Black Mountain's Past
A Tribute to Two Mountain Mothers
Wendell Begley
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
May 10, 2024
I composed this photograph last fall near Blackstock Knob. The view looks south to the ruins of the old Champ and Elsie Burnett homeplace at the northeast end of the Burnett Reservoir (Asheville Watershed). The old homeplace was located at the mouth of Chestnut Branch Cove. Photo courtesy of the Wendell Begley Collection
In an earlier era, one of the most respected mothers in the upper Swannanoa Valley was Elsie Elmina Cordell Burnett (1860-1943), pictured above, left, in a rare 1880’s portrait. Elsie was the wife of William Henry “Champ” Burnett (1850-1933), and together they built one of the most prominent homes in the upper North Fork Valley.
Constructed in the late 1880s, it was well known to local folks and served as a place of many social gatherings. Situated in the lower end of Chestnut Cove, Champ and Elsie’s big farmhouse was a “rock’s throw” from the present day northeastern shore of the Burnett Reservoir. It had many bedrooms and during the summer months Champ and Elsie put up seasonal boarders. In fact, several nationally known writers and artists thought so much of the home, they returned there year after year to spend their summer months. Sadly, as Asheville expanded its watershed, Champ and Elsie’s property (pictured below) was condemned and taken by the City in 1926-27.
Champ & Elsie’s North Fork home (circa 1921). This is the storied home, near the historic banks of the North Fork, where nationally known writer and author Winnifred Kirkland made her summer residence and wrote about “Ms. Elsie.” Photo courtesy of the Wendell Begley Collection
Both Champ and Elsie were descendants of the first pioneer families to inhabit the upper North Fork Valley. Elsie was the granddaughter of famous North Fork guide, Jesse Stepp (1810 or 11-1873). Champ, a respected leader of the mountain community, was a sawmill operator, schoolmaster, Justice of the Peace, and Sunday School superintendent. He was also the great grandson of Frederick Thomas Burnet, Sr. (1770-1854), upper North Fork’s earliest settler.
Champ and Elsie Burnett. Photo courtesy of the Wendell Begley Collection
One of the annual boarders at the Champ Burnett home was Winnifred Kirkland. Ms. Kirkland was a well-known writer of wide acclaim. Her articles appeared in many national periodicals of the day. One hundred and four years ago, Ms. Kirkland wrote a touching article for Ladies Home Journal. It was about Ms. Elsie Burnett and how she best stereotyped “mountain mothers.”
The article was published in the December 1920 issue of the magazine. In celebration of the life and memory of our second Mother, Wilhelmina “Willie” Burnett Kerlee Headley (1932-2011), I thought of Ms. Kirkland’s description of “Ms. Elsie” and “Mountain Mothers.” I could think of no more fitting a tribute than to pass on Miss Kirkland’s words of acknowledgement and praise to Ms. Elsie Burnett’s granddaughter … We knew her simply as “Willie.” Therefore, I have highlighted excerpts from Ms. Kirkland’s memorable December 1920 writing in Ladies Home Journal:
“Of all the mountain mothers that I know there is one that is so dear a friend that I hesitate to present her except that she is too good to keep to oneself. She is tall and slim and dark as gypsy.
Much of the pioneer sturdiness and daring she inherited from her ancestors … She is a mother in Israel to half the mountainside – tending her animals and cultivating her garden, cooking for twenty people, nursing each one of them if they fall sick, and comforting and cheering them if they are sad. Denied an education herself, she has coveted it fiercely for her children … She is a comrade never to be forgotten for picturesqueness both of appearance and of conversation. She never buys a thing for herself. She loves all animals as if they were human.
The mountain mother’s life is harsh and hard. The mountain women never asks life for happiness, and yet, as I look into her eyes, deep and quiet with a gaze that has dwelt all her life on beauty, and as I meet her keen wisdom and shy, bubbling humor, I wonder if she has not found happiness without any seeking. Here in the highlands the God of all mountains has given the mountain woman dignity.
Elsie milking one of the family cows at their North Fork farm. Photo courtesy of the Wendell Begley Collection
Endless patience with many children has given her repose, a code of finest hospitality has given her a beautiful courtesy. Mountain men are hard in their exactions on women, but perhaps it is because their women never fail these demands, so that the men no more than the children realize how much a mountain mother gives. Perhaps there is nowhere in the world a spot where women are respected as they are in the Southern Highlands. A woman might tramp alone from end to end of all this region and never anywhere be in danger of the faintest insult from any man.
Elsie Burnett, third from right, back row, gathers with family members at her North Fork home. Her granddaughter, "Willie" Burnett Kerlee Headley, stands in front of her to the right, while Willie’s mother, Wilhelmina, and father, Doss, stand in the back row on the right side. Photo courtesy the Wendell Begley Collection
The mountain mother lives untouched by all modern life. In two centuries mountain people have changed so little that they are in many ways the typical Americans. And that is why it is worthwhile for other Americans to become acquainted with them. The past had its virtues, and the mountain mother today is not so much a woman belonging to a different geographical region as she is a woman belonging to a forgotten past …”
Elsie’s memory, along with that of her granddaughter, lives on. Willie’s devotion to Bob (her husband of 56 years) and her family stands out as an example to all of us, especially at this time of year. Like her grandmother, she had a deep love for animals and her passion for gardening and love of the valley were uncompromising pinnacles in her life.
A picture of Willie and her cousins (early 1940s) on the banks of the North Fork of the Swannanoa River. The photograph features (l-r): Elsie Jo Glavich, Nancy Wilson, Helen Burnett and Willie Kerlee.
Willie gave much of herself to her Church and the community organizations she so loved. Willie was a good listener but never passed on the opportunity to present her thoughts and demonstrate strength of character in her everyday life. There was no darkness, no mystery, no shadow upon Willie’s ideals and philosophy. Willie’s “mountain” upbringing rang true throughout her life. This is how Willie will best be remembered. It is the priceless inheritance Willie left to her family and her many cherished friends. In remembering both Mothers, I have included a few photographs reflecting upon their lives...
Oh, how the flowing waters of the North Fork of the Swannanoa River have “run through” the lives of so many generations in our past.
Black Mountain Savings Bank
P.O. Box 729 • 200 East State Street • Black Mountain, NC 28711 • 1.828.669.7991
“Established in 1908, We are One of the 47 Oldest FDIC Insured Banks in America” (that’s Out of 4,620 FDIC Insured Banks) …Too, We are the Town’s Oldest Continuing Business and the Only “Community Owned Bank.” We Have Been Taking Savings Deposits and Making “Local Home Loans” for 116 Years”
Copyright: M. Wendell Begley, series 877, VE14, May 10, 2024
