Charles N. George and Della C. Wright of Graham and Cherokee Co, NC

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Charles N. George and Della C. Wright of Graham and Cherokee Co, NC

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I (Marty Grant) am a Great Grandson of Noten and Della George. I never knew Noten, but I did know Della.

Note: The George family is fully documented in the author's book "George Family History" now available. Click link for details. On the current web pages I am only presenting the most interesting documentation. There is a great deal more available that is not included here. Most of the available source documentation is in the book mentioned above. There are also many acknowledgments to be made. The book contains them all. Some are listed here.

Charles Noten George was born 21 Nov 1890 in Graham Co, NC at the family home on Talula Creek. His parents thought he was born 100 years to the day from his Great Grandfather Charles Noden George, so they named him after him. However, they made two mistakes in this. First they named him "Noten" instead of "Noden". They realized they spelled it wrong later, but kept the "t" spelling anyway. I don't know if they ever realized the other mistake. Charles Noden George's birth was not 100 years before, but only 99. The problem is that Charles Noden's tombstone has the "1790" birth year on it (which the family was evidently familiar with), but that was actually wrong, he was born in 1791, as proven by several other records, including his own family bible. However, we can't hold this against Noten's parents, for they only had the tombstone record to go on.

Charles Noten George (known as "Noten" to friends and family, and as "C. N." on some records) was a son of Thomas Jefferson George and Sarah Elvira Carpenter. This connection is based on family knowledge, and is also proven by several records including the 1900 and 1910 census, and his own death certificate.

Noten was home with his parents for the 1900 and 1910 census in Graham Co, NC.

On 8 Mar 1914, Noten George married Nora Nichols in Graham Co, NC. Nora was born ca 1899 in Georgia, (Fannin County, I think). I have not traced the Nichols line, but I think her father was named Calvin Nichols.

Nora and Noten's marriage was very brief, and apparently never consummated, as Nora kept "slipping out" to go back home to her parents. She was only 14 or 15 at the time. They had the marriage annulled.

Noten George enlisted in the U.S. Army for World War I. I don't have any details on his service. His tombstone shows he was a Cook.

After World War I had ended, and Noten returned home, he married Della Christmas Wright Conley, a widow. They married at Bryson City, in Swain Co, NC. I was told that they married there because Della was worried about the Noten's annulled marriage from Nora. She thought they might be not be legally allowed to get married, so they went to Swain County where few people knew them.

Della Christmas Wright was born 24 Dec 1896 in Cherokee Co, NC, just below Topton in the Rhodo community. Della was know as "Dell" to family and friends. Her Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren called her "Granny George". She was a daughter of Aaron Alexander Wright and Annis Dulcenia Waters.

Della married Albert Conley on 25 Jan 1914 in Cherokee Co, NC. Albert was born August 1885 in Cherokee Co, NC, a son of John Tate Conley and Alice Amanda Scott. They had only been married a few months when Albert was tragically killed in a train mishap on 8 Jul 1914 in Cherokee Co, NC. He was an engineer, and was accidentally crushed between two train cars, a boxcar had gotten loose and smashed into the engine in which he was riding. Della was expecting their first child when Albert died. The child, a daughter, born in November of that year was named "Alberta" in his memory. Alberta ("Bert") was raised by Noten George just like one of his own.

Noten and Della built a house in Topton, Cherokee Co, NC and lived their remaining years there. I've been to this house many times, since I was a baby. This was on land that Della had inherited from her parents.

Noten and Della were listed on the 1920 census in Cherokee Co, NC. They were listed next door to Della's brother William Rush Wright, and near many more of her relatives.

1920 census abstract: (Explanation of this census)
(Note: The dates at the end of each line are not part of the original census, but are approximate birth years based on age)

House/Family #   30/  31 -- VALLEYTOWN-TOPTON Twp

GEORGE NOTEN N       HD R   M W 29 M NC  NC  NC  CONTRACTOR                      1890/1891
GEORGE DELLA         WF     F W 23 M NC  NC  NC                                  1896/1897
CONLEY ALBERTA       SD     F W  5 S NC  NC  NC                                  1914/1915
WRIGHT FLORENCE      SL     F W 15 S NC  NC  NC                                  1904/1905
WRIGHT ARNOLD        BL     M W 10 S NC  NC  NC                                  1909/1910

The family remained in Topton, with most of the children born at home, though a couple were born in Graham Co, NC at Noten's parents house, I think.

Noten was a farmer, and also worked as contractor. He worked for a time for the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and at some point he was working as a night watchman at the Nantahala Lake Dam, while it was being built. He guarded the property to keep it from being stolen during the night.

Noten died fairly suddenly at home on 12 Apr 1952. His death certificate shows "Natural Causes" for his death, but family members have suggested he had undiagnosed cancer of some sort. He was buried at Red Marble Baptist Church Cemetery.

Della remained at home for many years afterwards. Several of her children lived very nearby, including some that were her next door neighbors. I remember visiting "Granny George" many times in the 1960's and 1970's. The last time I went, was around 1980 with my Uncle Garland. At this point, Granny was in poor health, but she recognized everyone.

It was during this visit that my passion for genealogy was ignited. She told us a little bit about her ancestry, and that started my interest in this hobby.

As her health declined, she began residing in nursing homes, and was at one in Blue Ridge, GA (Fannin County) when she died on 30 Mar 1982. She was buried beside Noten at Red Marble Baptist Church Cemetery.

Children

Noten and Della raised eight children. All but one married and raised families. Two of the children are still living, but I'll not provide any details to protect their privacy. One of their children was my grandmother Luella George Grant.