Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. Romans 12: 19
This is a sordid tale of how alcohol, firearms, irascible tempers and isolation don't mix and as a result roaring guns took two lives on Pine Creek.
Deep in the back woods of Jackson County North Carolina far from city life, my Stewart, Moss and Hooper families made their way through a hardscrabble existence in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Off the beaten path of State Road Highway 107 which connects Cashiers to Sylva NC, just past the intersection of Norton Rd and Pine Creek Road in Cullowhee, is a small red Baptist Church with a cemetery on the hillside behind the small building. Pine Creek Baptist Cemetery is a walk into a life of a much different time. Every single person in that cemetery has a fascinating story to tell and a full 90 percent of those buried in that cemetery are blood related to me in some way, including four generations of direct line ancestors on several sides of my paternal Grandmother Myrtle Cora Henderson Reese's family.
It's a breathtakingly beautiful cemetery set in a picturesque valley that brims with views that made me fall in love with the area the same way I'm sure my ancestors did. Walking up and down the rows of markers I think of the sometimes troubled, sometimes joyous history that was filled with equal parts, happiness, hardship, hate, love and alcohol. Most lived simple lives marking their time between the dashes in the splendid isolation with nature deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
Pine Creek Baptist Church Cemetery-Erastus NC
My Great- Aunt Alma sat with me for interviews in the 1990s and told me there were stories I did not want to hear about our family, because as Alma put it, "there are skeletons in the closet that need to stay there" Of course that didn't sit well with me so I pressed the issue for Alma to tell me more about our family from Pine Creek. One of those fascinating sordid stories was about the time a Shotgun Shootout on Pine Creek pierced the peace of the valley.
Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:8
Govan Stewart and wife Clara Belle Webster Stewart, witnesses to the deaths of Fred Pruitt, Abe Stewart and the shooting of Burl Moss, July 1938.
This story revolves around my 3rd Great Uncle Abraham Nelson Stewart. Abe was the youngest male child of my Great-Great-Great Grandparents Milton and Rhoda Hooper Stewart of Erastus, Jackson County, North Carolina. Milton and Rhoda's oldest child Lena Belle Stewart was my Great- Great Grandmother. From research sources and interviews with relatives I discovered Abe was temperamental, probably owing to the the fiery Scottish roots of our family. My Great Aunt Alma related to me that her mother Dessie Moss Henderson had told her Abe was hot headed and uneven when he drank(which was often) Funny how some of our family were very ill tempered yet others were calm and even tempered. Many were God fearing abstainers of alcohol while many others drank at will and lots. Suffice to say Abe was not tee-totaling, just the opposite, he freely produced, drank and embraced alcohol in all of it's glories and misfortunes. It is hard to say how people of the same family can be so very different, but alas they are. Unfortunately for Abraham Stewart, his lifestyle led him to an early grave. First, a little background. Prohibition was in full swing in North Carolina in the early 1900s and the home production of alcohol was forbidden by law. Even to this day distilling your own liquor at home is illegal because the danger it poses(both to the state's sale of fortified alcohol and safety reasons) When you distill liquor you're combining alcohol vapors with heated sources, and explosions can happen. Plus not many amateur distillers understand that many storage sources can leak heavy metals into the alcohol further endangering the persons who consume said liquor. Suffice to say, Abe Stewart distilled moonshine at home without consequences for who knows how long. In early 1921 Abe Stewart was arrested in Jackson County NC, then in May 1921 tried in U.S. District Court and convicted of illicit distilling and sentenced to five months in prison. At that same court session in the same case Abe's brother Alvin C. was convicted to two months in prison, evidently they had been distilling moonshine as a team but Abe ended up with the longer prison sentence. Abe served his term, got out and for all intents and purposes that should have been the end of his troubles. It was only the beginning. Eventually his taste for liquor combined with a temper would be his undoing.
