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Crowning Jewel of the Piedmont
Mountain Island Lake is the crowning jewel of piedmont North Carolina. With its pure, clear waters and shores lined with a unique assortment of flora and fauna, it has become a cherished treasure to folks who have come to know it. The gentle rolling landscape surrounding the lake provides a hint of the Blue Ridge Mountains from where its waters flow. I have spent my entire life living near Mountain Island Lake’s shore, something for which I consider myself truly blessed. As a matter of fact, my family has lived near the lake for over 200 years. In 1790, my great, great, great, great grandfather, Richard Rozzelle, owned a plantation adjacent to the Catawba River in Lincoln County where Mountain Island Lake is currently located. The rich bottomlands along the river produced bountiful crops of cotton and corn. He also operated a fishery, cotton gin and ferry on the banks of the river. Rozzelle’s Ferry was an important transportation link for the region, carrying folks across the gentle rolling waters of the Catawba as they traveled east toward Charlotte from Lincolnton and points west. The dirt road from the ferry to Charlotte became known as Rozzelle’s Ferry Road and today portions of that original old road still bear the name. When Richard Rozzelle passed away in the early 1800s, he willed the fishery and ferry to his son, Richard A. Rozzelle, who purchased 1200 acres of land in Mecklenburg County along the banks of the Catawba where Hwy 16 currently crosses Mountain Island Lake. Richard A. Rozzelle developed a prospering plantation along the Catawba and raised a family of nine children. The family home was constructed in 1839 in Mecklenburg County immediately adjacent to the river. The first bridge across the Catawba at the current location of Mountain Island Lake where Hwy. 16 crosses was constructed in the early 1800s and Rozzelle’s Ferry was closed. (This is the first article in a series by Rusty Rozzelle which will appear in the MILA newsletter. Look for more history in our next edition) In 1861, the history of the Rozzelle family took a tragic turn with the outbreak of the Civil War. Two of Richard A. Rozzelle's sons, Frank and James, would fight and die in the war, the former at Gettysburg and the latter at The Battle of the Wilderness, and the family home would come under fire from Federal forces in the spring of 1865. This occurred when federal cavalry moving east toward Charlotte from the direction of Lincolnton, encountered Confederate forces under the command of General R. D. Johnston of Lincoln County. General Johnston had established a defensive position on the east bank of the Catawba River in Mecklenburg County adjacent to the bridge at the Rozzelle's Ferry to prevent the Federals from capturing the bridge and advancing on Charlotte. The exchange of fire was “hot” as reported by General Johnston who understood the meaning of the term well as he fought at Gettysburg. The general himself was hit in the chest by a round that struck a coin in his coat pocket, saving his life. The Federals were unsuccessful at fighting back the Confederate forces and effecting a river crossing. In frustration, the Federals torched the bridge and turned west away from Charlotte back into Lincoln County. This engagement is significant in the fact that the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, was temporarily stationed in Charlotte following his flight from Richmond after its fall in the spring of 1865. If the Federals had been able to advance to Charlotte, they would have found Davis there and would surely have captured him and set fire to the town. Following the Civil War, the Rozzelle family fell on hard times, as did most southern families. They were able to hold on to their land by reopening Rozzelle's Ferry charging a toll of 1 cent for a horse and rider and 5 cents for a wagon. The family also turned its plantation home into an inn, providing room and board to travelers bound for Charlotte, a days ride from the river down Rozzelle's Ferry Road. A few years later Richard A. Rozzelle contracted with the Federal Government to construct a second bridge at Rozzelle's Ferry charging a toll to those who crossed. The family was able to make due and for years to come Richard A. Rozzelle's descendants would make their homes on lands willed to them from the original 1200 acres purchased in the early 1800s. I grew up on a portion of this land as did many of my uncles, aunts and cousins. Many of them still live there today. I moved from my family home on old Rozzelle lands in the 1980s and currently live in Gaston County near Mountain Island Lake not more than a mile from where my great, great, great, great grandfather owned a plantation in 1790. (This is the second part in an article by Rusty Rozzelle for the MILA newsletter.) |
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