John George Shope, Jr.

He was at a corn shucking. It was said that there was a contest, and whoever found the red ear of corn got to kiss the girl of his choice. His son and John Crockett found the red ear, and proceeded to kiss the girl friend of one of the Lakey boys. A fight broke out, and someone ran into the house and told John Shope that the Lakey boy was getting the better of the Shope boy. John said if that was so the Lakey boy must be fighting dirty, because there was no way a Lakey could whip a Shope fair. He then went out to see about the fighting. He proceeded to pull the Lakey boy off his son. The boy's father, Hiram, hit John in the back of the head with a fence post. It was said that John laid in the field for three days. He was buried nearby. His wife went back to Rutherford County to live her last days with the Burnetts. John died at the age of 63 years on 2 November 1859 in West Mills.

Parents: John George Shope (1756 - 1852) and Sarah Sally (Gregg) Shope (1773 - 1858). Husband of Margaret Sally (Burnett) Shope (1797 - 1860).

Died in West Mills, Macon Co. NC.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 13 2023, 19:12:52 UTC
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 13 2023, 19:22:19 UTC

There are variations of the story which attribute the underlying cause of the conflict to the liberal intake of liquor (corn biased, I.e., white lighting) or north/south (union/confederate sympathies) or a combination of both.

    There is an extension of the story which claims that one of the Lackey’s tried to get away on a horse and is never heard from again. There is a suggestion, in the telling that I heard, that the “posse” that went after the escaping Lakey caught up with him deep in the woods somewhere between Franklin and Sylvia N.C. and killed him. Perhaps the “posse” then returned to the West Mill area and buried the dead Shope???