Cowee West's Mill Community

 

Daisy Mingus West and Adam West Sr.

NPS Photo

Adam West Jr. and Marcus West

A history of generations in the Cowee West’s Mill community and a Daniel Mingus connection

Background Information

In 2018, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) started The African American Experiences in the Smokies (AAES) project. This project focuses on the experiences and stories of African Americans in the Smokies and surrounding areas to bring visibility to a historically overlooked population. Adam West Jr. and his son Marcus West are descendants of Daniel Mingus, a man who was formerly enslaved by Dr. John Mingus in the Oconaluftee Community. Daniel Mingus was known to have been a skilled carpenter. According to his death certificate, Daniel passed away in Cowee West’s Mill in 1917 at the recorded age of 90 years old. Adam Jr. and Marcus both grew up in the Cowee community. In 2022 the AAES project conducted three oral histories with Adam West Jr. and Marcus West.

 

Cowee West’s Mill

Originally, Cowee served as a diplomatic space for Eastern Cherokee peoples up until the mid 18^th century until conflict came to the land due to the Cherokee wars and the Revolutionary war. Cowee became a part of the state of North Carolina in 1819 and William West purchased the land in 1820. He established the grist mill, West’s Mill, which resulted in a population increase in Cowee. Cowee is known to have had the largest African American community west of the Balsam mountains in the late 1800s and early 1900s. During the Civil War, it had the largest population of free Blacks and enslaved people in the region as well.

Cowee is a part of Macon County. As of July 2021, of a population of 37, 524 people in Macon County only 1.8% was Black or African American, .8% of the population was Native American, and 1.4% was two or more races. The Pleasant Hill AME Church is an African American Church located in Cowee that began in 1874. The building was constructed in 1929 and resorted in 2009. There is an African American cemetery at the church where Daisy West, Adam West Jr.’s mother, and other West family members are buried. It is possible that Daniel Mingus is buried there. The church is a historic site that is no longer in use, but the cemetery is still used today.

 

Adam West Jr. in uniform, Vietnam War.

NPS Photo

Adam West Jr.

Adam West Jr. was born on August 7, 1943 in Cowee Wests Mill. He is the great-grandson of Daniel Mingus. His grandfather was Sherman Abraham “Shan” Mingus (b.c 1870 – d. c. 1940), the oldest of Daniel Mingus’ five sons with his wife Sarah. Daniel was the father of at least six sons.¹ Sherman’s mother, Sarah Pinion, was a white woman. She and Daniel got married in 1870. Daniel is believed to have been mixed race (Black and white), commonly referred to as mulatto during his lifetime.Daniel Mingus’ five children with his wife Sarah from oldest to youngest were Abraham (Sherman), Hamilton, John, Franklin, and Edward. His second youngest son was Charles Mingus Sr. whose mother was Clarinda Mingus, the granddaughter of Daniel’s former enslaver. The names of some of Daniel’s children, like John and Abraham, seem to be adopted from the John Mingus household.

Adam Jr.’s mother was Daisy Mingus who was born c.1902. Her father was Sherman Mingus and her mother was Lavada England Mingus (b. c.1869 - c.1924). Adam Jr. had five sisters and four brothers. He was the youngest of Daisy’s ten children and the only biological child of his father’s, Adam William West Sr. It is believed that Adam Sr.’s father was a white man who was a part of the William West family. His mother was named Callie West. Adam Sr. was born c. 1910. His brother was Daisy’s first husband. Adam Sr. married her after her husband passed away so that he could take care of his deceased brother’s family.

Adam Jr. grew up on 20 acres of land that his family owned in the community of Cowee. His mother purchased the land for $150 before he was born, the land is not too far from the mountain that she grew up on. He remembers her telling him stories about his grandmother, Lavada, who was born in Macon County. She continued to live in Cowee for some time after Daisy moved out of her childhood home. Lavada eventually moved to Sylva, NC.

Lavada England Mingus’ mother, Adeline Shepherd (b.c.1842-d.c.1931), was a formerly enslaved woman who was born in North Carolina. She was separated from her mother, Lucy Reid, on an auction block, as they were sold to different enslavers. Much time had passed before Adeline and her mother were able to reunite. While Adam Jr. remembers his mother sharing this family history with him, he does not know how his grandmother and great-grandmother were brought together again. Adam Jr. recalls his mother stating that the maternal side of her family made it to North Carolina by way of Georgia.

