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| The Cottage on Beaver Creek
"The development of events outside a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power"..........fate. When I ask for the help of "supernatural power," I'm generously rewarded. This was the case when I went back to our lil' cottage on the creek in North Carolina, this past September. I have no doubt that what I found back in North Carolina, what I was "drawn to," was inspired by my grandfather, Henry Grady Noland.
Let me begin with the relationship between myself and my grandpa. He is my favorite person in the whole world. He was always patient with me, spent time with me, made me laugh, whittled, and played jokes on me, he also taught me, and he also saved my life as a child. There will never be another who will replace him, EVER! I was his granddaughter, he was my tall, lean, hard-working, frugal, loving, and funny grandfather.
So, my story begins:
While meditating one morning, I received a clear vision and voice that told me, "get the pictures of me from Jessica, take them back to North Carolina with you." I had given my daughter a family frame with various pictures in it many years prior, something she could hang in her first home. That frame held pictures of my grandfather. Clearly, he wanted those pictures and he wanted me to get them. I hadn't really thought about those pictures in years. A few days later, I got the pictures, made copies of them at Walgreen's, bought a frame, framed the pictures, and placed it with other household items I was taking back to N.C. Done deal so I thought............ Several days prior to obtaining these photo's, I questioned myself as to the vision and voice in meditation.........."did I really hear grandpa right?" "Was it really him who spoke to me?" After pondering this a bit, I headed outdoors to feed our livestock, as I stepped back into our house a few minutes later, I ran smack dab into the middle of cigarette smoke, a secluded space in the middle of the living room, reeking of smoke. I knew immediately that my grandfather was letting me know it was him, and "yes" he wanted me to do as he had asked. Never question the supernatural..........OR....one's Spirit Guide.
Rick and I arrive in North Carolina September 9th, 2012 to spend a month vacation in our lil' cottage on the creek. We work, we play, we work, we play...........finally, we've accomplished enough on the place to reward ourselves by taking sometime off to sight see. We head up to Waynesville, N.C. which is in Haywood County, about 1.5 hours away. While in a Re-store for habitat (looking for items for our renovation job), we ask a local lady if she can direct us to Fines Creek, N.C. We get directions from her and set out to find it. When we approach Fines Creek, we stop at a lil' store called Ferguson's Supply. Rick tells me to wait while he inquires inside, we need directions to the local cemetery. While waiting, I take pictures of the creek, the store, a truck with burly tobacco loaded on it's flatbed, etc.
 
He returns to the truck, and we set out for a cemetery, in hopes of finding relatives listed in my genealogy. What we find astounds us both..............
 
While none of these names on the headstones "ring a bell" with me, we both "feel" as though they are somehow related. We spend about an hour, then head off to another cemetery in Fines Creek. Once again, the "Noland" name is everywhere. I'm somewhat disappointed as I thought for sure names like, Peter, Henry, Charles, Melinda.......would show up on some of these headstones, to no avail.
We tarry along down the road (Fines Creek is approx. 12 miles long), rejuvenated at the sight of beautiful farms, barns made of chestnut and stone, creeks & mountains. As we turn a bend in the road, I note another beautiful barn and ask Rick to stop so I can take a picture. I see a few men standing around trucks up behind the barn, but I still take the picture. As I click the camera, I hear a man say, "she's taking a picture of my barn." One of the men gets in his truck and drives down to us. I figure I better explain myself, so I get out of the truck with my genealogy papers in hand. The other truck with two men begins to drive off as well. I lean into the truck, introduce myself, and the man jokingly tells me that picture will cost me $5. I explain my mission. Just then he tells me, "ma'am, that gentleman heading out in the other truck is David Noland, he owns this place, you need to talk to him." The driver of the other truck passes us, slowly he turns his head around to look at us, I seize the moment, and flag him down. He backs up and I explain my mission once again, but this time it's to the owner of this gorgeous farm, and his name is David Noland!! I ask him if he'll look over my genealogy papers, see if he can tell me anything, is he related to any of my people? He tells me that I'm probably related to his wife, Sue.
