Claunch and Stewart Families

Biographical Sketch:

George Ketterling Gose - 7th Born Child and 3rd Born Son Of The Immigrant Stephan Gose and Catherine Sprecher (Spracher)

George Ketterling Gose, the third born son of immigrant Stephan Goß (Gose), was born in Rowan County, NC, February 14, 1769. He was married to Anna Maria Spangler, December 4, 1792. John Stanger, the previously described farmer, doctor, and minister for the Zion Lutheran Church in Cripple Creek performed the wedding ceremony as he did for most of the first U.S. generation of Stephan Gose family siblings. Anna was the daughter of Peter, Jr. and Elizabeth Pfeifferin (Piper) Huddle Spangler. (Wythe County Marriage Book 1, p. 5.)

George and Anna first lived on Elk Creek which is about 10-12 miles south of the Cripple Creek area. This Elk Creek area was part of the newly established Grayson County which was formed from the southern half of Wythe County in 1792.

George's next older brother Stephen appears to have married around 1784 and was the first of the family to locate in the Elk Creek area. George's oldest brother Christopher also married in 1792 and located in the Elk Creek area as well. You will recall from the information presented in the story about their father, Stephan Goß and family, that Stephan also owned land on Elk Creek which was surveyed in preparation for his purchase in 1789.

At least two children were born to George and Anna while they lived on Elk Creek - Stephen, born September 4, 1793 and Elizabeth, born January 24, 1796.

According to Wythe County deed records, in December of 1799, George and Anna purchased 195 acres on the "South Branch" of Cripple Creek in Wythe County, from Peter Tarter for 200 pounds. Thus, after about seven years living in the Elk Creek area, the family had decided to move back closer to "home". Stephan apparently died earlier in 1799 and George and Anna received a small interest in the family land. It is certainly possible that Stephan's death influenced their decision return to the Cripple Creek area.

At least two more children were born to George and Anna after they moved back to the Cripple Creek area - David, born June 13, 1802 and George, Jr., born November 27, 1807. In 1809, George and Anna (along with some of George's siblings and their spouses) released their interest in their father's land - perhaps to George's brother Jacob who had previously purchased two other sibling's interest in the land.

If you look at a map of Wythe County (see map in "Photo Album" of this Family History section) you will not see a branch of Cripple Creek that is named, "South Branch". However, we know that the George Gose family lived adjacent to the Hezekiah Chaney family’s land, because in 1817, George brought a lawsuit questioning land boundaries and the ownership of land held by the Chaney family.

From the publication "Glimpses Of Wythe County Virginia" compiled by Mary B. Kegley, a noted local authority on Virginia history in the Wythe County area:

"Hezekiah Chaney came to the Cripple Creek area in 1775 and lived on a 393 acre tract of land on McCendley’s (or McKinley’s) Run (today called Chaney Branch) south of Lick Mountain. Hezekiah owned several tracts adjacent to the original 393 acres, finally totaling 2,100 acres. Out of all this land, only 200 acres were cleared in his lifetime. Chaney also owned and operated a mill at the gap below his house."

"Sometime after acquiring the grant to his original acreage, Chaney learned that a problem with the land boundaries existed due to the fact that a land survey made in 1753 for James Wiley (Wyley) was part of his original 393 acres. Because Wiley had moved to South Carolina or Georgia with fees unpaid to the land company, Chaney was unable to purchase the claim to clear the title to his land." [Chaney died in 1813.]

"In later years when Chaney's children sold some of the land, it was discovered that there was still a problem with the exact boundary lines and acreage. George Gose, one of the purchasers, brought a lawsuit to question the acreage in 1817. According to testimony given in the suit, Chaney had planted valuable orchards, operated a mill, and had sold timber from some of his [George’s] land during the time that Brownlow managed the Preston’s Ironworks (later known as the Speedwell Furnace). The charcoal furnaces used about an acre of timber a day to make charcoal to produce one ton of iron."

According to Mary Kegley, George died before the case was settled and his wife Anna and his three sons, Stephen, David and George, Jr. received title to the land.

The original Cripple Creek home built by Hezekiah Chaney was later owned by William Gose, a son of David and Susanna Gose and thus a grandson of George and Anna Gose. There is a photo of this home in the "George Ketterling Gose Family Photo Gallery" in this Family History section.

So, from this information we see that George Gose and family lived near the Chaney Branch of Cripple Creek. While we have found no maps specifically identifying a "South Branch", there is a branch called "Dry Run" that is a south branch of Cripple Creek located a short distance west of the Chaney Branch (which is a north branch).

It is believed that the first home pictured in the aforementioned "George Ketterling Gose Family Photo Gallery", conceals the original Cripple Creek home of the George and Anna Gose family.

Interestingly, the home is located on a road that is locally known as "Dry Run Road" (which is also designated as Virginia Secondary Road 651), near the Chaney Branch of Cripple Creek. (This road is thus over a mile north of the branch of Cripple Creek that is identified on today's maps as "Dry Run Branch".) The home was later owned by George Gose, Jr., the first born son of George and Anna. The original front section of this home is of log construction. Weatherboard (clapboard) siding was frequently applied to old log homes to better seal them against the winds of winter and to "modernize" them. The weatherboard was installed over the log section when the new brick section on the rear was added. Today this home is still owned by a Gose descendant.

