James Elmer Vess was born on August 18, 1897 to Pinkney Elcanhah Vess and Cora Nevada Moffitt in Old Fort, McDowell County, North Carolina. In 1915, he married Pearl Lena Cox and together they had 10 children. James died on March 31, 1957 in La Grande, Union County, Oregon.

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*This post is an opinion, written from a genealogical point-of-view.

The Man Everyone Wants To Forget

I descend from a west-coast Vess line that branched away from their North Carolina roots in the early-1920’s.

When I first got into genealogy, I had no idea the Vess family had deep roots in North Carolina, let alone that we still had a lot of family living there. For all I knew, the Vess family took the scenic route from Ireland to America’s western frontier!

Nobody ever talked about family history (not much to say) and nobody wants or even likes talking about James Elmer Vess!

James Elmer Vess is a man that everyone wants to forget.
Just the mere mention of his name often abruptly ended conversations with family. Those who did talk about him, mostly the older generation, were not so keen about him. Nobody would tell me what he did or why he left North Carolina and settled all the way across the United States to Oregon, of all places.

At one point, I was told to “let dead dogs lie,” especially, dead dogs like James Elmer Vess.

Well, I say let’s dig up some old dead dogs and see what secrets they hide!

Exiled From North Carolina

I don’t know the whole story or even a fraction of the whole story, but what I’ve been told is that James Elmer Vess was “kicked” out of North Carolina by his brothers for being a “drunken bootlegger.”

Based on newspaper clippings, that totally makes sense.

James Elmer Vess was undeniably an alcoholic.
He often made the papers in La Grande, Oregon (1940’s) having been arrested for “public drunkenness.”

I’ve also been told that he wasn’t the most pleasant person in the world; likely due to alcoholism, which only solidified his poor reputation.

The demons that drove James Elmer Vess to drink will never be known, but looking more deeply into family history, we can probably identify some contributing factors…

Moonshine: A Way Of Life

North Carolina, once referred to as the “Moonshine state,” is notorious for distilled liquor, especially in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

People have been distilling liquor long before they broke ground in Jamestown, Virginia; but moonshine supposedly got its start from the Scot-Irish, who supposedly had better methods of distilling liquor. And with western North Carolina having been largely settled by the Germans and the Scot-Irish, it is kind of difficult to imagine a bunch of rugged mountain men as tea drinkers.

In North Carolina, especially, deep in the heart of backcountry, moonshine was the way of life. Farmers produced moonshine, because it was worth more than their most profitable crop and it could help pay off their debts. There was even a time when local churches were somewhat lenient about it; partially, because EVERYONE did it and dismissing members from church would likely leave a church very empty.

Interestingly, we can see this somewhat tolerance towards alcohol in Helen M. Lu’s book, Bill’s Creek Baptist Church: Two Hundred Year History. Many members of Bill’s Creek Baptist Church (Rutherford Co. NC) got in trouble for distilling spirits or drinking too much, including Andrew Logan Vess (James great-grandfather).

According to Bill’s Creek Baptist Church: Two Hundred Year History, Andrew Logan Vess was excluded from the church in 1867 for “distilling some brandy for purpose of paying debts and providing for his family.” [pg. 153]

Andrew Logan Vess wasn’t alone. There are numerous accounts of other members (including his brother Josiah) of Bill’s Creek Baptist Church being excluded for either distilling spirits or excessive drinking, and, surprisingly, very few are shown to have been dismissed from the church.

The history of moonshine in North Carolina is fascinating, as it was part of a community culture that just didn’t mix well with the government (who wanted to tax it) and churches (that see it as sin). The war on moonshine in North Carolina had been an on-going issue since the early 1700’s!

Born At The Wrong Time At The Wrong Place

James Elmer Vess was born in 1897, a time when McDowell County (near Blue Ridge Mountains) was still pretty much backwoods country. According to census records, the highest grade level completed was the 5th grade, which was likely the highest level of education offered at that time in the rural areas of North Carolina.