Daisy and Adam Jr. had a close relationship. She shared much wisdom with him and stories of her mother, Lavada, who she considered her dearest friend. Lavada would take Daisy to Cherokee on Sundays when she was a child to watch games of stickball. There are records of Lavada and her mother, Adeline, applying as Eastern Cherokee, thus claiming Cherokee blood, on April 18^th, 1911. However, their applications were rejected.² Daisy taught Adam Jr. an Eastern Cherokee song when he was a child that her mother taught her. He continues to sing the song today.

The Wests grew an array of vegetables on their land where they also raised cattle, hogs, and chickens. Adam West Sr. was a great provider for his family. He made his living taking care of the land of others, performing tasks like mowing and plowing. Before leaving home to work, he would take care of the garden and livestock at home and he would do the same until nightfall when he returned from work. Adam Sr. would kill a hog during the fall and winter to ensure that the family had meat all year long, and he would schedule the birth of calves so that the family had a consistent supply of milk. Adam Sr. walked to work rain or shine, despite scorching temperatures or freezing ones, the only thing that prevented him from going to work was heavy snow.

Daisy Mingus was a stay-at-home wife and mother who was known to be a caregiver to others in the community. Due to the extremely racist social climate of Macon County, Adam Sr. was not comfortable with his wife commuting for work. During the spring, summer, and fall months she canned fruits and vegetables and prepared food for the winter. During the winter she would share canned foods with other people in the community. Adam Jr. recalls a winter that many in the community suffered from the flu. His mother, Daisy, took care of three families that winter for two and a half months. She would wake up early to prepare their meals and trek through the snow to deliver the meals and to provide any aid that was needed.

Adam Jr. went to school in the town of Franklin. Prior to the fourth grade, he went to school in a one room wooden building that teachers tried to keep warm by burning coal and wood in a potbelly stove. However, students still had to wear their coats in the building during the winter. When he got to the fourth grade, a new all Black school in Franklin was built named Chapel. He went there all the way through high school. The school had three teachers in total who were all Black: Mrs. England who taught elementary aged students, Mr. Duke who was the middle school teacher, and Mr. Shephard who was both the principal and high school teacher.

The school was located on the west side of Franklin. Adam Jr. lived roughly 12 miles away from the school. He could not attend the nearby Cowee school because Black children were not allowed to receive an education there. The bus driver was Mr. England, Mrs. England’s husband. After picking up the students who lived in Cowee, he would also pick up students who lived on the east side of Franklin. School began at 8:45am. However, in the winter months the students who were bused were often late due to weather. When the snow was too deep, Adam Jr. was sometimes out of school for two to three weeks during the winter.

According to Adam Jr., most Black people in the area lived in Franklin when he was growing up. He recalls only about three families living in the Ridge in Cowee where he grew up, and about 20-30 people living in a Black community located outside of Cowee called Hall Town. At the time that the oral history was conducted with Adam Jr. in 2022, there was only one Black family living in Hall Town.

African American churches of various denominations connected Black people in locations across western North Carolina including Cowee, Sylva, Canton, Waynesville, Hayesville, Bryson City, Murphey, and Andrews. Adam Jr. grew up attending Piney Grove Baptist Church. In addition to attending his home church, he and his family would visit the Pleasant Hill AME Church in Cowee and other churches across the region for church revivals and fifth Sunday meetings. Adam Jr. recalls in the oral history times when white men would swarm around the church during services. Black men in the churches would have to be on guard to ensure that the congregation was not harmed.

Growing up in Cowee was difficult for Adam Jr. due to the racism that was so present there. He recalls not being able to shop at drug stores in town, having to secretly eat in the backs of restaurants, being harassed, and called the N-word. Due to his light complexion and blonde hair as a child, Adam Jr. remembers a time that he went into a whites only drug store to buy ice cream for himself, his mother, and his sister. While Adam Sr. appreciates the place where he was brought up with his family, he considers Macon County to be the most racist county in western North Carolina.

Adam Jr. left Cowee at 21 years old to join the army. After serving in the Vietnam War, he returned home to take care of his mother and father in their old age. His mother, Daisy, passed away in 1975, and his father passed away in 1991. He began his own business after he returned to Cowee and is believed to be the first Black contractor west of Asheville. “I look at Daniel Mingus, and I hear what he did – he was in carpentry – and I wonder did I get some of that from the Mingus side,” says Adam Jr. in the oral history. Later in life, Adam Sr. found his calling to become a pastor. He continues to live on and nurture the land that he grew up on as a child.


¹ Daniel Mingus’ five children with his wife Sarah from oldest to youngest were Abraham (Sherman), Hamilton, John, Franklin, and Edward. His second youngest son was Charles Mingus Sr. whose mother was Clarinda Mingus, the granddaughter of Daniel’s former enslaver. The names of some of Daniel’s children, like John and Abraham, seem to be adopted from the John Mingus household.

