Spurlins of Ashe and Alleghany Counties, North Carolina

Settlement

According to WikiTree, Zachariah Spurlin was born in 1769 in Fairfax County, Virginia, and died on 20 August 1837 in Ashe County, North Carolina.^[1] His profile cites the 1790 census, which lists a Zachariah Spurling in Surry County, and the 1800 census, which lists Zachariah Spurlin in Morgan district, Ashe County. It also cites a "Heirs of Zachariah Spurlin" document.^[1] According to WikiTree, several of his daughters died in Lawrence County, Indiana, where their mother Elizabeth had died in 1829.^[1]

A Jeremiah Spurlin, whom WikiTree gives as born in 1781 in Truro Parish, Fairfax County, died in 1870 in Alleghany County. Alleghany was formed from Ashe in 1859.^[2] His profile mixes places: it lists children born in Grayson County, Virginia (1795), Warren County, Georgia (1806) and Ashe County (1812), and a wife who died in Owen County, Indiana, in 1843.^[2] These dates tie the family to the colonial Spurlings of Truro Parish (see Jeremiah Spurling of Colonial Virginia).

Zachariah Spurling Sr. and the DNA evidence

WikiTree also has a profile for an older Zachariah Spurling, born about 1749 in Fairfax County, whom it makes the father of the Zachariah (1769–1837), John (1780–1851) and Jeremiah (1781–1870) Spurlins of Ashe County.^[3] Its notes say he married in Fairfax County about 1768, the same year he charged purchases at Glassford & Company's Alexandria store to his father's account. The family then settled in Surry County, North Carolina.^[3] This profile cites the same 1790 Surry County and 1800 Ashe County census entries as the younger Zachariah's, and the two profiles give the same death date, 20 August 1837, which suggests the two men may have been confused.^[3][1] FamilyTreeDNA's Spurlin surname project places a tester descended from "Zachariah Spurlin, b. 1747 d. Ashe Co. NC 1836" in its Lineage 1. There he closely matches testers descended from Jeremiah Spurling of Virginia and from "Big John" Spurlin of Lincoln County (see Big John Spurling and the Spurlin DNA project).^[4]

Nineteenth century

WikiTree also has profiles for William Spurlin (born 1830 in Ashe County, died October 1864 in Alleghany County) and Eli Spurlin (1841–1929), both of Ashe and Alleghany.^[5][6] A profile for Andrew Jackson Spurlin (1817–1923) of Sparta says his brothers served in the 22nd North Carolina Infantry (see Andrew Jackson Spurlin (1817–1923)).^[7] The National Park Service's Soldiers and Sailors index lists both an Eli Spurlin and a William Spurlin as privates in Company F of the 22nd North Carolina Infantry.^[8][9] Eli Spurlin's Find a Grave memorial gives his dates as 15 April 1841 to 19 January 1929 and his burial place as Crab Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery at Ennice. A tribute left on the memorial also places him in Company F of the 22nd North Carolina.^[10]

Phoebe Spurlin Moxley

Phoebe Spurlin is listed on WikiTree with an 1816 birth and a 1920 death at Prathers Creek.^[11] Her Find a Grave memorial places her grave in Prathers Creek Cemetery at Laurel Springs and gives her dates as 1816 – 6 November 1920.^[12] The sources disagree on when she married William Moxley: the memorial says about 1832, while WikiTree gives 1843, a year taken from the 1900 census.^[12][11] Census records quoted on her WikiTree profile also give her birth year as 1818, 1821 or 1824 (see Spurlin centenarians and longevity claims).^[11]

The memorial for her husband, William M. "Billy" Moxley (14 April 1812 – 13 January 1907), names ten children.^[13] It quotes a family sketch (no. 523) from Alleghany Heritage. According to the sketch, the couple lived in Ashe (now Alleghany) County until 1849, then moved to Wilkes County near Stone Mountain, where they were living during the Civil War. It says their eldest son, Alexander, came home from the war, refused to go back, and was shot by the Home Guard. The family later returned to Alleghany County and lived near Prathers Creek Church.^[13]

Twentieth century

The Internet Archive's copy of History of Alleghany County 1859 through 1976 is a restricted lending item and was not read for this entry. Its full-text search shows many Spurlin mentions, including a census-style list naming John, Daniel and Kisiah Spurlin, and a passage on local merchants that names Steve Spurlin, Hort Spurlin and "the present merchant Leonard Spurlin."^[14] Eli Spurlin's Find a Grave memorial lists among his children Steve Jackson Spurlin (1891–1970) and Horton Bowers Spurlin (1892–1977), names that match the merchants "Steve" and "Hort".^[10][15] Nearby Wilkes County's 1982 heritage book includes a family memoir by a Spurlin in-law.^[16]

Rev. James Clinton "Clint" Spurlin was born at Ennice in December 1890. His Find a Grave memorial names his parents as John Emory Spurlin (1869–1945) and Sarah "Sally" Parks Spurlin (1872–1945). He became a Methodist minister in the Holston Conference, served for 43 years, and was living at Rural Retreat, Virginia, when he died in 1984 (see James Clinton Spurlin (Methodist minister)).^[17] The Oregon judge Mary Jane Spurlin was born at Sparta in 1883, according to her Find a Grave memorial.^[18] Her entry discusses an older account that gives Virginia instead.

The War Department's 1946 honor list of Army dead for North Carolina includes Romie L. Spurlin under Alleghany County. He was a private first class, serial number 34118922, killed in action.^[19] Honor States gives his unit as the 158th Infantry Regiment and his date of death as May 28, 1944. It also records his burial at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, which the American Battle Monuments Commission's database confirms.^[20][21] See Spurlins in the World Wars.

Family cemeteries

Alleghany County has three burial grounds named for Spurlins on Find a Grave.^[22] The H B Spurlin Memorial Garden at Ennice, across Highway 18 from Crab Creek Cemetery, has 33 memorials.^[23] Its earliest burial is Horton Bowers Spurlin (1892–1977), whose memorial names his parents as Eli Spurlin (1841–1929) and Charity Moxley Spurlin and lists a brother, Steve Jackson Spurlin (1891–1970).^[15] The Elias Spurlin Cemetery, on Route 1114, holds Daniel Spurlin (1824–1880) and three other Spurlins.^[24] The Kisiah Spurlin Grave Site, north of Sparta, is named for Kisiah Spurlin, who died on 10 July 1895 at age 67.^[25] See also Spurlin cemeteries.