James Dyer JUSTICE

                   Also reported as born in 1788.

James Dyer Justice was a surveyor and is reported as having "laid out"the town of Hendersonville, NC.

Buried in Mud Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Hendersonville, NC.

Middle name also spelled "Dyar".

His portrait used to hang in the old Henderson County Court House.Apparently put in storage, location unknown.

James Dyer Justice, grand father of Elder Amos Isaac Justice, was amember of the Mud Creek Baptist Church in its early history, and isburied there beside his wife, who died in 1828.

"After the father's death (Thomas E. Justice) in 1805, the young man, age18, married Miss Anthroit Thomas, and soon became involved in the futureof the community where they lived.  To both friends and relative hebecame one of the important men of the times...both in growth of thecommunity and in his own personal worth to the people. We quote anexcerpt from one of the speeches made by another descendant at a familyreunion held in Asheville, many years ago, wherein Thomas E's grandsonhad already begun to carry on, where we feel the elder man had left off.Who can discredit the influence old Thomas must have had on this youngman...and we quote..."He helped with the surveying of the town ofHendersonville, this James Dyar Justice.. and produced sons and daughterswho also helped in the betterment of the small village and rightfully so,he earned the name of "well beloved citizen'.  He was mourned by all thatknew him when he died at the age of nearly 70."

"Perhaps of all the sons of Thomas E. Justice, Sr., the one in thischapter is to whom most lines in present day research refer back to as"their source of roots."  If ony a story about James Dyer Jutice was allone had, it would indeed show much of the history of the area and thepeople, for he was indeed a giant of man when giants were needed.

James Dyer Justice settled near Dana, N.C. and there married Miss Thomaswhose father owned much land.  Perhaps through her father's  influenceyoung James acquired a great interest in surveying.  He was a natural anddid this work for many years.  It culminated in his being appointed, in1820, to the Speculation Land Co. of New York, as a Commissioner andSales Agent.  The land involved covered 1/2 million acres in Mecklenberg,Rutherford and Buncombe Counties; this now includes Henderson, Polk, andMcDowell. In time this work was turned over to his son, the Rev. ThomasButler Justice, a Minister, at the First Baptist Church in Rutherford Co.from 1857 to 1870.  Following his time as Sales Agent this work wascarried out by others of the family, until the company was dissolved in1920.

One thing that hampers the task of tracing our Thomas Justice line is thefact that certain names were used in every generation in each branch ofthe family with little (at this late period) to distinguish between thelines.  We will find many James Dyar Justices, as well as many with theaforementioned name of Thomas Justice.

With so many becoming ministers, both in the Methodist and Baptistdenominations, we find additional information from the Baptistsettlements by reading in The Colonial and State Records, collected andedited in 1887 by William L. Saunders, Secretary of State.  We feel oneexcerpt should be incorporated in this part of our story.  In Vol. 5,pag. 1191 it states the Baptist Church really began under the FrenchBroad Association in 1807.  The Colonial Records say - "this small bodyin the county of Buncombe, in the mountainous region in the western partof the state, was first composed of six churches - Little Ivy, Locust,Old Fields, Newfound, Coney River, French Broad, and Cane Creek.  Thefirst three were dismissed from the Holston Association in Tenn. and theothers from the Broad River Association in S.C."  We note that a ThomasJustice was the minister at its beginning.

With the date of death of James Dyer's father, Thomas established, wemust assume the "Thomas Justice, Minister at French Broad" is the olderbrother of James Dyer.  This one man inspired later men of the family toalso enter the ministry.  A descendant of the Edney family, that camefrom eastern N.C. with the Justice family, praised James Dyar and hissons, at a family reunion in 1921 in Asheville.  C. J. Edney spoke inloving terms of the influence these men had on others in this area.Quoting further - "He, James Dyar was one of the first settlers in whatis now Henderson County.  Edney family and Justice family werecontemporaries in the settling of the county.  They have always been veryclose friends - James Dyar Justice settled here and raised his family.  Iwas only four years old when he died so I don't remember Esquire Justice,but my mother told me what happened.

"He lived here, I don't know just how long, but raised his family - andthere was no more honorable man than James D. Justice.  He was know allover the country.  His evidence, self-submitted in court, would be good Ihave heard it said.  My grandfather said 'he was the best business man Iever saw in my life', and he, grandpa, was always commending somethingJames D. did.  He was also public spirited - he was looking for gettingmore roads.  He and Amos Edney (my ancestor) and Amos Green, made theroad at Pool Creek.  There was no one else to do it.  They had started tothe ends of the earth - they were Englishmen, the proudest race on earth.

