Editing Ashe County, North Carolina (section)

==History==
[[File:Grassy Creek Methodist Church.jpg|thumb|left|Grassy Creek Methodist Church]]

Historical evidence shows that Ashe County was inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], which included the [[Cherokee]], [[Creek people|Creek]], and [[Shawnee]] tribes. Pieces of broken pottery, arrowheads, and other Native American artifacts have been found, indicating their presence. Most of these artifacts have been found in the Old Fields area of Ashe County.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ashe County, North Carolina|url=http://genealogytrails.com/ncar/ashe/hist_countyhistory.html|access-date=May 23, 2021|website=genealogytrails.com}}</ref>

The earliest Europeans to explore Ashe County were Bishop [[August Gottlieb Spangenberg]] – head of the [[Moravian Church]] in America – and his associates, Timothy Horsefield, Joseph Mueller, Henry Antes, Johan Merck, and Herman Loesch. Bishop Spangenberg wrote about his journey in Ashe in a diary that has been preserved by the Moravian church. He was given {{convert|100,000|acre|km2}} in [[Virginia]] as a place for his fellow Moravians to settle. The only one of Spangenberg's group to return and permanently settle in Ashe County was Herman Loesch. Other early settlers were David Helton, William Walling, William McLain and [[Daniel Boone]], the famous pioneer. With the exception of Boone, these men and their families all settled in Ashe in 1771.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.ashecountygov.com/ashe-county/history |access-date=June 6, 2022 |website=www.ashecountygov.com}}</ref>

During the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] one [[skirmish]] was fought in Ashe County, the Battle of Big Glades. The battle was fought in July 1780 between a force of Americans, led by [[Robert Love (soldier)|Captain Robert Love]], and a force of 150 British Loyalists on their way to [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] to join [[Lord Cornwallis]], the British commander in the Southern colonies. The Americans won the skirmish.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The American Revolution in North Carolina - Big Glades |url=https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_big_glades.html |access-date=June 6, 2022 |website=www.carolana.com}}</ref>

In the 1780s, Ashe County was a part of the self-declared "[[State of Franklin]]", within the boundaries of its Washington County. The "State of Franklin" marked the beginnings of the State of [[Tennessee]]. The North Carolina legislature created Ashe County in late 1799 with an area of {{convert|977|mi2}}. Many family surnames noted in the 1800 Ashe County Census, such as Bare, Barker, Blevins, Hart, Stamper, Miller, Burkett, Gambill, Baldwin, and Ballou, are still present today. Ashe County was named in honor of [[Samuel Ashe (North Carolina governor)|Samuel Ashe]], a Revolutionary patriot, a superior court judge, and the [[List of Governors of North Carolina|Governor of North Carolina]] from 1795 to 1798.

From 1807 to 1913, the county went through numerous boundary changes. In 1849, to form [[Watauga County, North Carolina|Watauga County]], the southwestern part of Ashe County was combined with parts of [[Caldwell County, North Carolina|Caldwell County]], [[Wilkes County, North Carolina|Wilkes County]], and [[Yancey County, North Carolina|Yancey County]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watauga County |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/geography/watauga |access-date=June 6, 2022 |website=www.ncpedia.org}}</ref> Ten years later in 1859, the eastern part of the remainder of Ashe County became [[Alleghany County, North Carolina|Alleghany County]].<ref name="Crawford">{{cite book|last1=Crawford|first1=Martin|title=Ashe County's Civil War|date=2001|publisher=University Press of Virginia|location=Charlottesville, Virginia|isbn=0813920345|page=5}}</ref>