Without school, who knows what types of trouble kids gotten themselves into back then! I imagine, at a young age, James had friends whose families distilled liquor and this is probably how he got his first taste of alcohol.

By the time James was a teenager, moonshine was a hot business, for that North Carolina began to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages in 1908, which was ten years before the rest of the nation. So, what kid doesn’t want to make a little extra cash running moonshine!

In 1920, the federal government enacted a nation-wide ban against the manufacturing, selling, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Obviously, not the best time for those struggling with alcoholism!

Family Pressures: Moffitt Family Connections

Of all the Vess ancestors I’ve researched, I’ve got nothing on Pinkney Elcanah Vess, father of James Elmer Vess. Records are scarce; but from what I gather, Pinkney E. Vess seems to have been a simple man living a simple life.

In 1889, Pinkney E. Vess married Cora Nevada Moffitt, daughter of Rev. James Ivy Moffitt and together they had 7 children, all sons, with James being the middle child.

[Above Left: Cora Nevada Moffitt Right: Rev. James Ivy Moffitt]

James grew up in a religious family with several of his brothers following in their grandfather Moffitt’s footsteps in becoming Reverends.

I was told that all of James brothers had become Reverends (but him) and that it was all of them who kicked him out of North Carolina; however, to my knowledge, it was only his oldest two brothers who became Reverends: Rev. Lennie Oran Vess and Rev. Arthur Lee Vess, and maybe they strongly encouraged James to skedaddle out of town.

With excessive drinking a sin, bootlegging illegal, and being raised in a religious family, James Elmer Vess didn’t stand a chance with his alcoholism.

There was also likely a lot of pressure on James Elmer Vess to be a well-modeled citizen for the sake of his family’s reputation. The Moffitt family had been around for a long time and during that long time, they made some pretty well-known family connections: Murphy, Ledbetter, Ownby, Whitaker, and Bird (that’s just to name a few). They even have a family connection with the Burgin family.

I first encountered the Burgin family in my research back when AOL was a thing and they had a website that mentioned “Pioneer” Ben Burgin having had a “Vess” servant boy. I regret not printing that page, because I haven’t been able to find it again.

Anyway, the Burgin and Davidson families were pioneers of western-North Carolina who once owned lots of land and were also involved in the local government and politics. Simply, the Burgin and Davidson families were kind of a big deal.

Burgin-Moffitt: Mt. Mitchell Railroad

I discovered that Gertrude Moffitt, James aunt (Cora Nevada Moffitt’s sister) married “Big Jim” Burgin, who worked for the railroad. He is distantly related to “Pioneer” Ben Burgin through his third great-grandfather, John Burgin.

I was told James Elmer Vess worked for the railroad, but there isn’t a record of it. However, he may have worked for the Mount Mitchell Railroad.

The history of Mount Mitchell Railroad is short. It ran from 1911-1914 and was mainly built for the logging industry, but was later converted for tourism.

Mount Mitchell is located in Yancey County, North Carolina and according to the marriage record of James Elmer Vess (18) and Pearl Lena Cox (21), they were married in Yancey County, NC in 1915.

Pearl’s family, at the time, was living in Mitchell County, just north of Yancey County in a town not too far from Mount Mitchell.

I assume James likely met Pearl while working for the Mount Mitchell Railroad with his uncle” Big Jim” Burgin . And, while we’re guessing, it’s probably not too much of a stretch to think that James was probably sent to his aunt and uncle as an effort to keep him out of trouble. However, the mountains is where all the moonshine is!

Heading To The West-Coast

From my perspective, it appears that James Elmer Vess cut ties from his family long before he ever decided to leave North Carolina. So, what drove him to Oregon? I mean, that is a lot of distance between bad blood.

I was told the railroad took him and his family out west and according to census records, they must have headed out of North Carolina sometime between 1918-1920.

