Bethel Rural Community Organization rededicates historic marker
People with ties to Col. Thomas Lenoir’s Haywood County cattle ranch, past and present, gathered together to commemorate a new historic marker on the site. Pictured (left to right) are Mike Terrell, Carole Terrell, James Walker, Bart Lenoir, Elizabeth Colon, William Le Noir, Jr., Gwen Cradle, Lavonne Casey, Rosalind Lenoir-Zachary, Nicole Zachary, Ellen Michal, Charles Trantham, Martha Trantham, Ellie Trantham, Bailey Trantham, James Trantham and Julie Trantham. Donated photo
Nearly three years after a historic marker on Haywood County’s oldest continuously operating farm was damaged by Tropical Storm Fred, the Bethel Rural Community Organization has replaced it — this time, adding language that acknowledges the sacrifice of the enslaved people who kept the farm in operation until their 1865 emancipation.
The farm was originally owned by Col. Thomas Lenoir from 1807. In 1849, his son Thomas Isaac Lenoir brought Devon cattle to the farm, where 18 enslaved people cared for them while also planting and harvesting crops and building several structures that survived for nearly 150 years. After the Civil War, the farm was run with the help of caretakers.
Earlier this month, descendants of the Lenoir family, of the enslaved people and of the caretakers all joined together — some, coming hundreds of miles — on the property, which is now owned by Charles and Martha Trantham, to commemorate their shared history.
The visitors participated in a filming session where they recounted their own research not only into their own ancestors but also into a painful chapter of America’s history that ended with the surrender of Confederate armies in 1865.
The group ended the day with a visit to the Bethel Community Cemetery, where some of the formerly enslaved people are presumed to be buried.
The Bethel Rural Community Organization is noted for its historic preservation efforts, including the erection of six local historic markers to commemorate significant sites in the community.
For more information on the Bethel Rural Community Organization, visit bethelrural.org.
