I am very excited to have found a new record for Peter Vess!

1838 Rutherford County, NC Court Minutes

In the Fall of 1838, Peter Vess was selected as a Juror for next January; however, later records indicate he failed to appear.

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Unraveling Peter and Catherine’s Past

Many sources say Peter Vess died a pauper and is buried in Bill’s Creek Baptist Church, but is that true?

Peter obtained land in 1831 on Cedar Creek in the Broad River Township of Rutherford County, North Carolina (below). According to Bill’s Creek Baptist Church: Two Hundred Year History, by Helen M. Lu, Peter and Catherine were members until 1836.

The last record I discovered of Peter Vess was a church record dated 1838 for Bethlehem Baptist Church in Burke County, which explains what happened to them after 1836.

Bethlehem Baptist Church is located in today’s McDowell County (below), not far from Peter’s property on Cedar Creek in the Broad River Township of Rutherford County, NC. McDowell County did not exist until 1842 and Broad River Township area didn’t become part of McDowell County until 1844. So, it makes sense that we find Peter in two different places in 1838.

With Peter being a resident of Rutherford County, NC (1840 census), but yet a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church across the county border in Burke/McDowell County, NC, certainly makes it difficult to find records on him.

According to Helen M. Lu, Catherine Vess came back to Bill’s Creek Baptist Church in October 1844 without Peter. We can probably accurately conclude that Peter had died and if so, records of his death would be floating between Rutherford and McDowell Counties, because his property in Broad River Township of Rutherford County, became part of McDowell County in 1844!

So the question is, which county settled his estate?? If Catherine moved back to Bill’s Creek in 1844 (1850 census), his property must have been sold and if so, to who?

Zilla Vess, wife of Josiah Vess (son of Peter), is the only VESS buried in Bill’s Creek Baptist Church cemetery (per church cemetery records) and recent research suggests the Vess family (Catherine and her younger children) may have moved to Buncombe County, NC after 1850. To be honest, I think Peter is buried in McDowell County whose tombstone is likely too deteriorated to recognize.

In addition, I do not think Catherine died in Rutherford County either. Despite her last record showing her in Bill’s Creek, her younger children are shown on the 1860 census record living with Dempsey Sumners in Buncombe County, NC. Dempsey Sumners has spent his entire life in Buncombe County, so the only way I can assume he ended up with the VESS children is if Catherine had moved to Buncombe County in between 1850-1860.

I am not sure if Dempsey Sumners is kin, but his mother is Elizabeth Grace Davis. I am told that the Davis and Vess families are very close. Andrew Logan Vess is buried in Davistown Cemetery, which originally was a private Davis family cemetery.

I still do not know how the Davis and Vess families are considered close. My VESS family tree only has 1 DAVIS relative (Dicie Augustus Davis) and it doesn’t look like her family has any connection with Elizabeth Grace Davis. However, the Davis family that Nathaniel Vess line married into is related to Elizabeth Grace Davis – is there a connection?

Although we often associate the VESS family with McDowell County, NC, there appears to be some history in Fairview, Buncombe County, NC.

Dempsey Sumners lived on Cane Creek near Joshua Whitaker and the Lankford / Vehorn families. Jasper Vess married Mary A. Lankford Vehorn.

Further research is needed.