There doesn’t appear to be a 1920 census record for James Elmer Vess; however, there is one for Pearl who is shown to be in Colorado with her mother (Bertha Cox) and the children.

Looking at this census, there appears to be a lot of lodgers in Colorado working in the railroad industry, so maybe James was missed on the census due to traveling.

It also seems that Pearls parents have split. Her father, Elliot Wood Cox stayed in Mitchell County, North Carolina while her mother, Bertha Cox, found her way to Colorado. I do not know when Bertha arrived in Colorado, or if they all traveled together.

There is also a good chance James Elmer Vess did leave due to bootlegging. It just makes sense.

Instead of his “Reverend” brothers kicking him out; it was more likely the law enforcement, nicknamed the “Revenuers” who were the ones who ran him out of North Carolina. According to the history of North Carolina moonshine, the Revenuers were a group of officials that were tasked to locate bootleggers and moonshiners in real hard-to-get remote places, such as the Blue Ridge Mountains where James had been living.

Settling In Oregon

Birth records tell us that James and his family were in Oregon as early as 1927. But then, it gets interesting.

In 1930, James and his family are in Oregon, working as a farmer, but they also seem to still have a residence in Colorado, according to the Colorado Directory listing for 1931. Probably, because Bertha (Pearl’s mother) was still living in Colorado and they didn’t update their move with the directory.

Also, in 1931, Pearl had their last child in Colorado and I assume it was while she was visiting Bertha. Eventually, everyone (including Bertha) settled in La Grande, Oregon, where I believe James retired from Hart Construction.

The West-Coast Vess Line

In the 1930’s the railroad industry was declining, which probably explains why he went into the farming industry (1930 census). But, I am not sure if it was just the railroad that took him all the way up to Oregon.

Although majority of Vess families on the west-coast descend from James Elmer Vess, he was actually not the first Vess family on the west-coast.

In fact, the oldest son of Nathan Vess, Andrew Jackson Vess, moved to the west-coast sometime before 1880. They settled in Spokane, Washington. According to census records, it appears that his mother, Clarinda Bellew-Vess moved to Washington after her husband, Nathan Vess, passed away in 1879 due to consumption.

So, I can’t help but wonder, if at some point, James connected with his Vess cousins (if related) in Spokane, Washington on his way to Oregon. I mean, usually when people move far away, they move to places where there is family.

It’s Vess Family History

It appears that James Elmer Vess embarrassed his family with his alcoholism and bootlegging. We will never know if alcoholism was the actual reason he left North Carolina for that our ancestors took that to their grave.

He could have been kicked out by his brothers (no argument there), but from a genealogical perspective, that seems unlikely. If anything, his brothers probably kicked him out of the family home in McDowell County and maybe in the process they strongly encourage him to leave town.

Instead of leaving North Carolina, he may have went to live with his aunt Gertrude (McDowell County 1910) where he may have later gotten a job at Mount Mitchell Railroad with his uncle Jim Burgin. Working in Yancey and Mitchell County, is where he likely met Pearl, getting married in 1915. A few years after the railroad shut down, WWI records (1917) show James and Pearl still living in Mitchell County. I don’t know when James became a bootlegger, maybe after the railroad shut down (if he even worked for the Mount Mitchell Railroad). Maybe he came to the Blue Ridge Mountains as a teenager to be a bootlegger. We’ll never know.

But, I strongly believe that when James did leave the state (most likely due to bootlegging), the family story about the Revenuers (law officials) was eventually mistaken as “Reverend” and thus, the family story evolved into James having been kicked out by his brothers (who just so happened to be Reverends).

Regardless of what really happened, James leaving North Carolina to settle in Oregon is still part of Vess family history. A big part of Vess family history, for that to the best of my knowledge, James Elmer Vess is probably one of the very few, if not the first, Vess family to have settled on the west-coast who is a descendant of Peter Vess.



A HUGE Thank You to everyone sharing their family’s stories with me and helping me piece together VESS family history! 🙂