You see, David married a "Noland," a fourth cousin. David then tells me about an author named Lynn Noland, he's written a book on the Noland clan of Haywood County, North Carolina. David also tells me that I can find the book in the Waynesville library if I want to turn around and go back. We can't, we're on our way to Black Mountain to see a singer, CaroMia. We thank him and leave.
Two days later, we roll over in a bed, early morning, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. My husband snuggles with me and tells me he thinks we should go back to Waynesville, we must try and find this book. I know that his heart is set on exploring more of the Smoky Mountain's, but there is no denying the aching in my heart, and this nagging feeling that I should look at this book. We return to Waynesville, North Carolina. It's a beautiful library, people are helpful. I inquire about the book and the librarian pulls up the title on the computer, sure enough, it's in the archive room, she directs us to it. Rick finds the book, I'm elated! We sit down, and I immediately feel overwhelmed........how am I going to read this book, find names, copy pages, in one afternoon? Rick decides he's going to walk down to a bookstore (not far), inquire about the book or see if he can order the book.............to no avail. He comes back to the library and tells me the bad news. As we're talking, a gentleman that evidently works at the library, overhears our conversation, he wants to be of assistance. He gets the authors phone number for me, he pulls up the Haywood County historical names on-line, and immediately goes to the names I've given him. He tells me he thinks I may be related to the Noland's of Haywood county, but he can't be certain without further investigation. I give him a few pages of my genealogy to copy, the pertinent ones. Stan, my friend at the library also takes my email address down. He promises that he'll keep in touch with me upon my return to Arizona. We leave the library and I immediately call the number Stan has given me to Lynn Noland's home. Unbeknownst to me, I have dialed the number on Rick's cell number, but have used the Arizona area code...............this mistake is discovered many days after we are back in Andrews, N.C. by my husband. Once he explains what I've done, I try calling again, this time I get an answering machine, I leave a message, but before I can tell all the answering machine cuts me off. The remainder of the month in North Carolina, I hear nothing from Lynn Noland.
The day approaches for our departure, we are sad that we are leaving North Carolina, we are sad for many reasons, namely, we love our lil' cottage on the creek, we love the town, we like the people, we love the Appalachian mountains we live in. It's a hard day, the day we board up the windows, close blinds and curtains, and say good-bye. We even say good-bye to the lil' male dog that became our friend over the month. He had a home in the neighborhood, but he stayed at ours the entire time we were there. "Bubba" slept on our porch, he laid on the porch all day while we worked on the home, drank water from our creek, and even spent "cocktail hour" with us on the creek each evening. I got attached to that silly, big-eared, flea bitten, dog by the time we left.
As we pull out of our driveway, we see "Bubba" staring after us, I am in tears. We travel through much of the night, and finally stop at a motel for rest. We've decided to take a different route home, we head through Tennessee the following day. Just outside of Fayetteville, Tennessee Rick's cell phone rings, I answer.............it is Mr. Lynn Noland calling from North Carolina. He has just returned home from a hunting trip out of state and received my message on his answering machine. I have Rick pull over immediately, we talk. He calls me Katherine.............Lynn tells me that he has sold his last copy of his book, "Milesian Mountaineers" (translated, "Irish Mountaineers"), BUT.....the women who wanted the copy never sent him a check for the book. He feels like he's been jerked around by her and decides on the spot, to sell it to me. I jot down his mailing address, along with the amount he wants for the book. He tells me that since we're related (somehow), he'll sign the book for me. I'm beside myself with joy, wonder, elation...........I call my mama to tell her. She too is in awe that I have found the last copy of this book. Only 500 copies were ever printed.
As soon as we return home.
