Black Mountain native follows lineage to historic Carson House
Regina Lynch-Hudson joins Daughters of the American Revolution as first woman of color descended from Colonel John Carson
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 6, 2024
Black Mountain native Regina Lynch-Hudson, a semi-retired Roswell, Georgia-based publicist-turned-family history reviver, stands in front of a portrait of her fifth-great grandfather, Colonel John Carson, founder of Historic Carson House. She was sworn into the Daughters of the American Revolution wearing a scarf patterned after the house museum’s quilt created by an enslaved foremother known as Kadella. Courtesy photo
As Regina Lynch-Hudson walked through the halls of the Historic Carson House, May 17, a complex and often obscured aspect of the nation’s collective story resonated throughout the ornate home. On these grounds, more than two centuries ago, a valiant Revolutionary War officer settled his family, only a decade into America’s existence.
While Colonel John Carson established himself as a prominent figure on the western frontier, the labor that sustained his sprawling plantation, once known as Pleasant Gardens, was supplied by as many as 68 enslaved people on the property.
The stories of those forced to toil upon one of the largest plantations in the region are largely lost to history, but Lynch-Hudson, who became the first woman of color to join the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) through her connection to Carson and the first African-American to join the Greenlee Chapter of DAR, stands as an enduring link to the enslaved foremothers who preceded her.
Growing up in Black Mountain, the 65-year-old semi-retired publicist and writer was enthralled with the oral traditions and histories shared by the elders in her family.
“As a young adult, I knew that we descended from the Carson line; it was a part of our oral history,” Lynch-Hudson said. “However, the depriving legacy of slavery and the lack of historical records make it challenging for most to trace a direct lineage to their patriot ancestors. Records were often not kept or were destroyed or altered.”
That heritage creates a complicated dynamic within her “tangled European, African-American and Native American” roots, she continued.
“I am a part of the oppressed and the oppressor, not only the enslaved, but the people who did the enslaving,” Lynch-Hudson said. “I come from both.”
Three decades ago, amid a career as a publicist crafting the stories of clients, she began diligently documenting and preserving those of her ancestors. That journey led her to the home of her paternal fifth-great-grandfather where she became one of nearly 200,000 members of the lineage-based NSDAR.
The Blood of a Patriot
Regina Lynch-Hudson and Historic Carson House historian Dr. Jim Haney view slave rolls in Historic Carson House in 2015. Courtesy photo
Carson’s life began in Ireland, decades before the birth of America. He settled in the frontier county of Rowan, where he volunteered to join the American War of Independence. While the war between the colonies and the crown raged, Carson married Rachel Matilda McDowell, daughter of “Hunter John” McDowell and sister of fellow Revolutionary War veteran Colonel Joseph McDowell.
Ten years later, after receiving a land grant near the confluence of Buck Creek and Clear Creek, Carson completed the construction of a home, built by skilled enslaved people, on a 640-acre plantation. Following the death of his first wife, he wed Mary Moffett McDowell, the widow of his brother-in-law, from whom McDowell County takes its name.
The Carson House became the centerpiece of a plantation on the western end of what was then Burke County. Carson’s home hosted visitors ranging from frontiersman Davy Crockett to Andrew Jackson, later the seventh president of the U.S. His influence and wealth grew as the nation moved into the 19th century, according to former Carson House Executive Director Martha Jordan.
“It was a stagecoach stop, they took in boarders, hosted horse races and entertainment of various kinds,” she said. “It also served as the post office and the polling place for elections, so it was the center of the community during that time. Then, in the early 1800s, the Carsons invested in land where gold was found, and gold mining is where they really prospered.”
Carson acquired land in present-day Buncombe, Mitchell, Rutherford, and Burke Counties. Following his death in 1841, the plantation house operated as the government headquarters for McDowell County, which was established the next year.
“He was instrumental in the formation of McDowell and early Burke Counties,” Jordan said.
As his land holdings increased throughout his lifetime, so did Carson’s reliance on enslaved labor, with records indicating he held 12 men and women in captivity in the late 18th century, with the number growing to 68 at the time of his death. Twelve offspring from two marriages inherited his wealth, while his youngest son, Jonathan Logan Carson donated 50 acres of land on which much of downtown Marion was later constructed.
No records exist to verify that Carson fathered children with enslaved women, but evidence of Carson lineage is present in the DNA of Lynch-Hudson and other descendants.
She submitted her saliva sample through FamilyTreeDNA’s John Carson of Western N.C. and Carson Plantations group projects, administrated by genealogist Connie Bradshaw. Extensive analysis confirmed that Lynch-Hudson shares genetic ancestry with several white descendants of Colonel John Carson. This includes three Carson cousins who share significant overlapping DNA segments on the same chromosome, an occurrence that points to a common shared ancestor.
“We used to rely only on our oral histories, but today, we can point to the tangible evidence of DNA results as irrefutable confirmation of our elders’ whispered stories,” Lynch-Hudson said.