 

Marcus West

Marcus West was born on August 21, 1984 in Sylva, NC. He was raised in Cowee West’s Mill by his father Adam West Jr. and his mother Cyretha Ann Rogers who passed away in 2017. His mother was from Cullowee. The couple met in Bryson City where a Black community called Black Hill is located. Marcus’ mother was a teacher at the Webster pre-school and worked at Angel Medical while his father worked as a builder.

Marcus has always taken great interest in the history of Cowee and surrounding areas in western North Carolina. He would always listen as a child when his mother and other elders in his family would discuss family history.

Marcus’ family history in Cowee dates to at least 1805 with his third great maternal grandmother named Jennie Matlock who was a formerly enslaved woman from Kentucky. She was sold to John West and transported to Cowee. Her son was Jeramiah West who was also owned by the same enslaver. John Wart enslaved 16 people. Jerimiah West was married to Melinda Shepheard West, they were the parents of Marcus’ great-grandmother Callie West. She was Adam Sr.’s mother.

Marcus describes growing up in Cowee as “very country”, with memories of riding a mule and a sled down to the mailbox that was about a mile away from the house. His father, Adam Jr., taught him how to farm, garden, and live off the land. Marcus describes his favorite memories growing up in Cowee as the times that he spent with his father. “My favorite memories here are with my father because he’s done a lot for me… The little things will always keep me here. I’ll be here to pass [the history] on,” says Marcus.

In addition to caring for the family land, Adam Jr. also taught Marcus Cherokee ways of hunting and being in the woods. He taught him how to hunt, to be quiet and light-footed in the outdoors, and to listen to the wind. Adam Jr.’s mother taught him to listen to the wind and to connect with it spiritually, to listen to the history that lives within it. He passed this down to Marcus.

Marcus spent his free time in the outdoors, caring for animals, and spending time at his grandmother’s home. Marcus has three older siblings named Denise West, Adam West III, and Brandon Rogers. Being much older than Marcus, they lived away from home, but would come to Cowee to visit when he was growing up.

The first church that Marcus remembers attending as a child is the AME Zion church in Cullowhee. His second great-grandfather, Lewis Rodgers, was the cofounder of the church. He later attended Mountain Zion Church in Murphey with his family. Marcus participated in the music ministry at church as a drummer. Like his dad, Marcus got to know more people in the Black communities of western North Carolina by attending events hosted by various churches in the region.

Marcus remembers being able to recognize racism as early as kindergarten. He began school at Iotla Valley Elementary School where he was often isolated decimated against by white teachers. Due to the mistreatment that he was experiencing, Marcus’ mother transferred him to Victory Christian where he had a better experience, but still recognized some discrimination. Further highlighting the racial climate of Macon Country during Marcus’ childhood and how it impacted his experience growing up there, Marcus recalls the Klu Klux Klan marching to his school in Franklin from 1998-2001.

To counter the Klan, Marcus and some of his friends faced them wearing all Black. Marcus says that the KKK and groups like it, such as neo-Nazis, are still present in the area. Marcus was able to walk away from his school aged years with many positive memories despite the racism that he faced. Even today, he describes the racial climate of Macon County as one that is comfortable to that of the 1950s and ‘60s, though he has seen some change in the right dierection.

Marcus grew up visiting the Cherokee reservation often to spend time with friends. He and his family also traveled to places like Knoxville and Gatlinburg where they would rent cabins. Because he grew up learning about the Mingus side of his family, he was able to make the connection to the Mingus history at Great Smoky Mountains National Park when he got older. In recent years, he took his father to visit Oconaluftee, Mingus Mill, and the Enloe Enslaved Cemetery.

After high school Marcus worked for Cornerstone and Countryside Log Homes while he perused his dreams in music. He now works as a butcher and is the proud father of two daughters, Janiyah and Jalyn West. With an appreciation for his home place and the family history that lives in Cowee, Marcus plans to remain in Cowee and to continue taking care of his family’s land. According to Marcus, he truly found himself when he began to research his family’s history and find answers to questions that he had growing up. As a lover of history, he has been able to trace his maternal ancestry to the Ivory Cast of West Africa and other locations in that region of the continent.


² The AAES project is still researching the reason why Lavada England’s and Adeline Shepherd’s Cherokee applications were denied.

 

Research Resources

“About the Cowee Community.” Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center, Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center, www.coweeschool.org/cowee-community. Accessed 15 Mar. 2023.

Oral History interview with Adam Jr. West and Marcus West (2022), African American Experiences of the Smokies project, Collections Preservation Center, Townsend, TN.