Manley, Guffee, King, Beal and Allied Families

These photos are for locations associated with the Dial Creek region where "our" Peter settled. Dial Creek is a tributary of the Flat River. "Our" Peter's plantation was on both sides of Dial Creek. The Flat River stretch where he lived is now part of Michie Lake, a wide point in the Flat River created in 1926 as a reservoir for the city of Durham. These photos were taken in October 2016 by the author and his wife on what was then their annual journey from Connecticut to Florida.

These photos are for the region in what is now Randolph County, North Carolina where Johnston King. Sr., the oldest son of "our" Peter lived. I believe that Johnston King Sr. had six sons, three more than have been identified by previous King Family researchers. These include the following: Previously identified: Johnston Jr., Peter ("dear Petter") and Jesse; Identified by this website: the "mysterious" James, the "older" William, the "older" Thomas. I believe that Kings Creek and King View Road are named for Johnston Sr. These photos were taken in October 2018 by the author and his wife on what was then their annual journey from Connecticut to Florida.

The town of Asheboro, officially founded in 1796, was between where Moses Ratcliff lived a few miles to the east and where Johnston King. Sr. and his sons lived a few miles to the west. Asheboro would have been a center for services such as black smithing and stores to purchase tools and other essentials as well as where county fairs were held, and legal business conducted. It was a logical place for families and young people to meet. It is likely Asheboro was where "my" James King and Rebecca Ratcliff met. In June 2020 the author and his wife visited the town briefly on route from Florida to Connecticut. This was during the COVID crisis. There are no museums or heritage monuments but we took pictures of the County Courthouse and some other locations in the town.

These pictures were taken on August 28, 2020 (during the COVID pandemic) by the author and his wife while on route from Connecticut to their home in Florida. Ratcliff Road is almost certainly named for Abraham Ratcliff whom we know was at this location by at least 1807. The farm is actually just outside the jurisdiction of Moravian Falls which is a CPD (Census Designated Place as opposed to a town. The farm was about 6 miles southwest of Wilkesboro.

These photos are for the region where Abraham Ratcliff had his farm, called Ratcliff Cove, and on which his brother-in-law, "my" James King worked, likely as a supervisor (overseer) of Abraham's slave labor. It is apparent by the present day road names that Abraham's house was along what is now Ratcliff Cove Road and the house of "my" James was along the road named King Road. These photos were taken in October 2014 by the author and his wife on what was then their annual journey from Connecticut to Florida.

This album contains photos taken by the author in June 2019 in Murphy, North Carolina. This is where "my" James King, his wife Rebecca (Ratcliff) and most of their children came to live abt. 1836. The town of Murphy was not officially founded until 1839, which was just after the forced removal of the Cherokee in 1837-38. The earliest white settlement where Murphy is now located was named Huntington and was begun sometime in the 1820's. Huntington was named for Colonel Archibald Russell Spence Hunter who started the first post office in the area. This site supposes that Johnston William King, the oldest son of "my" James born abt. 1810, settled in what would eventually become Cherokee County abt. 1830. In abt. 1836, after the death of Abraham Ratcliff who was his employer, “my” James relocated with his family from where he had been working on the Ratcliff farm in Haywood County to Huntington in Cherokee country. “My” James was certainly encouraged to pursue this relocation based on encouragement he received from his son Johnston William and with the likelihood of obtaining good land after the removal of the Cherokee.

This album contains photos of persons and places in our ancestral lineage. Before posting these, I spent many hours with cousins to help verify the names and places.