In April 1929 trouble found Abe Stewart again when he knifed Will Wilson and Jim Moore at a logging camp in Sylva NC. Wilson barely survived the attack and was in critical condition for quite some time. Moore was injured when he tried to break up the fight between Stewart and Wilson. Abe disappeared after the event happened and eventually when things settled down he reappeared but was never tried or convicted of any offense, even though there were witnesses confirming he had committed the attack. The Charlotte Observer headline regarding Abe Stewarts' Jackson County exploits from April 3, 1929 read " Knife Flasher running wild carves up two"
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
1 Corinthians 1:10
That brings us to the fateful day, Sunday July 10, 1938. Of all days, this one, the Lord's day, the day that should be reserved for rest, relaxation, and reflection on ones life was pierced by violence and sin. But alas every soul must bear it's own responsibility in discerning the truth and unfortunately this day would provide no respite to those who refused to listen to the commandments of God Almighty. About 4pm that Sunday afternoon Abe Stewart and friend Bill Teague came walking up the road by Abe's younger brother Govan Stewart's house on Pine Creek. They were drinking and cursing loudly. In their drunkeness they were angry at Moss who was at the home of his other Uncle Govan Stewart and his cousin Albert Stewart. Maybe the influence of the alcohol or anger at Moss or Govan's son Albert Stewart was too much for them to bear anymore. It was a fateful decision that was the wrong one at that particular time. Burl Moss related later in his testimony to authorities that the argument had started some weeks ago when Abe Stewart and Burl Moss had a disagreement and an ensuing altercation in which Stewart who was drunk at the time, used abusive language towards Moss and in retaliation Moss slapped his uncle Abe Stewart. Moss said they had had words with each other since that happened several weeks back.
BURL MOSS
Whatever the reasons, about four pm that Sunday July afternoon Abe Stewart and Bill Teague came rambling up the road to Govan Stewarts house cursing and drinking the whole way. Govan Stewart's wife, Clara Belle Webster Stewart went into the yard and asked Stewart and Teague to leave her property. Abe Stewart and Bill Teague left the property but circled around a hill. Teague evidently went back home, but the 60 year old Stewart was then joined by 28 year old Fred Pruitt. After dark Stewart and Pruitt went to the home of Abe's sister Etta Stewart Chapman and secured two shotguns and according to Etta Stewart Chapman they said "this will do the work" Stewart and Pruitt left, armed and carrying open containers of liquor and walked back down the road past Govan Stewart's house while cursing loudly. Meanwhile all this time Abe Stewart's nephew Burl Moss who had been inside his Uncle Govan Stewart's house with his cousin Albert Stewart and had witnessed what was happening with Stewart, Teague and Pruitt. Burl Moss knew their anger was directed at him. He decided to secure his own shotgun and see if he could "stop some of this cussing" In the darkness of the evening, Moss walked through the yard of Govan Stewart's house and then onto the road. Stewart and Pruitt were approaching again on the road from the other direction about 150 yards from the house. Burl Moss approached the two men, stopped at about 25 feet away and asked them to stop cursing. Stewart and Pruitt said to Moss, "come another step closer and we'll make you hop" With that remark Abe Stewart opened fire and unloaded his shotgun at Burl Moss. Moss was hit in the left leg. Moss drew his shotgun and returned fire immediately in the direction of the two men striking Pruitt in the left side, killing him almost instantly.
Govan Stewart related that Abe Stewart then drew his gun and fired again at Burl Moss(his own nephew) and struck Moss in the right arm, rendering it useless. Stewart had a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun while Moss had only a single barrel 12 gauge. With his left arm Moss broke open his gun, reached into his pocket to get another 12 gauge shotgun shell, and reloaded. While Moss was reloading Stewart shot at Moss again, but missed. Moss raised his now loaded gun to his shoulder, squared his aim and fired at Abe Stewart, struck him in the left breast and neck with the foot and half spread of bird shot load. Abe Stewart fell instantly, dead in a heap on the road a bottle of liquor in his pocket. Moss, bleeding profusely limped back to his own house. Neighbors then brought Moss to the C. J. Harris Community Hospital. Sadly, Fred Pruitt at only 28 years old had a wife and a three month old baby at home, the wife left alone and the baby left to grow up without a father. But conversely, alcohol, anger and loaded weapons bring with them an inherent danger. And in this case it cost two men their lives and almost killed another.
