John B. McBrayer was born in Rutherford County, NC, in 1774. He was the son of Samuel McBrayer Sr. (1735–1814) and Samuel’s first wife Elizabeth (1745–1786). After his mother died, his father married a woman (named Young) whose husband had been killed by the British in the Revolutionary War. Around 1797, his father moved the family to Buncombe County. They bought land on Shaw Creek in what is now Henderson County. Apparently, they either moved to Fairview or had homes at both locations. The McBrayer family has always been associated with Fairview.

Around 1800, John McBrayer married Sarah Margaret Ashworth of Fairview. She was born in Rutherford County, NC on March 1, 1780. Sarah was the daughter of John Ashworth Sr. (1735–1805) and Nancy Ann Wood (1745–1843). The Ashworths lived where Sherrill’s Inn is located now.

On January 7, 1808, John McBrayer sold 100 acres on the banks of Broad River in Rutherford County (later McDowell, now Buncombe) to his father-in-law, John Ashworth. McBrayer then sold 100 acres on Roaring Branch of Shaw’s Creek in Henderson County to his half-brother Andrew McBrayer in 1816. He sold two tracks of land to William Edmundson: 129 acres on the northside of Flat Creek; and 71 acres in Fairview.

John McBrayer and his brother David moved to Greenville, SC in 1818, and then to Tennessee. They traveled down the Tennessee River in flat boats to a point near Guntersville, Alabama. They moved inland to the Huntsville, Alabama, area, where they stayed about a year before moving north to a farm within sight of Winchester, Tennessee, where they stayed two years. John McBrayer then moved to Gilmer County, Georgia, where Cherokee land had been opened for settlement. He then moved to Hall County, Georgia, where he is listed on the 1830 census.

McBrayer then moved to Paulding County, Georgia, just west of Atlanta, in 1831. He appears there on the 1840 census. In 1850, he is found in Upsher County, Texas at the home of A.M. McBrayer and his wife, Matilda. A.M. was probably McBrayer’s son, Alfred McBrayer. A granddaughter of John McBrayer told her granddaughter that when she was a child, she and her parents visited Texas. They did not like it there, and after a year they moved back to Georgia. She told her granddaughter that she got her foot caught in a knothole on the ferry crossing the Mississippi River. She could not free the shoe, and her father had to make her another shoe. A young colt they were bringing home from Texas got spooked when they were crossing the river and jumped off the boat and swam to the shore.

McBrayer was back in Paulding, Georgia in 1860. He died there in 1863 at the age of 89. He is believed to have been buried in Paulding County in an unmarked grave. Sarah, his wife, was living with their son John in Pontotoc County, Mississippi with when she died in 1865 at the age of 85.

John and Sarah Ashworth McBrayer had eight children.

1. Joseph Russell McBrayer was born in Fairview, Buncombe County, NC, on February 6, 1802. He was married on December 27, 1828 in Georgia to Margaret H. Leathers Dickson. She was born on August 17, 1811 in South Carolina. She and Joseph died in the 1870s in Franklin County, Alabama.

2. Ashworth William McBrayer was born in 1805 in Horse Shoe, Buncombe County (now Henderson), NC. He was married on March 27, 1828 in Hall County, Georgia to Barbara Wigley. She died between 1850 and 1860 in Coosa County, Alabama. He then married Mary, who was born in 1813 in Tennessee. Ashworth was listed as the assistant US Marshall in Coosa County, Alabama in 1870. He died in the 1870s and is buried in Friendship, Georgia at New Georgia Baptist Church Cemetery.

3. Andrew Erwin McBrayer was born on June 28, 1807 in Horse Shoe, Buncombe County (now Henderson), NC. He married Nancy Ann Leathers on January 23, 1833, in Carroll County, Georgia. She was born on July 17, 1813 in Greenville County, SC. Andrew died on October 29, 1889. Nancy died on November 20, 1908. They both died in Draketown, Paulding County, Georgia.

4. A daughter died between 1830–1840, name unknown.

5. Alford M. McBrayer was born around 1810 in Horse Shoe, Buncombe County (now Henderson), NC. He was married on April 25, 1839 to Matilda New in Cass County, Georgia. He moved to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and then Upsher County and Ellis County, both in Texas. He died between 1850 and 1860 in Navarro County, Texas. He was a blacksmith.

6. Ashley “Sley” McBrayer was born around 1811 and died before 1900. He is said to have been older than brother John and to have died before him.

7. John H. McBrayer was born on February 13, 1812, in Horse Shoe, Buncombe County (now Henderson), NC. He married Susannah “Susan” B. Leathers on March 19, 1836, in Douglas County, Georgia. They lived in Paulding County, Georgia. John died there on October 20, 1900, and Susan on December 28, 1900, both in Paulding County.

8. James Henry McBrayer was born in 1818 in Buncombe County, NC. He was married to Cynthia Durham, who was born around 1815 in Paulding County, Georgia.

Bruce Whitaker documents Fairview-area genealogy. To get in touch with him, contact the Crier at [email protected] or 828-771-6983 (call/text).