THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
James Butts –
Proud owner of a Gillespie Rifle
The Gillespie
Rifles series of columns has proven to be rich in contacts with various
people who have an avid interest in collecting the antique guns and,
for those fortunate enough to own one, to share how they came into
possession of such a priceless piece of weaponry.
One such person
is James B. Butts of
James Butts is
pictured with his children, Logan and Morgan, holding a long rifle made
by John Gillespie for Sydney Harshaw,
James' great, great grandfather.
Sidney Harshaw (1815-1875) was born in Burke County,
NC. He was living in
He met Salinda Plott
(1835-1907) of the Plotttown section of
Union/Towns counties. She was born in
Sidney Harshaw's estate covered the land that is now a
part of
Sidney and Salinda Plott Harshaw had seven daughters: Barbara Ann Harshaw (1855-1932) married Jacob Luther (Uncle
"Boney") Colwell; Harriet Elizabeth Harshaw
(1857-1917) married Hiram Theodore ("Red") Colwell; Sarah Cleopatra ("Clee") Harshaw
(1859-1923) married Archibald Blucher Butt; Ellen Harshaw
(1862-?) married Cicero Y. Rogers; Mary Harshaw
(1863-?); Emma Lou Harshaw (1865-1943);
and Julia Harshaw (1870-1939).
James B. Butts
who now owns his great, great grandfather Harshaw's
Gillespie rifle is the fifth generation of Harshaws.
His descendancy comes through Sarah
Cleopatra ("Clee") Harshaw
Butt and Archibald Blucher Butt along this line: Their fifth child,
Robert Bryan Butt (1897-1948) and Zora
Gibson Butt (1907-1980) had a son, James Robert Butt (b. 1932), who
married Betty Ann Davidson. James B. Butts and Jeff Butts (the fifth
generation from Sidney Harshaw) were their
sons. And now the sixth generation, Logan and Morgan Butts (Shelly
Burks Butts is
But the signed
John Gillespie-made rifle did not always have a safe place with Sidney Harshaw's descendants. This is the story James
Butts tells of how he came to receive the treasured firearm.
Emma Lou Harshaw died in 1943. Sidney Harshaw’s youngest daughter, Julia Harshaw, died in 1939. An estate sale was held
following the deaths of these daughters. James Robert Butt, James
Butt's father, remembers going to the estate sale with his father,
Robert Bryan Butt. The Gillespie rifle was an item up for bids. Local
blacksmith, Marion Jackson received the rifle at the highest bid of
fifty cents! He took it to his blacksmith shop just off highway 129
north out of Blairsville, and put it on display.
Union County
Historian Ed Mauney saw the gun and
immediately recognized it for what it was--a treasured, signed John
Gillespie-made long rifle. He offered Mr. Jackson $5.00 for it, and the
blacksmith accepted his offer. Mr. Mauney
did much research on the Gillespie rifles made at East Fork in
The gun changed
owners again. Claude LaFayette
Butt (1879-1960), a grandson of Sidney Harshaw
(son of Archibald Blucher and Sarah Cleopatra Harshaw
Butt), bought the gun from Ed Mauney for
$15.00. Many will remember Mr. Claude Butt as the long-time Union
County Clerk of Court. A state patrolman offered to pay Claude Butt
$35.00 for the gun, but he refused, knowing that it was a family
heirloom. The rifle passed from Claude Butt to James Robert Butt, great
grandson of Sidney Harshaw and James B. Butts's father.
Ed Mauney (1897-1977) in his research found that
the particular gun owned by the Butts family was indeed made in
[Note: Many
thanks to James B. Butts of Blairsville for much of the information in
this column, and to him and Jerry Taylor, Towns County Historian, for
the descendancy chart of Sidney Harshaw's family. For questions or to contact
me, I may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel. net,
telephone 478-453- 8751, or mail: Ethelene
Dyer Jones,
[Ethelene
Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian.
She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail
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