Sometime later, Deputy Sheriffs Homer Turpin, James Mason and Frank Allen arrived on the scene and questioned , Abe's brother Govan Stewart, his wife Clara Belle and others about what had happened. They then questioned Moss while he recovered in the hospital in Sylva, NC. All three involved in the gunfight had used 12 gauge shotguns. Moss and Pruitt had used single barrel guns while Stewart had a double barreled shotgun. The deputy sheriffs also discovered a quart of liquor on the person of Abe Stewart and 3/4's of a pint of liquor on the dead body of Fred Pruitt, proving that both men were in fact drinking at the time. In their police report, deputies noted discovering that Pruitt and Stewart were found about 20 feet apart and Pruitt's gun had a loaded shell in it, indicating that he had intended to shoot again when he was struck down by Moss. Investigators also reported that the shooting was the result of an ongoing family row. So there were probably some deeper seeded resentments, and/or hatred that were brought to bear on that hot July night deep in the backwoods of Jackson County North Carolina.
An interesting note, newspaper accounts of the incident reported that Abe Stewart had lived in Gastonia North Carolina for a time and he was survived by his widow and children who resided in Gastonia North Carolina a couple two and a half hours away. This leads me to believe Abe had returned to the mountains of Jackson County because he was on the outs with his wife, who evidently had turned away from him, probably because of his drunkenness and behavior.
Even after the death of Abe, his wife and children never returned to Pine Creek. Some went to South Carolina, some stayed in the Gastonia and Bessemer City areas of North Carolina.
After the shooting more information came to light about the underlying argument that might have precipitated the event. Abe Stewart was angry at his own nephew Burl Moss and probably at his brother Govan Stewart or his son Albert. In my view Burl was defending himself, Govan and Clara Belle Webster Stewart and their son Albert Stewart. When indictments were brought down by the county prosecutor Burl Moss was jailed for the death of Fred Pruitt and then Albert Stewart (the nephew of Abe and cousin of Burl and son of Govan Stewart ) was arrested and charged with the murder of his own uncle Abe Stewart, even though Moss had been the
one to fire the fatal shot. As the cases moved through the courts in late 1938 Burl Moss was convicted in the murder of Fred Pruitt, even though on the surface it certainly looked like self defense. Moss was acquitted of responsibility in the death of Abe Stewart and on October 22, 1938 Albert Stewart was acquitted by a Jackson County Superior Court of the murder of his uncle Abe Stewart. Burl Moss had been charged with first degree murder of Fred Pruitt, but on the same day that Albert was acquitted Burl changed his plea to guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to 10-15 years at the state prison in Raleigh North Carolina. After completing only four years of his prison sentence Burton Lee Moss(Burl) was released on parole by NC Governor Broughton and he removed to Pleasant Hill, in Northampton County North Carolina, a remote area near the Virginia border above Raleigh NC. Burl did occasionally return home to Pine Creek but lived the last years of his life in Pleasant Hill NC where he died on January 27, 1972. After his death Burl Moss was brought back home and buried at Pine Creek Baptist Church Cemetery only a little ways from where his life had changed forever with the death of one of his own family and another caught in the crossfire of an alcohol fueled bona-fide family feud.
Epilogue:
Owing to the sins of the father, Abe's son Charles Candler Stewart grew up under the tutelage of his mother in Gastonia North Carolina, fought bravely in WWII and then became a minister of the gospel and turned from the life his father had lived. Charles lived out his life to the ripe old age of 87, when he passed away in 2007 in York South Carolina where he had been a minister for many years.
Abe's other son Abraham Nelson Stewart Jr. grew up and joined the Navy and lived an exemplary life as well and passed away in 2007 in Winston-Salem North Carolina.
Comments