  I make out a check to Mr. Lynn Noland and mail it to his home in Lake Junuluska, North Carolina. Within a week, I receive the book. I head over to my mother's and I hand her the package, tell her to open it. We spend the remainder of the day, looking through the book, reading stories to one another. We do indeed find.... Peter, Henry, Charles & Melinda. We've found our ancestry, we're very proud. The Noland's came from Ireland (Dublin & County Mayo). King Heremon, the first King of Ireland, is my relative. We have a Coat of Armor, a Crest, an intriguing story. We trace our lineage to Pierce Noland from Dublin, to his son Pierce, from County Mayo, the first of our ancestors to come to America. He died in Stafford, Virginia. He left a long lineage of children, a son Phillip Noland, again of Stafford, Virginia, to his son Peter Noland, the first Noland to homestead in North Carolina. His son Henry Noland leaves Wilkes county, N.C. to Fines Creek, N.C. Peter Noland (Henry's Son), lives in Fines Creek and even purchases Daniel Boone's log home and land, adding to the Noland land ownership by purchasing many more acres near the river. Peter's son, Willis Noland, marries and has 12 children with Melinda Green. They leave a son, Charles Noland......my great, great grandfather, he leaves a son, William Riley Noland.....my great grandfather, who in turn leaves a son.........Henry Grady Noland........my grandfather............who leaves two children.........Dorothy Ann Noland & Robert Harold Noland.......my mother & uncle. Our angels/spirit guides abound, they wait for us to ask for help.............. we just have to ask!!! A prayer I've often used throughout my life is this: Dear Spirit Guide/s: I wish to meet you & get to know you. Please make your presence known to me and give me your name if possible. Please be persistent until I "get it" or really acknowledge your communication with me. Thank you, I so look forward to getting to know you! Noteworthy 1. Our purchase in May of the home in N.C. 2. Genealogy search shows we have family just 1.5 hours away from our home in N.C. 3. We search Fines Creek, N.C. for some connection. 4. I run into David Noland at the Noland Farm (BTW-he is the last Noland to farm in Fines Creek, N.C.) 5. David tells me about this book on our family history written in 1986. David tells me where to locate the book. 6. Rick locates the book (1 copy) in Waynesville, N.C. library. 7. Stan Smith comes into the scene and offers immeasurable help. He verifies many things for me since my return home to Arizona. 8. I am given a phone number to the author. 9. I call the author to no avail. 10. My husband finds I've made a mistake in dialing Mr. Noland and we correct it. 11. I'm cut off by a darn answering machine before all details of my call are divulged. 12. I leave North Carolina Oct. 4th saddened by the fact that I've not heard from Mr. Noland. 13. I receive a phone call while in Tennessee from Mr. Noland, he has (1) copy of the family book left, he's willing to sell it to me. 14. I return home to Arizona, send my check out to Mr. Noland and receive the family book, "Milesian Mountaineers" within a week, verifying our lineage to the Haywood County Noland's. 15. Coincidence? I tend to believe it was FATE! Henry Noland fought in the Revolutionary war Five of the six sons of Willis and Melinda fought for the Army of the Confederate States of America (CSA) My people were successful land owners, farming and growing crops of wheat, rye, tobacco............ all of them raised livestock (sheep included). My people forged out a living in some of the most pristine, wild forests of North America. Many landmarks in the Great Smokey Mountains are named after my ancestors; Noland Creek, Noland Divide, Noland Mountain, Noland Gap(2), Noland Branch, Noland Creek (2), Betsy's Gap, Betty Noland Cliff & a very small community named Noland that now lies at the bottom of Fontana Lake. My lineage takes me back to, "The Noland Lineage through the Milesian Monarchs of Ireland" in 1698 B.C. However, "Milesian Mountaineers" has taught me much more.........Lynn has woven a story of our family......Kings, brothers, land-ownership, the Noland's loss of power and influence during the Cromwellian period, crusades & bravery with loss of life, of wealth, ingenuity, and fortitude. Am I proud of my people? You betcha!!! By the way......I did eat Muscadine & Scuppernong while I was in the South...........I'm addicted!!!! 
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