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Making History at Mars Hill College
By Blaise Shaw (photos by Sarah Reiff)
History Scholars with Kathy Newfont (right) |
Where can one go to find out about the murderous past of a Mars Hill College President, rebellion in old Yancey County, or what it means to "dye'' for freedom?
The Rural Life Museum would be a start. Three history majors, Heather Cyre, Jennifer Robinson, and Jeffrey Smith, have placed displays there showing all they have learned throughout their senior seminars.
The first Making History night at Mars Hill College was held on November 27 in the rural Life Museum to present the original research of the three students and unveil the displays on these subjects.
Jeffrey Smith
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The discovery of the text of "The Ballad of Sams and Morgan" led Jeffrey Smith to a murder mystery involving one of Mars Hill College's presidents. This Appalachian ballad told a story of romance and murder. Smith overcame many obstacles to find the historical evidence confirming that in 1894 on Valentine's Day, a former Mars Hill College president, John Robert Sams, shot a student, Willis Morgan.
What could drive an outstanding member of the community, who had founded an orphanage and attended church regularly, to such a cold act? During his research, Smith met many difficulties in finding anyone that could tell him about this event or would tell him about it. There was only one mention of the murder in the college publications of the time, saying only that the young man met his demise "at the hands of a prominent member of the community." There was no mention that the prominent person was a former college president.
Smith met an amateur historian, Bill Jarvis, who happened to have an article from the Asheville daily Citizen for February 15, 1894, the day after the shooting. The article did establish that the Sams shot the student, but why? Did he do it in self-defense? The article was evasive and the facts were not very clear. It raised more questions than answers. It seems that Morgan was interested in the former president's daughter, but Sams did not want them to have a relationship.
Smith led the intrigued audience down a twisted path that put the pieces of the puzzle on the table when he told of how Morgan had been to Sams' house earlier that day, intoxicated. Sams feared for his life and the welfare of his 14-year-old daughter, Mae, so when Morgan approached, he fired through the door. Morgan later died. The Sheriff found Morgan with a pistol in his hand, but it belonged to the town physician. The physician had "no idea" how it had gotten there.
This is just one of the many mysteries surrounding the death of Willis Morgan. It is reported that Sams asked through the door, "Cash? Is that you Cash?" This is intriguing because Willis Morgan had a brother named Cassius. Some believe that it may have been a Masonic conspiracy because Sams was a member, but so was Willis Morgan's father, JP Morgan who was a high ranking Mason.
"I think there has been a conscious and polite effort to protect Sams because of his connection with the college," Jeffrey concluded.
Jennifer Robinson
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Jennifer Robinson, an aspiring history teacher from Yancey County, presented a power point presentation that discussed the raids of Yancey County during the Civil War. Robinson took an unconventional approach to her topic; she discussed the psychological and physiological reasons for why the raids occurred. Her argument focused on the wide spread deprivation suffered, especially by the women and children as a result of the forced conscription, the taking of their weapons, and the volatile mixture of the pro-union, pro-confederate, and those that just wanted to go home.
One of her examples was of the raid that occurred on April 9, 1864 where "50 desperate women marched through the streets" and "were going to break down the door of the confederate storehouse". She illustrated the desperate state the women lived in, that they would risk their lives to feed their starving children. The women took 60 bushels of wheat from the government that night.
Robinson also pointed out the disproportionate conscription of men in Yancey County compared to the other regions of the South when in December 1864 1,200 men from Yancey county were forced into conscription. This was 13% of the population of the time.
Heather Cyre
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Heather Cyre informed the audience on "Dyeing for Freedom.'' Cyre chose this subject because she is from Florida and her research began with her own interest in her European ancestors. She did her research on the indentured servants who came from Europe to St. Augustine, Florida in the late eighteenth century to work on the indigo plantations. Most came from Menorca, an island off the coast of Spain.
Cyre's presentation took us through the history of Dr. Andrew Turnbull's use of Minorcan, Greek, Italian, and Spanish indentured servants. As indentured servants, they signed contracts agreeing to work for Turnbull in return for free passage to America and room and board when they got there. They were also promised eventual release and a plot of land. In this case they were totally exploited and ended up working like slaves.
Turnbull started his indigo plantation in 1763 when the English land grant system was established in Florida.
A large number of African slaves were also taken for his plantation with many of them dying during the passage. One ship of five hundred sank to the ocean floor.
In the meantime the indentured servants arrived from Menorca and were forced to walk 75 miles south to the plantation. Sinking of the slave boat placed extra work pressure on the indentured servants.
The budget that Turnbull had established was for five hundred servants, but he had obtained 1, 403. Thus, the conditions were not suitable for humane treatment. Over-crowding, lack of food and shelter, and mosquitoes carrying malaria caused the death of many. Those who did survive found many loopholes surfacing in their contracts.
Turnbull made them pay extremely high amounts for the passage across the ocean and the meager existence he furnished. This kept them in an eternal cycle of slavery to him, rather than being indentured servants as the contract stated where they were promised release and a plot of land.
The indentured servants rebelled in 1768. Some seized a boat and tried to sail to Havana but the winds were against them. They were apprehended, charged with mutiny, and severely punished.
In 1777, the colonists revolted during the American Revolution and 21 depositions were heard from the indentured servants. Protesting colonists marched north to St. Augustine to free them.
"This is just one of the many forced labor plantations that founded and shaped America," said Heather.
Heather plans to enroll in the Master's program in public history at Western Carolina University in fall 2002.
It was in Kathy Newfont's class that the students created their idea to showcase their research and share with the college all of the facts they had retrieved. Newfont described her first day of class as if they had "climbed into a small boat and shoved off.... I really loved the class, and I am proud of the excellent work."
Note: This article has been changed to reflect the fact that former Mars Hill College President John Robert Sams was not president at the time he shot Willis Morgan.
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