Fulkerson-Hilton House

10/13/2026

Pretty cool!

10/07/2026

On October 7, 1780, Patriot forces defeated the British-led Loyalist militia in the Battle of Kings Mountain, signaling the beginning of the end of British control in the South. Patriots had created an atmosphere of Tory persecution in western North Carolina and in September of 1780, British Major Patrick Ferguson decided to subdue the rebellious region. He warned mountain residents that if insurrection continued, he personally would “lay waste their country with fire and sword.”

Patriot volunteers heeded Ferguson’s challenge. Roused by the threats, many of those who gathered against Ferguson did so only to protect their communities. Joseph Winston and Benjamin Cleveland raised Surry and Wilkes County militias, marching to Burke County, where they met Major Joseph McDowell’s volunteers. Militia groups came from surrounding states—those from Tennessee were known as the “over-mountain men.”

When Patriot forces arrived at the foot of Kings Mountain, they found Tories camped at the top, prepared to repel any attack. Surrounding the base of the mountain, columns of men engaged the Tory line, and eventually, the lofty position caused Loyalists to fire over the heads of Patriots who raced up the incline to overrun the first defensive line. Major Ferguson was killed and the Loyalist militia was overwhelmed. The battlefield is now a national military park in South Carolina.

Marker located in Kings Mountain, NC: https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2024/01/18/battle-kings-mountain-o-1

10/07/2026

Today marks the anniversary of Kings Mountain — and one of the toughest bands of fighters in the South wasn't there. Not because they were afraid. Because they were carrying everyone they loved over the mountains.

In September 1780, Elijah Clarke led his Georgia militia against British-held Augusta. The attack failed. Clarke was forced to leave 29 wounded men behind, and the Loyalists answered by driving every patriot family they could find off the Georgia frontier. Homes were burned, including Clarke's own. His wife Hannah and their children were turned out into the wilderness.

So Clarke did the only thing left. He gathered the families, somewhere between 400 and 700 people by the record (women, children, the wounded), and led them through Cherokee country and over the mountains with almost nothing to eat.

They reached the Watauga settlements just as the Overmountain Men were marching off to find Ferguson. Clarke's Georgians stayed behind and guarded those frontier homes from raids while the men who lived there went to win at Kings Mountain.

No battle honors for that. Just hundreds of families who lived to see the end of the war.

Which takes more courage, charging up a mountain under fire or leading your own family across one with an enemy behind you?

10/03/2026

On October 1, 1780, a British major tried to rally the Carolinas with an insult. It became his death warrant.

Major Patrick Ferguson had already threatened the frontier settlements beyond the mountains: lay down your arms, or he would march over the mountains, hang your leaders, and lay waste your country with fire and sword. The frontiersmen didn't wait for him. Around a thousand of them gathered at Sycamore Shoals on September 25. No general ordered them and no Congress called them. They came on their own, crossed the Blue Ridge through snow at Yellow Mountain Gap, and pushed on through days of pouring rain to hunt him down.

When Ferguson learned they were coming, he issued a broadside urging Loyalists to turn out against these "backwater men." Unless they did, he warned, they would be "p*ssed upon forever and ever by a set of mongrels."

Six days later, those "mongrels" surrounded him on a rocky ridge called Kings Mountain. In about an hour, Ferguson was dead and nearly his entire force was killed, wounded, or captured.

We'll tell that story on the anniversary this Wednesday. For now, a question: do you have an Overmountain Man in your family tree? Tell us his name and where he came from. 👇



*AI was used to create a historical representation of the Overmountain Men.

09/30/2026

09/28/2026

On September 25, 1780, more than a thousand frontier riflemen gathered on the banks of the Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, in what is now northeast Tennessee, and set out on foot and horseback over the mountains to fight an army that had sworn to hang their leaders and burn their homes. 🏔️

The British officer Patrick Ferguson had sent word to the settlers west of the Blue Ridge that if they did not lay down their arms, he would march over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country to waste with fire and sword. Instead of scattering, the mountain settlements answered by mustering an army of their own. Colonel Isaac Shelby helped lead the gathering at Sycamore Shoals alongside William Campbell, John Sevier, and other militia commanders, and a preacher named Samuel Doak reportedly sent them off with a blessing built around the words the sword of the Lord and of Gideon before they marched east over the mountains in the cold and rain.

Twelve days later, on October 7, 1780, those same Overmountain Men caught up with Ferguson's forces at Kings Mountain, South Carolina, and destroyed them in a little over an hour, killing Ferguson himself. It was one of the sharpest turning points of the whole Revolutionary War in the south, and it happened because a group of backcountry mountain settlers decided a threat like that could not go unanswered.

Sycamore Shoals is a quiet state historic site today, with the river still running exactly where it ran that September evening. The mountains send their people out to answer for what threatens them, and the mountains remember every one who mustered that day. ⚔️

09/27/2026

We found a spoon behind one of the walls when doing restoration work here in Hiltons!!

09/24/2026

We have a few!

It’s that time of year again! American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) fruits have been ripening on female trees over the past few weeks. This native tree can be found across much of the eastern United States in woodland margins and fencerows.

When green and unripe, persimmons are astringent and will cause your mouth to pucker. Just ask someone who’s tried one! When mature, though, the soft, orange fruits easily come off the tree fall and are a tasty snack. Persimmons can be eaten raw or used to make a variety of foods, such as bread, cookies, or pudding. I typically harvest persimmons shortly after they fall to the ground on their own or with a gentle tug on the branch. I just have to get to them before the raccoons, opossums, deer, ants, and yellowjackets!

Did you forage for persimmons this year?

05/31/2026

250 Years of freedom! We are digging up those who had a part in that freedom, Today we dug up Capt, Robert Sevier!

05/24/2026

Happy Secession Day, Virginia!!