"He could draw up legal papers.  Where did he get his education?  Therewere no more schools in Virginia, (where he was born), than we have here.Then what sort of man was James D.?  We have just heard that he had 14children - he believed in replenishing the earth  Everyone liked JamesJustice.  He was a sane business man for everybody.  When we went toschool, we had a Blue Backed Speller and Fowler's Arithmetic. I would notbe surprised if James Justice did not study the Blue Backed Speller.What else do you suppose he studied?  We read in our spellers.. do yousuppose he learned to read in that book?  Did he know anything aboutarithmetic?  He was employed as an engineer becaused he had ability andwas educated.  He was a surveyor.  When people bought land around him, hewould survey it, and write the deed.  So let us agree, that he as indeedan educated man."  A footnote added to the above: "The tradition in thefamily was that it's members usually became preachers, lawyers orsurveyors.  In the family of James Dyar Justice, who was a surveyor, wefind at least one preacher (there were many others) and one surveyor.One son had two sons, one a preacher and one a lawyer."

In more detail we list the children of James Dyar Justice who came fromEastern N.C. with the Edneys and settled in a place a little below them,near the French Boad River in present day Henderson County."

Descendants of James Dyar Justice appear in all walks of life and havebeen joined in marriage to dozens of the first settlers of Henderson Co.From a journal written by a second great granddaughter of James Dyar,Ruth Brookshire Welch, we glean much data, many loving thoughts and somelocal history.  At one of the early family reunions we quote - "JamesDyar Justice, a son of Thomas, settled near the top of the Blue Ridge.He seems to have been a man who was recognized as a leader among thepeople of this day;  he served as a member of the first county court thatwas held in Buncombe Co. and was a Justice of the Peace from the time hewas twenty-one, until his death.  The first wife, Anthroit Thomas, was adaughter of John, who seems to have been a wealthy man of real estate,owning most of the land where the City of Hendersonville is nowestablished.  This marriage occured when he was 18 years of age.  (Note:to list his birth as 1788 would coincide with this statement, while somerecords do show he was born 1777) (Further note by Mike Justice is thathis birth is listed on his gravestone as July 27, 1787)

"A picture of the Justice Coat of Arms has been turned over to me - itwas probably given to that family back in the days of the English barons.It is a description of the Justice arms, the coat is a golden sword on ablue field.  On the point of the sword is a pair of balances representingjustice.  Around the blue field is a border of gold.  Beneath is thephrase -
"Non sine causa"  written across a scoll and beneath it the name ofJustice is written in Old English"

The descendants of these 14 children could well have comprised a mountainvillage of considerable size.  We shall list each branch of this limb ofthe tree with as much as has been found, and would hope search for stillothers would continue.  Even those who were not "of professionalpersuasion" left a rich heritage for their descendants, and the richestby far is the right to call this man, Jame Dyar, their ancestor.

James Dyar was laid to rest in his beloved Henderson County next to hiswife, Anthroit, in Mud Creek Cemetery.  His family today carries on thespirit of that long ago youn man who married at age 18.

In the papers of his eldest son, Thomas Butler Justice, we find perhapshis last legal action.  This is in the form of an agreement, dulywitnessed and signed by himself, in his own handwriting.  It establishesthat his fine mind was still clear and strong to the last, for in theAgreement, quoted below, the date of the transaction was August 28, 1857and we know he died barely a month later, on September 21, 1857.  Onewitness was John H. Justice, his second eldest son, and who knows,perhaps John H's wife, Dr. Polly (King) Justice, was in attendance at hisdemise.  It is at least comforting to think she helped.

Agreement
Know all men by these presence that I, James D Justice, for and inconsideration of the sum of one dollar to me in hand paid by T.B.Justice, further for the consideration that the said T.B. Justice hathfrom time to time and at diverse times advanced money to me and on myaccount and rendered various other services to me, and further that thesaid T.B. Justice agrees to provide for me as comfortably as his meansand ability will justify during my natural life and to decently inter myremains (body) after my decease, I hereby sell, transfer and convey tothe aforesaid T.B. Justice, the following effects, to wit -

one brown horse
one buggy and harness
one prized no-horned cow and calf
all my stock of hogs, three in number
all the household and kitchen furniture except that portion that I haveheretofore given to my wife, and
one bed and furniture now at Robert Justice's, and
one clock

all of which I do absolutely sell and convey as aforesaid, witness myhand and seal this 28 day of August A. D. 1857

J.D. Justice (seal)

John Gray
John H. Justice

This agreement establishes that his sons were nearby at the close of hisfull life.

It is therefore only appropriate that we record in more detail, the lifeand lives of his sons and daughters where information has been found."

(Mike Justice note - information from this source is with each child inthis database.)