of a trailer that had been there sometime in recent years. The house was likely located in front of the woods with the farmland across Mount Zion Road. Across the road from the property was an old post office building which is standing today. After inquiring about the Thomas Land Family Cemetery, a local farmer pointed out its location on a small hill just a few feet from the West property.
After spending time where the home may have been, we drove down the road to the location of the cemetery. It was located behind what-was-then the Tuscarora Ranch barns. The remnants of a rail fence bounded two sides of the cemetery. Carol Ann said that her mother, Flora Annie West Lowe, and her mother’s sister had installed the fencing around the cemetery many years ago. The cemetery was overgrown with tall weeds. Carol Ann ventured into the weeds searching for tombstones but was unable to locate any.
In February 2022, I received a text message from a lady, Lyndsay Ashcroft McCoy, who had discovered my West of Wilkes blog and was able to locate me on Facebook. Lyndsay and I exchanged quite a long conversation on FB Messenger. She and her husband purchased 386 acres of land of the former Tuscarora Ranch which is across the road from the probable location of the West home. They do not own the property where the house may have been and where the wishing well stands. That is the only 4 acres that they don’t own, but I gather that the old post office across from where the house may have been is on their property. I was very happy to know that someone who loved farming had purchased the land. It was in danger of being sold for the construction of condos but now will remain as a farm and a venue for summer camps and activities for children and families. They have renamed the ranch, The Blue Ridge Ranch, which is bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains on one side, the Brushy Mountain on the other, and the Yadkin River Valley in the middle. It is truly beautiful country.
In the meantime, Lyndsay and her husband, Nevin, have been clearing the Thomas Land Family Cemetery and unearthing those tombstones that Carol Ann was unable to find. Lyndsay said that she has updated some information on Find-a-Grave regarding the unearthed tombstones. The McCoy family, which includes two young sons, is interested in preserving and maintaining the Thomas Land Family Cemetery—another reason to be happy to have them as owners of the land.
Nancy Land, wife of Alexander Balus West, was the daughter of Thomas Land (1788-1871) and Jane Carlton (1793-1865). Even though Thomas and Jane had a large tombstone in the cemetery, we were not able to locate it in September 2010.
I am including in this document various photos of the presumed home site, the cemetery, the unearthed tombstones and markers which Lyndsay sent to me, and a photo of a farmhouse that “is said” to be the home of Thomas Land and Jane Carlton and just a short distance down Mt. Zion Road from the cemetery.
MT. ZION ROAD, STONEY FORK, WILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
Probable Site of West Farmhouse on Mt. Zion Road
Thomas Land Family Cemetery on Mt. Zion Road
THOMAS AND JANE CARLTON LAND