The ‘Daughter’ returns
Regina Lynch-Hudson walks the grounds of the Historic Carson House on her first visit to the property in 2015. She returned last May, when she became the first woman of color descended from Colonel John Carson to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. Courtesy photo
A decade before confirming her relation to Carson, Lynch-Hudson first visited his former home, where her ancestors tended to orchards, crops and chores. While viewing the extensive collection of artifacts and documents with historian Dr. Jim Haney, she was captivated by one specific item. An intricately stitched Broderie Perse quilt made by an enslaved woman, known only as Kadella, served as a tangible reminder of her foremothers, Lynch-Hudson said.
A presumably defiant woman, Kadella was reportedly carted around by fellow slaves in an elevated sedan chair, an uncommon and grandiose mode of transport for a person of bondage. The prolific quiltmaker refused to do ordinary work assigned to slaves. She was exempted from manual labor by Colonel John Carson and allowed to pursue needlework in her own private cabin.
“Kadella was a matriarchal mistress on the plantation, but other than the magnificent artistry she leaves behind, there is not a lot of information about her,” Lynch-Hudson said. “We believe Kadella was her birthname at the time of purchase, but when she arrived at the plantation it was probably changed. That’s one theory as to why she has yet to be found on census records or records beyond our sacred oral history.”
Kadella, and the women who shared her plight, inspired Lynch-Hudson to pursue membership in the NSDAR. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving history and education initiatives. The organization, which extends membership opportunities to any woman, 18 years of age or older, includes 190,000 members.
"My membership in DAR honors faceless foremothers, such as Kadella, and every plantation daughter whose unrecognized contributions have profoundly shaped our nation's heritage,” Lynch-Hudson said. “It acknowledges the paradoxical dimensions of Colonel John Carson's saga and encourages ongoing dialogue about inclusivity and representation in historical organizations."
Of the national society’s 3,000 chapters, Lynch-Hudson chose to join the Greenlee Chapter, established in Old Fort in 1935. Although she now lives in Georgia, she was drawn to membership in proximity to the Historic Carson House.
“The location holds a natural resonance for me. It’s where my forebears lived, and their blood, sweat and tears are deeply embedded in the soil of the area.”
Wearing a custom scarf patterned after the aged quilt Kadella created centuries ago, Lynch-Hudson recited an oath to uphold the mission of DAR, acknowledging her kinship to Carson while visually honoring the plantation’s foremothers.
A patchwork of history
Regina Lynch-Hudson examines the quilt, created by an enslaved woman known only as “Kadella,” while visiting the Historic Carson House for the first time in 2015. Courtesy photo
The Carson family sold their historic home to John Seawell Brown in the late 1800s, as the nation attempted to move forward from the Civil War. By the 1960s, the old plantation home was in disrepair.
In 1963, sisters, local educators and historians Mary, Ruth and Nina Greenlee, and Carson descendant Moffitt Henderson, rallied the residents of McDowell County to restore the landmark as a museum and library.
Today, the nonprofit museum maintains an extensive collection of research materials and books, dozens of family histories and continuously growing archives. Rooms within the structure are decorated as they were throughout its lengthy history, while an exhibit on the second floor honors the enslaved people who were once held on the property.
The Jubilee Arbor, constructed in 2015 as an educational and community event space, is dedicated to the 68 enslaved people cited in the will of Colonel Carson. Lynch-Hudson’s connection to Carson and membership in the DAR comes at a time when the museum is constructing a 3,000-square-foot Interpretive Center that will feature permanent exhibits showcasing the African-American experience on the property, to include items from the main house, like Kadella’s quilt.
“I felt thrilled for Regina because she and Rene Bryson, the registrar of the Greenlee Chapter, put in an incredible amount of research,” Jordan said.
Lynch-Hudson reflected on the poignant moment when she was officially sworn in to NSDAR.
“There I stood, with a portrait of Colonel John Carson looking over my shoulder, in the same space where my ancestors labored,” Lynch-Hudson said. “I don’t believe they could have envisioned how far people of color have come.”
Regina Lynch-Hudson conceptualized and serves as co-administrator of two FamilyTreeDNA Group projects: the Cragmont Community Project and the Payne Family of Western North Carolina Project, whose tested-participants include songbird Freda Payne and former member of the legendary Supremes, Scherrie Payne. Her museum initiatives encompass curating five ancestral exhibits at Swannanoa Valley Museum, incorporating her great-grandmother, medicine woman Mary Louisa Stepp Burnette Hayden, and an exhibit spotlighting internationally famed songstress Roberta Flack, born in Black Mountain. Additionally, she curated an exhibit at the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer, and designed signage on the focal point red train caboose in downtown Black Mountain, commemorating her “gentle giant” grandfather George Winslow Whittington, an early Southern Railways brakeman. She also contributed to a permanent exhibit at Biltmore Estate, honoring her maternal great-great-grandfather George Washington Richard Henry Lee Payne, the esteemed Estate's lead blacksmith. Lynch-Hudson was a presenter at the 2024 North Carolina Museums Council Conference in Cherokee, where she discussed the importance of diversity and representation in museums.