From one of Mary Kegley's books titled "Early Adventurers In The Town Of Evansham, Volume IV" (Evansham being the original name of Wytheville):

"George Gose wrote his will on May 22, 1819, and it was probated September 14, 1819. To his son Stephen he devised the western part of the plantation. To his sons, David and George he devised all other land after the death of his wife Anna. Daughter Elizabeth Groseclose was to have certain personal estate divided with the three sons, and also slaves. Stephen and Elizabeth had received some property in advance. The land purchased from Hoseah (Hezekiah) Chaney was to be divided, part to Stephen and part to the others. His wife Anna and John Stanger and Jacob Gose were to act as executors (Wythe County Will Book 2, p. 281)."

Mary goes on to give more information about the George Gose line and other Gose family branches (as well as other early day residents) in the referenced publication. Anyone wishing to learn more about Mary's publications will want to visit her webpage.

As you may have noted, George died at the relatively "young" age of 50. He also must have been suffering from some health problem or problems and knew that death might be imminent, because he wrote his will very shortly before he died. To add substance to this supposition, Etthan Miller has shared some information with us from another publication that provides insight on George's sufferings -

John Haller was a Lutheran doctor who located in Evansham (Wytheville) following his marriage in the spring of 1815. Dr. Haller frequently travelled many miles to visit his patients. Dr. Haller's daybook records that, "on December 2, 1817, he traveled twelve miles to visit George Gose, who lived on Cripple Creek, and charged him for amputating his leg on the fifteenth. The total bill was $138.37½." (ref: Haller's Account Books; Kegley, "Haller," pp. 4-5)

Anna Spangler Gose died almost 29 years later on May 16, 1848.

* * *

Just a little ways down the road from the George Gose family homesite is the Mount Ephraim Methodist Church. In the cemetery surrounding the church you will find the graves of many members of the George Gose family. Why are members of a family with strong Lutheran roots buried in a Methodist cemetery?.. Well… because they were members of the Mt. Ephraim Methodist Church! And yes.. there is a story behind how this came to be.

Here is the passed down family story that was told to Etthan Miller, g x 5 grandson of John Stanger who was the founding pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church in Cripple Creek. (Etthan is a resident of the area and an active member of the Zion Church.)

According to Etthan, during the Civil War, a Methodist minister named David Sullins, who was a circuit riding preacher, came to the area. A "circuit rider" is someone who would travel around from church to church (or any location suitable) to preach and hold prayer meetings and such.

During the latter stages of the war, the Rev. Sullins was invited to stay with the David Gose family (son of George Ketterling Gose) "for awhile" so as to "wait out" the end of the hostilities before resuming his circuit riding.

Well, a little while turned into a little longer and Rev. Sullins ended up renting a small cabin-like structure from David Gose. With the assistance of neighbors and friends, the Reverend David Sullins repaired the structure and rented some adjacent land so he could grow a few crops. He opened the first neighborhood school in the cabin and held services there as well.

That was the beginning of the Mount Ephraim Methodist Church and that is how some of the Gose family became converted from Lutheran to Methodist.

The Mt. Ephraim Church sits on a hill above the intersection of two county roads with several large old trees scattered about the grounds. The church cemetery lays off to one side of the small church building and runs across the face of the hill as it slopes down to the intersection of the roads. The cemetery is therefore very prominently visible in the foreground as you approach the church from the corner. (Photo of present day Mt. Epharim Church is in the "Photo Album" section of the Family History page.)

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gose/george.htm

Gose Family Land Grants
by June White

Christopher Gose 2 Jun 1796
Wythe County
250 a. On the Turkey fork of Elk Creek the
waters of New River adjoining his own land
Grants No. 35, p. 280

George Gose 10 Sept 1875
Tazewell County
1200 40/100 a. Beginning near Blue Spring Creek
to a point of rocks at the head of Fish Spring and
to a corner stake of Gose, Peery, and Meek's and then
leaving Bland Road to a gap in the cliff on top of
Burke's Garden Mountain
Grants No. 119, p. 715

Philip Gose 21 Apr 1803
Wythe County
60 a. In the Rich valley adjoining land of Peter Spangler
Grants No. 50, p. 43

Philip Gose 27 Aug 1805
Tazewell County
70 a. In Burks Garden adjoining on the north side of
his old survey he bought of Stobough
Grants No. 54, p. 226

Philip Gose 20 Jul 1825
Tazewell County
139 a. In Burks Garden
Grants No. 74, p. 190

Stephen Gose 29 Jul 1796
Montgomery County
100 a. On the waters of Elk Creek
Grants No. 35, p. 464

Philip Goss 15 Jun 1804
Wythe County
107 a. In the Rich Valley adjoining John
Spangler and Jacob Grossclose
Grants No. 53, p. 151

http://www.vagenweb.org/tazewell/grgose.html