Name Suffix:<NSFX> Capt.
1. This is from today's paper. October 25, 2000
Family to honor Kuykendall - Hendersonville, North CarolinaFLAT ROCK - A patriot of the American Revolution will be honored Saturday in a ceremony at
the cemetery of the Mud Creek Baptist Church.The ceremony will dedicate a new monument for the grave of Abraham Kuykendall, a captain in
the N.C. Militia from 1770-83."This is an important event in our family's history," said descendant Charles Kuykendall. Abraham
was "an important man in Colonial North Carolinaand in the early history of Henderson County."Hendersonville Mayor Fred Niehoff and Flat Rock Mayor Terry Hicks have issued official
proclamations declaring Saturday as Abraham Kuykendall Day.The Abraham Kuykendall Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution is working with
members of the Kuykendall family to host the event.The monument, a marble obelisk, is 8 feet tall. Two bronze plaques, one from the Daughters of the
Founders and Patriots of America and the other from the Daughters of the American Revolution,
will also be dedicated.Representatives of various historical societies and participationby adults and children in period
costumes will also be featured.The public is invited. Descendants of Kuykendall from across the country are planning to attend.
Kuykendall was appointed captain of a safety committee, which governed Tryon and Rutherford
counties during the Revolutionary War years. He was later appointed justice of the peace and
justice for the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions by the General Assembly of North Carolina.Kuykendall was one of the earliest settlers of Henderson County. In 1779, he obtained the first
known land grant in the area now known as Flat Rock.Kuykendall donated the land to the church for its cemetery and its original church buildings. He
eventually acquired nearly all of what is today historic Flat Rock.
2. Abraham Kuykendall was one of the first settlers of what is now Henderson County and thehistoric Flat Rock area. He was, most likely, the first settler of Flat rock,as his land grants probably pre-dated those of John Earl. He founded some ofHenderson Countys first businesses, including a fine inn, a tavern, and a mill.Abraham Kuykendall, as well as a number of his descendants, is buried in thehistoric Mud Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.Abraham Kuykendall, who was prominent in community affairs, served his nation valiantly. Archives in Raleigh,North Carolina, hold a Revolutionary Pay Check No. 32 for military service for Abraham Kuykendall for 1779.
Abraham, whose van Kuykendall ancestors had lived in America since 1646, was an active proponent of the patriotic cause. On July 26, 1775, Abraham Kuykendall was appointed Captain of a Safety Committee inTryon County, North Carolina (August 1775 Tryon County Court Minutes). Abraham actively participated in other community affairs as well. On December 17, 1778, Captain Abraham Kuykendall was appointed as Justice of the Peace and Justicefor Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions by the General Assembly for the area that became Rutherford County.
3. The Kuykendall family was High Dutch. Abraham Kuykendall, came to what is now Henderson County, North Carolina, very late in life, and lived near the Mud Creek Church. He kept a tavern which furnished accommodations for those travelling the old State Road, which passed through that section, -- later selling the place to Samuel McGuffey, a son-in-law, and to Samuel King.
The tradition is that Abraham Kuykendall lived to be about 104 years old, and that his wife during the time he was a resident of this section was his second.
One of the most widely known traditions of early settlers is that when he sold his property near the church, Kuykendall received payment for it in gold coins At that time, there was no bank in Western North Carolina, and for safe keeping, the old man blind folded
William Jr, after his marriage he settled on a land grant of 400 acres near New Salem, North Carolina. He crossed the Great Smokey Mountains in 1792 and settled on a tract of land in northwestern Tennessee, near Morriston (3 miles NW). The site of his dwelling commanded a view of the Clinch Mountains 10 miles north, and the Great Smokey Mountains 40 miles south. The lands are somewhat hilly, but overlook the fertile valley near at hand. There is a cool spring of limestone water on the east and a stream winds down to mingle with other spring streams on there way to the Great Holston river. From "Posterity of William Millikan" by G. T. Ridlon: William Millikan, second son of William Millikan, was born in Chester Co., PA, as early as 1754, was but four years of age when his parents removed to Rowan Co., NC. He married Aug 10, 1776, Eleanor Smith of Guilford Co., NC., and settled on a grant of 400 acres, not far distant from New Salem, where he was employed as farmer, blacksmith, and land surveyor; and some old "land plats" and "field notes", still in the family, show that he was a scientific man.
He crossed the Great Smokey mountains in 1792 and settled on a tract of land in northwestern Tennessee, near Morristown, (three miles NW) and the site of his dwelling commanded a view of the Clinch Mountains ten miles north, and the great Smokey mountains forty miles south. The lands are somewhat hilly, but overlook a fertile valley near at hand. There is a cool spring of limestone water on the east and a rill winds down to mingle with other spring-streams on their way to the great Holston river.
His house was built of large chestnut logs, hewed square, and was on the ground plan 20 x 30 feet, two stories, with a large cellar underneath. There were also two porches of two stories on the north and south sides, and the large chimneys were laid up with limestone rock. A spacious building of one room, used for a kitchen and dining room stood near the principal dwelling. Some parts of this house has stood the wear and tear of time more than a hundred years, and may still be seen.
William Millikan, Jr. remained on his farm until the death of his wife, Feb 5, 1837, but spent his last days in the home of his son-in-law, Jesse Howell, where he died aged 84 years. They were buried in the Economy grave yard not a distant from there home but no inscribed monuments mark their place of rest, only rude natural stones. He was a man of enormous size, not weighing not less than 300 pounds. His eyes were blue, his hair rather light, and his complexion fair and rather florid.
Mr. Millikan was not known to have used the land surveyor's instrument after his settlement in Tennessee, but he had a blacksmith's and gunsmith's shop near his house, where he made farm implements and guns, and did some work as a silversmith. A coin silver sleeve button made by him is now owned by John S. Howell, his grandson. He also owns and uses a large arm chair once owned by this William Millikan. The sturdy posts are of sugar wood, nicely turned, and the rungs of the best hickory, the seat is of split white oak. William and Eleanor had thirteen children.
From the book "Jefferson Co., TN Family & History 1792-1996:
William Millikan Jr, second son of William Sr., removed to Jefferson County, Tennessee in 1792. His wife was Eleanor Smith whom he had married in Guilford County, North Carolina in 1776.
William Jr., was a 300-pound blacksmith. He was also a gunsmith, which seems an odd occupation for a pacifist Quaker. Wife Eleanor died in 1837. William Millikan Jr., died in 1838, age about eighty-four. They both are buried at Economy Cemetery in what is now Morristown.
The children of William Millikan Jr., and Eleanor were as follows: David, Eli, Solomon, Elihu, Alexander, William, Samuel, George, Hannah and Eleanor. William and Eleanor's son Elihu Millikan would become on of Jefferson County's early leaders.
